When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, at the moon and the stars you have set in place, what is a frail mortal, that you should be mindful of [him], a human being, that you should take notice of [him]? (Ps 8:3,4);
The heavens tell out the glory of God, heaven’s vault makes known [his] handiwork (Ps 19:1);
The word of יהוה created the heavens; all the host of heaven was formed at [his] command. [He] gathered into a heap the waters of the sea, [he] laid up the deeps in [his] store-chambers (Ps 33:6,7);
Long ago you laid earth’s foundations, and the heavens were your handiwork. They will pass away, but you remain (Ps 102:25).
One of the more complementary features of the Psalter is the way in which it speaks of Israel’s experience in the on-going drama of the covenant relationship. The Psalms are an unconscious disclosure of how Hebrew faith understood the human condition. We could describe this awareness as a personalism of concrete immediacy. Its ideals are not mere abstractions. It has no concept of immateriality. Transcendence is known in the incomparable otherness of the divine. In some mysterious way this divine greatness is shared intimately through the awareness of the covenant and the presence of יהוה in temple worship—By day יהוה grants [his] unfailing love; at night [his] praise is upon my lips, a prayer to the God of my life (Ps 42:8);
Send out your light and your truth to be my guide; let them lead me to your holy hill, to your dwelling-place (Ps 43:3);
Happy are those who dwell in your house; they never cease to praise you (Ps 84:4);
Let me hear the words of God–יהוה; [he] proclaims peace to [his] people (Ps 85:8);
יהוה, teach me your way, that I may walk in your truth. Let me worship your name with an undivided heart (Ps 86:11).
Five, the power of the personalism of the Psalms may be described as visceral. The whole person is involved, bodily, in the drama of personal existence. For example, this is reflected in two terms frequently occurring in our versions, heart and soul. Beyond its purely physical association with strong emotions, the heart (לב leb) designates the interior mystery of the person where intentions, decisions, feelings and speech take form; where the human person experiences the presence of God who knows her or him profoundly and gives support throughout life.4
Examine me, God, and know my mind; test me, and understand my anxious thoughts. Watch lest I follow any path that grieves you; lead me in the everlasting way (Ps 139:23);
The precepts of יהוה are right and give joy to the heart. The commandment of יהוה is pure and gives light to the eyes. The fear of יהוה is unsullied; it abides forever (Ps 19:8,9);
‘Come, ‘my heart has said, ‘seek [his] presence.’ I seek your presence, יהוה (Ps 27:8);
My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and raise a psalm (Ps 57:7).
Soul (נפשי nephesh) refers to the innermost, volitional being of a person where conscious decisions and choices are made. In Hebrew it is the noun that refers bodily to the gullet or the neck. Like heart, its significance expands to refer to more than bodily hunger, thirst and taste; it stands in sharp relief to the human being in a situation of want and necessity as a desiring being-How long must I suffer anguish in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? (Ps 13:2);
The law of יהוה is perfect and revives the soul (Ps 19:7);
As I pour out my soul in distress, I call to mind how I marched in the ranks of the great to God’s house (Ps 42:4);
God, you are my God; I seek you eagerly with a heart that thirsts for you and a body wasted with longing for you (Ps 63:1);
I pine and faint with longing for the courts of the temple of יהוה; my whole being cries out with joy to the living God (Ps 84:2);
Bless יהוה, my soul; with all my being I bless [his] holy name. Bless יהוה, my soul (Ps 103:1,2);
For the poets, the eyes also are closely associated with the movements of the heart.—My strength, I look to you; for God is my strong tower. My God, in [his] unfailing love, will go before me (Ps 59:9, 10);
Come, see what יהוה has done, the astounding deeds [he] has wrought on earth (Ps 46:8);
My eyes are worn out with waiting for my God (Ps 69:3);
Look to יהוה and be strong; at all times seek [his] presence (Ps 105:4);
Turn my eyes away from all that is futile; grant me life by your word (Ps 119:37);
I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come? My help comes from יהוה, the Maker of heaven and earth (Ps 121:1);
יהוה, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty (Ps 131:1);
But my eyes are fixed on you, יהוה God; you are my refuge; do not leave me unprotected (Ps 141:8);
I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for יהוה, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob (Ps 132:4, 5);
I lift up my eyes to you whose throne is in heaven (Ps 123:1);
My eyes are ever on יהוה, who alone can free my feet from the net (Ps 25:15).
Six. The Psalms’ personalism of concrete immediacy is frequently expressed in a narrative form which captures the drama of the poets’ present moment within the totality of their on-going story. Vivid images abound. Human life is the walking of paths, but only one path is secure and therefore desirable; the path of יהוה—You will show me the path of life; In your presence is the fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures for evermore (Ps 16:11);
My steps have held steadily to your paths; my feet have not faltered (Ps 17:5);
What god is there but יהוה ? What rock but our God? It is God who girds me with strength and makes my way free from blame, who makes me swift as a hind and sets me secure on the heights (Ps18:31,32);
יהוה revives my spirit; for [his] name’s sake [he] guides me in the right paths (Ps 23:3);
Teach me your way, יהוה; . . . lead me by a level path (Ps 27:11);
Whoever fears יהוה will be shown the path he should choose (Ps 25:12);
It is יהוה who directs a person’s steps; [he] holds firm and approves of [his] conduct. Though [he] mayfall, [he] will not go headlong, for יהוה grasps [him] by the hand (Ps 37:23, 24);
For you have rescued me from death and my feet from stumbling, to walk in the presence of God, in the light of life (Ps 56:13);
I have chosen the path of faithfulness; I have set your decrees before me (Ps 119:30);
יהוה, teach me your way, that I may walk in your truth (Ps 86:11);
When my spirit is faint within me, you are there to watch over my steps (Ps 142:3).
God is a very real companion and stronghold, a high tower and refuge to the poets.5 This is a recurring theme in the Psalms and is especially appropriated in the psalms of trust– But let all who take refuge in you rejoice, let them forever shout for joy (Ps 5:11);
יהוה my God, in you I find refuge (Ps 7:1);
May יהוה be a tower of strength for the oppressed, a tower of strength in time of trouble (Ps 9:9);
Keep me, O God, for in you have I found refuge (Ps 16:1);
יהוה is my shepherd: I lack for nothing (Ps 23:1);
יהוה is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? יהוה is the stronghold of my life; of whom then should I go in dread? (Ps 27:1);
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