Songs for the City: Interpreting Biblical Psalms in an Urban Context Gerald H. Wilson After twenty years of teaching Biblical Studies in a variety of educational contexts from secular research university to Christian college and seminary, I have for the last four years served as Co-Director of Contextualized Urban Ministry Education Northwest [CUME/NW], a non-profit organization developing programs of ministry education for under-served ethnic minority communities and churches in the Greater Portland, Oregon metroplex. Our method has been to draw together a grassroots coalition of representatives from ethnic minority communities, Christian service organizations in the urban context, and Christian educational institutions in order to create a variety of networking opportunities in which programs can develop with community ownership that are directed in culturally appropriate ways, and at the varied educational levels necessary to meet the real felt needs of these communities.
During the same time period I have been working under contract on a two-volume commentary on the book of psalms. The commentary series intends to be a practical, hands-on commentary, assisting pastors and lay persons to interpret the psalms and to apply them fruitfully in their contemporary context. I have found that these two enterprises--originally distinct and separate--would not stay neatly in their professional boxes, but continually spilled over into each other, either to affect the way I tried to do urban ministry education, or to change the way I interpreted the psalms.
At last, when I could stand it no longer, I offered to teach a course intended to involve students in investigating how to interpret and apply the psalms in their own contemporary urban context. This paper is a first step along the road toward that course, which will share the same title and will encourage students and professor alike to explore the intersection of ancient texts and contemporary context even more deeply.
In what follows, I will lay out the insights gained through these interacting pursuits in the following organizational structure. 1) I will consider important issues confronting the urban communities with which I am working. This will provide us with a sort of urban issues backdrop against which to view the psalms. 2) I will then describe a variety of themes from the Psalter that relate to these earlier urban issues. These will include: a) ways in which the urban experience is reflected in the Psalter; b) how the God of the psalms relates to these urban issues; and c) a consideration of the experience of the "Faithful Few" in the psalms. I will then offer , 3) a few Urban Survival Skills from the psalms. I do not claim this to be an exhaustive study, nor is this the only way one might interpret the psalms in an urban context, but it does reflect my own personal experience of allowing these two areas of my life to rub up against one another--like a couple of treasured stones in a pocket&endash;shaping, smoothing, polishing, highlighting one another.
1. Issues in These Urban Communities. When I began to explore the varied lives of the ethnic minority persons with whom I was working, a number of common issues related to their urban context began to emerge. Many of these are commonly known from years of social research and activism, but they are real and continuing issues among these particular urban dwellers of minority status.
a. Cultural dislocation, isolation, and assimilation. One primary experience related by almost all my contacts was a sense of cultural alienation induced by their fragile position within the larger society. They were neither familiar with nor an accepted part of the majority cultural patterns. In response to the alien terrain in which they lived, most found themselves "circling the wagons" by forming native cultural associations to preserve their cultural heritage, provide a level of cultural comfort, and to build a hedge against the constant pressure to assimilate with the majority culture patterns and values. Native language, native dress, and celebration of native cultural events marked this attempt to preserve the familiar in a strange and threatening environment.
b. Lack of access to traditional resources. Isolated as they are (both in feeling and in fact) from the surrounding majority culture, these alienated groups felt they had little means to access the traditional resources available in the majority culture. Lack of education, economic stability, or political representation and influence, led to a sense of powerlessness among these groups.
c. Lack of communication skills. Non-existent or poor majority language skills produced a two-way street of mis-communication, and fostered even more isolation and fear. Perfectly capable leaders within their own culture were often rendered ineffective in their attempts to engage a foreign society whose rules and expectations were unfamiliar to them. Many responded by retreating further into their familiar and protective native cultural associations.
d. Prejudice, exploitation, oppression. Many of the ethnic minority persons with whom I work have experienced their contacts with majority culture primarily in terms of prejudice because of their lack of majority language skill, formal educational credentials, economic buying power; exploitation by employers seeking less expensive labor, merchandizers taking advantage of their lack of understanding; and oppression by those who manipulated the relative cultural powerlessness of these invisible people about whom the majority culture knows little and wants to know even less.
e. Erosion of family and family values. These fairly common experiences of minority ethnic persons and communities had negative effects on family values and solidarity. Many second and third generation minority children sought to escape the negative experiences of their parents by flight into assimilation with the majority culture. While this had in some instances salutary effects on the assimilating generation--better acceptance, more access to traditional educational and economic resources, better understanding of majority cultural and political systems&endash;assimilation often drove a wedge between older and younger generations who no longer shared a cultural commonality, and often denigrated the cultural patterns and values of the other.
2. Themes of the Psalter Related to the Urban Context. As these two fields of experience &endash;the psalms and urban ministry&endash;continued to rub up against one another, I began to see that there are many themes in the Psalter that were related to the urban context in which I was working.
a. The urban experience reflected in the Psalms. While the cultural experience of pre-exilic Israel was not entirely urban, it did know cities of moderate size, and was especially concerned with the human relationships lived out in Jerusalem--the City of God, the Holy city where Yhwh chose to cause his name to dwell. We must remember, however, that the psalms were preserved and transmitted to us by the post-exilic community of the Jewish diaspora--the majority of whom were dispersed throughout the ancient world and resided in the great cities of their day as an alien minority culture among the dominant majority culture. It should not surprise us then that the psalms they chose to preserve exhibit many contacts with the concerns of such an alien people. Here are just a few examples.
1. The psalms reflect the perspective of the few struggling against the many. The enemies who surround the psalmists are many. "Ten Thousand are drawn up against me" (3:5). "Those who hate me without reason out number the hairs of my headŠmany are my enemies" (69:4).
2. The psalms are aware of the abuse of power in all its forms (political, legal, economic, religious). Those persons of power who sit "in the gate" to render judgment in legal matters or to conduct commerical business, "mock the psalmists" who are rendered politically, economically, and even religiously impotent by their ridicule (cf. 69:12).
3. The psalms describe the denial of God by those in power--either in reality (14, 53), in his effectiveness (3:2), or his concern (94:7). The result of the assumption of God's effective absence is reliance on human power and self-determination. Those in power operate on the assumption that God will not seek out their abusive acts for punishment (10:4; 36:1-4), in effect proclaiming "there is no God!" or at least claiming that God is deaf to the pleas of the afflicted (59:7) or simply unconcerned with their plight (94:7; 10:11).
4. The psalms describe the suffering of the few in terms of oppression, lack of resources, lack of representation (35:19-21), economic deprivation, verbal distortion. Terms used to describe the "few" drive their marginalized condition home. They are the "oppressed"; ('oni), the "poor, needy" ('ebyon), the "weak" (dal). As just one example of this common theme, Psalm 73 recounts how reflecting on the injustice of the prosperity that accrued to the wicked almost caused the psalmist to lose faith in God.
5. Diversity is the norm in the psalms: many voices compete to be heard, including the power elite, widows, orphans, aliens, the destitute, the pagan nations, believers, unbelievers.
6. The psalms are aware of the pain of cultural and religious dislocation and isolation common to transplanted minority culture persons. Psalm 137 reflects the agony associated with loss of place and identity and the lack of concern or understanding displayed by majority culture. Psalm 12 describes the tyranny of articulate speech by which slick, effective speakers oppress and manipulate those unable to counter their arguments.
b. The God of the Psalms and the Urban Experience. The way God is depicted in the psalms also has implications for urban dwellers. On the one hand, Yhwh confronts and challenges the oppressive acts of those in power who would deny the real or effective existence of God in the city. On the other hand, God offers hope to those who are powerless and oppressed. Here are a few ways that the view of God in the psalms reflects the concerns of the urban setting.
1. God is aware of and concerned with the city. The numerous references to God's presence in and concern with the city makes it clear that he has expectations for justice and faithfulness in the urban context. He is not indifferent to the city. In Psalms 46 and 48 we learn of the City of God&endash;the city where God dwells and his desires are carried out--and learn that such a city is blessed and will not fall. God leads his people to a city where they can dwell (107:4, 7, 36). He builds up Jerusalem (147) and is aware of destructive violence that threatens it (55:9-10).1
2. God is not an indifferent observer of city life, but sits as righteous judge, setting standards for those who dwell in the City of God (cf. psalm 75). He is not a God who takes pleasure in evil...the wicked cannot dwell with him (5:4). God condemns the wicked (50:16-21) and judges with equity, righteousness, and truth (psalms 9:4; 11:7; 96:13, 98:9)
3. God defines the proper role of the righteous ruler. (Cf. psalms 2; 72; 82; 94:20-21; 146:7-9).
4. God defines the proper role of righteousness in general. Psalm 15 sets out the characteristics of those who may hope to dwell in God's presence on his holy hill. Psalm 24 concurs that only those with clean hands (right actions) and pure heart (right motivations) can ascend the hill of Yhwh. Psalms with protestations of innocence or what amounts to a "negative confession" also point out the awareness of divine standards for dwelling in the presence of God (cf. 7:3-4).
5. Not only does God set the standard for righteous living and leadership, but he shows a special empathy with the oppressed. He is on the side of the few--the poor and needy--those who are powerless against the powerful (146:7-9). When the poor call, Yhwh hears (34:6; 69:33). Those who are concerned for the weak are commended and blessed (41:1). Yhwh becomes a father--legal representative in society--or those who are fatherless (68:5f.).
6. God as king is ultimate authority above all human authority. He is the ultimate court of appeal (laments)--the only lasting, sure foundation of human hope and security. Yhwh is enthroned as king (47). Since Yhwh is king, humans are counseled not to put their trust in human princes, but to trust in Yhwh alone (145).
7. As creator God is in control and provides a secure foundation for life&endash;even when chaos seems to rule. When the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do? (11:3). Yhwh, however, is mightier than the destructive forces of chaos (29). Even though the city or temple should be destroyed, God is king from of old, and, therefore offers hope for restoration (74).
c. The Experience of the Faithful Few in the Psalms. In most instances it is the faithful few who are in view in the psalms. Whether it is the individual at odds with his or her community, enemies, or environment, or whether it is the covenant community in conflict with the pagan nations, the psalmist's words often invoke, confront, or encourage the faithful to live out their faith within the challenge of their circumstances. The experience of the faithful few in these psalms is also a fruitful ground of understanding for urban dwellers. Let's look at a few examples.
1. The psalms speak to the modern urban experience of ethnic and economic diversity, and honors native and alien, the nations and Israelites, rich and poor alike. This acceptance of ethnic and economic diversity is most clearly expressed in the invocation of all these categories of persons to worship God. While the pagans are often the enemies of God in the psalms and the subject of destructive imprecation; while the rich are often castigated for their participation in the oppression of the faithful poor; rich and poor alike, native born Israelite and pagan born alien all can know and worship Yhwh. "Your ways are known among all nations, all the peoples praise you" (67:1-4).
2. The faithful also learn in the psalms that their suffering is NOT a portent (sign of divine punishment for sin)--but is instead an indication of a world run amok and the failure of righteous rulership. Psalm 71:7 makes this clear when the psalmist counters the common perception of the psalmist's suffering as a "portent" by the confident affirmation "you are [instead] my strong refuge." See also Psalms 44:22 and 69:7 where the undeserved suffering of the faithful is given meaning when it is understood as "for your sake"--for the sake of Yhwh--a sign of faithfulness. As in Job, enduring faithfulness in the face of undeserved suffering has its own worth&endash;an acknowledgement that God is worthy of our worship and love even when the anticipated blessings of his reign are far from us.
3. The faithful are encouraged to understand that suffering does not negate their faith. Suffering, if otherwise meaningless, is for Yhwh's sake (44:22). It is better to suffer the economic privations of the faithful poor than to enjoy the abundant wealth of the wicked (37:16). Yhwh's love is for the faithful few better than life itself! (63:3). See also Psalm 77, where the suffering psalmist makes the conscious decision to trust the evidence of Yhwh's past salvation despite the bewildering contrary evidence of the present (77:10-12). Suffering drives the faithful into the protective care of God rather than away from him. God is the strong refuge in time of trouble (cf. Psalms 90, 91, 142, 144, and many others).2
4. The faithful few are called to eschew the tactics of the enemy. This is clear from the outset of the Psalter when Psalm 1 affirms that the one whose way is known by Yhwh is the one who does not walk in the company and practices of the wicked, sinners, or mockers (1:1). God sends away from his presence all those who do evil (6:8), and the faithful are cautioned "Do not trust in extortion, or take pride in stolen goods, though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them" (62:10). And the faithful deny their involvement by claiming to have avoided "the ways of the violent" (17:3-5), and by guarding themselves from being drawn "to what is evil to take part in wicked deeds with those who are evildoers" (141:3-5).
5. God sets standards for the righteousness of the faithful few as well as the many&endash;the poor and suffering are called to righteous living as much as the wealthy. See the tension between Psalm 15 with its call to a "blameless walk" as prerequisite to entering God's presence and Psalm 101 where the faithful psalmist affirms a blameless stance before crying out to God: "When will you come to me?" (101:2).
6. Psalms seek to undermine reliance on self, human power, and to point to dependence on God alone. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yhwh our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm" (20:7). "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.ŠBlessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in Yhwh his God" (146:3, 5; cf. 118:8-9). No one who hopes in Yhwh will ever be put to shame (25:3). In the end Israel is called to be like the weaned child at its mother's breast who is stilled, quieted, and at peace in the arms of Yhwh (131:2-3).
3 . Urban Survival Skills from the Psalms. I have to this point been considering how the themes characteristic of the psalms relate to the concerns expressed and contexts experienced by the urban communities with whom I have been working. Now let me attempt in a brief but (hopefully) coherent fashion to suggest a few ideas regarding urban survival skills that can be derived from the psalms. If the goal is to survive--or even to thrive--as persons of enduring faith in the challenging context of the modern urban setting, what do these ancient poems have to say that can encourage us to keep our feet firmly planted on the "way" that Yhwh knows and blesses?
a. The importance of community within community. One of the first and most important lessons the psalms afford us is the insight that the life of faith--whether expressed as individuals or as a community--is lived out within a believing community. The psalms may speak in singular language and images, but they were most often performed in the midst of community worship. The I of the psalms speaks to the we of the gathered congregation. The individual sufferer bears testimony to pain endured and divine deliverance longed for, anticipated, and finally received, not in some isolated hideaway, but in the "great congregation" gathered for worship. Faith in the psalms is a pilgrim journey through the dark in the company of fellow venturers. The community of faith plays a variety of significant roles in the psalms.
1. The community of faith can serve to console the suffering and counteract the feeling of isolation that can be experienced by the disadvantaged few among the controling many. The community can offer praise when individual cannot (see particularly Psalm 42/43 where the downcast psalmist is renewed by recalling participation in the joyful processions of the faithful to the house of God). The fact that the Psalter is dominated in the first three books by individual lament, but shifts in the final two books to communal praise and thanksgiving is instructive. It brings home the experience that alone and isolated the individual can be overwhelmed by lament. It is within the community of faith that the power to sing the praise of God in spite of the reality of pain and suffering is made a reality. When I am unable to praise, the community stands along side to praise for me.
2. It is through the community of faith that the enduring traditions of hope are preserved, reaffirmed, and transmitted to new generations. Here the psalmist declares to Yhwh "Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come" (71:17-18). And in 78:1-8 the psalmist recounts not only Yhwh's praiseworthy deeds, but the account of Israel's own faithlessness.
b. The importance of memory. The transmission of the traditions of faith to future generations introduces another survival lesson from the psalms. Memory provides an important foundation for the hope that keeps the psalmists and their followers on the way of faith. The bittersweet memory of Jerusalem motivates the fierce and angry determination not to allow the taunts of the Babylonian conquerors to undermine the hope of the faithful in Psalm 137. We have already seen how memory of participating in the festive processions of temple worship could counter the depressing effects of suffering (42:4). Among the chief focii of memory are 1) the mighty acts of Yhwh (66:1-5 "Say to God 'How awesome are your deeds!ŠCome see what God has done how awesome his works in man's behalf"); 2) moments of personal deliverance by God (66:16 "Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me."); and 3) the traditions of the faithful history of Israel and her God (71; 78; and the other historical psalms). These sorts of memories are the rock on which the faithful of Israel continued to stand secure in spite of their immediate context.
c. Adopting a prophetic voice toward the powers of the city. The psalmists, however, were never content just to rest secure. They consistently raised up their collective voices to confront the powers of their society and to protest the injustice and oppression they and others experienced. Like Jeremiah (4:19; 6:11; 20:9), the psalmists discovered that holding back anguish and critique did not work (Psalm 39:1-3); personal and societal sin must be confronted openly in order for change to occur.
1. The prophetic confrontation can be harsh, as when the psalmists pray for the replacement of faithless leaders and opponents in the strongest terms. See particularly the strong words of condemnation expressed in 109:6-20: "Let him be found guiltyŠmay his prayers condemn himŠmay his days be fewŠmay another take his place of leadership." Similar sentiments are expressed in 141:5-6: "Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs."3
2. Such harsh critiques are never just self-serving tantrums, but seek to educate the community or seek a broader, communal good. Along with the desire for personal deliverance in Psalm 109, the psalmist seeks the removal of a societal threat who "never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted." The condemnation of such behavior is admonition to avoid repeating it. The psalmists also identify with the marginalized and oppressed in society, including the poor, the sick and weak, and even aliens and strangers (39:12).
3. In their strong attacks, the psalmists caution against adopting the tactics of the enemy--or of being co-opted by their own attempts to meet power with power.4
d. Acknowledging helplessness. The temptation to use and abuse power that is inherent in any attempt to confront and counter entrenched power is often balanced in the psalms by a relentless call to acknowledge the frailty of human strength and the futility of human control. In the laments this is communicated especially in the theme of innocent suffering--from which there is no apparent escape.5 If suffering was the result of sin, then there would be a reason for it, and one could DO something about it. One could confess, repent, offer sacrifice, or restitution. But the innocent sufferer is forced to acknowledge helplessness and is forced to relie only on the mercy of a God who often seems distant. In some instances such reliance is almost beyond the psalmist for whom God seems to have become the enemy and perpetrator of the suffering the individual experiences (Psalm 88). In these cases the only hope is found in the fact that the psalmist is still in conversation with God.
Along with the helplessness associated with innocent suffering, the psalms stress again and again that human power and claims to control are unreliable sources of security. Even kings and princes fail to save (146:3-5) leaving Yhwh alone as the source of human hope.6
e. View of suffering. I have already discussed above the view of suffering characteristic of the Psalms.7 I will limit myself here to a few brief statements regarding how these insights shape the way one responds to suffering in the modern urban context.
1. The psalms claim that suffering is not always--not even most frequently--a sign of divine punishment or rejection (cf. 71). Innocents do suffer in this mixed up world, and any attempt to justify suffering as the necessary "lot" of a particular group of urban dwellers must be carefully scrutinized for evidence of bias.
2. Contrary to the tendency to label suffering a consequence of "sin" or divine judgment, the psalms often recognize pain as a sign that all is not right in the world. Therefore the psalmists feel constrained constantly to call upon God for redress&endash;to "make things right." 8 The awareness that the world represents a distortion of God's original creation intention in which human relationship to God, other humans, and the world itself most often violate God's purposes, is certainly more apparent to the "have nots" of the city than those who are comfortably in power. The psalms encourage us to align ourselves with God and seek to transform the urban environment from the "City of Satan" into the "City of God." 9
3. The psalms model a relationship with Yhwh built around a continual conversation made up of confession, complaint, protestation of innocence, call to action, confident expectation--as well as the more "worshipful" attitudes of praise and thanksgiving. There are no particularly acceptable attitudes with which to approach God in the psalms other than the humble recognition that one has no hope other than in Yhwh. This awareness means that all experiences of life in the city need to be brought openly before God.
4. Perhaps one of the most important insights offered by the Psalms for the urban context is that the blessing of righteousness is not to be confused with ease, wealth, and power. These can be experienced without righteousness. Unlike the prosperity preachers of our own day, the psalmists never equate prosperity with blessing. Righteousness is something other than and superior to these physical benefits and pleasures, and those who would be righteous must always hold ease, wealth, and power lightly and cautiously, as the following verses make clear. "Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them. One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong ["power belongs to God"], and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done" (62:10-12). "Your [God's] love is better than life" (63:3).
5. Despite the many references in the first half of the Psalter to God as refuge, the psalmists make it clear that refuge is in the midst of trouble and not an escape from suffering. God provides protective consolation during the experience of pain. The psalmists never look for a pain free utopian existence, but acknowledge that God is worth hanging on to even if death is the only consequence. As a result, suffering can be understood, not as judgment, but as a sign of faithfulness (44:17-22). The ultimate goal of the faithful in the psalms is NOT escape from pain, but faithful endurance in and through pain.
6. I spoke earlier about how the arrangement of the psalms collects individual lament dominantly in the first three books of the Psalter, while the last two books are characterized primarily by communal praise and thanksgiving.10 This characteristic shift has one further implication that offers hope for the faithful in the city or outside. The movement from lament to praise drives home the affirmation that lament is not Yhwh's final word. It is most likely that awareness of this fact is the primary reason that the Jewish community chose to call the Book of Psalms--with all its diversity--Tehillim "Praises." The title seems at first rather awkward and inappropriate for a collection as diverse as this one. But the arrangement of the psalms affirms that the anticipated end of God's history with humankind is mirrored in the ecstatic praise of the final hallel (Psalms 146-150) in which the whole creation at last combine voices to give praise to the creator and redeemer of all.
NOTES 1. See the study by Robert Linthicum, City of God, City of Satan: A Biblical Theology of the Urban Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991).
2. Jerome F.D. Creach, Yahweh as Refuge and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter JSOTS 217 (1996).
3. As Christians, we are, of course, often offended by such harsh imprecations against the psalmist's enemies--especially when they involve the innocent children (109:9-12; 137:8-9). If we are honest, however, we may often have flashes of anger in which we wish our opponents' deeds would turn back on them--that they would receive as good (or bad) as they have given. The psalms illustrate that it is okay to acknowledge such anger to God and leave it there.
4. See the related discussion above, in The Experience of the Faithful Few in the Psalms, no. 4 and Psalms 1:1, 7; 6:8; 17:3-5; 62:10; 141:3-5
5. See especially Psalm 44:17-22 and Psalm 88.
6. See the related discussion of the limits of human power discussed above (page 11, no. 6). The similarity of this theme of helplessness to that expressed in twentieth-century Twelve Step groups is remarkable. At one point in the readings presented at every meeting one encounters three "pertinent ideas: a) that we were [addicts] and could not manage our lives; b) that probably no human power could relieve our [compulsive behavior]; c) that God could and would if he were sought."
7. See above in the section, The Experience of the Faithful Few in the Psalms, nos. 2 and 3.
8. See the discussion and references on above in the section The Experience of the Faithful Few in the Psalms, no. 2 above.
9. The book by Robert Linthicum, City of God, City of Satan, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991), strongly articulates this premise.
10. See Gerald H. Wilson, "The Shape of the Book of Psalms" Interpretation 46(1992): 129-142.
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