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Psalms
with Lee Campbell

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Week 3: Psalms of Gratitude[1] 

Overview

Thanksgiving (todah) is related to praise (yadah - the verb meaning, 'to praise') linguistically and conceptually. One scholar suggested that all psalms are either songs of orientation, disorientation or reorientation,[2]  which would make hymns and thanksgiving similar in some ways but different in others. Psalms of gratitude focus on what God has done. Psalms of praise focus attention upon who God is. Of course, they overlap. God's actions arise from his nature but such a division has its value for us in this class. *

It's reasonable - If awesome and beautiful things ought to be praised, how much more should the creator be praised; We'd call someone incapable of responding appropriately to beauty and majesty - autistic, mentally deficient.

"...man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever" - Westminster Confession

"To fully enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him." C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p.97

It's commanded (Ps.95:2; 107:1; 1Chron.16:8; 1Thes.5:18; Col.3:15; Heb.12:28)

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation...the delight is incomplete till it is expressed...the worthier the object the more intense this delight would be." C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p.95-96.

Corporate Gratitude

Situation of the psalmist

Structure of the psalm

Analysis of the psalm

75:1

We give thanks1 to you, O God,* we give thanks,1 For your name is near;2 Men declare your wondrous works.3

 We thank you God, and in so doing, are aware of your presence.

* Elohim

1 hodinu – "we give thanks," is repeated for emphasis
2 qarob semeka – could mean, ‘they who worship you tell of your wonderful deeds’ (closer to LXX) OR ‘your name is brought very near to us in the story of your wonderful deeds’ (closer to MT); when we ponder and praise God we become more alert to his immanence.
3 niple’oteyka – wonderful deeds; see the comments on this under the GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S HISTORICAL ACTIONS; this is how the godly respond to God.
2

"When I select an appointed time, It is I who judge with equity.

 I will judge justly.

9:8-20; 58:11; 98:9; Amos
3

"The earth and all who dwell in it melt; It is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah.

 When all is lost, I have complete control.
4

"I said to the boastful,1 'Do not boast,' And to the wicked, 'Do not lift up the horn2

 Don’t indulge in arrogant autonomy or self-promotion.

1 hollelim – those who ignore God & his ways (52:1: 73:3), are disrespectful (31:18; 94:4).
2 a metaphor for strength and thus, they exalt their personal power over God himself
4-5 are chiastic (4a to 5b and 4b to 5a).
5

Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride.'"1

 1 ataq – with insolence or arrogantly
6

For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation;

 People don’t exalt others.

This prophetic meditation on the earlier revelation begins with ki – ‘indeed’, which marks it off from what preceded it. Thus, in this section the prophet is reflecting upon the Word of God.
7

But God* is the Judge; He puts down one, and exalts another.

 God casts down and lifts up.

* Elohim
8

For a cup is in the hand of the LORD,* and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.

 God will judge the wicked.

* YHWH

This metaphor is used frequently by the prophets to refer to the judgment of God that produces, confusion, staggering, wounds and loss of control (See Isa.29:9-12; 51:17-23; 63:1-6; Jer.13:12-14) - God slipping them a Mickey Finn.
9

But as for me, I will declare1 it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

 I will tell of God and praise God because he will take down the evil ones and raise up the godly.

LXX renders this agil – rejoice, instead of aggid - declare
10

And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off,1 But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.2

 1 Many versions take this as 3rd person since it is YHWH who will destroy the so-called strength of the wicked v.7

Ps.1:6

2 the wicked elevate themselves, the righteous are elevated by God

Personal Gratitude

Situation of the psalmist 

The title indicates a mizmor (i.e. musical accompaniment)...a zamar (i.e. to sing) [5]  for the dedication (1Ki.8:63; Ezra 6:16) of the temple. 

The title of the Psalm doesn't seem to fit the content. It may be an editorial addition but it's not clear why an editor would ascribe such a title to this psalm. It seems more likely that this is a footnote to Psalm 29 rather than a title for Psalm 30 but David didn't dedicate the temple. Since we cannot know, it is fruitless to insist on any particular view. 

Structure of the psalm

Analysis of the psalm[6] 

30:1

I will extol You, O LORD,* for You have lifted me up,1 And have not let my enemies2 rejoice over me.

 I will praise you b/c you saved me.

* YHWH

1dalah – lift a bucket up from a well; a metaphor used by the author to evoke and image of rescue from a hopeless situation.
2 enemies are glad when we fail
"I will extol you, O YHWH," here and "I will give you thanks forever." of the last verse forms an inclusio for the psalm.

2

O LORD* my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.

 I asked for help & you healed me.

* YHWH

 

3

O LORD,* You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.1

 You kept me from death.

* YHWH

1 NIV follows the Qere (miyordi – from my going down) rather than the Kethiv (MT) (miyoredebor – from the ones going down into the pit).

4

Sing praise to the LORD,* you His godly ones,1 And give thanks to His holy name.2

 Praise & thank God hasidim

* YHWH

1 hasidim – saints or godly ones; related to hesed which refers to covenant lovingkindness; thus, "Sing praise to YHWH you who are in a covenant relationship with him."

4-7 show many contrasts btw. anger/grace; transitory/permanent; sadness/joy; night/day; secure/dismayed and yet the thrust of the contrasts is to show the grace of God.

2 zeker – this involves proclamation of the history of YHWH’s salvation (111:2-4; 122:4; 145); this is the appropriate response to YHWH’s

  • Forgiveness – v.6 walking by sight, autonomous from God (Ps.10:4-6)
  • Restoration – while forgiveness isn’t mentioned here it’s implicit in the restoration experienced by the author; he could not restore himself

5

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor1 is for a lifetime;2 Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

 because his disfavor is transient
because his favor is permanent

1 rason – recovery of blessing (69:13; 106:4; Isa.49:8; 60:10; 61:2); c.f. v.7
2 rega – moment; death; "For in his anger is death, but in his favor is life" is a translation preferred by some, in order to produce a balanced parallelism.

6

Now as for me,1 I said in my prosperity,2 "I will never be moved."

 When things were going well, I thought it would never end.

1 wa’ani – the use of a disjunctive, waw consecutive establishes a contrast; the psalmist felt secure b/c of his prosperity neither trusting God nor acknowledging that the prosperity was God’s provision.
2 salwi – my ease, my prosperity; a state of well-being (122:7-9) due to God’s provision (Deut.8:7-10).

7

O LORD,* by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

 You’re the one who caused things to go well.

* YHWH

I was troubled when you took away your favor.

8

To You, O LORD,* I called, And to the Lord I made supplication:

 I keep calling on you to rescue

* YHWH

8 & 10 form an inclusio around v. 9; this is suggested by the repetition of the root, h-n-n – merciful.

The imperfect tense of the Hebrew verbs are better translated, "I keep calling...I keep crying for mercy"

9

"What profit is there in my blood,1 if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You?2 Will it declare Your faithfulness?

 ‘my death doesn’t serve your interests’

1 d-m-m may be dammi – ‘my blood’ OR dommi – ‘my weeping’ and hence, ‘What profit is there in my weeping?"
2 see v.12 and the handout on death, Sheol, Grave and Death in the Psalsm.

Is the psalmist scheming or has his repentance produced concern for God’s honor?

10

"Hear, O LORD,* and be gracious to me; O LORD,* be my helper."

 * YHWH

I ask you to rescue

11

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

 You turned everything around for the good.

12

That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.1 O LORD* my God, I will give thanks to You forever.2

 * YHWH

So I will praise and thank you forever.

1 d-m-m – some translate this as weep and so, ‘That my soul may sing praise to You and not weep"
2 Either this is hyperbole or the author has some notion of life-after-death.

Gratitude for God's Historical Actions

Situation of the psalmist

Structure of the psalm

Analysis of the psalm

Submission & Praise in the Face of an Awesome God

Songs of Trust

Situation of the psalmist 

Structure of the psalm

Analysis of the psalm

131:1

O LORD* my heart is not proud nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters Or in things too difficult for me.

 I’m no big deal. I don’t worry about the things beyond my capacity.

* YHWH

Pride – overvalue self; this kind of person constantly compares, competes & schemes; to Baruch he says do not seek greatness (Jer.45).

Haughtiness – under value others

Mt.19:13; 1Pet.5:5-7; Prov.16:5; 18:12; Micah 6:8

Deu 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

1 Cor 4:7 For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

By servitude (Phil.2) and directing our goal oriented behavior toward God’s goals (Phil.3/1Cor.2) we effectively repel these tendencies.
2

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned1 child rests against his mother My soul is like a weaned child within me.

 I just relax next to you God.

1 A weaned child isn’t with its mother for food but for comfort; gamul could also be translated contented...but whether weaned or sated, it’s the attitude of comfort and contentment.

Isa.49:15-16 Can a mother forget...I will not forget

It is pride and presumptuousness that lead to anxiety and alienation from God and servitude with humility that provide peace and comfort.
3

O Israel hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.

 Israel, you should also hope in Yahweh.

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.

Confidence in God is antagonistic to confidence in self and vice versa.

The Attitude of Gratitude

When we think of rebellion (i.e. rejection of God) we tend to think of bad behaviors and this is certainly an outcome of rebellion.[9]  Notice in Romans 1:21, however, the first sign of rebellion - failure to glorify (praise) God for who he is or thank (gratitude) him for what he's done.

Ingratitude is a hallmark of the last days 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Complainers feel powerless in and of themselves but haven't made the transition to trusting God (Isa.57:10-15; Jer.2:13).

Moving on vs. Responding to

Duty vs. Passion - your attitudes are preeminent over your service (both/and not either/or); Lukewarm xians (Rev.3:14-20)

Restraint vs. Exuberance

'I did this before the Lord...and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes..." 2 Samuel 6:13-23.

Sit down sometime and reflect on what God has done in your life...name every event and then ponder where your life would be if God had not intervened.

Read through the entire book of Acts in one sitting.

Read through a gospel account in one sitting.

Read an account of a Christian man/woman who trusted God in difficult times. Notice how God continually delivered them.

Prayerfully & humbly think about the good qualities and status before God of every person in your small group or home church (Rom.14:1-4; 1Cor.4:7; 13:4-7; 2Cor.5:16-17; Phil.4:8) ?

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done....Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgments he pronounced... 1Chron.16:8,11,12 *

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Notes:

[1]  I am indebted to Dennis Bratcher for these genre's and sub-categories of Psalms. See, The Christian Resource Institute website at http://www.cresourcei.org/psalmtypes.html Copyright © 1999 Christian Resource Institute Return to Text

[2]  W. Brueggemann, psalms of orientation are hymns - affirmations of God as God; psalms of disorientation are laments and psalms of reorientation are expressions of gratitude (i.e. as explained by Longmann, p. 143) Return to Text

[3]  Psalms 8 , 66 & 67 include expressions of gratitude and hymns of praise; Psalms 40 & 27 are laments and psalms of gratitude Return to Text

[4]  Anderson suggests that this is, "...a chief among the singers appointed under David (1 Chr 15:16ff.; 16:4-7,37; 25:1ff.) (cf. 1 Chr 25:1-2). He appears to have been an important author of psalms (cf. 2 Chr 29:30)." Return to Text

[5]  And thus a song to musical accompaniment...it is important to remember, however, that the precise meanings of these terms are unclear. Return to Text

[6]  Much of this material is drawn from VanGemeren's excellent analysis. Return to Text

[7]  Including creation (Ps.8, 19, 33, 104, 136:5-9; 145), exodus (78:11-12; 136:10-16), conquest (136:17-22); It is a significant theme that God is continually referred to as the creator & goel; Go 'el - the patriarch as redeemer; the authority of the clan belongs to the patriarch but also the responsibility of the patriarch to take care of his own. If the clan is sold into slavery, it is the responsibility of the patriarch to serve the function of redeemer (go 'el). Interestingly, God is then referred to as the go 'el (Ruth 4:14, see also Lev.25:47). Return to Text

[8]  Some suggest these represented each of the 15 steps up to the temple but the other use is more likely (c.f. Exodus 23:14-17; Deut.16:16) Return to Text

[9]  Romans 1:24-32 Return to Text