From c9161a750ca37da9b382df32046377ccbc8e11af Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2025 22:21:40 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] ps118 --- website/src/content/blog/2025/06/23/work.md | 28 ++- website/src/content/blog/2025/07/03/ps118.md | 252 +++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 267 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-) create mode 100644 website/src/content/blog/2025/07/03/ps118.md diff --git a/website/src/content/blog/2025/06/23/work.md b/website/src/content/blog/2025/06/23/work.md index 0e2c27c..e2794a0 100644 --- a/website/src/content/blog/2025/06/23/work.md +++ b/website/src/content/blog/2025/06/23/work.md @@ -163,21 +163,23 @@ front-line jobs doing amazing work, but I've also seen how important those tertiary systems are. I also shouldn't dwell too long on my career choices, paralysed by an irrational -angst that the value of my life hangs on making the right decision. I should remember -that Jesus calls everyone alike, although most people don't have anywhere near as -much power over their own career as I do. And I should remember that, as a result, God -will use pretty much any line of work for his glory if I commit it to him. +angst that the value of my life hangs on making the right decision. I should +remember that Jesus calls everyone alike, although most people don't have +anywhere near as much power over their own career as I do. And I should remember +that, as a result, God will use pretty much any line of work for his glory if I +commit it to him. -So I shouldn't choose what's easy, nor what's perceived as noble, and nor should I be -paralysed by choice. But what ought I do instead? +So I shouldn't choose what's easy, nor what's perceived as noble, and nor should +I be paralysed by choice. But what ought I do instead? -Instead, I should commit my work to God right now, starting from this morning. I don't -have to wait until I find a perfect career, because I will never have a perfect career. -God can use the line of work I'm already in for his glory, and if I don't believe that, -I'm not just doubting myself, I'm doubting him. I should trust his power. And when I -do have career choices, I should commit those to him too, not fretting endlessly as if -one career is holy and another damned, but prioritising service to God and others over -myself and trusting God with the rest. +Instead, I should commit my work to God right now, starting from this morning. I +don't have to wait until I find a perfect career, because I will never have a +perfect career. God can use the line of work I'm already in for his glory, and +if I don't believe that, I'm not just doubting myself, I'm doubting him. I +should trust his power. And when I do have career choices, I should commit those +to him too, not fretting endlessly as if one career is holy and another damned, +but prioritising service to God and others over myself and trusting God with the +rest. Comfort, elitism and moralism are all forms of idolatry. I can toil endlessly pursuing any of them and never be satisfied. But instead, I can rest easy in the diff --git a/website/src/content/blog/2025/07/03/ps118.md b/website/src/content/blog/2025/07/03/ps118.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b48ac90 --- /dev/null +++ b/website/src/content/blog/2025/07/03/ps118.md @@ -0,0 +1,252 @@ +--- +title: Why Psalm 118 is the theme tune to Matthew's Gospel +description: >- + Partly inspired by what I misheard at Cornhill Summer School 2025. +pubDate: 2025-06-26 +--- + +[Psalm 118][ps-118] is one of the best-loved hits in the Hebrews' ancient +songbook, the Psalms, and also one of the most re-interpreted. + +It has been heavily used in both Jewish and Christian liturgy since ancient +times. It is heavily referenced in the Rabbinical literature. Depending how +generous you are with what counts as an 'allusion', you can count between twenty +and sixty quotes and allusions to Psalm 118 in the New Testament. It has been +frequently set and re-set to music, memorised, sung, interpreted and +re-interpreted. + +But why should we care about an old song and its ensemble of interpreations? At +least part of the answer that its long history of usage includes another +Biblical text which urgently appeals to us today: the Gospel of Matthew. + +If we can understand why Matthew referred to Psalm 118, not once, not twice, but +five times, all in the space of five chapters, we might understand a little +better the story that Matthew wants to tell us. + +To understand why it's so important for Matthew, first, let's get on the same +page on what the psalm actually says. + +## A story in four characters + +The psalm features four characters: a hero, a congregation, some enemies, and +the Lord. + +The hero narrates psalm's central block, from verse 5 to verse 21. He is a +warrior hero: he 'cuts off' his enemies. He is nearly defeated, but is +eventually victorious, and ascribes his victory to the Lord. He then approaches +the 'gates through which the righteous shall enter', and appeals to go through +so that he can praise the Lord there. + +Having heard the hero's account, the final section is dominated by the +congregation. They thank the Lord for his saving work, which they describe thus: +'the stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.' This implies +that the hero had initially faced rejection, before being vindicated. The people +show their praise by bringing a sacrifice bound with branches up to the altar, +and finally the psalm is book-ended by repetition of the opening motif: 'give +thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever!' + +There is potentially a fifth character, the 'builders' who rejected the stone. +Interpreters often identify these 'builders' either with the enemies or with the +congregation, though not always. The text doesn't say. + +Apart from the Lord, none of these four (or five) characters are named in the +text. + +This is where the intrigue lies: who are these characters? Who are the enemies? +Who is the congregation? And who is this embattled hero, this 'stone the +builders rejected' which has become 'the chief cornerstone'? + +If I were to enumerate all the solutions that have been proposed to this puzzle, +reading this essay would give you piles. But in order to understand some of the +context in which Matthew was writing, permit me briefly to introduce two of the +most popular Jewish interpretations. + +## Moses + +The first is Moses. Psalm 118 lays on thick the references to the Song of the +Sea in Ex 15. + +The central line, 'the Lord is my strength and song, he has become my +salvation!' is a direct quote from Ex 15:2. Like Ex 15, the psalm uses the +divine name frequently. Not only that, but the psalm, like Ex 15, prefers the +relatively unusual form YH rather than the more common YHWH. The psalm echoes Ex +15 also in its references to the right hand of the Lord doing mighty things, his +chosen hero being hard-pressed by foreign nations and enjoying the Lord's +'salvation', and by the hero's response, 'praising' and 'exalting' the Lord. + +In short, the psalm is absolutely reeking with references to the Song of the +Sea, Moses' classic number-1 hit. No ancient Jew, for whom the psalm was +originally written, could have failed to smell it. + +The Midrash Tehillim, a Jewish commentary on the psalter composed in the early +medieval period, even ascribes the psalm to Moses, claiming that he sang it on +the first Pesach (Passover). Certainly, the psalm has featured heavily in Jewish +celebrations of both Pesach and Sukkoth (another exodus-inspired festival) since +ancient times. + +However, perhaps surprisingly, Moses is not the most common Jewish reading of +the hero of Psalm 118. That accolade goes to the next great hero of the Hebrew +Scriptures: David. + +## David + +Although, unlike many other psalms, this one is not explicitly described as +being 'of David', very many Jewish interpreters associate this psalm with that +improbable king. For instance, the Targum -- an Aramaic paraphrase and +commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures -- explicitly reads David, Samuel and Saul +into the psalm. David has also been a favourite reading of some Christian +readers, including John Calvin. + +Why is this? One reason might be the psalm's context in the psalter. The psalter +is divided into five books, and contemporary scholars theorise that in the +second Temple period, editors arranged these five books thematically. + +Books I and II tell how God had a covenant with David, and Book III laments that +the covenant with David has failed, perhaps because David failed to keep the +commands of the Torah. The task of Books IV and V is to show that God will +restore his Davidic kingdom and fulfil his promises. + +Psalm 118 sits in this final block, as the last psalm of Book IV. This suggests +we should expect David, or a type of David, to feature: a returning king, coming +back to fulfil his destiny to rule as an intermediary between God and his +people. (Presumably, this time, he's got to be a true keeper of the Torah in +order for this to work.) + +Notice that a Davidic interpretation is inherently implicitly also a Messianic +interpretation. David is dead. God promised that he would establish an +everlasting throne in Jerusalem, where a human mediator would rule on his +behalf, and God and his people could live together in peace forever. David, for +all his merits, has conspicuously failed to deliver on this promise. So, if this +psalm looks back to David, it must also look forward to the one who will fulfil +God's promises to David. + +So in this traditional Davidic interpretation, it's understood that God is going +to choose someone who will re-establish that Davidic throne, and this time it's +going to really work. Which means this time, it's going to be really different. + +## Jesus + +On the face of it, the New Testament authors seem to have nothing to do with the +traditional interpretations. Instead of Moses or David, they exclusively +identify the hero of Psalm 118 with Jesus. What are they up to? + +One reason the New Testament authors went ham for Psalm 118 is simply because it +was well-known. I mentioned that it was used heavily at Pesach and Sukkoth. As a +result, lots of Jews were very familiar with its ideas and its language. Many +ordinary people would have memorised it. + +But that in itself doesn't explain why the New Testament authors used it. They +didn't refer to Scripture arbitrarily, but they subverted shared interpretations +in order to tell a new story. The cleverest instance of this is in the Gospel of +Matthew. + +Matthew first gets his reader tuned in to Psalm 118 as Jesus enters Jerusalem on +the back of a colt. Matthew quotes the crowds quoting Psalm 118, shouting +'Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' +In case we missed the application, he pairs this with his own quotation from the +prophecy of Zechariah: Jesus is the coming king who will fulfil God's promises. +The crowd also wave him in with branches, typical of Sukkoth celebrations and a +reference to Ps 118:27. + +So now we know Jesus is the returning king, we're expecting his imminent victory +over his enemies, right? That's what Psalm 118, and its traditional Mosaic and +Davidic interpretations, suggests, and so it's clearly what Matthew wants us to +think. But that's when things take a sudden turn. + +Immediately after this, Jesus tells the Parable of the Tenants. He implies that +the well-educated, respectable religious leaders are complicit in murder and +enemies of God. It's a shocking teaching, and it doesn't go down well. + +Matthew depicts Jesus continuing to teach in the Temple while sparring with the +religious elites. Jesus caps off what was already a dreadful day by declaring +seven devastating woes on the religious leaders. As he finally exits the Temple, +he leaves another ominous quote from Psalm 118 hanging in the air: 'For I tell +you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the +name of the Lord.' + +This doesn't make sense at all. According to the Psalm 118 storyline, we were +supposed to be seeing Jesus cutting down his enemies and arriving at the Temple +to celebrate with God's people. But now he's doing the opposite: he's cutting +down God's people and then leaving the Temple mired in controversy. + +Jesus then, after taking a private seminar for his disciples, invites them to +what he knew would be his last supper. Matthew shows the reader how Judas had +already betrayed Jesus behind his back. And yet, Matthew doesn't let up. He +points out that they are celebrating their Pesach meal, and at the end, he +points out that they finished with a hymn. + +Why these apparently irrelevant details? He's begging you to put two and two +together. His Jewish readers would have immediately clocked that the hymn in +question was Psalm 118, ritually sung at the end of the Pesach meal. + +So even at the very moment Jesus' total defeat in shame and misery is sealed, +they're still singing this song about a victorious returning king, coming to +re-establish David's throne forever? + +The point that Matthew wants us to clock is the point Jesus made to the +religious leaders in the Parable of the Tenants: 'the stone the builders +rejected has become the chief cornerstone.' He really is the perfect Moses and +the perfect David that God has promised. But before his great victory, he needs +a great rejection. The surprise is that neither Jesus' rejection nor his victory +look anything like what anyone expected. + +Rather than being hard-pressed by foreign nations and defeating them in battle, +Jesus is oppressed by his own people, the Jews. (We should understand this in +the context that Matthew's Gospel was written primarily for an audience of Jews, +hence why he expects them to pick up on all the references to Psalm 118.) + +But this oppression is only the surface layer: his real fight was his fight with +the spiritual powers of sin and death. By going to the cross, he consented to be +hard-pressed. + +And his Resurrection is his victory. Through it, he shows that he has defeated +death. Now he is ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he rules as the +perfect David, as the one who could both act as a human intermediary between God +and humanity, and as one who could truly keep God's law. He is also the perfect +Moses, who, by God's power, led his people out of captivity to sin and death in +order to worship God. The old covenants are broken, but God has remained +faithful and delivered on them anyway, and in doing so has created a new people, +the Church, who will enter the gates of righteousness because Jesus has opened +the way. + +For a contemporary Jewish reader of Matthew's Gospel, the references to Psalm +118 would automatically have conjured all the associations with Moses and David, +and as a result, all the Messianic secondary meanings, that he needed to make +his point. He could have expected his original readers to join the dots. + +For a contemporary reader, particularly one like me that didn't get an +old-fashioned Biblical education, it might take a bit more work to spot the +links. But isn't it worth it? This psalm helps us to understand the message of +Matthew's Gospel: Jesus fulfils God's promises in a way that nobody expected. + +## Conclusion + +As I've discovered, Matthew's way is far from the only way of reading Psalm 118. +That's to be expected: as I noted at the start, none of the characters apart +from the Lord are named in the text. It's up to us as readers to impose +allegories onto the text, if that is what we choose to do. + +And that is what interpreters from ancient times have strove to do. Indeed, +Matthew didn't ignore or overwrite previous interpretations: he used Psalm 118 +precisely because he knew that if he put Jesus into Psalm 118, his readers would +have made the link to Moses and David themselves. In order to get Matthew's +subversive new reading, you've got to be fluent in the rich tradition of old +readings. + +Therefore I will keep reading. As I've encountered Psalm 118 recently, I've +re-discovered how understanding one Biblical text can shed dramatic new light on +another. If God is willing, perhaps this will help me to see him once again in +sharp relief. + +## Further reading + +- [Calvin's commentary on Psalm 118](https://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/psalms/118.htm) +- [Cook, EM. 2001. Targum Tehillim: An English Translation. Book V](http://targum.info/pss/ps5.htm) +- [Vaillancourt, IJ. 2019. Psalm 118 and the eschatological son of David. JETS 62(4) pp 721-738](https://etsjets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/files_JETS-PDFs_62_62-4_JETS_62.4_721-738_Vaillancourt.pdf) +- [Gillingham 2020. ‘Das schöne Confitemini’: engaging with Erich Zenger’s reading of Psalm 118 from a Jewish and Christian reception history perspective. In: 'By my God I can leap over a wall': Interreligious Horizons in Psalms and Psalms Studies](https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1dff6f67-3c9e-41a8-a691-90e1e260fcdd) +- [Botha PJ 2003. Psalm 118 and social values in Ancient Israel. OTE 16(2) pp 195-215](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237449388_Psalm_118_and_social_values_in_Ancient_Israel) + +I was inspired to write this essay by the teaching on Psalm 118 at Cornhill +Summer School 2025. + +[ps-118]: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20118