HELLO!

This Sunday morning, January 18^th, we will explore the wisdom of Psalm 40. The most famous version of Psalm 40 is by the band U2. For many years they ended most concerts singing, “I will sing, sing a new song.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z_LBNF_-xI&t=8s

Last night Rosalyn Erskine sent me this conversation between Bono from U2 and Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, a Bible translation. It’s 20 minutes long. They talk about Psalm 40. I enjoyed it, and I hope you do too. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY

The “new song” is most likely a technical Hebrew term for what psalms scholars usually describe as the “song of thanksgiving” — sung after the Psalmist has been delivered by the Lord from the jaws of some crisis.

Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann calls these poems “Psalms of new orientation.” These psalms “bear witness to the surprising gift of new life just when none had been expected.” They recognize the ship has sailed through the storm and a new shore has been reached. But having sailed through the flood and the hurricane, there is no going back to a naive harbour childlike “orientation.” These Psalms speak for those who have been brought through a deep crisis. As such, they know faith speaks the truth that can never pretend all will always be well and all is as it should be. And yet, they have experienced new life and grace — so they know despair is not all powerful and evil does not have the last word.

Psalm 40 is typical of the song of thanks: It describes the time of crisis and how the Psalmist asked God for help (verses 1-3). Praises God (verses 4-6). Describes the help God gave (verses 7-10). In Psalm 40, the opening verse is mistranslated in most versions. It should not say, “I waited patiently.” The prayers for help cry out, “How long?!” “I waited and waited” is both a more literal and more faithful translation. The other thing that should be noted is the Psalm’s calls for testimony: “I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation” (verse 10). When we receive God’s aid, the “thank you note” God desires is to tell others they too can find God. The songs of thanksgiving are reorientation Psalms because they are the songs of praise that are sung by those who have walked the darkest valleys, stood in the midst of the shaking mountains, experienced life when the bottom drops out. Life will never be the same. But God met these sufferers in the depths of their sufferings. And they have a simple message: God found me. Praise the Lord. Peace, Kevin