The Covenant In The Psalms Of Celebration, Part I (Biblical)
Enthronement Psalms
Of all acclamations in the Psalms, perhaps the most joyful is the cry, "Yahweh has become King!" (Pss. 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). The psalms of the Lord's enthronement set the scene for the renewal of the covenant in the invitation to worship him as the Great King:Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. (Ps. 95:1–3)
Although Israel understands its special role as the covenant partners of Yahweh (Ps. 147:19–20), it also understands that Yahweh's dominion is universal:
Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns … " He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. (Ps. 96:10, 13)
In ancient treaties, the great king is often compared to a shepherd; the shepherd-sheep image is therefore covenant language. The Psalms speak of Yahweh as the "Shepherd of Israel" (Ps. 80:1; cf. Ps. 23:1) and of his people as sheep:
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. (Ps. 95:6–7; cf. Ps. 100:3)
The declaration "he is our God" is an affirmation of covenant ratification, reminiscent of the covenant formulary as found in the prophetic books: "I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Jer. 31:33).
Related to the psalms of enthronement are those that depict Yahweh's ascent of Zion to take up his rule. The language of these psalms may hark back to the time when David first had the ark of the covenant brought up to Jerusalem, or it may reveal an ongoing reenactment of that event in a procession of the ark:Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. (Ps. 68:24)
Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. (Ps. 24:9)
God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.… God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. (Ps. 47:5–6,8 )
Hymns of Praise
The hymn of praise is the offering of tribute to the Lord, the fulfillment of a covenant obligation and the worshiper's vow of praise:I will sacrifice a [sacrifice of confession] to you and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord—in your midst, O Jerusalem, Praise the Lord. (Ps. 116:17–19)
The joyful cry "Hallelujah! ("Praise the Lord," or "Praise Yah," a shortened form of the name Yahweh) occurs in sixteen psalms. It introduces and concludes several of the hymns of praise:
Praise Yah! Praise, O servants of Yahweh, Praise the name of Yahweh. Blessed be the name of Yahweh From this time forth and forever. (Ps. 113:1–2author's translation)
The concept of "name" or reputation is important in treaty terminology, for the treaty stands upon the name of the great king who grants it. Thus Yahweh declares his name, together with his act of deliverance in the Exodus, at the beginning of the Sinai covenant (Exod. 20:2). In the psalms of praise, worshipers often "bless the name" of Yahweh (Pss. 96:2; 100:4; 103:1; 145:1).
Like the enthronement psalm, the hymn of praise may be universal in scope, inviting Gentile worshipers as well as those of Israel to participate in the act of tribute:Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his [covenant love] toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. (Ps. 117:1–2)
Hymns of praise may celebrate different aspects of the Lord's activity in maintaining the covenant. Some of them emphasize his act of creation, as a demonstration of his power, which holds at bay those who may threaten his covenant partners:
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. (Ps. 33:6–8)
In other psalms, Yahweh's power is made known through his actions in history to save his people:
Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! … He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot—come, let us rejoice in him. He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch on the nations—let not the rebellious rise up against him. (Ps. 66:1–2, 6–7)
The psalm of praise may also extol the laws of the covenant. The massive acrostic, Psalm 119, has been called "a great doxology of God's word" (Claus Westermann, The Psalms: Structure, Content, and Message [Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1980], p. 117). In Psalm 19 the hymn of praise combines the "creation" theme with that of the Law:
The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of his hands.… The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Ps. 19:1, 7)
Many interpreters consider this psalm to be two separate compositions that were joined together at a late date in the formation of the Psalter. In their view, psalms that celebrate the Law or Torah must have originated only after the Law came to be revered, at times, to excess. But if the proclamation of the stipulations or "word" of the covenant between Yahweh and his people was part of the ongoing festal worship of the Israelite sanctuary—as evidence suggests—it is to be expected that some psalms would especially celebrate that "word" or law, even from an early period. The link between Yahweh as Creator and Yahweh as Lawgiver is integral to his role as the Great King.
Almost all psalms of praise and psalms of enthronement begin with an invitation to worship the Lord: to bless his name; to "sing to the Lord a new song" (Pss. 96:1; 98:1; 149:1); to raise a shout (Pss. 47:1; 66:1; 95:1; 100:1); to clap the hands (Ps. 47:1); to fall prostrate or kneel before the Lord (Ps. 95:6); to enter his presence joyfully with thanksgiving and praise (Ps. 100:4); to celebrate with dancing and music (Ps. 149:3). The invitation may be extended to occupy the entire hymn, as in Psalms 148–150. In the Psalter's concluding doxology, every line save the last begins with the imperative, "Praise!" (Hall?lu!), and the last ends with "Hallelujah!" These psalms represent a heightened recognition of the homage due the Great King from his partners in the covenant.Psalms of the Sanctuary
As the site of the annual festivals, where the covenant with the Lord was renewed, Jerusalem was the place "where the tribes go up" (Ps. 122:4). The sanctuary on Mount Zion was especially esteemed in the eyes of the faithful of Israel and Judah. The house of the Lord was the place where Yahweh's faithfulness in protecting his servants was revealed:In Judah God is known, His name is great in Israel. His tabernacle is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion. There he broke the flashing arrows, The shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. (76:1–2author's translation)
Thus, psalms of Zion developed; they exalted the city of the sanctuary and spoke of Yahweh's love for it:
The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God. (Ps. 87:2–3)
In the perspective of the worshiper of Yahweh, it seemed that Zion, "the city of the Great King" (Ps. 48:2), would be established forever as a stronghold and defense for his people (Pss. 46; 48). The psalmic portrayal of Zion became the basis for the New Testament picture of the worshiping church as the New Jerusalem, the refuge of the saints of God (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22–23; Rev. 21:2).