Dixit insipiens
This morning I’ve been doing to suit myself rather than grousing about life and my own being and all the fools at large including the stupid, arrogant alphabet POS who only likes people who weren’t captured — such as himself slithering out of military service and riding around Manhattan in his father’s limo during the Vietnam War. Anyway, the blogpost is for self, take it or leave it.
2 They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings; * there is none that doeth good, no not one.
3 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, * to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God.
4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become abominable; * there is none that doeth good, no not one.
5 Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief, * eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon the LORD?
6 There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was; * for God is in the generation of the righteous.
7 As for you, ye have made a mock at the counsel of the poor; * because he putteth his trust in the LORD.
8 Who shall give salvation unto Israel out of Sion? * When the LORD turneth the captivity of his people, then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
The psalm for Sunday is 14, Psalm 14. As I enjoy doing, I’ve looked at it from various ways, at multiple translations, including the BCP rendition we use Sunday in liturgy, at the Hebrew (which I cannot read but only pick at pathetically, I can no longer even recognize the alphabet), Young’s Literal Translation, the Orthodox Jewish Bible, the Complete Jewish Bible, the Septuagint, the King James Version, and the Coverdale Psalter (the magnificent poetry that was in use in our church until the 1976/79 prayerbook).
Here’s why I was interested.
The psalm is attributed to David, but it doesn’t sound like David to me. It sounds more like either (i) something from the period of the eighth century prophets (“workers of iniquity who eat up my people as they eat bread”) — although the eighth century prophets didn't liken the people to bread, they condemned the leaders as evil shepherds who ate up the sheep, God’s people; or (ii) something from the time of the Exile (“When the LORD turneth the captivity of his people, then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad).
The psalm is peculiar, doesn’t seem to fit usual words for categorizing the psalms (praise, lament, petition, e.g.).
Scanning, it seems as if the KJV and our BCP Psalter, including going back to Coverdale, are based on the Septuagint, because they use “Lord” where the LXX uses κυριος while the Hebrew original uses יְֽהוָ֗ה which is the name God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, YHWH, ehyeh — ehyeh asher ehyeh, which the Jewish related translations, honoring the ancient Jewish tradition that the sacred Name of G_d is not to be pronounced, render יְֽהוָ֗ה as Jehovah (YLT), Hashem (OJB), or Adonai (CJB and English translations of the Masoretic Text).
Liturgically, the psalm is our response to the OT reading, which is the story from 2Samuel of David seducing Bathsheba, impregnating her, and when his scheme to deceive Uriah backfires, he has Uriah killed and marries the woman. So how does Psalm 14 respond to that? Well, for me the connection is a bit of a stretch, but okay. However, I think we should get real and say Yahweh, but that's just me.
W