The Poetry and the Religion of the Psalms

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Preface

The following pages are devoted to a consideration of the Place of the Psalms in the History and the Religion of the Old Testament, and under that title they were delivered as the Croall Lectures for 1893-94.

I have to thank the Trustees for extending to me the time allowed for the publication of the Lectures. The delay has enabled me to return once and again, as I was desirous of doing, in something of the attitude of a critic of my own positions. When one's conclusions do not agree with the current views of those who are regarded as authorities, it becomes him at least not to be rash in the publication of them.

Besides rearranging the material in the more convenient form of chapters, I have not hesitated to refer to such works as may have been published vi PREFACE.

or may have come under my notice since the Lectures were delivered. After the book was all in print, there appeared in the * Theologische Literaturzeitung' (No. 7 for 1898) a review of Wildeboer s ' Commentary on the Proverbs/ by Graf von Baudissin, with some very seasonable and suggestive words on the subject of personal religion in Pre-Exilian times, to which scholars would do well to take heed. I have lately also discovered that, in regard to some points, I have been anticipated almost in identical terms by so competent a judge as Mr Schechter, in his ' Studies in Judaism/ as, e.g.^ on pages 229 and 295 of that work.

The Psalms are hallowed by so many personal associations that one regrets writing anything of a controversial character on the subject. At the same time, the ordinary reader who takes an intelligent interest in the progress of Old Testament criticism cannot fail to be aware of a change of attitude towards these compositions, and will be prepared to consider the bearings of the questions involved. With the verdict of such readers I am content to abide; as a friend says to me, The Psalms vnll take care of themselves.

In sending the book to the press, I have to express my indebtedness for valuable suggestions

PREFACE. Vll

made to me by my esteemed friend and recent colleague, Dr Dickson, Emeritus Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow. I have also to express my thanks to two former students, Rev. William Moffat, B.D., minister of Elgin, and Rev. George Grordon Duncan, B.D., minister of Glendevon, for much help in the reading of proofs ; and to my assistant in the University, Rev. Thomas H. Weir, B.D., for taking the trouble to verify the references. For the convenience of the reader, these references, where it is not otherwise stated, are made to the English Version.

Chapter I. Introductory

Three aspecU of "religion." — The religio*^ of the Psalms specially interesting (1) because touching human nature so closely ; (2) to the theologian as bearing on the connection between the Old and New Testaments ; (3) for the history of religion generally, and the question of the order of development. Prima facie case for the existence of heart-religion from the beginning. The problem of the Psalms is part of the broader problem of the Old Testament. Not to be settled by assumptions but by method of historical inquiry ..... Pp. 1-18

Chapter II. Historical Sketch Of Psalm Criticism

Survey of the history of criticism of the Psalms : 1. Earliest Jewish opinions. 2. The Church fathers — Theodore of Mopsuestia. 3. Foundation laid for historical criticism by Calvin. 4. Inauguration of modem critical treatment by De Wette, whose view was carried out (a) negatively by Hupfeld, and (6) positively by Ewald and Hitzig. 5. Olshausen perceived a background of iiaiional history, and referred the Psalms to the Jewish Church of the Maccabaean perio4 ; similar position of Reuss. 6. More recent writers carry out one or other of the lines already laid down, thus : — (a) Delitzsch goes on the lines of Ewald and Hitzig — There is a back -eddy in Hengstenberg and Hiivemick. (b) Smend

CONTENTS.

develops Olsliausen's idea of tlie personified Church, (c) Stade, Wellhausen, Kueneu, Duhm, proceed on Reuss's conception of the history, (d) Giesebrecht works an argument from the language of the Psalms. («) Cheyne, basing largely on conclusions of Olshausen and Kuenen, elaborates an argument from groups. (/) Nowack, Baethgen, Sellin, Beer .... Pp. 19-46

Chapter III. The Problems Of The Psalms

Conclusions from preceding historical survey : (a) The inscriptions cannot per 86 be taken to determine date and authorship of the Psalms ; (b) nor can we start from a limited number of admitted ** Davidic " psalms ; (c) nor is the argument from " groups " workable. But the whole discussion raises one broad question : Are the Psalms, or a representative portion of them, the expression of pre-exilian religion ] The arguments for post-exilian origin may be reduced to five : (1) Examination of first argument, that the Psalter vxis the book of praise of the Second Temple, (2) Consideration of the linguistic argument. There remain three arguments, which resolve themselves into the question, What were the pre-exilian history and religion of Israel ? They are these : (3) The historical allusions and situations do not fit pre-exilian, but do fit post-exilian time. (4) The stage of religious consciousness is too advanced for pre-exilian time. (5) The Speaker in the Psalms is the personified post-exilian Church. Instead of taking up these several points controversially, it is proposed to institute a historical inquiry on the following lines : (a) to look at evidence, outside of the Psalter itself, of the existence of a Psalter, or of the practice of psalmody, in the period before the exile ; O) to consider whether the Psalter itself gives evidence of a pre-exilian origin. If these two lines of proof show certainly, or with the greatest probability, that the Psalter originated in pre-exilian times, it will then be proper to examine the literary, historical, and religious features of the Psalms, in the light of pre-exilian history

Chapter IV. External Evidenoe

What is implied in the term " Canon," and what is known as to its formation and completion. For our present purpose we have to

CONTENTS. XI

look for evidences of the Psalter being actually in the Canon at certain dates, and draw legitimate inferences from that fact. Evidence of extra-canonical books :'(1) The existence of the Psalter in the LXX. Version, and the inferences involved. (2) The testimony of the books of the Maccabees. (3) The testimony of the book of Ecclesiasticus . . . Pp. 67-88

CHAPTER V. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE — Continued

Evidence from the canonical books as to Psalter, psalms, or psalmody : (1) Ezra, Nehemiah : "singers'* returning from the captivity. (2) The books of Chronicles, with references to (a) singing, &c., and (6) actual psalms now in the collection. (3) The book of Jonah. Pre-exilian books — Kings, Samuel, Amos. Summary of the external evidence, with the 6tron«^ confirmation |of Psalm cxxxviL ..... . Pp. 89-124

Chapter VI. Testimony Of The Psalter Itself

(1) Not the work of one time or of one man. (2) Five books. (3) Smaller collections. (4) Not in chronological order ; yet a hint of such an order at Ps. IxxiL General conclusion ; earlier psalms towards the beginning. Two termini — the age of David, and the age of the Maccabees. Both possible. At all events it is legitimate to go back to pre-exilian times for commencement

CHAPTER VII. POETRY IN PRE-EXILUiN TIMES

The foregoing evidence not only invites but compels us to go back to pre-exilian time for the origin of psalmody. Three lines of inquiry before us : (1) Whether, in pre-exilian times, the poetic faculty was so well cultivated that Ijrrics of this kind were possible. (2) Whether there were occasions sufficiently varied and sufficiently outstanding to explain national and religious references. (3) Whether the religious consciousness had attained a development sufficient to

XU CONTENTS.

produce lyrics like the Psalms. In the present chapter we confine ourselves to the first of these. — The stimulus to poetry furnished by the scenery of Palestine — the wealth of imagery so produced — the metaphoric element in the Hebrew language. Proofs of poetic effort from the earliest times — indications of technical and professional attainment — variety in the kinds of poetry. Now in the Psalms we find the same features of parallelism, metaphor, &c., as are exhibited, e.g., in poetical fragments in prose books and in hymnic pieces in historical and prophetical works. Conclusion that pre-exilian antiquity was capable of producing poetry of the high literary standard of the Psalms. Question arises : What led a people so musical to assign to David the highest place in music and song 1 Argue that he must have given a new stimulus and a new direction to music. (Parallels in our own literature.) With him begins a distinctive kind of sacred poetry, the sacred lyric or psalm ..... Pp. 146-173

Chapter VIII. The National Element In The Psalms

Inadequacy of the attempts to classify the Psalms according to their matter ; and the reason for this. Yet certain dominant features recur. Present chapter confined to the national element, which assumes various phases : (1) The contemplation of the past history. The movements, conflicts, &c., of pre-exilian times were exactly of a nature to call forth such patriotic songs ; and in the historical books we find outbursts of song just at the crises in history when we should expect the poetic spirit to be stirred. Here we can see the justification of the tradition that ascribes psalms to David. (2) Psalms which concern the king ; these by their mention of David and David*s house justify the same tradition. (3) Jenisalem psalms : but it was David that made it the capital. The enigmatical reference to Melchizedek. In connection with the Temple psalms may be taken the " guest " psalms, which also might appropriately begin with David . . . Pp. 174-204

Chapter IX. Subjective Element In The Psalter

Pause here to answer an objection that arises. If, as we claim, the Psalms, or some of them, may be referred to historical occasions

CONTENTS. XIU

in pre-exilian times, how fihould there be any uncertainty in determining the definite occasions 1 Answer : — (a) The records we possess of pre-exilian history are scanty, (b) When closely examined, the identifications claimed by critics with post-exilian situations are equally shadowy. Then (c) metaphor is not a photographic picture of an incident ; it is the coinage of a phraseology to express inner feeling, (d) The Psalms are chiefly and essentially subjective, not objective. Therefore the Psalms may belong to times of which we do have records though they do not picture the events but express the feelings. The idealising tendency seen most strikingly in the kingly psalms, and proved by the failure of critical attempts to refer those especially to Gentile monarch s. Views of Hitzig and Cheyne here . . . .Pp. 205-234

Chapter X. Rbliqious Element In The Psalter

This is an element in all the Old Testament books ; even the history is sacred history. But in the Psalms we have religion by itself. Two great themes : (1) What the writers say or imply as to God Himself, His character, and His attitude towards creation ; and (2) what they set forth as the attitude of nature and the world as related to God, especially man's relation to Him (and by implication the attitude of men to one another). (1) God's existence taken for granted. So-called Anthropomorphism. Ethical character — not metaphysical — God's near contact with His works, especially His control of and observance of Man. Here consider theophanies, which all have a gracious object. (2) Men are broadly divided into two classes, variously designated. These various designations on both sides, — the reciprocal attitude they imply, and the active conduct which is the result The moral world here presented. Difficulty of forming a concrete connected picture of it, because it is described in metaphorical language, and largely idealised. As to the date at which such a conception was possible, there is no doubt implied an education in the handling of language to express spiritual experiences. Yet the experiences described are possible in very simple states of society. They are the situations largely dwelt on by early prophets. Compare the social condition of the East at the present day

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XL

THE SPEAKER IN THE PSALMS.

The religious element in the Psalms, constituting them the highest embodiment of personal piety in the Old Testament, gives particular interest to the inquiry, Who the Speaker is, and under what circumstances he wrote them. This inquiry emphasised by the position of modem critics that the Psalms are spoken by the Jewish Church collectively. Personification a common figure in the Old Testament, and clearly to be seen in certain psalms. The modem theory of personification stated, and illustrated. Support sought for the theory in the position that the Psalter was the praise-book of the Temple. Examples of psalms held to be spoken by or in name of the assembled congregation. Examples to the contrary; and objections to the theory of personification : — (1) that nothing is gained by it, and greater difficulties remain ; (2) that it is inconsistent with the lyrical character of the songs ; and (.3) that it exhibits a retrograde view of the religion. An examination of the literary process leads to the conclusion that individual conception, observation, and experience must underlie personification ; therefore personal individual religion must precede collective representation of religious experience, and this is the vital point in question. Arguments here drawn from the experiences by which prophets were taught the truths they proclaimed, from the feelings with which psalms of a personal tone would naturally be recited by a body of worshippers, and from the religious consciousness in all ages . . Pp. 258-290

Chapter XII. Personal Religion In Pre-exilian Times

Every step in the preceding discussion shows that there is an underlying question as to the quality of the pre-exilian religion, which must now be considered. As explained by the critics, the post-exilian spiritual religion turns out to be a "corporate** religion, not personal piety. To which there are two objections : — that this is no essential advance on earlier religion, and that it is not adequate to account for the spiritual tone of the Psalms. The question in dispute comes to be : whether, early or late, the individual

CONTENTS. XV

did not count for more than these critics allow. — Although the religion had always a national sphere and boundary, yet, within this corporate religion, there was room for the free exercise of X>er8onal piety. From the records of pre-exilian time, it is argued that : — (1) Law implies recognition of individual responsibility. (2) The books, and the very function of the prophets, imply a distinction of good and evil men in the community. We find in the prophets almost the very words of the Psalms, or, by turning prophetic into psalm language we get certainly the situation underlying the Psalms. And it is difficult to conceive any state of society in ancient Israel in which it could be otherwise. Compare the modem condition in the East. (3) The oldest historical books show : (a) how the nation grew out of the family, and the family out of the individual — the history is full of biography ; (6) how the individual may bring harm on the community ; (c) how the individual may act as intercessor for others ; and {d) generally how the individual is in direct relationship to God. — All this sufficient to confute the view, held since Vatke, that the individual did not count for anything, and to show that such a sweeping distinction between pre-exilian and post-exilian religion is untenable . Pp. 291-318

Chapter XIII. David The Psalmist

The ground now cleared for putting the question, Whether we know of individuals in pre-exilian times high enough in spiritual tone to write psalms and situated similarly to the psalmists? (1) The individual prophets are the best instances of good men, alone against a multitude, and standing in direct relation to God. Amos, Samuel, Moses, all exemplify this and use language like the Psalms. Jeremiah a conspicuous example, but not essentially different from other prophets. From him and others we have language, and even jnecei quite like the Psalms. But (2) the prophets did not stand alone. Cases of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and even Elijah. A prophet's life not spent in giving public addresses. We know they prayed for the people. Did they never pray vnth them ? (3) Therefore the difference between prophetic and psalm religion is more one of form and audience than of substance. As to the objections to David ic psalms : We must allow for the versatility of David's muse, and we must acknowledge the possibility of various elements in his character. Parallels in both lines arc abundant in literature and

XVI CONTENTS.

history. The " tradition " in regard to David implies the existence of such qualities and such a variety of qualities in the historical David, as (a) formed the empire he left, and (b) impressed the heart of Israel in such a way as to give the tradition that precise shape. He was already idealised in his lifetime. Cheyne's explanation of "Davids" examined. An unbiassed reading of the documents and a fair interpretation of the Psalms make Davidic psalmody credible. The events in his life are sufficient to enable us to say. Here was a man capable of producing songs like some of tliose in the Psalter. Illustration from one day in his life. The varied experience and the long years through which his character was matured ...... Pp. 319-361

Conclusion

The aim of these pages is to vindicate for the Psalms an earlier date and a higher position than some critics assign to them. The argument is general, because broad issues are in question. Interesting as it would be to know the individual authors, perhaps even if we could recall the singers, they would not greatly satisfy our curiosity. It is the mood, not the surroundings, that explains the poem, and the great thing is that there were singers of these moods. The disparity of explanation of psalms by various expositors is proof that to the writers the occasion was not the principal thing, but something so universal that it was bound to repeat itself, so broad that it could not be confined by precise words — the eternal conflict between good and evil, as old as the dawn of conscience, and ever going on. But the psalms are not descriptions of that conflict, but the sighs or shouts of the combatants. Dean Stanley's observation of the ivy-like character of the Hebrew lyric poetry, clinging to the epic trunk of history. But the history is religious ; and to take away religion from the lyrics is to denude the trunk of its clothing, and even to deprive the history of its living sap. Prophetic-religion and Psalm-religion cannot be separated, and our estimate of the one controls our estimate of the other ; but without the existence of pre-exilian psalm-religion the whole history becomes an insoluble riddle. Songs, no doubt, modified in course of transmission. Compare the history of the Hebrew Prayer-Book and of lyric poetry in general. So also late and early may lie side by side. Psalmody, however, once started, became the outlet for the expression of all that was best in Judaism. As God was never without a witness, so were His people never without a song

THE POETKY AND RELIGION OF THE PSALMS.

Chapter I. Introductory

There are three aspects in which the religion of a people may be regarded. In the first place, it may be contemplated as a thing objectively put before the people who profess it, in the form of certain truths to be received, and a number of duties to be performed. Whether the people act up to its requirements or not, the religion as a whole is there, existent as a system, whose history and characteristics may be studied. In the second place, we may contemplate religion in action, either practised in formal observances and exemplified in the daily life, or, better still, stirring the emotions and sentiments of the heart and finding expression for itself in the language of devotion. In the third

A place, it may be observed as an intellectual movement, the spirit seeking to understand the problems which press for solution as to the causes of things, the obligations of duty, the world unseen. In the first case, we may say we have God speaking to man with authority, seeking to reach man's conscience and control his will ; in the second case, we have man speaking to God, the human heart answering the divine message ; while, in the third, we may say we have man speaking to himself, seeking to give account to himself of the mysteries which perplex him.

The religion of the Old Testament presents itself in all these phases ; and we may even distinguish three sets of the Old Testament writings as characterised by the respective phases which they embody. In the Law and the Prophets, we have God's call to man, characterised, in the former, by a system of rules to be observed in the life, in the latter by the enforcement of eternal principles on which God's claim to man's obedience is rested. In the second place come the Psalms, which are the expression of man's religious feelings in their struggle to reach God and to find peace. "The psalmists," says Reuss,^ "seek God, and know where to find Him ; the prophets, for the most part, address men who have forgotten Him." And, lastly, we have what is called the

^ Das Alte Testament (1893), Band v. p. 36.

THE PSALMS AND HUMAN NATURE. 3

Wisdom literature, the nearest approach which the Old Testament exhibits to philosophising or speculation, the distinctive examples of which are the Proverbs, and more particularly the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. Here, however, the writers do not set themselves to elaborate either a philosophy or a theology, but concern themselves with ethical problems as to the mystery of suffering in the world and the duty resting on man as the subject of divine government.

From several points of view the phase of religion exhibited in the Psalms is of special interest.

1. These sacred songs touch our common human nature very closely and at many points. We see here the religious sentiment in actual exercise under all vicissitudes, — breathed forth in humble prayer or grateful praise, impeded in its current by suffering or sorrow, agitated to its depths by temptation, passion, or persecution, or hun-ied along by exuberant hope and triumphant expectation. And the expression of these varying moods of the religious spirit is so simple, the terms are so general and comprehensive, the situations of the poets apparently so unencumbered with local or temporary details, that it is not difficult for a reader at any time to place himself in sympathy with them. As we read the Psalms, we feel that people who had any religion worthy of the name might have been uttering the same things from the beginning, and may go on saying them to the end of the world. So it has come about that these old songs of Israel, at whatever times they may have been written, and whatever occasions may have called them forth, have become, in a sense that is true of no other religious compositions, the devotional handbook of the world. The Psalms have proved how genuine and true their religious tone is by the way in which they have lent themselves to the expression of the finest spiritual experience. As that experience deepens it finds outlet for itself in the more general and comprehensive, the more simple language. When "good books" and manuals of devotion lose their freshness and relish, when the best compacted arguments fail to bring conviction to the mind and satisfaction to the spirit, when signs and wonders produce no faith, the heart responds Amen to the simple words of the Hebrew poets and finds peace. Such a psalm as the twenty-third is so general in its expressions that it may be sung in unison by the oldest and the youngest around the family altar ; yet it is so suggestive and satisfying that, when all other words put together fail to express the emotion of an overflowing heart, it comes to the believer's aid and furnishes relief. One of the first to be learned by the child, it is the sweetest music that can fall on the ear of the aged Christian who has fought the good fight. Dr John Ker, in his pleasant little book, * The Psalms in History and Biography,' after

THE PSALMS AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 5

giving instances from the times of persecution in Scotland of the use of this psalm for heartening, mentions also that Edward Irving when on his deathbed repeated it in Hebrew, and that the dying words of Sir William Hamilton were, " Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." ^

2. The Psalms have also a special interest to the Christian theologian. Augustine made the remark, which has been often repeated in different forms, that Christianity was as old as the world ; and Tertullian put the same truth into the startling words, that in the Old Testament history Christ was schooling Himself for incarnation.^ It is accordingly of the deepest interest to the Biblical theologian to group and systematise, with due regard to proportion and historical emergence, the truths that are contained in both dispensations. It is evident that our appreciation of Christianity will be more clear and intense the more we can perceive a positive preparation for it, and a laying of its foundations in the antecedent religion of the Old Testament. If Christianity is in any appropriate sense as old as the world, we ought not only to observe adumbrations of it in all the best of the ancient religions, but also to find these most

^ It is an ingenious conjecture of a recent commentator on Shakespeare that even the dying Falstaff was thinking of the 23rd Psalm when he " babb led of green fields" (King Henry V., Act ii. sc. iii.)

' De CarM Christi, vL manifestly displayed in the religion of Israel, with which it is so closely connected in historical sequence. And, further, if Christianity is both the last and the best of religions — the absolute truth — we ought to find in the antecedent religion germs at least of ultimate truth, which are independent of local occasion, and retain their vitality through all lapse of time.

Now, just as the religion of the Old Testament, as a thing attained, reaches its culmination in the Psalms, so the points of contact between the Old and New Testaments increase when we look at the Psalter in relation to the new dispensation. The connection here lies deeper than in mere references in the New Testament to individual passages in the Old, or in the fulfilment of Messianic prophecies or accomplishment of types. For religion, from our present point of view, is not a speculative but an active thing ; Scripture is not so much an embodiment of so many truths made known for man's instruction, as a record of a movement of man's spirit by the spirit of Grod for a practical end, man's salvation. Accordingly, the religion of the Old Testament appears not as a problem which man seeks to solve for himself, nor as a series of questions propounded by God to man's intellect, but as a course of discipline to prepare man's soul for the good that was in store for him. In this way the Old Testament was the schoolmaster to lead to

THE PSALTER A NEW TESTAMENT BOOK. 7

Christ, by quickening in man the sense of sin and the desire for renewal ; in other words, it is not merely nor even principally a record of revelation, but a record of the process of redemption. From this aspect, the points of contact between the Old and the New Testaments are seen not only to increase in number but to gain in significance. And so we can understand how the New Testament writers, to whom this view was paramount, refer so frequently to the Psalms, although there are fewer direct Messianic references in the Psalms than in the prophetic Scriptures. It is said ^ that there are in all two hundred and eighty - three quotations from the Old Testament in the New, and that of these a hundred and sixteen are from the Psalms.

It is therefore not by accident or out of simple convenience that the Psalms are bound by us in one volume with the New Testament as if they were New Testament Scripture. The Psalter has indeed become a New Testament book and come to be incorporated into the liturgies of nearly every branch of the Christian Church. " It was the first book which the early Church put into the hands of her young converts, the primer of her religious teaching ; and no man could be admitted to the highest order of the clergy unless he knew the Psalter by heart. It was used for singing in the first assemblies for

* Van Djke, The Story of the Psalms, ad init.

Christian worship,"^ and it has ever continued to be used, sometimes as the sole book of praise, and always as the best and most enduring of all.

3. In a wider field, to the scientific inquirer into the history of religion, the Psalms present a very interesting subject of study. For the question occurs, Whether the three phases of religion of which we have spoken are evolved in historical succession, or whether they may not have emerged simultaneously, or at least may not have in a measure run a parallel course before assuming a formulated shape in writing? Though we have specified different books as examples of the different tendencies, a hard-and-fast line cannot be drawn among the books of the Old Testament in this respect, for there are reflective or speculative psalms, and there are subjective devotional elements in the Prophets. It would seem that the reflective phase came somewhat late to its fuller development among the Hebrews; but then it is to be noted that speculative problems such as early exercised Greek philosophers seem scarcely to have troubled the Hebrew mind ; for, as Matthew Arnold has pointed out, while the Hellenistic tendency was towards speculation, the Hebraistic was towards practical righteousness. So that it would not be safe to lay down any a priori dictum as to what must be the order of development in