I have found myself strangely inarticulate and somewhat nervous - or is it excitement at the unknowns - these days. I am still working these first two weeks of my long trip touching 3 continents. Tonight I meet Diana at the airport and travel 2.5 hours with little spare time to a concert of the Selwyn College Cambridge choir in Kingston. Also I am saturated with bits and pieces of code (re my work) and Hebrew (learning to read - infancy over). I do not normally suffer from dyslexia, but the Hebrew reading is at the stage where they eyes run faster than the brain and funny things happen. I read the primal texts and not enough of everyone else's opinion, though occasionally I do read the accredited folks. (Some of them I like and others I am critical of - even though I should refrain from being critical - because it seems to me that some people have not got over their desire to be king of the castle, though they do try to hide it behind so called knowledge and degrees and stuff.)
I of course have no desire to be king - right? I say at the risk of offending everyone that I am a member of the body, the bride of the king, maybe a very unimportant member or maybe not, and I mix my metaphors. If I am right, it might be at my expense and therefore make me wrong. So I choose words impetuously in hope.
But I am not schizophrenic like my disabled fourth child whose language meanders in English though I wish him well with his tongue.
So in the midst of this confusion, how do we read a concise summary of Psalm 24 and its impact ontologically and theologically or is it narrative?
I am looking at the set of words in the psalm that share a common root (approximately): there are 13.
| Root (calc) | Gloss | chapter.verse of first occurrence in psalm |
| גבר | warrior | 52.3,65.4,71.16,89.14,103.11,106.2,127.4,145.4 |
| הוא | he | 25.11,33.9,44.5,62.3,95.5,99.2,100.3,115.9 |
| זה | this | 87.4,104.8,118.20 |
| כבד | glory | 29.1,38.5,49.17,57.6,66.2,72.19,86.9,96.3,102.16,108.,145.5,149.5 |
| מי | who | 15.1,60.11,89.7,94.16,106.2,108.11 |
| מלך | king | 2.2,21.2,45.2,47.3,48.3,68.13,72.1,89.19,99.1,102.16,105.13,110.4,135.10,136.17,145.1 |
| נשׂא | lift up | 28.2,93.3,126.6 |
| עלם | age, ever | 5.12,9.6,30.7,37.18,41.13,44.9,45.3,48.9,49.9,52.10,55.2,61.5,72.17,73.12,77.6,78.66, 89.2,90.2,103.9,104.5,105.8,106.1,111.5,112.6,118.1,119.44,119.89,119.142,125.1, 136.1,145.1,146.6 |
| פתח | open | 78.2,105.20 |
| קום | rise | 3.2,18.39,27.3,44.6,74.22,103.16,132.5,139.2 |
| ראשׁ | head | 69.5,74.13,110.6,140.8,141.5 |
| שׁער | gate | 9.14,118.19 |
What do each of the referenced psalms tell us about these frame words and how they are to be interpreted? Word by word since we have too many psalms to summarize in a short post. For the sake of brevity I look in my ultimate one-line summary of the psalms.
The warrior: Psalm 52 - warrior style - demands that we take control over our tongue - the root that reduces to the warrior envelops the evil use of the tongue. In psalm 65, the words for strength surround these words
Happy the one chosen and made near
he will live in your courts
So onto Psalm 71 where power envelops the request to be supported in old age - I understand this request in my grey-haired state. In Psalm 89, the root frames the praise from vs 14-20 preceding the lament. In Psalm 103, it is the strength of forgiveness in verse 11. So 'great' is his mercy towards them that fear him. Psalm 106, written by a gentile and quoted by the thief on the cross has the opening stanza framed by strength. Psalm 127 has strength surrounding the gift of children - Mr Quiverful's psalm. The final acrostic takes this word three times - it's what everyone is talking about.
If I did this analysis for the remaining 12 roots, the results would make for too long a post. So let's wait to hear from Phil when he finishes his dissertation. (Besides, I have to go pick up my wife after watching a bit more of the US Open).
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