Terms of Heart

Reflections on the Psalms and the Great Psalmist,

Shepherd of Israel and Poet King David,
the man after God's own heart.

The Heart of Psalm 119 (Part 4)

“Incline our hearts to keep this law.” Each of the first four Sundays of Lent the order of worship in my church begins with the congregation repeating that refrain nine times, in response to the pastor’s recitation, one by one, of the first nine commandments of the Decalogue. In that practice we unite ourselves not only with one another who are present but also with innumerable others, across centuries and geographies, with whom we acknowledge that our shared faith is rooted in Judaic practice and heritage. And thus we claim our connection to the great psalmist David as well. [Read more…]

The Heart of Psalm 119 (Part 3)

In The Heart of Psalm 119 (Part 2) our focus was on examining how the elements of design and structure in the psalm support, enhance and help define its meaning. The frequently discussed word pattern also clearly falls within the category of design, whether one accepts the traditional view that it is comprised of nine key words that all reference the law or embraces my opinion that there are twelve words. [Read more…]

The Heart of Psalm 119 (Part 2)

In the first part of this series I mentioned the “acrostic pattern” and “intricate architecture” of this magnificent poem. Those passing references were insufficient to convey the importance of structure, however. Understanding it, and the purposeful complexity of design within it, is absolutely critical, I believe, to fully apprehending David’s purpose in this psalm.

First, and most fundamental, is the fact that the psalmist-poet himself was utterly dedicated to conforming his expression to a particular and stringent “architecture.” Serious poets and students and readers of literature, even in this postmodern age, acknowledge that form in poetry supports its meaning. [Read more…]

The Heart of Psalm 119 (Part 1)

It has been several months since I last spoke in this space. There is no easy transition from that silence, and even less to the subject that I have finally mustered the courage to engage. I must both confess and warn that in finally breaking the silence, I will also be breaking with the tradition of literally centuries of scholars and theologians who have examined, studied, prayed, written and instructed others about the intricacies and meaning of the longest poem in the Hebrew book of Praises (tehillim), namely Psalm 119. I do so cautiously and prayerfully, trusting that the skill I bring, honed in the formal study of textual criticism and literary manuscript revision, can bring some valid new insight here. [Read more…]

The Heart of Joy

In response to my June post on the Heart of Happiness, a thoughtful reader commented “I have frequently used joy instead of happy” and inquired whether or not I thought that substitution would “work.” I responded that I did not know, but I certainly would take a look at the Hebrew text and search out an answer.  Although I could easily recite from memory several verses in the psalms that speak of joy, I had never really spent much time contemplating the psalmist’s focus on joy or examining the nature of  joy in the psalms. [Read more…]