Portraits of the Righteous in the Psalms

An Exploration of the Ethics of Book I

Owens

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781621898467
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

What have the Psalms to do with ethics? Readers prize the Psalter for its richly theological prayers, but into these prayers are woven a variety of ethical issues. This book explores the ethics of the Psalter by examining the four portraits of the righteous person that punctuate Book I. It begins by studying these psalms as individual compositions and then employs both the canonical approach and dialogic criticism to identify the complex relationship between the portraits' vision of the righteous life and its outcome. Does the righteous person enjoy security and the good life? The answer may be surprising, but joining the psalmist on the rocky path of the interface of faith and experience is certain to prove a formative experience.

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Introduction

Background of the Study

What have the Psalms to do with ethics? Scholars are asking this question in the context of a flowering of new approaches to Psalms study and ethics. In Psalms study form criticism has made room for exploration of the shape and shaping of the Psalter. In ethics the moral act is now considered alongside the moral agent, due to the influence of virtue theories. In light of these two trends, this project seeks to answer the following question: What resources do we find in the Psalter for addressing moral formation from a biblical and theological perspective? This broad question cannot be answered exhaustively by a single book. Thankfully, scholarly discussion on the Psalter and on Old Testament ethics provides a context in which such a question may be focused and narrowed.

The Psalter in Old Testament Ethics

Work on the ethical dimension of the Psalter is scarce in comparison to other portions of the Hebrew canon, particularly the Pentateuch1 and the prophets.2 Narrative has recently gained attention.3 Although the topical monographs of Cyril Rodd and Christopher Wright bridge various genres in biblical literature,4 they do not attempt systematically to explore the ethical discourse of the Psalter. Until recently the Psalms most often surfaced in studies on isolated issues or particular psalms rather than as thoroughgoing sources for ethical reflection.5 Only in the last ten years have scholars such as Gordon Wenham systematically explored the ethics of the Psalms.6

Gordon Wenham attempts to address the absence of the Psalms in Old Testament ethics, taking the Decalogue as his “departure point” and building on that with a number of additional topics.7 He notes that ethical study of the Psalter has largely been confined to Psalms 15 and 24, imprecatory psalms, and Psalm 72.8 We see the focus on Psalms 15 and 24 in the works of John T. Willis and Ronald Clements,9 though their work is primarily form-critical. In 2005 Wenham characterized the ethics of the Psalms as “virgin scholarly territory.”10 As I note above, this state of affairs is changing, but much more can be done to clarify the ethical discourse of the Psalter.

This study seeks to advance this inquiry by considering one portion of the Psalter, namely, Book I. By surveying the ethical landscape in that collection we may be able to see more clearly how it contributes to the broader discipline of Old Testament ethics and what resources it offers for character formation. This research agenda flows naturally from recent developments in two related fields, the study of the Psalter and biblical ethics.

Developments in Psalms Study and Ethics as the Impetus for This Study

Psalms study underwent a transformation in the wake of Gerald Wilson’s dissertation.11 For most of the twentieth century, the form-critical work of Gunkel and Mowinckel dominated the field.12 While form criticism remains a viable scholarly method for many,13 it has lost its dominant position in Psalms study. Wilson’s ground-breaking work has stimulated numerous studies attempting to describe the editorial agendas affecting the final shape of the Psalter.

This flowering of research into the canonical shape of the Psalter has produced fruitful discussion about the theological issues raised by the Psalter as a whole. In relationship to Book I, three important observations have been made. First, Pierre Auffret identified a sub-collection in Psalms 15–24 that has a concentric structure, with a torah psalm in the center (Psalm 19) and the two so-called entrance liturgies (Psalms 15 and 24) at the outer edges.14 Second, J. Clinton McCann notes that the first and last two psalms in Book I (Psalms 1, 2, 40, and 41) all contain beatitudes (that begin with אַשְׁרֵי), and he argues that this detail functions as a “framing device” inviting us to read Book I as a “guide to a ‘happy’ life.”15 Third, Jerome Creach notes the unusual number of “general descriptions of those who are righteous,” including Psalms 15, 24, 34, and 37.16 Creach labels these psalms “portraits of the righteous.”17 Although Psalms 15 and 24 are most readily associated with the temple and Psalms 34 and 37 are associated with the wisdom tradition, they exhibit formal and material similarities. At a formal level Psalms 15, 24, and 34 involve a question-answer-benefit structure. Furthermore, all four psalms describe the righteous person in the third person. At a material level, several of the ethical concerns occur across several of the portraits without respect to the hypothetical social contexts of temple and wisdom. All four situate ethics in relationship to a telos, sharing the metaphor of refuge, though the metaphors and concepts for this telos vary from psalm to psalm. Finally, the concise form of these descriptions may support calling them “character sketches.”18 However, given scholarly familiarity with the phrase “portraits of the righteous,” I employ this ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Psalm 15
• Chapter 3: Psalm 24
• Chapter 4: Psalm 34
• Chapter 5: Psalm 37
• Chapter 6: Ethical Ideals and Reality in Dialogic Tension in Book I
• Chapter 7: Conclusion and Prospects for Further Research
• Bibliography