Psalms 71

Continuing in Book 2 where I left off at the end of February. Two more psalms remain in book 2 (71, 72). Tate delays his explanation of part of Psalms 70 to his chapter on Psalms 71. There are connections in the appeals, as shown by this selective comparison of word usage in the two psalms. 

Word / Gloss	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Vs	Stem
יבשו let them be ashamed	░								70:3	בוש
ויחפרו and disappointed		░							70:3	חפר
מבקשי who seek			░						70:3	בקש
נפשי my being				░					70:3	נפש
ויכלמו and be humiliated					░				70:3	כלם
רעתי my hurt						░			70:3	רעע
ישובו let them turn							░		70:4	שוב
בשתם in their shame	░								70:4	בוש
מבקשיך those who seek you			░						70:5	בקש
יגדל great is								░	70:5	גדל
אבושה I will be ashamed	░								71:1	בוש
נפשי my being				░					71:10	נפש
יבשו let be ashamed	░								71:13	בוש
נפשי my being				░					71:13	נפש
וכלמה and humiliation					░				71:13	כלם
מבקשי who seek			░						71:13	בקש
רעתי my hurt						░			71:13	רעע
גדלות great things								░	71:19	גדל
ורעות and hurtful						░			71:20	רעע
תשוב you will turn							░		71:20	שוב
תשוב you will turn							░		71:20	שוב
גדלתי my greatness								░	71:21	גדל
ונפשי and my being				░					71:23	נפש
בשו they are shamed	░								71:24	בוש
חפרו they are disappointed		░							71:24	חפר
מבקשי who seek			░						71:24	בקש
רעתי my hurt						░			71:24	רעע

Way back in 2011 I did this psalm. I have updated it with its syllabic and musical measurements. You will find the psalm at the link. Then below is the music so that each can be opened easily in separate windows for analysis.

Verse 4 has a strange form.  It is one of about a dozen verses that has no return to the tonic at the end of the verse. The melody leaves you up in the air or prematurely cut off. (Or it may just be an error.) It is clearly fixed in the restored version of the Aleppo version here.

Tate focuses on the individuality of this psalm. I think the I and the me in the psalms should not be considered individual except as the individual is representing the people. This is why the phrase kings and priests is used of those who are 'in' God or 'in' Christ. Because none of us can live alone or be saved alone. You cannot live for a moment without the support of hundreds of others around you who may or may not be part of your 'crowd'. We are one body whether we like it or not. So when we pray as unique and as individual, we are always taking into our prayer the whole body of which we are a part, even those parts of the body that seek to do other parts of the body harm. These are prayed for that through shame they may be restored to the unity that cannot be 'coerced' but that nevertheless must be. (A house divided cannot stand.)

 

What I have noted about prosody and the music at this point is that to do it justice requires far more time than I have at present. So I will continue this discipline of reading and presenting the psalms, but I will not try and put words to what cannot have words put to it. We are working on the next music project and I hope this project will continue to provide real performances that illustrate the prosody without a lot of words. It is the time to get composers to work out each psalm. It is not the time for explanation.