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Overview
This eight-week volume is part of the Immersion Bible Studies series. Inspired by a fresh translation, the Common English Bible (CEB), Immersion stands firmly on Scripture and helps you explore the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual needs of your personal faith. Whether you are using the CEB or another translation, Immersion will offer new insights into God’s Word, your own life, and your life with God.
Psalms features eight sessions.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781426749001 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Abingdon Press |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 112 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Psalms
Immersion Bible Studies
By J. Clinton McCann Jr., Jack A. Keller Jr.
Abingdon Press
Copyright © 2011 Abingdon PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-4900-1
CHAPTER 1
The Pursuit of Happiness
Psalms 1–2; 19; 32; 37; 41; 72–73; 111–112
Claim Your Story
Everybody wants to be happy! Indeed, according to one of the most important and influential documents in human history, "the pursuit of happiness" is an "inalienable right." But, of course, The Declaration of Independence does not tell us how to pursue happiness, leaving us to ponder some crucial questions: Am I happy? If so, what makes me happy? If not, why not? And how might I pursue happiness more effectively?
We ponder these questions in the midst of a culture that leads us to think often about being happy and that generally encourages us to pursue happiness in a particular way—namely, by getting what we want, and more specifically, by buying what we want. But, according to many expert observers of human behavior, this self-centered and consumer-oriented approach to pursuing happiness turns out to be sadly ironic. Instead of finding happiness, we are often left feeling alone, bored, dissatisfied, and disappointed—in a word, unhappy. Even many people who seem to "have it made" or "have it all" find themselves asking, "Is that all there is?"
For contemporary persons who may be longing for and searching for happiness, the Bible is a timely resource. In fact, the very first psalm in the Book of Psalms is about "the truly happy person" (Psalm 1:1). The word happy occurs more than two dozen times in the Psalms; and in a real sense, the whole Book of Psalms is about what it means to be "truly happy" (1:1; 2:12). As we shall see, the portrait of "the truly happy person" in the Psalms is a striking contrast to what our culture generally calls happiness.
Enter the Bible Story
The Pursuit of Happiness: It's All About God, Not About Me!
While contemporary culture encourages us to find happiness by pursuing (which usually means purchasing) what we want, "the truly happy person" in Psalm 1 focuses his or her attention first and foremost on God, not on self. Psalm 1 is usually categorized as a Torah Psalm, since the Hebrew word torah occurs twice in verse 2. It means "instruction," and it signals the reader to expect to learn something from this psalm and all the others. Psalm 1 is also sometimes categorized as a Wisdom Psalm, and this label fits as well. True wisdom derives from being instructed by God, and the psalmist is! Shunning other "advice" (verse 1), "the truly happy person" is committed to learning from the divine teacher. These persons "love the LORD's Instruction," and even "recite God's Instruction day and night!" (verse 2). In short, genuine happiness derives not from doing what we want, but rather from attending constantly to and doing what God wants!
The Hebrew word torah is best translated "instruction," but it means something as broad as "God's will." God's "instruction," or God's will, has a specific content, which is suggested by Psalm 1 when it mentions "justice" in verse 5. Later in the Book of Psalms, Psalms 96 and 98 (see Chapter 8) proclaim that God "is coming to establish justice on the earth!" (96:13; 98:9). God's "coming" is not a future event, but rather a current and ongoing reality—that is, God is present in the world "to establish justice." Although justice is often understood in the retributive sense of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior, God's justice is something different. It means not giving people what they deserve, but rather giving them what they need. It means setting the world right ("justice" and "righteousness" occur together frequently in the Psalms and elsewhere in the Bible) so that all people may live, especially those persons whose lives are most threatened and vulnerable.
To illustrate this meaning of justice, consider Psalm 72, a prayer for the Judean king, who was considered God's earthly adopted "son" (2:7; see Chapter 8), and as such, was entrusted with the earthly administration of the will of God, the heavenly king (see "king" in 98:6, and "rules" in 96:10; both come from the same Hebrew root). The prayer is that the earthly king may govern with "justice" (verses 2, 4) and "righteousness" (verses 1-3), which consist of the protection of and empowerment of the "poor," "weak," and "needy" (verses 2, 4, 12-14), and which yield shalom, comprehensive well-being or "peace" (verses 3, 7). Psalm 72 envisions that the king's administration of justice will extend to "all the nations," who will "call him happy" (verse 17), clearly recalling Psalm 1. Again, happiness derives from doing what God wants—that is, justice that, because it involves steadfast opposition to oppression (verses 4, 14), aims at world-encompassing peace.
A further indication of this biblical definition of happiness is found in the shape of Book I of the Psalter (Psalms 1–41). Psalm 41, like Psalm 1, begins with a focus on "those who ... are truly happy" (verse 1; see "happy" in verse 2 as well). In keeping with Psalm 72 in which the king is called happy for attending to the poor, Psalm 41 portrays "truly happy" persons as "those who pay close attention to the poor" (verse 1). Thus, Book I of the Psalter is framed by portrayals of "truly happy" persons. Happiness is all about attending to what God wants—"God's Instruction" (1:2); and it is all about doing what God wants—"pay[ing] close attention to the poor" (41:1), or in a word, "justice," which is the foundation for peace.
"The Righteous" and "The Wicked," or What Is Success?
Scholars nearly unanimously agree that Psalm 1 stands at the head of the collection to serve as an intentional introduction to the Book of Psalms. The word happy is important in this regard, as suggested above. Another major aspect of the introductory function of Psalm 1 is its inclusion of the Psalter's major characters—God, of course, but also "the righteous" and "the wicked," both of whom will figure prominently throughout the book, especially in Books I–II (Psalms 1–72).
"The truly happy person" mentioned in Psalm 1:1 is later called "the righteous" (verses 5-6). Even though this translation is accurate, it is easy to misunderstand the identity of "the righteous." Especially since "the righteous" are contrasted with "sinners" (verses 1, 5), it sounds as if "the righteous" are those who do everything right—that is, it sounds like "the righteous" are sinless. But not so! In Psalm 32, for instance, the "truly happy" person is "the one whose wrongdoing is forgiven, whose sin is covered over" (verse 1; see "truly happy" in verse 2 as well). Psalm 32 clearly recalls Psalm 1 (in Hebrew, the first word of each psalm is happy). Consequently, it does not allow us to equate righteousness with sinlessness. Rather, "the righteous" are those who live in complete orientation to God. To be sure, they "love the LORD's Instruction" and attend to it "day and night" (1:2); but "the righteous" never claim to get everything right. In another Torah Psalm, after affirming that "the LORD's Instruction is perfect" (19:7), a source of wisdom and illumination (verses 7-8, 11), the psalmist recognizes that she or he cannot be sinless (verses 12-13):
But can anyone know what they've accidentally done wrong?
Clear me of any unknown sin
and save your servant from willful sins.
Don't let them rule me.
Then I'll be completely blameless;
I'll be innocent of great wrongdoing.
Here, to be "blameless" and "innocent" clearly does not mean to be sinless. Rather, it means to be forgiven. So it is with "the righteous." To be righteous means not only to live in complete orientation to God, but also in complete dependence upon God, including complete dependence upon God's grace. To be righteous is to know that one is not self-sufficient; to be righteous is to know that one needs help; and to be righteous, to be "truly happy," is to look to and find help, or "refuge," in God (2:12; see also 146:5, which contains the final occurrence of "happy" in the Psalter).
What about "the wicked"? At first glance, we might assume that "the wicked" are easily identified by their notoriously bad behavior; but the matter is much more subtle. If "the righteous" are those who live fundamentally God-centered lives, then "the wicked" are those who live fundamentally self-centered lives. The Hebrew word torah, which is translated "Instruction" in Psalm 1:2, came into Greek as nomos. There is an English word that utilizes this root, and it helps us understand the essence of wickedness in the Psalms. It is the word autonomy—auto means "self," and nomos means "instruction" or "law" (the Hebrew word torah is traditionally translated "law"; see the New International Version [NIV] and the New Revised Standard Version [NRSV]). Thus, the word autonomy in its basic sense means to be "self-instructed" or even to be "a law unto oneself." In short, the wicked are those who are essentially selfish.
All this should give us pause. In our contemporary society, autonomy is generally considered to be an unambiguous virtue. We strive to be, and to teach our children to be, autonomous—self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-guided, self-actualized. To be sure, self-esteem and a healthy self-concept are good things. In this sense, autonomy may be something to be desired and cultivated. But it is all too easy for a healthy self-concept and self-sufficiency to slide over into pure selfishness. In a society like ours that encourages us to pursue happiness by getting what we want and looking out for #1—that is, ourselves—it is not surprising that selfishness is pervasive and that a sense of entitlement is rampant. We must face the uncomfortable and unsettling possibility that we often aspire to be what the Psalms call "the wicked."
Indeed, there is evidence within the Book of Psalms itself that "the wicked" maintained a lifestyle that most contemporary persons would envy. In Psalm 73, another Wisdom Psalm (and one that is strategically placed, since it begins Book III, Psalms 73–89), the psalmist "observed how the wicked are well off " (verse 3). They are healthy, physically fit, and carefree (verses 4-5); they are powerful, can get away with anything, and have many admirers (verses 5-8); and their wealth continues to increase (verse 12). From what the psalmist has "observed," it sounds like "the wicked" are living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. "The wicked" seem to have achieved celebrity status, the epitome of what most contemporary persons would certainly call "success."
Actually, for this reason, the Common English Bible's (CEB) description of "the righteous" in Psalm 1:3—"Whatever they do succeeds"— must be accompanied by careful discernment of what the Bible means by "success." In our cultural context, "succeed/success" almost invariably implies financial achievement and popular recognition—the very things that characterize "the wicked" in Psalm 73. In fact, the apparent success of "the wicked" was precisely what made the psalmist "envious" (verse 3) and tempted the psalmist to abandon a faithful lifestyle (verses 13-14). But in the pivotal verses 15-17, a remarkable transformation occurs. The psalmist contemplates his or her connection to the community of faith (verse 15) and undergoes a profoundly revelatory experience in "God's sanctuary" (verse 17)—that is, what we might describe as "in church." We simply do not know exactly what happened; but the psalmist overcomes the temptation to join "the wicked," reaffirming her or his fundamental dependence on God (verses 23-26, 28; see "refuge" also in Psalm 2:12 where it is associated with being "truly happy"), realizing that the apparent success of "the wicked" is illusory (verses 18-20) and announcing the intent to be a faithful witness to God and God's "works" (verse 28).
All this suggests that we be very careful about understanding Psalm 1:3, especially given the contemporary "Prosperity Gospel" that promises material wealth for being faithful. As suggested above, the word succeeds almost certainly communicates the wrong thing to most contemporary hearers, who would likely conclude that "the wicked" in Psalm 73 were the ones who had succeeded (as the psalmist almost concluded!). Instead of succeeds, the NIV and NRSV use prosper, which also gives the wrong impression, since prosper too almost invariably suggests money or some form of material abundance (as in the "Prosperity Gospel"). In a better translation, the TANAKH (produced by the Jewish Publication Society) uses the word thrives. "The righteous"—"the truly happy person"—cannot expect fame, fortune, and a carefree life. In fact, "the righteous" in the Psalms are persistently opposed and oppressed (as early as Psalm 3:1; see Chapter 3). The promise to "the righteous" is that in the midst of such setback and suffering they will continue to "thrive." Why? Because their lives are inextricably connected to God and grounded in "God's Instruction." Or, as the psalmist comes to realize in Psalm 73, genuine goodness consists not of being "well off" (verse 3), "privileged" (verse 8), and "piling up the wealth" (verse 12). Rather, true goodness is "to be near God" (verse 28). Biblically speaking, this is success.
To be sure, the psalmists envision the ultimate demise of "the wicked" (Psalms 1:6; 2:12; 37:1-40; 73:18-20, 27; 112:10) as they entrust themselves and their futures fully to God (1:1-2; 37:3; 73:25-26). But in the meantime, "the wicked" continue to be "well off." They still are! The psalmists' advice?
Be still before the Lord, and wait for him....
Hope in the Lord and keep his way! (37:7, 34)
We are still waiting and hoping. But even now, we, like the psalmists, can know the ultimate fulfillment of being "near God" (73:28), the true happiness that derives from loving "the LORD's Instruction" (1:2) and "keep[ing] his way (37:34). Such is real success; and it invites us to center our lives on God, not simply on ourselves.
The Beginning of Wisdom
Psalms 111–112 form a pair. They are alphabetic acrostics (see CEB notes y and z) and are often categorized as Wisdom Psalms. The last verse of Psalm 111 contains a saying that serves as a sort of motto for the wisdom tradition: "Fear of the LORD is where wisdom begins" (see Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; Job 28:28). "Fear of the LORD" connotes not fright nor intimidation, but rather respect and reverence that issues in obedience (note that CEB usually translates the Hebrew root involved as "honor" when it is associated with God, as is the case in Psalm 112:1). Indeed, perhaps the best synonym for "fear of the LORD" is something like "faith in God."
In any case, note the crucial claim. True wisdom is not merely an academic exercise. In our contemporary context, the accumulation of knowledge or wisdom usually requires, we are told, objectivity. But in biblical terms, wisdom begins by subjecting ourselves to God and opening ourselves to God's way. This does not mean that biblical wisdom is anti-intellectual or anti-science. Rather, a healthy dose of biblical wisdom might assist us in making sure that our vast scientific knowledge and technology are used in ways that promote justice and the peaceful flourishing of the entire human community and the earth (see Chapters 5 and 8).
By virtue of the juxtaposition of Psalms 111:10 and 112:1, the "fear of the LORD" that includes reverent obedience (see "laws" in 111:10 and "commandments" in 112:1) is also associated with people "who ... are truly happy" (112:1). Again, as suggested above, genuine happiness involves a fundamental orientation to God and God's will. Biblically speaking, true happiness, success, and wisdom all begin with God. One further aspect of Psalms 111–112 reinforces this conclusion. Psalm 111 focuses on God and God's activity, while Psalm 112 focuses on the people "who honor the LORD" (verse 1). What is crucial to notice is that the same things are said about God and God's faithful people. In Psalm 111:4, "the LORD is full of grace and mercy," while Psalm 112:4 asserts that God's faithful people "are gracious, merciful, righteous." The two psalms say exactly the same thing about God and the people; that is, both God's and the faithful people's "righteousness stands forever" (111:3; 112:3). In short, the astounding invitation is to pursue true happiness, real success, and genuine wisdom by nothing short of being like God!
Live the Story
It was announced several years ago that the favorite leisure-time activity in the United States is shopping. At the same time, social scientific research has consistently shown that purchasing the things we want does not produce nearly the happiness that we think it will. These two bits of information invite us to think carefully about what makes for a "truly happy person" (Psalm 1:1).
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Psalms by J. Clinton McCann Jr., Jack A. Keller Jr.. Copyright © 2011 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Immersion Bible Studies,1. The Pursuit of Happiness,
2. Where Is God in a World of Suffering?,
3. Faithful Complaining,
4. A Lifestyle of Gratitude,
5. A Lifestyle of Praise,
6. Whom Can We Trust?,
7. Marching to Zion,
8. Establishing Justice,
Leader Guide,