December 1998 Issue

Background

Psalm 111 unfolds in an acrostic pattern. The first word in each half verse begins with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. An acrostic structure is not unique to Psalm 111 (cf. Psalms 9-10; 25; 34; 119) and serves both stylistic and pedagogical purposes. The structure and the stress on wisdom in its closing verse may indicate that the psalm stems from the post-exilic period. The psalm's historical focus, however, is God's righteous activity, particularly in and through the events of the Exodus (cf. vv. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and Ex 34:6, 10-11). In remembering this God-created history, the psalmist is able to help the community understand and celebrate their relationship with God in the present. Indeed, the psalmist sings a celebration of theocentric relationships rooted in the covenant theology of BECAUSE THEREFORE, i.e., BECAUSE of God's righteous and faithful works, we as covenant partners are THEREFORE to praise, understand, and obey God.

The Psalm's Praise

While being the praise of an individual, this psalm is not individualistic. The psalmist stands in the midst of the covenant community (v. 1) and magnifies the LORD for the benefit, understanding, and obedience of all (v. 10). Likewise the Lord is being praised not for the Lord's work in the life of one individual but for the gracious ways the Lord has worked for the well-being of the whole covenant community.

The psalm concentrates on God not as an abstract divine entity but as the God who is in an active relationship with the people of God. Hence God's activity permeates the psalm:

Thus the psalm fully intertwines the activity and the righteousness of the Lord in each verse in order to hold up the divine BECAUSE to the community.

From this flows the proper response, foremost of which is the pure praise bracketing the psalm in its present form (vv. 1a, 10c). The Lord is also to be thanked (v. 1b), trusted (v. 7b), and obeyed with the same covenant faithfulness which the Lord first displayed (v. 8b). Wisdom consists not in abstract knowledge but in studying, understanding, and living out one's life in the covenant relationship established by the Lord (vv. 2, 9, 10). Human activity consists of the covenantal THEREFORE even to the point that God's people are able to remember God's activity precisely because God causes remembrance to happen (v. 4). In this way the psalm presents the community's history, praise, and future as thoroughly theocentric.

Connections to Christmas

Like an ornament that adorns the Christmas tree each year, Psalm 111 is a liturgical fixture of this church season. It stands as the psalm for the first Sunday after Christmas in Years A, B, C in most lectionaries. Yet despite its continual Christmas presence, it does not really seem to fit with the familiar Christmas themes of royalty, dreams, theophanies, promises, fulfillments, virgins, angels, and babies. Where is the Christmas connection?

It is found precisely in the psalm's BECAUSE-THEREFORE covenant theology. While the Christmas focus and praise centers on the Christ child, the reality of the event itself is theocentric and covenantal. The birth is God's activity through the Holy Spirit. It flows out of God's faithfulness to God's people and has as its goal God's salvation for God's people (Mt 1:18-25). In the gospel text from Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 the angel is the messenger and dreams the medium, but it is God's command to Joseph that controls the action in order to save God's Son and to fulfill God's plan as revealed in scripture. Joseph's response is the proper covenantal THEREFORE. He moves when and to where God says move, because he is a righteous covenant partner.

The theological perspective of the psalmist is the theological perspective of the gospel writer. This is to be the theological perspective of the worshipping community the first Sunday after Christmas. God is to be praised, because in the birth of Christ God's gracious, righteous work is unfolding for the salvation of the community. God is still known by God's deeds which are faithful, just, and worthy of our trust. Now the divine activity is centered in the birth of God's own Son. Therefore we are to respond with praise not just during the Christmas season itself but, as the psalm proclaims, forever.

Richard Carlson