Jeffery M. Leonard Samford University Birmingham, Alabama

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1 RBL 10/2011 Jacobson, Rolf A., ed. Soundings in the Theology of Psalms: Perspectives and Methods in Contemporary Scholarship Minneapolis: Fortress, Pp. xiii + 197, Paperback, $32.00, ISBN Jeffery M. Leonard Samford University Birmingham, Alabama As its title suggests, Soundings in the Theology of the Psalms is not a systematic presentation of Psalms theology but rather a collection of essays on individual theological topics in the Psalter. Four of the book s eight essays, those by Rolf Jacobson, Jerome Creach, J. Clinton McCann, and Beth Tanner, were first presented in the Book of Psalms section at the 2008 meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Additional essays were subsequently contributed by Harry Nasuti, Nancy declaissé-walford, and Joel LeMon, along with a reprinted essay from Walter Brueggemann. Helpful author and biblical reference indices round out the volume. As a testament to his enduring influence in Psalms study, the book s opening chapter is a reprint of Walter Brueggemann s The Psalms and the Life of Faith: A Suggested Typology of Function. Brueggemann s concern in this essay is to move beyond the foundation laid by form critics such as Gunkel and Westermann to consider more carefully the function of the Psalms. As he puts it, What was being done when the Psalms were done? (1). For assistance in this task, Brueggemann turns to the work of Paul Ricoeur and especially to his insights into the role of language in the life of faith. In conversation with Ricoeur, Brueggemann suggests the Psalms fall into the now wellknown categories of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. Of particular interest

2 is Brueggemann s application of the hermeneutics of suspicion and re-presentation to these psalms. The hermeneutic of suspicion allows speakers in the psalms of disorientation to dismantle the façade of beliefs held in the time of orientation and fully acknowledge the pain of the present circumstance. It enables the speaker to express deep questions never before permitted and until now censured by the community and by self (15). When the speaker experiences the surprise of unexpected reversal, the hermeneutic of re-presentation enables the speaker to borrow from the old symbols but redeploy them to express confidence in a new life and new reality. Together, Brueggemann argues, the psalms of disorientation and reorientation and the hermeneutics they employ bring human experience to sufficiently vivid expression so that it may be embraced as the real situation in which persons must live (21). As seems always to be the case with Brueggemann, the author s insights into the Psalms remain as penetrating and poignant today as when they were first published. In God at Work in the Word: A Theology of Divine-Human Encounter in the Psalms, Harry Nasuti argues that the unique theological contribution of the Psalms is fully grasped only when attention is given to their continued use in the relational contexts of personal prayer and liturgy (29). He teases out the implications of this focus in various ways. He suggests the first-person style of the Psalms gives them a continuing transformative power comparable to that which Mowinckel observed in the cult ( a sacramental power capable of shaping its participants, 34). Drawing on the insights of metaphorical theology, he notes the unique way in which metaphors describe God but also invite later believing communities to participate in the metaphors and encounter God anew. Addressing the lament psalms and their struggle with God s absence, Nasuti argues that these same psalms become the means by which God becomes present as later generations continue to use them. Nasuti s emphasis on the present encounter between God and those who pray these texts (44) raises important theological issues for modern Psalms readers. It would be interesting to see him expand further on whether the Psalms first authors anticipated this continued use (it seems evident that they did) and what this continued use looked like within the biblical period. In The Destiny of the Righteous and the Theology of the Psalms, Jerome Creach searches for the organizing rubric that holds together the theology of the Psalter. He finds this theme in the Psalms concern for the life and destiny of the righteous (49). Noting the remarkable frequency with which the terms righteous and its opposite, wicked, occur in the Psalms, Creach goes on to argue that concern for the righteous was used as an organizing principle for shaping much of the Psalter. He highlights the strong collection of such terms and concerns at the beginning of the Psalter (Pss 1 and 2), at the end of books 1 (Pss 40 and 41) and 2 (Pss 69 72), throughout the exilic concerns of book 4 (Pss ), and in the frames of book 5 (Pss 107 and 145, prior to the concluding

3 psalms of praise). While acknowledging the strong proposal by James Luther Mays that it is the reign of God that serves as the Psalms organizing center, Creach suggests that first and foremost a concern for the destiny of the righteous provides the theological context for this claim. He concludes with a insightful note concerning the adoption of this concern for the destiny of the righteous in the Lukan presentation of Jesus and his followers (cf. Luke 23 24; Acts 2). Creach rightly observes the strong connection between the righteous in the Psalms and the poor and oppressed. At points, though, he seems to downplay too much the moral component in righteousness, arguing, for example, such persons are not morally pure and narrow, legalistic, and condemnatory expressions of faith are based on misunderstandings of this language (50). This minimizes too greatly the strong connection between righteousness and Torah keeping in the Psalms (Pss 1:2; 11:7; 18:20 24; 112:1; 119 passim) and undermines the laments of those righteous people who feel their suffering is unjust precisely because they have lived righteously. J. Clinton McCann s contribution to the volume is ambitiously titled The Single Most Important Text in the Entire Bible: Toward a Theology of the Psalms. Here McCann follows John Dominic Crossan in the bold assertion that the Bible s most important text is Ps 82, a somewhat unlikely candidate for such an honor. McCann lights upon this text because of the powerful claim it makes about God s character. As Crossan notes, God does not demote the other gods in the psalm because they are pagan or because they are competitors but rather because they fail to provide justice to the weak. Thus, God s essential character is inextricably linked to justice (65). McCann proceeds from this key argument to highlight Ps 82 s literary and conceptual connections with important themes and texts throughout the Psalter: the introduction in Pss 1 and 2 and conclusion in Pss 146 and 149, the messianic orientation of the royal psalms (he posits Ps 82 as a bridge between Pss 72 and 89), and the theological heart of the Psalms, which he, with Gerald Wilson, identifies as the reign of God (he argues it is Ps 82 that anticipates the emphasis on God s reign in Pss 93 and 95 99). McCann concludes his essay with a moving call to greater justice in contemporary life. Whether one is convinced that Ps 82 belongs at the very top of the pantheon of biblical texts or not, the author has clearly made an impressive case for the psalm s theological importance. As with all such searches for central texts in the Psalms, the challenge comes in deciding whether Ps 82 actually played a role in influencing the shape of the Psalter or was just a signal expression of the Psalms focus on God s commitment to justice. In The Theology of the Imprecatory Psalms, Nancy declaissé-walford notes the discomfort these volatile psalms have caused for past interpreters but argues against those who would dismiss the imprecatory psalms and banish them to the periphery of the canon (81). She notes that both early Judaism and early Christianity signaled their belief in the continued usefulness of these psalms by according them a place in the canon. She

4 observes further that the language of imprecation is not limited to the Psalms but is instead attributed to Moses (Num 10:35), Deborah (Judg 5:31), Jeremiah (Jer 18:19 20), the author of Lamentations (3:64 66), Jesus (Matt 10:14 15), Peter (Acts 1:20), and Paul (1 Cor 16:22; Gal 1:8). DeClaissé-Walford suggests that better understanding the character of the imprecatory psalms could help pave the way for their continued use in a modern setting. She notes, for example, that most of these psalms are community laments; they are the voice of a gathered people in distress, not merely the excesses of ancient individuals (86). She highlights as well that these psalms envision situations of overwhelming injustice, not the lesser or greater conflicts that could be resolved by generosity on the part of the ones praying by turning the other cheek (86). DeClaissé- Walford suggests there are times when it is appropriate for communities to speak out to God about injustice in plain and heartfelt terms and thus give voice to the pain, the feelings of helplessness, and the burning anger (89). Finally, she emphasizes that giving the outrage to God does not mean giving the responsibility of the community over to God (91). Having cried out to God about injustice, it then becomes the community s responsibility to work to alleviate that injustice. In Saying Amen to Violent Psalms: Patterns of Prayer, Belief, and Action in the Psalter, Joel LeMon approaches these same psalms through the lens of ethical analysis. He begins with the premise that patterns of prayer and belief shape patterns of behavior and action (93). When a community extols God as one who helps the weak, that community is more likely to act like the God they worship and care for the weak themselves. LeMon asks what happens, though, when this logic is applied to the psalms that contain images of violence and calls for God to perpetrate violence. Many have opted to suppress these psalms by excluding them from liturgies and lectionaries. Others have gone further, rejecting these psalms outright and decrying their sentiments as genuinely evil. LeMon notes a definite strain of supersessionism in these theological moves, however, and reminds readers of the dire consequences that often result when mischaracterizations about the God of the Jewish Scriptures are projected onto the Jewish people. But if the violent psalms are to be voiced today, how are they to be voiced? LeMon finds the key to the continued use of these psalms in the amen of the community: violent psalms require a community to adjudicate carefully the propriety of such prayers on the lips of each supplicant (105). Like the Levitical curses in Deut 27 that required the community s amen, LeMon suggests that the calls for violence in these prayers also require the community s endorsement to be legitimate. He suggests that the basis for this endorsement must lie in factors such as the community s agreement that the pain of the supplicant is merited and that its severity is such that it demands honest expression. He also argues that the violent psalms reflected the emotions of those at their weakest state and that the community might well withhold its endorsement when these prayers are

5 prayed by a person with power, one who might be moved to do violence rather than pray for it. The volume s editor, Rolf Jacobson, contributes The Faithfulness of the Lord Endures Forever : The Theological Witness of the Psalter. Jacobson sets as his task an examination of the Psalms depiction of God: What God does one meet in the many and various poems of this collection? (111). He concludes that God s character is summed up in the confession The Lord is faithful. Underscoring the relational nature of God s faithfulness, Jacobson traces the pivotal role of God s fidelity through the various psalm genres. Drawing upon the faithfulness-laden Ps 136, Jacobson proposes that God s fidelity is most clearly expressed in two realms: creation and history. In the realm of creation, God s faithfulness is evident not just in the existence of creation but in its discernible order and its hierarchies. God s faithfulness in the realm of history is evident as the repeated rebellions of Gods people are met with God s continued and unsurpassed fidelity. Jacobson suggests that the lament psalms emerge when actions rightfully expected of a faithful God protection from enemies, deliverance from crisis, justice when falsely accused are found to be wanting. When the realms of God s faithfulness collapse, when creative order becomes the disorder of death and disease, when hierarchies meant to protect instead oppress, when events of history overwhelm God s deliverance, the laments call for God to be faithful again. Finally, Jacobson considers the mediated character of God s fidelity, noting the significant role the king, Jerusalem, and the people of God play as agents of God s faithfulness. The limitations these agents share as earthen vessels explains, at least in part, the imperfect way in which God s faithful character is translated into faithful action. The final essay is Beth Tanner s Rethinking the Enterprise: What Must be Considered in Formulating a Theology of the Psalms. As the title suggests, Tanner s concern is not to elucidate some topic or theme in the Psalms but rather to raise questions about the very nature of the quest for a theology of the Psalms. She presses forcefully the point that a theology of the Psalms must be a contemporary, canonical, contexualized enterprise; it is not the search for objective truth in the Psalms or for the central text or theme of the Psalter. In support of this point, Tanner focuses heavily on the fact that the Psalms come to us as poetry. She insists that a theology of Psalms must be begin by acknowledging and honoring each psalm s poetic function and its unique placement within the whole book of Psalms (143). She notes that even the hard sciences confirm that human beings process poetry and prose differently and suggests that a theology of the Psalms should at least grapple with the possibility that poetry is not well-suited to analytical research. She also draws attention to the uniquely contextual nature of the Psalms metaphors and word pictures, concluding that many of the Psalms features will always remain elusive. In light of these challenges, Tanner maintains a theology of the Psalms cannot help but be

6 transitory, pluralistic, and incomplete (145). Tanner does offer a starting point, albeit a limited one, for approaching the theology of the Psalms. Drawing attention to the fact that the book was given the name Tehillim, Praises, by its first ancient readers, Tanner asks how this title can be squared with such psalms as 88 and 109. In what way are these psalms praise? The answer Tanner s students have often offered is that these psalms are praise because in them the conversation, no matter how difficult, goes on (149). This is an answer with which Tanner agrees: to praise is to continue to question, to continue to strive, to continue to engage. The essays collected in Soundings in the Theology of the Psalms will prove quite helpful to scholars involved in the continuing debates over the structure and center of the Psalms and the continuing place of the Psalms in contemporary life. Particularly commendable in the essays are the extensive endnotes that both extend the scholars arguments and provide a springboard for further study and discussion. If there is any regret concerning this volume, it is merely that most of the authors work within relatively similar Christian theological traditions. As the volume s editor laments, life circumstances conspired to prevent voices from other faith traditions from participating in the volume. Echoing Beth Tanner s students, as the conversation, no matter how difficult, goes on, it will be particularly important to hear these perspectives as well.