The Playwright
Help – Psalm 63 seems to be filled with emotional contradictions. It begins with an agonizing plea. God is absent. The psalmist is in deep distress. We expect the lines to continue with yearning for connection, perhaps confession, certainly remorse. But it doesn’t happen. Instantly the psalmist veers in the direction of remembering majesty. He extols God for His past ḥesed, promising faithfulness and life-long praise. Then he reflects on the mutual bond exhibited in the sacrifice. He remembers, uttering incomprehensible sounds over the standard that ḥesed implies. There appears to be no connection to the emotional distress that opened these lyrics.
Except—
Except that this is part of a divine play, a play designed to remind God that there is something wrong in the world. ḥesedisn’t being honored. Mutual commitment seems lost. And God needs to fix it!
David Lambert makes the point:
The Psalmist induces affliction, “altering [his] ontological status through rites of self-diminishment”[1] in order to confront YHVH with something that should not be the case, thereby demanding that YHVH restore proper order in the world. “ . . . human impotence and dependence are physically demonstrated just prior to the sudden and total reversal that divine intervention brings. Indeed throughout biblical literature—Job’s is a dramatic example—the path to success always lies through She’ol. Unlike the modern gradualist model of progress, redemption follows from extreme states of deprivation.”[2]
From the human perspective, it is only natural to cry at the violation wrought by suffering. Appeal has its basis in the involuntary expression of anguish. From the deity’s perspective, as an agent empowered to relieve distress, he heeds this outcry to direct his attention to its source. He does not act unilaterally. After all, this deity is not generally portrayed as omniscient in the contemporary sense; he is not all-knowing all of the time. His mind is conceived as rather like a normal human one, albeit one with certain unusual abilities: something akin to a potent emperor. He has great powers of reconnaissance—through messengers and the expression of the needy themselves—but he needs to be told where to look and, even, reminded of his promises. This system of management ends up according great efficacy to human speech even as it confines human agency in general to reaction.[3]
In other words, David, the king, cries out to God that this situation isn’t fair. It’s not the way God is supposed to respond to a faithful follower—and God needs to do something about it! This psalm is a neon billboard demanding attention. Look at me! Don’t you see what I’m going through? Where are You when I need You? I’ve done everything You’ve asked. Now, then, show up and do Your part.”
Bold, indeed. Help me like you did before. ʿezrâta (my help).
Topical Index: help, ʿezrâta, ḥesed, Psalm 63:7
[1] David Lambert, How Repentance Became Biblical, p. 27.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., p. 35.
FOR THOSE WHO WANTED TO HEAR THE LECTURE ON MICHELANGELO’S WOMEN. HERE IS THE LINK
