MCPC has gone a different route than the OPC/URC proposal for Psalm 11. The OPC/URC proposal includes two options:
a) the Sing Psalms text to “Bourbon” (LM);
b) the RCNZ’s text to “Protection” (11 11 11 11).
I understand that “Protection” has been used in the Dutch tradition with Psalm 11 for a long time, and I think that a tune associated with “How Firm a Foundation” has some good affective connections with Psalm 11. That text, however, could use some further work.
Text: MCPC, 2012 (SM)
1 My refuge is the LORD; how can you say to me:
“Now quickly like a bird escape, and to your mountain flee.
2 The wicked bend the bow; the upright they would shoot.
3 If our foundations are cast down, what can the righteous do?”
4 The LORD in heav’n is throned; his temple is on high;
his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of mankind.
5 The LORD will test the just, but men of wickedness
and those who love destructive ways he certainly detests.
6 Upon all wicked men his fiery coals will rain;
and brimstone, fire, and burning wind shall be their heritage.
7 For righteous is the LORD; he loves all righteous ways,
and so the upright of the earth shall all behold his face.
Tune: Festal Song (William Howard Walter, 1894)
Commentary
The title of Psalm 11 is: “To the Choirmaster. Of David.”
Psalm 11 is a Psalm of confidence, as the psalmist flees to the temple and calls upon the LORD to “rain coals upon the wicked” and preserve the righteous. Of course, the point about the temple raises a question regarding Davidic authorship — since the temple had not been built during David’s life. But as we have noted before, “Of David” does not necessarily mean “by David.” It could mean “about David” or “to David.” On the other hand, when the psalmist says, “The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven” — that may well be a reference to the heavenly temple. Solomon plainly understood that the earthly temple could not contain God, so there is no reason why David could not have written about God’s heavenly temple.
Of course, the point of Psalm 11’s reference to the heavenly temple is that it is a safe refuge for the righteous! Indeed, the psalmist calls upon the LORD to “rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind” — reminding us of God’s judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah.
Psalm 11 concludes with a reminder that not only is the LORD righteous, but he also loves righteous deeds, and the upright shall behold his face. The same upright who were the target of the wicked in verse 2 are the ones who will see the face of God in verse 7.
Structure:
All three texts provide clear and helpful structure.
Translation Notes:
There are a couple key points to highlight.
First, with respect to the RCNZ text: 1) they use the term “snipers” to refer to the wicked (a sniper uses a rifle, not a bow — it would be like referring to chariots as “tanks”); 2) they replace “children of man” simply with “men”; and 3) they omit “he loves righteous deeds.” In contrast, our text 1) uses “bend the bow”; 2) “children of mankind”; and “he loves all righteous ways.”
Second, the Sing Psalms text often does better than our text, partly because they use 224 syllables in place of our 156. And this is our objection to it — since the ESV only uses 158 syllables. The Sing Psalms text provides several expansions where they repeat the same thing again. I have no strong objections to any of their translations — only to the fact that it takes them so much longer to say it! If you can say it well in six stanzas, there is no reason to use seven stanzas!
Tune Notes:
We struggled a bit to find a good tune for Psalm 11. “Festal Song” is used in the Trinity Hymnal with “Not All the Blood of Beasts” (242) and “Revive Thy Work, O Lord” (370) — and with Psalm 108 in the Trinity Psalter. The opening unison works very well for stanzas 1, 3, 4, and 6 — all of which start with the LORD and his work. It works less well for stanzas 2 and 5 which speak of the wicked — but even there it is true that the wicked bend their bows with confidence — thinking that the righteous are helpless!
If the RCNZ text can be repaired, I have to admit that “How Firm a Foundation” (Protection) has some splendid affective congruity with Psalm 11.
Conclusion
You can hear an organ rendition of “Festal Song” at:
I concur with the OPC/URC proposal to use “Halifax” with both Psalms 9 and 10, on the grounds that 1) Psalms 9 and 10 together form an alphabetic acrostic (slightly irregular in form, but clear nonetheless), 2) besides Psalms 1-2, Psalm 10 is the only Psalm in Book 1 of the Psalter that doesn’t have a title, and 3) the Septuagint treats Psalms 9-10 as a single song.
Hence Psalms 9-10 appear to have been written as one song, and only later got divided. Or, at the very least, Psalm 10 was written as a response to Psalm 9. This raises interesting questions for our canonical interpretation of the Psalm!
I also really like Psalm 9 to St. Denio (Joanna) — and I spent a fair amount of time working on that text — so I think that there are two good options here. My only concern with St. Denio is that I think that it is altogether too triumphant a tune for parts of this text. St. Denio is the tune used with “Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise” — now sing that tune with Psalm 9:13 — “LORD, see what I suffer from malice and hate! Have pity and lift me away from death’s gate.” On the other hand, it works really well with the opening and closing of the Psalm, so I won’t object.
Text: Sing Psalms, 2003 (CMD)
1 I’ll praise you, LORD, with all my heart; your wonders I’ll proclaim.
2 I will rejoice in you, Most High, and praise your holy name.
3 Before you all my en’mies fall, they turn their backs and flee.
4 For you upheld my right and cause and judged me righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations, LORD; the wicked you destroyed.
You blotted out the heathen’s name, forever made it void.
6 The enemy has met their doom, destroyed eternally.
You have uprooted all their towns; they’re lost to memory.
7 The LORD forever reigns on high; his throne for judgment stands.
8 He’ll judge the world in righteousness, with justice rule the lands.
9 The LORD will be a hiding place for those who are oppressed,
and he will be a strong defense for those who are distressed.
10 All those who know your name, O LORD, in you their trust will place,
for you do not abandon those who seek your gracious face.
11 Sing praises to the LORD who sits in Zion on his throne;
among the nations of the world proclaim what he has done.
12 For he, th’avenger of man’s blood, remembers evermore;
the cry of the afflicted one he never will ignore.
13 O LORD, see how my enemies are persecuting me.
Have mercy! From the gates of death lift me and set me free:
14 so that in Zion’s city gates your praise I may declare,
and that I may exult with joy in your salvation there.
15 The nations all have fallen down into the pit they made;
their feet are tangled in the net that they themselves have laid.
16 The LORD is known by righteous acts; his justice always stands.
The wicked are ensnared in traps, the work of their own hands.
17 The wicked will return to where the dead have their abode,
where all the heathen nations go that have forgotten God.
18 The needy will not be ignored, forgotten all their days;
the hopes and longings of the poor will not be crushed always.
19 Arise, LORD! Let not man prevail; judge nations from your throne.
20 That they may know how frail they are, with fear, LORD, strike them down.
Tune: Halifax (George F. Handel, 1748; harm. Austin Lovelace, b. 1919)
Commentary
Psalm 9 is titled, “To the Choirmaster: According to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.”
The title, “To the Choirmaster,” reminds us that the Psalms were written for the worship of the temple. It is usually a futile endeavor to try to recreate the personal situation of the Psalmist when he was writing — especially since song writers throughout the ages have frequently composed songs that were not merely expressions of their current emotional state. “A Psalm of David” also reminds us of the Davidic context of Book 1 of the Psalter. Whether it means “by David,” “for David,” “about David,” or something else, it clearly shows us that the Davidic monarchy is the central focus of books 1-2 of the Psalms. They presuppose the Davidic monarchy as the context for Israel’s worship.
The rest of the title, “Almuth labben,” has occasioned much controversy. Some take this literally, “according to Death to a Son” (Jerome), or it could mean “sung to a high voice” (Delitzsch). Others, like the ESV, prefer to leave it untranslated and assume that it is a musical or liturgical term that is unknown to us!
Psalm 9:1-12 takes the form of a communal thanksgiving as Israel gives praise to God for maintaining the just cause of David. But then in verses 13-18, the tone begins to change towards a plea for help. In 9:19-20, the Psalmist is now calling on God to arise and judge the nations. (And then Psalm 10 continues with the communal lament, asking God why he allows the wicked to prosper in 10:1-11, and then repeating the plea for God to arise and “break the arm of the wicked” in 10:12-15, before concluding with an affirmation of confidence that the LORD will hear and act — “so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more”).
Structure:
If Psalms 9-10 were originally a single song, does this mean that they should be interpreted (and sung) together? Or should we take the Hebrew division of the Psalm as an inspired division and thus read them and sing them separately? I like the approach taken here — by putting both Psalms to the same tune, but retaining the Hebrew numbering, it becomes possible to sing/read them together, while also permitting them to be sung/read separately.
The Sing Psalms text also enables us to do this. The chief weakness of this translation (in terms of structure) is the stanza break after verse 13, which results in the stanza ending with a colon. This is one place where the St. Denio/Joanna text is superior. It has ten stanzas — each of which contains two biblical verses. (This is why we originally crafted the 11 11 11 11 text — we were only convinced to go with the CMD text by our desire to hold Psalms 9 and 10 together — and St. Denio is simply way too confident for Psalm 10).
Translation Notes:
Those who have ever worked on metrical psalmody will know that it is rare that you are ever satisfied with a text.Verses 19-20 provide a good example. In verse 19, Halifax is superior:
“Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!” (ESV)
“Arise, LORD! Let not man prevail; judge nations from your throne” (Halifax)
“Arise, O my God! Let not man win the day, let nations be judged in your presence, I pray” (St. Denio).
But I prefer how the St. Denio text renders verse 20:
“Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men!” (ESV)
“Strike terror within them, O LORD, always then let nations know truly that they are but men” (St. Denio)
“That they may know how frail they are, with fear, LORD, strike them down” (Halifax).
But the attempt to blend the best of each was thwarted by the constraints of meter and inflection!
Tune Notes:
Since Psalms 9 and 10 blend together notes of triumph and lament, Halifax is one of the few tunes that can carry the whole Psalm. Austin Lovelace’s harmonization of Handel’s tune provides a strong but dark tone. While in a minor key, it moves back and forth to the relative major, allowing for a variety of brightness and darkness in the tune — mirroring the Psalmist’s trust in the Lord, even as he pours out his pleas and petitions.
Halifax is used in the BPS with Psalm 89, in the BPW with Psalms 55 and 89, and in the Trinity Psalter with Psalm 140.
Conclusion
Psalms 9-10 work well together liturgically. Psalm 9 works well as a song of praise as we come into the presence of the living God, followed by Psalm 10, as we lament our afflictions and troubles and call upon the LORD to do justice. I think that sometimes we focus so much on the confession of sin that we lose sight that many afflictions are not due to our sin, but to the assault of our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
I have not been able to find any recordings of Halifax.
As stated in my comments on Psalm 9, I concur with the OPC/URC proposal to use “Halifax” with both Psalms 9 and 10, on the grounds that 1) Psalms 9 and 10 together form an alphabetic acrostic (slightly irregular in form, but clear nonetheless), 2) besides Psalms 1-2, Psalm 10 is the only Psalm in Book 1 of the Psalter that doesn’t have a title, and 3) the Septuagint treats Psalms 9-10 as a single song.
Text: Sing Psalms, 2003 (CMD)
1 O LORD, why do you stand remote and stay so far away?
Why do you hide yourself from us when trouble comes our way?
2 The wicked in his arrogance hunts down the weak and poor,
who in the snares that he has set are caught and held secure.
3 About the cravings of his heart he speaks with boastful word;
he praises people filled with greed while he reviles the LORD.
4 The wicked does not seek the LORD because he is so proud,
and in his inmost thoughts there is no room at all for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous; he strikes a haughty pose.
He keeps his distance from your laws; he sneers at all his foes.
6 He reassures himself and says, “No threat will topple me;
I will be happy evermore; from trouble I’ll be free.”
7 The wicked’s mouth is always full of curses, threats, and lies;
and from his tongue iniquities continually arise.
8 He lies in wait near villages his victims’ blood to spill;
he lurks in secret ambushes the innocent to kill.
9 Like lions crouching secretly he waits for helpless prey.
He pounces on the weak and poor; his net drags them away.
10 His victims by his strength are crushed; his prey collapse and fall.
11 He thinks, “God does not notice it; he does not see at all.”
12 Arise, LORD God, lift up your hand; do not forget the poor.
13 Why does the wicked say of God, “My conduct he’ll ignore”?
14 But you, O God, do see such wrong and you will bring redress.
The victim puts his trust in you; you help the fatherless.
15 LORD, break the wicked person’s pow’r and call him to account
for all the evil which he thought would never be found out.
16 The LORD will ever reign as king; his throne will always stand.
The heathen nations of the world will perish from his land.
17 O LORD, the needy ones’ desire you answer from on high;
you give encouragement to them and listen to their cry.
18 For you defend the fatherless and those who are oppressed,
so that from fear of mortal man the helpless may have rest.
Tune: Halifax (George F. Handel, 1748; harm. Austin Lovelace, b. 1919)
Commentary
Psalm 10 has no title (see introduction).
Psalm 10 responds to Psalm 9 very closely. (Psalm 9:1-12 takes the form of a communal thanksgiving as Israel gives praise to God for maintaining the just cause of David. But then in verses 13-18, the tone begins to change towards a plea for help. In 9:19-20, the Psalmist is now calling on God to arise and judge the nations). And then Psalm 10 continues with the communal lament, asking God why he allows the wicked to prosper in 10:1-11, and then repeating the plea for God to arise and “break the arm of the wicked” in 10:12-15, before concluding with an affirmation of confidence that the LORD will hear and act — “so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.”
Structure:
If Psalms 9-10 were originally a single song, does this mean that they should be interpreted (and sung) together? Or should we take the Hebrew division of the Psalm as an inspired division and thus read them and sing them separately? I like the approach taken here — by putting both Psalms to the same tune, but retaining the Hebrew numbering, it becomes possible to sing/read them together, while also permitting them to be sung/read separately.
Sing Psalms does very well with the structure of Psalm 10. The stanza breaks are all quite conducive to singing with understanding.
Translation Notes:
A key word in Psalms 9-10 is aniyim “the afflicted” (9:12, 13, 18; 10:2, 9, 17). The ESV renders this alternately as “the afflicted” (9:12, 10:17) and “the poor” (9:18, 10:2, 9). Some may find this puzzling — since the ESV is not constrained by metrical considerations! — but once again we are dealing with a word whose semantic range varies in a wider range than the English word “afflicted.” It would be very odd to translate 10:2, “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted,” because it is only on account of the wicked’s pursuit that they have become afflicted! Rather, the reason why they are vulnerable to the wicked’s pursuit is because they are poor. On the other hand, if you translate it consistently as “poor” then you wind up with a misleading translation in verse 17 — “O LORD, you hear the desire of the poor” might sound to English ears as though God is heeding the cries of the materially destitute.
Part of the problem is that we have come to think of “poverty” in terms of material lack. We think of the poor as those who “lack stuff.” But that is not the biblical description of the aniyim. The poor — the afflicted — are those who lack the resources to protect themselves against the depredations of the powerful. Material possessions can be helpful in this respect — since land and resources can go a long way to stave off trouble — but the poor are those who are vulnerable. When you start to think of poverty in terms of access to power, it is much easier to understand the biblical teaching regarding God’s “preferential option” for the poor.
For this reason we have not tried to attain consistency in our translation of aniyim — but have followed the excellent “weak and poor” of Sing Psalms in verses 2 and 9 — or “needy” in verse 17.
Another key word in Psalm 10 is darash — “to seek” or “to call to account.” In verse 4, the wicked does not seek God (or, “The wicked says, ‘He will not call to account'” — see ESV footnote). The same phrase is used more clearly in verse 13. But then in verse 15, the Psalmist asks God to “call his wickedness to account till you find none.” And since wicked (rasha’) looks and sounds a lot like darash, there are some really fun plays on words in this Psalm.
Of course, the problem is that wordplays are nearly impossible to translate. I don’t know if the Sing Psalms translators did this intentionally, but they provide some similar English wordplays to make up for it. For instance, in verse 7, they say: “The wicked’s mouth is always full of curses, threats, and lies…” and in verse 8, later in the same stanza, they say, “He lies in wait.” The two meanings of the word “lies” provide an English wordplay that help makes up for the impossibility of translating Hebrew wordplays!
Tune Notes:
I will simply repeat my comments on Halifax from Psalm 9:
Since Psalms 9 and 10 blend together notes of triumph and lament, Halifax is one of the few tunes that can carry the whole Psalm. Austin Lovelace’s harmonization of Handel’s tune provides a strong but dark tone. While in a minor key, it moves back and forth to the relative major, allowing for a variety of brightness and darkness in the tune — mirroring the Psalmist’s trust in the Lord, even as he pours out his pleas and petitions.
Halifax is used in the BPS with Psalm 89, in the BPW with Psalms 55 and 89, and in the Trinity Psalter with Psalm 140.
Conclusion
Psalms 9-10 work well together liturgically. Psalm 9 works well as a song of praise as we come into the presence of the living God, followed by Psalm 10, as we lament our afflictions and troubles and call upon the LORD to do justice. I think that sometimes we focus so much on the confession of sin that we lose sight that many afflictions are not due to our sin, but to the assault of our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
I have not been able to find any recordings of Halifax.
“On Fasting, Death, and Joy: Reflections on His Upcoming Ordination”
by Hugh Lynn
To me, fasting has always seemed like a some sort of mechanical ritual. When church leaders have talked about fasting and state that it is a sanctioned practice in the Bible, I have always asked myself, “Why should I fast? What is it for? When is it appropriate?”
So should I fast? Many people will be quick to point out that Jesus says in Mathew 6:16, “When you fast…,” not “if you fast.” So simple answer is yes, fasting is permissible.
But does that mean I should fast?
Pastor Peter pointed out to me that there is clearly a fast that is not beneficial to perform. In Isaiah 58:1-5, God declares that the house of Jacob has transgressed in their fast. So maybe I shouldn’t fast.
But how do I know? What is fasting for?
I think a clue can be found in Mathew 9:14-17. In verse 14, the disciples of John ask Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus reply is “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?”
Jesus is saying people are not to fast at just any time. When there is a celebration, when there is joy, this is not the time for fasting. But Jesus goes on to say, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Fasting is a time for mourning.
Jesus gives metaphors for fasting. He says that only shrunk cloth can be used to patch a old garment. Also that new wine is put in new wineskins. The reason is clear. If unshrunk cloth is used on an old garment, it will shrink in time and further damage the garment. If new wine is put in old wineskins, the fermentation process will burst the old wineskins since they have lost their elasticity.
So will fasting destroy a person if they attempt to do it when they should be rejoicing. Fasting is for times of mourning.
So, when is an appropriate time for mourning and fasting?
What do the fasts in the Bible look like?
Moses is the first person that I know to fast in the Bible. After the incident with the golden calves, Exodus 33 and 34 recounts the story of God wanting to send the people to the promised land without his presence. Moses interceded and asked to see the glory of the God. God told Moses that no man can see God’s glory and live. God would hide Moses in the cleft of the rock and cover him with his hand. Then God would take away his hand and Moses would see God’s back. Then Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights while God gave Moses the Law.
David has accounts of his fasts in the Bible. II Samuel 1 recounts one story of David’s fasts. He received news of king Saul’s and his son’s, Jonathan, death. In verses 11 and 12 it says, “Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son….”
Another one of David’s fasts is in II Samuel 12. David’s infidelity with Bathsheba lead to the birth of a child. The Lord sent a deathly sickness to this child. Verse 16 says, “David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.”
In I Kings 19, the story of Elijah’s fast is recounted. After killing the prophets of Baal, Jezebel desired to kill Elijah. So he flees, losses heart and asks God for death. Elijah eats two meals and then goes on a fast for forty days and forty nights as he travels to the mountain of God. When at the mountain of God, God asks what Elijah is doing there. Elijah answers in verse 14, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left and they seek my life, to take it away.”
As Joel has taught us in his sermons, Esther called for a fast, in chapter 4, verse 16, when she risked her life to go before the king when not summoned. And it was not her life only at risk, but the all the Jews in the Persian Empire were in deathly peril.
In Daniel, there is the story of a gentile king, Darius, that unwittingly made a law that condemned Daniel to death. When the sentence of being cast into a den of lions was executed, chapter 6, verse 18 tells us that Darius fasted all night because of Daniel.
And what about our Lord? Jesus himself has a fast recorded in Scripture. Mathew 3:13-17 tells the story of Jesus’ baptism. Then, in chapter 4:1-11 Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. Then the tempter came to Jesus and temped him with life. In verse 3, Jesus was tempted to cling to life by commanding stones to become bread. In verse 6, Jesus is tempted to live by being protected by angels. In verse 9 Jesus was temped to live life to the fullest by receiving all the kingdoms of the world only if he would worship the devil. But Paul says in Romans 6:3 that those “who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.”
In my quick study of fasting in the Bible, one thing stood out to make fasting appropriate.
Death.
Moses comes close to seeing the face of God, which no man can see and live. David fasts after the death of Saul and Jonathan. He also fasts when his child approaches death. Elijah, when fleeing for his life and even desiring death, fasts. Esther fasts when she faces death. The gentile king, Darius, fasts when Daniel is facing death. And even death is not far away during Jesus fast. For his future death must have been near his mind after his baptism.
So if I am to fast, who died? Who is dying? Who will die?
Well, me.
If I am going to do the duties of a deacon, then I must die. The list of qualifications in I Timothy 3 is a list that I have not, do not, nor always will live up to. I have not, do not, nor will not love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have not, do not, and will not love my neighbor as myself.
In order for me to do so, I must die. Eventually, my body will die and by God’s grace and mercy I will love him more than anything and I will not love others less than I love myself. But until then, I have to die to my idolatries. I have to die to my worship of myself.
So I fast, because I know dying is hard. Dying hurts. Dying brings sorrow. I fast because this task set before me will kill me.
But with Jesus there is hope. With Jesus, death is a paradox and results in life! Because with Jesus, death is not the end. When we die, there is Jesus’ life in us! Paul says it nicely in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
And that is a reason to end the fast and have great, great joy.
Q. 48. What are we specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?
A. These words before me in the first commandment teach us that God, who sees all things, takes notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other god.
