BibleProject - Babbling Babies Rule the World

Episode Date: February 22, 2021

A coming king and a bunch of crying babies? Psalm 8 can seem kind of confusing. But when we look closer and understand its context, we can see that it’s actually a beautiful meditation on the image of God. Join Tim, Jon, and Carissa as they discuss this important poem.View full show notes from this episode →Timestamps Part one (00:00-10:45)Part two (10:45-26:45)Part three (26:45-46:30)Part four (46:30-54:30)Part five (54:30-end)Show Music “Defender Instrumental” by Tents“Psalm 8” by Poor Bishop HooperShow produced by Dan Gummel. Show notes by Lindsey Ponder.Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hey, this is Cooper at Bible Project. I produce the podcast in Classroom. We've been exploring a theme called the City, and it's a pretty big theme. So we decided to do two separate Q and R episodes about it. We're currently taking questions for the second Q and R and we'd love to hear from you. Just record your question by July 21st

and send it to us at infoatbiboproject.com. Let us know your name and where you're from, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds and please transcribe your question when you email it in, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds, and please transcribe your question when you email it in. That's a huge help to our team. We're excited to hear from you. Here's the episode.

Hey, this is John at Bible Project, and today on the podcast I get to talk with Dr. Temecki and Dr. Kyrissa Quinn about the eighth poem in the book of Psalms. Psalm 8 has become a very important chapter for me as I've realized more and more how the entire story of the Bible is about God's relentless pursuit of humanity to partner with us even though we are weak and quite frankly pretty stupid most of the time. And so the question is why would the God of the universe, the creator of the heavens in the earth, want to partner with us? At the most basic, it's a poem reflecting on God as the creator.

So this poet has internalized Genesis 1 and is offering us a meditation, not just about God's relationship to the world, but God's relationship to humans, and what humans are all about. Salmate was also an important poem for Jesus and the Apostles. Jesus expressed an interest in this poem, and actually so did Paul and the anonymous author of the letter to the Hebrews. This is actually a frequently quoted poem in the New Testament.

Now in the beginning of the poem is a riddle. What's one of the weakest things you can imagine? Well, perhaps it's an infant crying in his helplessness. From the mouth of nursing babies and little infants, you have founded a stronghold because of your enemies to stop the enemy and the avenger. What? How can the weak be a fortress against the strong?

That's all ahead in today's episode. Thanks for joining us. Here we go. Okay, we've been making a new type of video as Bible project. We are calling Visual Commentary and this conversation is on the next Visual Commentary that's going to drop and it's on Salmate. And here to talk about Salmate is Tim and Kyrissa. Hey, how are y'all?

Hey, good. Hey there. Happy day. Happy day. So we're here to talk about Salmate. Tim, you're going to lead us through it. So there. Happy day. Happy day. So we're here to talk about Psalm 8. Tim, you're gonna lead us through it. So let's jump in. Yeah, Psalm 8. It is my translation that we're gonna use in the video. And it has some little tweaks that might be different from common English translations, but we'll walk our way through it. This is an awesome poem. And do you wanna explain just super quick why you tweak it?

Oh, mainly because sometimes there's nuances in Hebrew text or to the Greek text that our English translations can't fully capture. No matter what translation it is, even if it's a really good one. And so sometimes having multiple alternate translations can highlight little details that are there for the reader. So there'll be a few of those.

Yeah, I noticed with yours, you can always see the repeated words. You'll always translate the repeated words the same. Yes. So that you can notice them. Yeah, it's an interesting feature that Biblical authors loved these repetition to get their main points across. And modern English translations tend to reduce repetition by using a variety of English words.

Because repetition sounds a little lazy. Yeah, totally. So yes. Yeah, stylistically, it can sound awkward in contemporary English. But it's actually a communication design technique of the Bible. And so, yep, that's right. You want to read it, Chris?

Sure. Oh, Yahweh, our Lord. How majestic is your name in all the land? You've set your splendor above the skies. From the mouths of infants and nursing babes, you've established a stronghold because of your adversaries to stop the enemy and the Avenger. When I consider your skies, the works of your fingers, moon and stars

which you established, what is human that you remember him and the Son of humanity that you attend to him? Though you've made him little lesser than Elohim, yet with glory and majesty you've crowned him. You made him a ruler over the works of your hands, all things you've set under his feet. Sheep and oxen, all of them and also beasts of the field, birds of the skies and fish of the sea, what crosses the paths of the seas. Oh Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the land? Mike drop.

Yeah, if there was an ancient version of microphones the poet would drop it right there David is connected to this poem at the heading of it. Oh, it is. Yeah, not in your translation. Yeah, we did Yes, you sorry We'll talk about it, but you're right. I didn't include that. Sorry. Does it say of David? Uh, this is lidavid a song a song of David Yeah, literally what it begins with, a phrase that nobody quite knows what it means. L'amnabseach, usually translated for the choir director.

Oh, right. Which is just a shot in the dark. Perhaps just for the leader. Okay. Or for the end, right? Yes, yeah, ancient Jewish scholars before the time of Jesus who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, translated that phrase with the Greek phrase for the end, for the tell us.

That's interesting. Then the next phrase is all haggatite, which is some kind of instrument or tune. Then it's a song in relationship to David in some way. Which we'll talk about. Alright, so song 8, it's a rad poem. You can tell it's about creation themes. Right, which is what we're riffing on for the next few visual commentary videos.

We did Genesis 1, obviously creation theme. Psalm 8 here as well. Yeah, Psalm 8. Yeah, and even in the very first line, it mentions the land and the skies. So you automatically have this picture of all of creation. Yeah, Genesis 1 1. Yeah, yeah, it mentions the land and the skies. So you automatically have this picture of all of creation. Yeah, Jesus one more. Yeah.

God created the land and the skies. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So if God created the land and the skies, it makes sense within that worldview that the land and the skies or this majestic demonstration of the name of the reputation of Yahweh. Just like a painting is a testimony,

right, to the brilliance or creativity of an artist. That's the view here. So it's as if the skies and the land are a physical manifestation of Yahweh's royal power and splendor. That's the opening and closing. Notice the opening line and the final line of the poem are identical. So majestic, because that's not a word I really use. Yeah. It's kind of turned into a Bible word for me. Mmm, majesty. Majesty. What about your majesty? Oh, referring to someone of high, yeah, I mean, I never have ever said that to someone. I've never said that. That's what it is right in movies. Yeah, I've been in a movie.

But to be majestic to be kingly, that... Yeah, you know, it's interesting. It's the Hebrew word Adir. And it's the most basic meaning. It's powerful. It can be used of a storm waves in the Psalms. I did a little in the notes. There's a list of nouns that get this adjective, adir. And sometimes it's a person in an authority, a king or a leader.

But Jess is often, it's something that's powerful or huge. So the cedars of Lebanon can be called adir. Yeah, that makes sense. So something that's so big, powerful and impressive. I might have called a tree majestic once in my life. Oh yeah, yeah, I can see that. Yep, good to see the red. The red ones.

Or mountains. Or maybe that's a biblical. So majestic. Yeah. Okay, maybe. No, look at it. It kind of sounds like you're speaking King James. Yeah, it does.

Maybe that's where I'm speaking. No, what about the matching? So that's the opening line is, yeah, where Lord, how majestic is your name and all the land? You have set your splendor. Splendor. Is that a word? I don't use it either,

but it feels a little more common to me. Splendor. Splendor. You might use it because it's splendid. Splendor, I don't know, do you use that? My grandma might. Splendor. You might like, sarcastically, say something like, it all of it's splendor, but not, but sarcastically. Yeah. Like, like if you made, we all three have little kids. You do art with

your kid. Yeah. You know, and to you the parent, it looks amazing. Yeah. But to anyone else looking at it, it's, it's kind of pitiful. But you know, that's you the parent, it looks amazing. Yeah. But to anyone else looking at it, it's kind of pitiful. But, you know, that's the kind of thing, and there works, and all of their splendor. I don't know. Anyway. Splendor. This is another word, but it's more specifically connected to authority. And someone, or something, in a place of authority, and that looks so impressive.

It's splendor. Oh, yeah. So it comes from the French, splendor. It means radiance, or brilliance. Is that the idea in Hebrew? Radiance or brilliance? Oh, it's kind of shininess, this like brightness.

Not majestic, a deer, that's not. That's why I'm associated with it. Not majestic, but splendor. Yeah, but splendor, yeah, this, the Hebrew word hoed. Okay. Yeah, which isor, yeah, this is the Hebrew word, Hode. Yeah, which is often connected with a physical display of brightness, brilliance, or something. Our gold even presses you.

Yeah, okay. So these are kingly words. Roils, yeah, royal. Royal, yeah, it's vocabulary of royalty and authority. So it's not just how great you are, how great is your name? It's Yahweh is the king over all of this. Yep, that's right.

Yes, which is gonna be interesting because the body of the poem is about how Yahweh made somebody else king over creation. But we'll get there. At the most basic, it's a poem reflecting on God as the creator. And we've read a lot of Genesis 1 stuff in there about the skies and the land, humans, humans being made really important before

we dive into that. We'll talk, let's just kind of get overview. Humans are really important. The sun, the moon, the stars, the stars, they rule over the animals, there's a list of animals that comes right out of Genesis 1. Yeah, Genesis 1 is on the brain. Yeah. Yeah. So this poet has internalized Genesis 1 and is offering us the meditation, not just about God's relationship to the world, but God's relationship to humans, and what humans are all about. Let's know something else. And this is if you're taking the whole Bible, old New Testament's into context, Jesus expressed in interest in this poem, and actually so did Paul and the anonymous author of the letter

to the Hebrews. This is actually a frequently quoted poem in the New Testament. And I just want to flag this because the way Jesus and Paul, it's become a meme for them. If you want to. If you want to. Totally. How Jesus understands this poem and what he gets out of it

and also Paul, it creates, what for me was a puzzle for a while. Because it was one of those moments where you go back, you can read in your own Bible, they're Bible. Bible and you walk away going how did they get that? Yeah, and is your assumption with that that the way Jesus and Paul and the apostles are interpreting this is How we should be able to interpret it to yeah, or maybe the first my first I want my Default response to be they certainly understand it better than I do. So if I don't see what they're seeing, my assumption should be I'm the one in the dark, which opens up a whole opportunity to discover cool stuff. So let's just real quick,

in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 21, the triumphant entry, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, this famous scene, our iconic scene. Palm Sunday. Right. So he's on the donkey, the people are lying down, cloths, garments in front of him, palm branches. And what the people are shouting is also from the Psalms, they're quoting from Psalm 118, saying, blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh,

Hoshana in the highest, Hoshana, which means rescues. Please. Please. And Hebrew. Yeah, nah, is please. And then Hoshana is rescue. So they're using Hebrew,

like a transliteration of Hebrew. Oh, yes, it's an yes. Although they're speaking in there. They're using Hebrew, like a transliteration of Hebrew. Oh yes, it's an yes. Although they're speaking in Arabic. The translators have chosen not to translate Hoshana, but just spell it with English letters. Is that what they would have probably said out loud? Is it an Arabic word then? Oh, let's see.

Is it Arabic pronunciation? Oh, it's from? Yeah, that's a good question. Well, in Psalm 118 it would be in Hebrew, but then in Matthew it would be in Greek. Correct. Yes. In other words, Matthew, yeah, that's right. So Matthew has chosen not to translate it, but to spell Hebrew word with Greek letters. And so our English translations take their cue, and they don't translate it. They spell the Greek word in English letters, even though it's... Save it, and it's save us please. Kind of like hallelujah.

We just leave it. The untranslated Hebrew word yet. Yep, it's so cool. Save us. And all the crowds, you know, are yelling. We're told that Jesus goes into Jerusalem, the city's a stir, and the people are saying, who is this?

And the crowds are saying, this is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth and Galilee. But when the priests and the Bible scholars saw, this is the scribes. They saw all the things that he was doing and the children who were shouting in the temple saying, Hoshana, son of David, they got angry. And they said, did Jesus, do you hear

what these children are saying? And Jesus said to Jesus, do you hear what these children are saying? And Jesus said, yes, have you ever read the Bible? I always like that one. He's talking to Bible scholars. Have you ever read the Bible? You know there's that place where it says, out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise from Salmate for three. So he's quoting Salmate.

It's quoting Salmate. So somehow he sees himself and what he's doing as somehow worthy of the same type of praise or connected to the praise that comes out of the baby's mouse. And this highlights the role of the babies in Salmate. There's babies in Salmate. There is. There's babies in Salmate. Yep. From the mouth of infants and babies. Yes. You have established. And Jesus says praise. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so it's all made. Yeah, we'll get to that.

Says something else. Yeah, that's right. Yep. Jesus quotes from a different version of Salmate than the one we have in the Hebrew Bible. I think this is the most confusing verse of the Psalm. It is. So I would like to know what Jesus meant totally. Yeah. What the Psalm means. So we're just gonna flag it. We're flag it. Jesus thinks these babbling babies of Psalm 8 are actually important. And they're a way to understand who he is and the crew around him and what they represent in the story of Israel. So the the scribes are saying hey this is ridiculous Jesus you got these kids running around thinking that you're gonna save them. Yeah. Like this is silly and then Jesus quotes from Salmae and says, don't you know in Salmae this is what the Psalmist, Psalmist actually said, it's from the mouth of babies,

that God's gonna do something. Yeah, exactly. And so it's very appropriate for these kids to be running around. Yep, totally. He is quoting this line and has specific resonance in that moment because there's children around. But he's got the whole poem on the brain. The whole poem comes to bear on what Jesus is there

to do to the interesting. He wasn't just like going through his mind like, what's, what part of the Bible is there about kids singing? Over his one. Hey, right summit, yeah. And I'll pull it out and text it. Exactly. That's not what he's doing.

No, no, he's doing way more. So let's just flag that. Yeah. Real quick, let's just note, two moments where the Apostle Paul also was attracted to Salmate. Once in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, once in Ephesians chapter 1, in both contexts, he's talking about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and how Jesus was installed as the king over all creation, especially over the enemies of creation. So in 1 Corinthians 15, he's talking about how in the first human, in Adam, all died.

So also in the Messiah, all will come alive. But each in his own order, the Messiah was like the first fruits. And then after the Messiah's resurrection from the dead, come those who belong to the Messiah when he returns. Then, welcome the end. When the risen Jesus will hand over the kingdom to God and Father, when He has abolished all other rule and authorities and powers. For the risen Jesus must rule until He's put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished will be death because

Psalm 8 he put all things under his feet. That's from Psalm 8. Yeah. What part of Psalm 8 is that? Yeah. Diverse. That's like Psalm 2 to me. I guess our maybe is other quote or is he quoting from Psalm 2? Oh, sorry. He's putting enemies under, sorry. He's quoting from enemies under his feet. He's quoting from Psalm 110. So he's blending together the wording of Psalm 110 with the wording of Psalm 8. Psalm 110 is about a king from the line of David

who will rule as a royal priest, like Melchizedek did in Jerusalem, so long ago, with enemies under his feet. So Paul is interested in Psalm 8 because of this picture of a human ruling over all things, especially over the enemies, the threatening enemies of God, which here are cosmic enemies of death. The powers. The power and death, exactly. How did you get there?

I thought this was about just humans and how God made them his partners to rule over animals. Psalm 8, you mean? Yeah, Psalm 8. thought this was about just humans and how God made them his partners to rule over animals. Salmae, you mean? Yes, Salmae. Yeah. So how's Paul getting this like resurrection installation of the Messiah and the new humanity and all the cosmic enemies of God are under his feet? Yeah, and that it's about one specific person.

Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah, the Messiah. Yeah. And then those who belong to him. Yeah. Can then those who belong to him. Yeah. Can we slow down? You just said, Salmae is about making human partners to rule.

We didn't really flesh that out. We kind of just read the Psalm to be granted. That's right. But what you're saying there in the Psalm, the bit where it's like, what is human that you remember him? Yeah. You have crowned him, crowned him, made a ruler

over the works of your hands, all things you've set under his feet. Okay, and so this is the majestic King God who has appointed the humans to rule on his behalf. To rule over the animals. Yeah, and somehow Paul reads that poem and he starts talking about the resurrected Messiah who's been crowned with new creation life

to rule over all of creation than vanquish God's cosmic enemies. And you know, that's just not what I would have picked up from Salmeh on a first-repic. Like sheep and cattle don't sound like God's enemies in some of the eights, yeah. That's right. Yeah, so I think I've been having these conversations

with you long enough to know how he's connecting the dots. Yes. Because what Saul mate's talking about is the image of God. Yes. And we've talked a lot about how humans are made to be in the image of God. We keep failing in that. One element of Jesus being Jesus is that he's human.

Yes. And he represented the vocation of being human, being God's image, in the way that was meant to be. And so if our calling is to rule on God's behalf, have that majesty and be crowned with it, that is ultimately filled in Jesus. So Paul's connecting those dots and he's bringing Jesus in the Salmate. Even though when I read Salmate, I'm just thinking about me and the other humans around me.

Yeah, that's right. But he's connecting it to Jesus. Yeah, that's right. So maybe it's so there's one other set. There's one other key story and biblical theme that's hyperlinked in here that helps Jesus and Paul make that connection between the first human humanity that failed, the ultimate humanity that God appointed to succeed, which is Israel's Messiah, the true image of God.

And this key missing link there, how do you get from the first image of God in Genesis 1 to the ultimate image of God that's the risen Messiah? And the key link there is the story of David. The role that the story of King David plays in the revival is like the key link between those two. And you know, I was just thinking about this the other day. David's story, in terms of stuff we've focused on in the Bible project, David's story

hasn't been a major focus. And I'd really want to start turning my energies there. Yeah. I just realized the other day working on something. Other than Moses and Jesus, David's story takes up, he's the character who has the third most amount of pages dedicated to a story. And are you counting the historical books and the songs also?

Oh, man, if you counted the Psalms that are connected to David, he would be on a par with Moses for sure. Because whether or not David wrote these Psalms, the superscriptions, those little titles, yes, say, of David, so they're supposed to be associated. David's one of the most important characters in the Hebrew Bible for understanding who the Messiah is and why Jesus said and did almost all the things he said and did. David's super important. And so that's all made to great example that I hope to make clear if I can communicate my thoughts.

I'd love to go to David, but can we talk really quick about this under his feet thing? There's a couple things that's striking me. One is when you read Salmaid and he says, so God's made humanity a ruler over the works of his hands. And all things God set under humanity's feet. And then it talks about like the animals. But before the animals, when he's thinking about that, he's looking up at the sun moon and stars. And for them, that's the host of heaven before the animals, when he's thinking about that, he's looking up at the sun moon and stars.

And for them, that's the host of heaven, the creatures that are actually more majestic, more splendorous than us. I mean, they're actually shining. Totally. And then the focus comes back to humanity and it's like, well, we're just like these dirt creatures. So if everything's under our feet, well, okay, everything on land is under our feet.

But the powers above and death itself, like we're still subjugated to. So that's not under our feet. And then you get to Paul and Paul making this connection is saying now that was Christ. Now it is. Death and the powers as well as under his feet. You know, it's great is I try and put off like the goodies of our conversations till the very end. Oh, sorry. No, I love it. No, there's actually a detail right here in the song that connects the dots to say what you think it's not saying. In verse four, the poet says, when I see your skies, the work of your fingers. Or is it, is it verse three in the English,

or is it for the first time? Oh, sorry, I'm sorry, I'm looking at my Hebrew Bible here. Is it verse three? Yeah. Okay, sorry, verse three. When I see your skies, the works of your fingers, and then they're outlined, moon, stars that you have established. What are the works of God's fingers? The heavenly hosts.

The heavenly beings, even. When you go down, to verse five, you made the human a little lesser than the Elohim. Spiritual beings up there. Which I think is most likely reference to those, the works of your fingers that are up above. Spiritual beings, you crown the human with honor and majesty, you made the human the ruler over the works of your hands. In context, it's the same phrase, the works of God's fingers and God's hands.

Now, it's going to go on to say the works of your hands, everything you put under his feet and then name the animals, but it's suggestive. Yeah. That the same phrase describes the sky inhabitants and the land inhabitants. Yeah. And all of them are, you see where I'm going. Yeah. Yeah. It's just going to start sounding a lot like Daniel 7. Hmm.

A son of man exalted to rule over the beasts, but what are those beasts? The beasts are the nations. The power. The nations, but the nations that have been led and animated by the powers animated by by the the powers The beasts the be the beasts. Yeah, so okay, this sounds rad Yeah, there's like a whole universe in this song. So what what I want to do is Pause on any more goodies and just is pause on any more goodies and just walk us through how the song fits into the book of Psalms and the Psalms around it. And then how once you see that, it plugs into the Genesis

and the first Adam and the last Adam and all of the exciting stuff that Jesus and Paul see here. I think shines with more clarity. Yeah, so you're saying that's how they learned how to read the Psalm that way, is by noting that overarching story. Yeah, yeah. So John, you just made this connection. Oh, it's image of God, Genesis 1. That's what Psalm 8's about, and then Jesus is ultimate image of God and so on.

So that's true on the macro level. Yeah. But there's even a more specific way that that line of thought is all connected, and it's through the story of David as it's portrayed in the book of Psalms. So that's where I'm going to try and lead us next. Okay. Okay, so one step, super brief, but we could spend a long time here, especially because Chris, this is your one of your areas of focus in biblical studies. I love this area.

Which is about the composition and the design of the whole book of Psalms, all 150. We have one video, a couple videos on the Psalms. In the library. And more coming, on individual ones. Yeah, more coming. So the book's been organized through a set of repeating little editorial refrains into five main blocks, sometimes called books.

And Psalm 8 is found within the first, the first of those five. So first let's just name that. There's five. Five sections of the Psalm. Five sections of the Psalm. And it concludes with a five, five Psalm conclusion. Yeah. 146 through 150 are all connected. And Chris, are you doing one of the next visual commentators? Yeah. You think the five's connected to Torah number? I do. Yeah. Yeah, especially because the very first song talks about meditating on Torah. And then there are five books of the Psalms.

And these books you can find even in your English Bibles, their title, book one, book two, book three. Yep, that's right. Yep. So all kinds of things to explore there, we're just gonna leave it for later. Book 1 is blocked off, begins with Psalms 1 and 2 that are joined, and then it comes to a conclusion at the end of Psalm 41, which is the first of these editorial refrains. So in other words, at the end of four Psalms throughout the whole book, there's a little editorial refrain that doesn't seem to fit the original

Psalm itself. It seems like it's added on, like a little on the back cover of the book or something. Like a chapter marker. Yeah. Yeah. And some it's really obvious. It'll be like a really sad Psalm of lament. And then, you know, whoa, it was me. And then the last line will be praise the God of Israel forever, never, amen. You're like, well, that changed real quick. Yeah. So that's how Psalm 89 feels. It's a shift in tone. Yeah.

So you got a big block of Psalms, Psalms 1 to 41. When you step into a big block of Psalms, this is the whole field of biblical studies. But the main technique is actually pretty intuitive. It's through repetition of key words and ideas across Psalms that if you read and reread them the way Psalm 1 tells you to, you'll start to notice little groups and connective subunits and so on. And so book one which is Psalms 1 through 41 itself has you know the first two Psalms as a conclusion,

and then four subgroups. So four groups to book one. And I've gone back and forth, there's a French scholar. I think I'm saying his name, right? Gianni Barbiero, and then Peter Ho, are kind of the two lead scholars, and then Dr. Chris Aquinnin has also made an academic contribution these two yeah these two are looking at the whole of book one correct arrangement of all of

Psalms 1 through 41 and so Psalm 8 occurs within five books within the Psalms, within the first book, there's five sections in intro and then four groups. Psalm 8 is found dead center of the first group, which is Psalms 3 through 14. And that's, there's payoff for paying attention to why it's been placed in the center there. Yeah, and it's the center. Other groups are like this too, it's the center not just because it's right in the middle, but because there are Psalms on each side that kind of mirror each other or are doing something similar. So you can tell that it's supposed to stand out

as a center. So if the book of Psalms was like a five part movie series, we're in like the first movie. Yeah. And this movie has like four main acts. It has a little intro. Yeah, little intro. It's good. Yep. And to the whole play. To the whole and that for the whole series. Yep. And then the first movie has four main acts.

Yep. And we're in the first act of that movie. Correct. And we're actually right in the center of that first act. Yeah. Yeah. Some of the it's right in the center. Okay. So what I want to pay attention to is to the things that are on either side of sawmate because sawmates have been put in between these two things on each side that match each other and that illuminate what's happening with sawmate in the middle. So this will be an exercise and reading a group of songs. And this is going to be kind of a new way to even think about the song. Correct. It's like you just these aren't just a collection of poems thrown together. The where it's placed is in this is written.

Psalms 3 through 14 are a subunit. A meaningful, intentionally crafted little subunit with psalm 8 as a part of the center of it. Yeah. I was just going to say if you're reading through the Psalms and want to read this way, what you can do is look for words that are Repeated from one Psalm to the next or even asking how does this Psalm Develop the themes from the last Psalm or how does it continue the narrative strand or narrative thread forward? Yeah, yeah, here's one very simple example the introduction Psalms 1 and 2 open and close with the same word

So think Psalm 8 opens and close with the same word. So Psalm 8 opens and closes with the same line. Psalms 1 and 2 open and close with the same word. Psalm 1 begins with blessed is the one who doesn't hang out with a bad folks. But their delight is in the Torah of Yahweh. That's the opening line. The final line of Psalm 2 is how blessed are those who take refuge in the messianic Son of God that Psalm 2 was all about. So a double blessing. Yeah, so it's a poetic

device that's sticking those two Psalms together as the introduction. Yep, that's right. Oh, there's two ways to just to find blessing as I read in ponder these texts. One is how they... Delight in the Torah. Yeah, delight in the Torah and it shapes a way of life And then keeps you in a tree. Yeah turns you into a tree of life and then Psalm 2 it teaches you to take refuge in someone the Messianic King from the line of David that God's going to send to bring justice to confront the evil of the world That's the basic point, but that little word refuge, taking refuge in the Messianic King, that's important for songmen. And to watch as it gets repeated through all of the songs that come to. Yes, right. By the way, Bibley word refuge. Refuge.

Oh yes. I think my youth group was called refuge. Oh, excuse. Oh, refuge. I don't know, do you use that in normal English? Uh, I don't know. Do you use that in normal English? I don't know. Maybe it's because I like to hike a lot. Let's go create a refuge in the woods. And I've had multiple times like, It's a hiking term. Yeah, if there's a storm or a rainstorm,

I can see that as a hiking term. It sounds intense, like I could picture yelling at. Take refuge! But I think it's a really cool word because if you look at it throughout the Psalms, it is this kingly word where the king is saying, or usually God the king is saying, I'm going to shield you, protect you, create a refuge for you. If you think about like a king protecting his people, that's the picture of it. Yes, yeah. Yeah, the world's a terrible place and it's dangerous.

And so knowing where you are safe, what places are safe for you, where you can take cover, find rest and peace, that's the refuge. It's also an interesting word because it implies that there's outside chaos and enemies. Yeah, that's right. So taking refuge in a safe place means there are places outside that aren't safe. That aren't safe. And in Psalm 2, what makes the world not safe is kings and empires who rule the land with violence and arrogance. And that makes for an unsafe world when you have arrogant rulers who don't acknowledge any power higher than themselves.

So you leave the introduction to the Psalm scrolls, and you're thinking, okay, so God's gonna raise up this king? Who is it? Who would it be? Well, I read a book called Samuel and Kings in the Hebrew Bible, and I certainly know who it's not. I know it's not a guy named David. He was pretty rad. He did it for a while.

And he was a refuge for other people For a while, but eventually he blew up big time and passed on the torch to his kiddos And yeah, I know it's actually not any of the kids from his line Yeah, because they all blew it like all the humans So this interesting puzzle that the Hebrew Bible puts in front of's this poem about a king from the line of David, but you already know that David isn't that one. Yeah. So here's what's interesting.

You leave Psalm 2 and you walk into Psalm 3 through 7, and there are beautifully arranged little composition of those five poems. They're arranged as a symmetry. In other words, 5 through 7 are three. They're arranged as a symmetry. In other words, five through seven or three, three, you walk out into the production, three through seven, basically the palms that come before Salmeit, yeah, five palms. It's the first half of this first act

in this first movie. That's right. And it's three, it's five palms about David running from his enemies, totally freaked out, persecuted, oppressed, and power. Opening scene, David's running from enemies. Right after the introduction about the king ruling all of his enemies. Yeah, okay, you get this, like movie starts, like you can be a tree of life, a king is coming.

Yes. And then cut David's running from enemies. Yeah, David the king. Yeah, and not just his enemies, his own sons. His own sons. So, Psalm 3 opens saying, a song of David when he had to flee from his son, Absalom. So, it's a great moment where it's a hyperlink

to second Samuel, and you're supposed to upload the whole story. You're just supposed to know it inside now. That's Psalm 3. Psalm 7, which closes this little subgroup, says, a lament of David, which he sang to Yahweh about the words of Kush, the Benjamin Knight, which is a deep rabbit hole of who Kush is and so on. One way or another, it's connected to either the story of Absalom, his son's rebellion, or to this time when David had to flee from Saul and hiding caves in wilderness. Either way,

the first section of poems and the poems in between are all about these moments of weak, terrible weakness and helplessness in the life of King David. So just got a ponder that. Now they're beautiful. He cries out to God, save me. You are my refuge, you say to God. But it's about the King taking refuge in Yahweh and asking God to rescue him, as opposed to the King providing rescue for other people,

which is what it's called. So they're individual laments, or they're laments of one person, because there are a lot of different kinds of Psalms. That's so. Yeah, so they're individual laments or they're laments of one person because there are a lot of different kinds of Psalms. That's right. And they're telling a story or they're within the part of the story of the king fleeing from his enemies. Yeah, yeah, and crying out to God.

Help me, help me, help me. And Lamat, she's a popular writer and just spirituality and so on. I forget which book it is. She has this wonderful chapter on prayer where she categorizes the prayers of her life, which are, help me, help me, help me. Or thank you, thank you, thank you. It's kinda like the songs.

It is kinda like the songs, yeah. That's right. Okay, so that's sounds three to seven. Okay. Then you get to song eight. Okay. We took it on board and what is human? Ponder it again. Yeah, but that one automatically sounds different in the first line.

Super different. It's not about David fleeing from enemies. It's about babies. Becoming a fortress. Become a fortress before bad guys. And then the upside down rule of humans. That's right. Okay. We leave Psalm 8 and we go to the next collection of five poems, which is Psalms 9 through 14. Now, this is a little more complex about their arrangement, so we won't get into details because if you don't have a whiteboard in four hours, it's very complicated.

But all to say is Psalms 9 to 14 are also unified. There are more poems about David, but also David starts talking about a group, like he has a crew that's along with him and that he cares a lot about, and he calls his crew by a whole bunch of names and titles. He calls them the poor and the oppressed, the needy, the afflicted ones, the helpless,

the orphans, I think that's it. Yeah, so there's this expansion from just David as that example afflicted king to all the afflicted people. Yes, yeah. So the group of Psalms after Psalm 8 are about David and a whole bunch of people who are oppressed and afflicted by the nations, by kings, by their enemies, by evil doers. And that's Psalms 9 through 14. So you just have to pause and just think, what's... We got a sandwich here.

We got a sandwich. One piece of bread is David running from his enemies. Yep. The other piece of bread is David's crew, being weak and powerless. Powerless. And powerless. And afflicted.

And in the center, the PB the PB and J. Yeah, is is this babies baby babbling enemies. Yeah, through their babble. It makes me wonder if Psalm 8 is the turning point or the hinge or something between those two. Yeah, like what happens in Psalm 8 that suddenly David's story becomes the story for all the afflicted. I don't know if that's something. Yeah, you're gonna answer, but it's an interesting question. Yeah. Well, let's, yes, let's ponder. When we think about all of them, there's basically one big drama happening in the section of Psalms. There's people running for their life.

Yeah. There's David and the people associated with him. Feeling really weak and outcast. They're weak. They're powerless. They're outcast. And they're constantly being chased by enemies. So here I've got a little. They're outcast. And they're constantly being chased by enemies. So you've got a little table here on page seven. Here's all of the, or almost all of the names that the bad guys are called. The oppressors. The enemies, the wicked, the nations, or the peoples and evil doers.

And there are enemies in Saltgate. Yeah. Got spiting enemies in Saltmate. Yeah. God's fighting enemies in Saltmate. Also, so that fits in. David says, you know, rescue me from my enemies. That's right. The baby babble turns into a fortress that rescues them from the adversaries. From three types of bad guys,

from the oppressor, from the enemy, and from the Avenger. Like the Avenger. Repo band. It's Captain America, the Avenger. I thought they're heroes. They're not heroes in Salmate. So, okay, so here's something that connects Salmate

to the surrounding palms. It's about God rescuing his people from the weak and the helpless from their enemies. Actually, that's really helpful because that line, this verse two, it's such a weird line from the mouth of infants and nursing babes you've established a stronghold. Yes. Because of your adversaries. So if you know in the story, okay, there's been a lot of adversaries. Yeah, there's been a lot of enemies that are attacking David the weak afflicted king. Yep, you got it. So's 3 to 14 are a drama of God

rescuing his chosen afflicted ones from their enemies and from their oppressors. And they are the weak and helpless ones. What's unique about Psalm 8 is that the helpless ones aren't oppressed kings or poor people. They're little babies. Right. Which is the it's like the ultimate image of a dependent creature. Yeah. A helpless dependent. Especially human babies.

Yes. I mean, so long. There's a handful of species that have that long of a development period. But you know, I watch a lot of documentaries. Animal documentaries with my kids. Yeah. And some creatures just come out ready to rock.

They are just running around. Okay, so that's the bad guys. I also have a little chart here for all of the titles or metaphors for God's chosen people in Psalms 3 to 14. And some of them are expected, you know, the righteous or the upright, but the afflicted, the poor, the innocent, the crushed, the helpless, the orphan, infants and babies. This is all about people who are helpless to change their circumstances and gods in the

business of raising up and exalting people like that. Okay. That's cool. So we've got an interesting progression then. Psalms 1 and 2 told me about an exalted king. Psalms 3 through 7 then showed me David on the run, not exalted, powerless king. Psalm 8 lifted up an exalted human,

an atom of Genesis 1, that somehow aligned on analogy with babies, which we'll come back to. And then after Psalm 8, 9 to 14, we're back to and then after some eight nine to fourteen We're back to David and whole crew of helpless people crying out for God to deliver them. This is meditation literature You're just supposed to What's going on here? Why is this exalted king of Psalm two set on analogy with powerless, set on analogy with babies and a puny

human race, set on analogy with David again but now with a whole bunch of helpless people associated with him. This is all meant to mix in a pot in your mind and see the and see the pieces come together. So it seems to me that there's the theme developing here that the exalted king or the exalted one, those whom God loves to exalt, are the helpless and the powerless who take refuge in Him. For people who have come to the end of their own resources, like David or like babies who don't really have any resources except their bodies you know debris and poop and sleep so that's the territory that we're in here. God loves to exalt the lowly and take take down the high and the mighty. I feel like that's the thing that Jesus likes to talk

about now and then. Yeah and it seems like in Somai it's more than helping or exalting the lowly. It's that they are also doing something. They're participating the mouth from the mouth of infants and babes. You've established a stronghold. Yes. And then the humans ruling. Yep. Because I think helping is not just for them.

I get that. Yeah, that's good. Okay. All right. So let's just, those are very quickish tour through Psalms., one to fourteen, but you kind of get the point here also just trying to model what it looks like to read groups of Psalms It's noticing these kinds of connections. So let's come back to Psalm 8 and let's look at these two parts of it and think about it in light of the poems around it O Lord, our Lord, Alma just take his Your name in the earth

O Lord, our Lord, Alma just take his O Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. When we come back to Summit, we notice that it has two movements. We heard about Yahweh's majestic name above the skies in the land. And that's pretty awesome. Yahweh has a great name. The next line is this thing about the babies, which to be honest, for years I just kinda was like, ah, that's weird. Why are we talking about babies?

And it's a weird line. It makes me feel good when you say that. Is that tell like 90% of the Bible is true? Let's just, so let's just read it. Read it once more. So Yahweh, your name, in the sky, in the land, your majestic, your powerful. From the mouth of nursing babies and little infants, you have founded a stronghold. A refuge.

A refuge. Yeah, it's probably a parallel word to refuge. Stronghold. So from the mouth of babies you've established or founded a stronghold because of your enemies to stop the enemy and the avenger. Yeah, it's clunky. It's clunky. But when you parse out all the clunkiness, you get this picture of babies crying out, and their cries actually become a place, a refuge. Yes. And this is all happening because God wants to save them

from the back guys. Exactly. Yeah, it's a riddle. Yeah, who are these babies? Yeah, in other words, this is a little riddle. The first half of Psalm A is a riddle that depends on you having meditated on the surrounding palms about helpless afflicted ones who have no power to save themselves. But when they call out to God, he promises to deliver and God becomes their refuge.

Yeah, that's what I was just wondering. So, could you interpret that as you just said this John But the cries the cries of the weak they go up to God and he establishes a stronghold Yeah, even though it says from the mouth. Yeah, from the mouth. Yeah, what do babies do with their mouths? They're crying out for help. They cry out for help. It's from that Yes crying their God establishes from yeah because God is opposed to oppressive that's what's being told right here. Now, if it was reflecting on Psalm 2, it would have been like, from the king to come who will have an iron rod, he will stop the enemies and adventures. That's what you would expect.

That's what you'd expect. That's right. But then the story of David comes along. And that king is actually on the run. And that's what the king is. That's what the king is. That's what the king is. That's what the king is. That's what you would expect. That's what you'd expect. But then the story of David comes along.

And that king is actually on the run. The king that God loves to exalt is actually more like David when he was at his worst, when he was at his most helpless. Which in a way could be the same message that that king, the powerful king, to come is also an afflicted king. Yeah. Or will be. Yeah, will be an afflicted king. That could be the model of the king to come. Yeah. In other words, if you just read Psalm 2 and finish the book of Psalms, you're like, all right, I'm looking forward to a rock and sock and kill the bad guys kind of king.

Yeah. That's how Psalm 2 kind of feels. Yeah, totally. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it says pay homage to the sun, kiss his feet, lust, he become angry and stomp your face. Yeah, right. It's like, whoa, okay. Oh, right, make way. But then the portrait of this king gets filled out through the rest of the book of Psalms. And just, we're just in the first section,

and all of a sudden, this is a king whose power is in weakness, just like babies. Yeah, that's the first section and all of a sudden this is a king whose power is in weakness Just like babies. Yes, the first part of Salmet then we come to the we replay the themes of the first part But now we're gonna do it with Genesis one on the brain So again, I look up at your skies all this powerful things beautiful shiny lights up there. Mm-hmm. It's beautiful. It is beautiful It is beautiful and then I look at a human. Splendid. Splendid. Look, he's like, I look up and I see the beauty up there. Then I go and look at a human. Yeah. And he hasn't bathed in a while. And why do you pay attention to humans? Yes, just stinky, loud. Yeah.

And then the poet starts reflecting on the phrase in Genesis 1, the image of God. So you made the human a little lesser than Elohim. So whether that refers to the one God, whether that refers to the shiny lights above, Elohim being the Hebrew word for spiritual beings. Spiritual beings, correct, yeah. But despite the dirty origins

and the puny powerlessness of humans compared to the cosmic powers above, you crowned the humans with this destiny, with this capability and calling to rule over the works of your hands. And over the animals, and he names domesticated animals, the poet does. But then also animals that are not really under human control, like birds and whatever passes through the seas.

Yeah, that seems like a weird giant squids totally. Birds of the sky, fish of the sea, and anything else that's in the sea under there. We're not even going to talk about those sea creatures. Yeah, totally. They get a little wild. Yeah. So it's a set of images. It's sort of like, you know, this is how animation works. Exactly. We work in animation studio. When you put a sequence of images next to each other, and you just start swapping them out, you start to notice relationships between them, how they're similar, how they're different. So you have the king of Psalm 2, David fleeing, crying out to God and exalted, babies crying out and God building a refuge through their calls for help. You have humans, puny, but yet lifted high to be rulers over creation, then you have David again in

Psalms 9 to 14 and just you start swapping all those on top of each other and you see a collective portrait emerging that Sounds a lot like what Paul the Apostle is talking about about a crucified Messiah who's been raised from the dead to crucified Messiah who's been raised from the dead to be the ruling power over all enemies, whether human rulers or cosmic rulers. In other words, what I'm saying is Paul got there by reading Psalm 8 as a part of a larger set of ideas here in the book of Psalms and then also in light of other parts of the Hebrew Bible. Being that you get to Jesus' story and you're like, Jesus displayed his power but in this really backwards way

by allowing himself to be arrested, mocked, crucified. Yes, heralded as a king by children. Yeah, from the mountains of David. Yes, yeah. And so Paul's going, yeah, that's God's M.O. Yeah. Like look at yes

Look at Psalm 8, which are really as part of this whole movement of the Psalms of God. Yeah, he lifts up the week Yeah, yeah, and so When God himself comes to display his power What do you expect it to look like? What is made that you be mindful of Him? Son of man that you would take care of Him? With honor and glory, you crown Him and give Him Domain the unover the works of your hands.

What is man that you be mindful of Him? Son of man that you would take care of him with honoring glory. You crown him and give him dominion over the works of your hands. So would you say when we read Psalm 8 and the other Psalms with Psalm 8 here, we should be thinking of the story of the king, but also the king as the representative of the people. So in other words, God helps the king or he establishes the king. And he also, if you're afflicted, it's an encouragement to remember that God hears and that he cares, because that seems like what comes after Psalm 8.

This encouragement for the other afflicted people. Yeah, I think that's right. And again, that's on Paul's brain too, because his point in Ephesians and Corinthians will be just as God raised up the Messiah. He will also exalt and raise up those who belong to him. Or in the language of Psalm 2, those who take refuge in the persecuted, yet exalted Messiah. And that's where this gets even more closely connected to this reflection on the role of humanity, being so elevated, and having lost that, and wanting to reclaim that. Yeah. How is that done? Yes.

So humans have the ability and capabilities to master their environment in ways that can be life-giving and generate flourishing for each other and God's creatures. We also have ways of doing that that are obviously destructive. And the question is, what story is guiding? How you know how to use your capabilities and your powers. And, you know, Jesus was raised on this literature, and he thought the perfect, like, royal heralds to usher him in to his... Was baby vowel. It his... Was baby vowel. It's rounded with baby vowel.

Yeah. And Paul thinks the most fitting way for a king to be enthroned is first to be crucified and give his life for others. And then, after that act of self-giving love to be vindicated and exalted, it's like the unique Jewish Christian redefinition of true power. What's soulmate about? The Bible, man. This really does bring some more depth this idea of Jewish meditation literature because you're reflecting on Genesis 1, but you're also reflecting on this whole movement of the Psalms. But then you get to go and see Jesus reflecting on it, and Paul reflecting on it, and then

you get to go back and you get to think about it again. Yeah, think about David's story. Yeah. Yeah. And then David's story. And this all ties together. And then if, so you have all these themes, but to me, it always feels like it comes back to then this one theme, which is like God wants to rescue us towards our calling.

And we are weak creatures. But that's okay. And God wants to do something with that. Our powerlessness could be our greatest asset. Yeah. In the sense that if we face it and are honest about it, that we recognize that everything that we have to offer the world anyway isn't from ourselves. It's a gift that we've received from others and ultimately from God. You tagged that when Jesus quotes it, so Saulmate says, from the mouths of babies you have made a

stronghold, and then Jesus quotes and says, from the mouth of these babies, you have established praise. Established praise. Oh yeah. So Jesus misquoted the Bible. He perfectly quoted the Greek Bible. The Septuagit. The Septuagit. Yeah, actually even my NIV translation says praise.

So they went with the Septuagit translation. Okay. Oh, in Salme? Yeah, in Salme. In your English. Oh, my English, but it's an older version of the NIV2. Oh, because I was reading our NIV online and it did. They must have updated it.

Yeah, I think they probably did. Interesting. Yeah, so a couple centuries before Jesus, Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and when those scholars came to this line, they didn't strictly translate. They were puzzled too by this image of from the mouths of babies you've established. And it's the Hebrew word O's,

which means either strength or a strong place, like a fortress. And that strange metaphor that for us, I called it a riddle, it's on purpose. They, the Greek translators smoothed it out by providing a paraphrase, where they interpret the stronghold as being the praise, the crying out to God of praise. Now actually, I think that's actually a legitimate interpretation. Yeah, because crying out feels like praise. Mm-hmm. Or lament.

It's kind of more of a, what do they call that, a, not a translation, but a... Paraphrase? Paraphrase. It's an interpretation. Interpretation. Yeah, that's right. And English translators do this all the time. Yeah, they do.

They hit puzzles in the original language and they do their best. Well, you have to, whenever you translate one language to another, you're always interpreting. Always interpreting. Just sometimes you have to interpret a little more. Here's the sticky wicket that I'll just raise and then. So Jesus is presenting, he's presented in Matthew's gospel as quoting from this Psalm. But the version that's in Jesus' mouth is the Greek version. Yeah. Not the Greek version. Yeah.

Not the Hebrew version. Right. There's the other thing. Other quotations from the Hebrew Bible in the Gospel of Matthew don't follow the Greek version. They'll follow what seems like Matthew's own translation from the Hebrew. So, and the whole question is, did Jesus speak Greek and people spend their whole careers about bio-lingualism and trilingualism of Jesus. But either way Matthew was satisfied with having the

Greek version present what Jesus said. So we know Matthew knew the Hebrew version of the Bible. Totally. Yeah, you look at his other foot. He could have put it in Jesus' mouth. Correct. That's right. Yeah. So this is actually the Jesus and the apostles are flexible when it comes to precise wording for how they quote their Bible. Those sometimes quote, they'll quote from whatever translation best makes the point. Yeah. From the. Sometimes you'll merge. Sometimes they'll merge different. Yeah. Parts of the Bible together to make some new hybrid verse. Correct. Yeah. That's why when you look at New Testament quotations of the old, it often doesn't match

exactly. And that's because they had a different standard for quoting and interpreting than we do. It used to bother me, and now I've come to see that it's really significant, because usually it's because they're tracking with details or ideas that maybe I... Does it not bother you as much anymore because it's kind of forces you to meditate? It totally. Yes, exactly right. It's an invitation that the rabbit hole goes deeper. That sounded like, are you able to relax your body

and breathe and that's why it doesn't bother you? Okay. That leading question. Does that bother you? No, I actually meant, I meant because it's invitation to, as Tim would say, to make a cup of tea. Oh yeah. Take a walk and think about it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. Yeah. That's good. Alright, Salmae, thank you guys. Yep. Good times. Yeah.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Bible Project Podcast. Today's show is produced by Dan Gummel, our show notes from Lindsay Ponder, and the theme music is from the band Tents, and the music today and the music breaks were by the band Poor Bishop Pooper. Poor Bishop Poopers actually do a really cool project where they are adapting every song in the Bible into a song. If you enjoyed their work, look them up wherever you stream music. For now we're going to leave you with Poor Bishop Poopers, Psalm 8. How majestic is your name in all the earth? O Lord of the Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, O Lord, our Lord,

I'm a Jessica, Your name in all the earth. What is man that you'd be mindful of him? Son of man that you would take care of him. A thorn in glory, you crown him and give him dominion over the works of your hands. What is man that you'd be mindful of him? Son of man that you would take care of him with honoring glory. You crown him and give him dominion over the works of your hands. What is man that you be mindful of?

Son of man that you would take care of, with honor and glory, You crown him and give him, Domain on over the works of your hands. What is man that you be mindful of, Son of man that you would take care of, With honor and glory, You crown him and give Him. Don't be young over the works of your hands.

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic His, Your name in all the earth. you