The Assyrian and Hebrew Hymns of Praise

Chapter IV

HEBREW NATURE HYMNS All ye peoples, clap your hands, Shout to God with the voice of triumph, For Yahwe most high is to be feared, A great king is he over all the earth. It was observed in the study of the sanctuary hymns that certain of them ( 147 , 148 ) repeated the call to praise at intervals throughout the hymn, creating somewhat the impression of a union of little hymns in one. This phenomenon seems to be particularly conspicuous in the eschatological hymns. Thus Psalm 96 may be divided into three hymns: I, verses 1-6; II, verses 7-10; III, verses 11-13. So also Psalm 98 divides into: I, verses 1-3; II, verses 4-6a; III, verses 6b-9. Likewise Psalm 99 : I, verses 1-4; II, verses 5-8; III, verse 9. Psalm 47 breaks into two parts: I, verses 1-5; II, verses 6-9; and Psalm 149 likewise: I, verses 1-4; II, verses 5-9. In all these hymns the repeated calls to praise represent growing momentum and power of hymnal enthusiasm for Yahwe, the great king. Turning from the introductions to the conclusions of the eschatological hymns we find that Psalm 149 is the only one of those found in the psalter that does actually end with, “Hallelujah.” Others, however (Psalms 97 , 99 , 96 , 98 ), do end with the hymnal note of praise and all conclude with the note of triumph. In Psalm 149 it is Israel’s national triumph: To execute vengeance upon the nations, Punishments upon the peoples, To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron, To execute upon them the Judgment written, An honor is it for all His faithful ones. —Verses 7-9. In Psalm 47 it is Yahwe’s great political triumph: For to God belong the shields of the earth; He is greatly exalted. Psalms 96 and 98 close with the joyous anticipation that the reign of Justice is at hand: ... For he has come to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. It is interesting that three other psalms conclude with the thought of the holiness of Yahwe and Yahwe’s house: Exalt Yahwe our God, And worship at his holy hill, For holy is Yahwe our God. — Psalm 99:9 . Rejoice ye righteous in Yahwe, And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. — Psalm 97:12 . Thy testimonies are very sure: Holiness becometh thy house, O Yahwe, forever. — Psalm 93:5 . In the study of the standard hymns of praise it was observed that Deity is regularly spoken of in the third person, while in only a very few instances the second person, the usage of prayer, is employed. Of the eschatological hymns we have examined there are four in which the second person occurs, Psalms 97 , 99 , 93 , and 82 . Psalm 97 is a hymn in three sections. The first section, verses 1-6, makes the announcement of Yahwe’s appearance on earth and the third person is used. The second section, verses 7-9, speaks of Yahwe’s supremacy over the gods, and where the psalmist is speaking of the joy of Jerusalem and Judah’s towns over Yahwe’s victory he uses the second person. But the third section, treating of Yahwe’s deliverance of the righteous again uses the third person. It is difficult to account for the use of the second person in the second section of this hymn, unless it is that the very thought of Judah’s joy over Yahwe’s triumph brought Yahwe nearer to the consciousness of the psalmist, and so put the psalmist into the attitude of mind of a suppliant toward Yahwe, with the consequent use of the second person, as in prayer. Psalm 99 seems to be a hymn of four sections. The first section consists of verses 1, 2, 3, containing six lines ending with the refrain: “Holy is he.” The second section consists of verses 4 and 5 containing also six lines and ending likewise with the refrain: “Holy is he.” There is furthermore a natural line of division at the end of verse 7, and if we can suppose that the refrain was here inadvertently omitted, we should again have six lines ending with the same refrain. This leaves us in verses 8 and 9 a fourth section of six lines ending in the refrain slightly expanded: “For holy is Yahwe our God.” Moreover the hymn is divided into two main divisions of twelve lines each, each ending with a little hymn of three lines, which is substantially the same: Exalt ye Yahwe our God, And worship at his footstool, Holy is he. —Verses 5, 9. Again there is in this hymn the same difficulty in accounting for the use of the second person as in Psalm 97 , and again the same explanation is to be offered. In verse 3a, to be sure, there may be a mistake in the text, for it is scarcely felicitous to have the second person in verse 3a and the third person in verse 3b. In verses 4 and 8 however, the very subject matter is that which would ordinarily be followed by petitions, and which would bring about the attitude of the mind in prayer, and the consequent direct address to God: Thou has restored equity; Thou has executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Yahwe, our God, thou didst answer them: A forgiving god wast thou to them, And one avenging their wrongs. Again Psalm 93 may be divided into four sections, though not all four of equal length. Verse 1, of three lines, makes the great announcement in the third person that Yahwe is king. Verses 2 and 3, of four lines, are addressed to Yahwe in the second person and inform him that his throne is from everlasting, but that mighty foes are in rebellion against him. Then verse 4, of three lines, makes the reassuring announcement in the third person that Yahwe is mightier than the foes. Verse 5 addresses Yahwe in the second person, expressing confidence that his divine authority will endure, and his house retain forever its sanctity. It seems not improbable that the verses employing the third person, and the verses employing the second persons were sung by different choirs, and that we have in this psalm a liturgical eschatological hymn. The actual content of the eschatological hymns has to some extent been shadowed forth in this discussion. The one great fact in the hymns is the triumphant intervention of Yahwe in the affairs of the world. His appearance on the earth is accompanied by the most spectacular physical phenomena. The heavens declare his glory and the earth trembles. While clouds and darkness surround his person, his lightnings illuminate the world; the hills melt like wax beneath his feet, and a fire goeth before him and destroyeth his enemies ( Psalm 97:2-6 ; Psalm 99:1 ). The appearance of Yahwe on the earth is followed by his complete and final victory. Turbulent and mighty as the waves of the great ocean, all his enemies are speedily vanquished. His right hand and his holy arm achieve for him the victory, and all the ends of the earth witness the salvation achieved by God ( Psalm 98:1 ; Psalm 93:3, 4 ). In virtue of this great victory Yahwe is now to be feared above all gods; indeed he is recognized as the one and only god. All those who had served graven images and boasted of their idols are put to shame. Yahwe reigns from his temple in Jerusalem, and the peoples of the earth bring their offerings into his courts, as they worship him, ascribing to him all glory and strength ( Psalm 96:3, 4, 7, 8 ; Psalm 97:7 ). Yahwe’s sovereignty extends into the political realm. He who is great in Zion is high above all peoples. He is the great king over all the earth. His sovereignty means the extention of his favor to Israel, the rescue of his faithful servants from the might of wicked oppressors, and the elevation of the Hebrew race to power: He subdueth peoples under us, And nations under our feet. Indeed according to Psalm 149 it means the most complete and vindictive vengeance of Israel upon the nations (verses 6-9). However, in hymns broader and more generous of conception it means the establishment of a reign of righteousness and peace over all the earth, for which not only the peoples but the physical world itself will rejoice. The world is to be established so that it can not be moved. The earth will give her increase. Yahwe will bless his people and the very ends of the earth will fear him (Psalms 96:13 ; 98:9 , 67 ; 82 ). Unique in the group of eschatological hymns is Psalm 82 . It has no call to praise, no summons to the Israelites, nor to the nations, nor to the physical universe, to rejoice at God’s appearing; it does not even announce that God has become king. What it does is to single out from all the momentous events of God’s final victory on earth one scene, but the description of that one scene is of itself such as to kindle hymnal enthusiasm and to give the psalm the atmosphere and character of a hymn. God takes his place as judge in the council of the gods (verse 1). He arraigns the gods for their protection of the wicked, and exhorts them to do justice to the poor and the fatherless, and to rescue them from their oppressors. He realizes, however (verse 5), that appeal to these judges is hopeless. They are without understanding and in darkness, while the very moral foundations of the world tremble. Therefore God pronounces final judgment upon the judges. They had been given the status of gods but now they are to die like men (verses 6, 7). This pronouncement, implying as it does that God will now himself give justice to the earth, calls forth the petition of verse 8: Arise O God, judge the earth, For thou shalt inherit all nations. Despite this anticipatory petition at the close, Psalm 82 is essentially a positive announcement of God’s triumph, and calling forth as it does hymnal enthusiasm, is itself essentially a hymn. Similarly Psalm 2 must be assigned to the group of eschatological hymns. Here again there is no call to praise, no summoning of the nations to welcome God’s appearing, no proclamation that Yahwe has become king over all the earth. Like Psalm 82 this psalm also selects and describes a single situation out of the many that go to make up Yahwe’s final establishment of his kingdom upon earth. It is presupposed in the psalm that Yahwe has already proclaimed his sovereignty over the earth and established his own anointed king upon the throne of the world in Jerusalem. But (verses 1-3) the nations of the world are plotting rebellion against Yahwe and against his anointed king. Their rebellion (verses 4-6) simply provokes Yahwe to derisive laughter. Over against their impotence he simply reaffirms his inflexible decision: As for me I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion. Then the king takes up the word (verses 7-9) and announces the divine decree. Yahwe had formally adopted him as son, and had given to him the kingdoms of the earth with power over them to break them in pieces. The king has spoken. Another voice makes the practical application (verses 10-12) and warns the kings and the rulers of the earth to make their humble peace with Yahwe, and with his anointed, before his wrath is fully aroused. Chapter IV HEBREW NATURE HYMNS The abode of the hymns already discussed was the sanctuary and their place was in sanctuary worship, but there is a group of hymns, the real background of which was Nature’s great out of doors. These hymns include Psalms 29 ; 19:1-5b ; 19:5c-7 ; 104 ; and 8 . Of these Psalm 29 resembles most closely in its literary form the standard hymns. It has the call to praise, the body of the hymn setting forth the greatness of Yahwe; and it has a conclusion, though the conclusion is not a renewed summons to exalt the deity. The hymn as a whole expresses the reaction of the psalmist to a thunder and lightning storm. He watches it rise in the Lebanon mountains in the North, and follows it with his eye and ear and imagination until it loses itself in the desert of Kadesh. He observes the forked lightning (verse 7) but is vastly more impressed by the thunder to which he attributes the destructive power of the storm. The significant fact is that the storm does not create in the psalmist fear, but moves him to adoration of his great God, and to renewed faith and confidence. The introductory call to praise (verses 1-2) summons the gods above to worship Yahwe and to ascribe to him glory and strength. The body of the hymn celebrates the thunder, “The Voice of Yahwe,” somewhat as Psalm 19:8-10 celebrates: “The Law of Yahwe.” Verse 9c: “But in his temple every one saith Glory” forms a transition to the conclusion in verses 9-10, which remembers that the God of the thunder storm was also the God of the flood, the eternal king, who because of his eternal existence and his great power can give strength and peace to his people. Psalm 19 contains two short nature hymns or more probably two fragments of hymns. The first Psalm 19:1-5b seems to be a hymn of the night. It does not call upon the heavens to praise God, as the typical hymn would do, but simply announces that the heavens do declare God’s glory. This they do without language or words or sounds over all the earth, ceaselessly declaring his glory from day to day, from night to night, from age to age. Psalm 19:5c-7 has no introductory nor concluding call to praise, and the few lines that we have, effective though they are, are probably only a fraction of the body of the original hymn. Moreover the original was undoubtedly a hymn to Shamash the Assyrian Sun God. The Assyrians watched with reverent eye the Sun God’s glorious journey across the heavens. They knew also of his wearisome return in the underworld from West to East, and they were glad to think of the bride and the repast awaiting him in his tent on the edge of the heavenly ocean. The Hebrew like the Assyrian had great admiration for the illuminating rays and the fervent heat of the sun, but he would go no further than to compare the sun to a bridegroom, and a strong man. It does seem strange that the psalmist has retained in verse 4c the sun’s tent: “For the sun he hath set a tent in the sea,” but even so it is Yahwe who has placed the tent there, even as it is Yahwe who has placed the sun in the heavens. The Hebrew who used this fragment of a poem saw God’s glory revealed in the progress of the sun across the sky by day, even as he saw that glory revealed in the star studded heavens by night. Psalm 104 differs from the standard Hebrew hymns of praise in two respects. It is addressed in considerable part directly to Deity in the second person, while the standard Hebrew hymn regularly uses the third person. Also it has a petition at its close, which the standard hymn has not. In these two respects Psalm 104 resembles a prayer. However the petition is very brief, formal, almost incidental; it can scarcely be said to grow out of the psalm, and certainly the hymnal portion (verses 1-34) can not be regarded as introductory to it. Psalm 104 is also remarkable among Hebrew hymns for its length, as a hymn devoted exclusively to the activity of God in nature. Of the other nature hymns in the Psalter, Psalm 19:1-5b and Psalm 19:5c-7 are mere fragments, and Psalms 8 and 29 are relatively short, but Psalm 104 contains seventy-nine lines of which the first seventy-one are dominated by the theme: How manifold are thy works, O Yahwe! All of them in wisdom thou hast made. —Verse 24. As it stands in the text Psalm 104 has a hymnal introduction and conclusion. The brief introduction may indeed be a liturgical addition. In it the psalmist calls upon himself to praise Yahwe: “Bless my soul Yahwe.” The conclusion is longer and expresses the psalmist’s life long devotion to his God: I will sing to Yahwe while I live; I will sing praises to my God so long as I exist. May my meditation be pleasing to him; As for me I rejoice in Yahwe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bless my soul Yahwe Praise ye Yahwe. Verses 33, 34, 35cd. Again it may be noted that the petition in verse 35ab: “Let sinners be consumed, out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more,” has no real organic connection with the hymn, and certainly the concluding “Hallelujah” may well be an addition. The analysis of the body of the hymn is clear. Verses 1-4 praise the God of heaven; verses 5-9, the God of creation; verses 10-18, the God of the earth, the domestic animals, and man; verses 19-21, the God of the night; verses 22-24, the God of the day; verses 25-26, the God of the sea; verses 27-30, the God who giveth life to everything that liveth. The body of the hymn then culminates in the pious wish that Yahwe’s glory may endure forever and that the mighty God may rejoice in his works, even he who causes the earthquake and the volcanic eruption. Here also comes the petition, but a petition has really no place in a genuine Hebrew hymn of praise. It is clear that Psalm 104 is predominatingly and essentially a hymn of praise. Yet it has in its use of the second person; in the presence of the petition; and perhaps also in its length, since it is a nature hymn, features that seem unhebraic. It is perhaps also significant that its close resemblance to the famous Egyptian hymn of Pharaoh Iknaton has often been observed. We have, it would seem, in Psalm 104 a very probable example of the influence of foreign literature, Egyptian, Assyrian, or both. Psalm 8 might be considered an impressionistic soliloquy of the starry night, were it not dominated by the thought of God, and addressed directly to God. It begins with an exclamation for the psalmist is overwhelmingly impressed with the realization of the glory of God: Yahwe our God, How sublime is thy name in all the earth, Thou who hast placed thy glory upon the heavens. —Verse 2. Yet how strange that the great God of the universe should have revealed himself to the weak children of Israel. It is assuredly the knowledge of God as the creator of the heavens that is to overcome arrogant rebellion against God, such rebellion as actually prevails in the psalmist’s world. May it not be true that the great God hath chosen through the testimony of the humble to confound the mighty: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has established strength To bring to silence the enemy and the rebel. But how marvelous this condescension of God to stoop to man in his weakness, and then what a marvelous place God has given man in the universe! The psalmist feels first the insignificance of man: As I look at thy heavens, the fine workmanship of thy fingers, The moon and the stars which thou hast shaped, What is man that thou should’st remember him? Even the son of man that thou should’st care for him? —Verses 4-5. Then, however, he pays tribute to the place that God has given man: Yet thou hast made him but a little lower than God, And crownest him with glory and honor, Thou causest him to rule over the works of thy hands; Everything hast thou placed beneath his feet, Sheep and oxen all of them, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, That which passeth on the paths of the sea. —Verses 6-9. And now in recognition both of the glory of God revealed in the heavens and also of the goodness of God to man, the psalmist again exclaims out of the fullness of his heart: Yahwe our lord, How sublime is thy name in all the earth. Psalm 8 takes a unique position among the Old Testament hymns of praise. It is addressed altogether in the second person to Yahwe, and to that extent takes on the form and nature of a prayer. But it has no suggestion of a petition, nor does it make any definite effort to express gratitude. It has something of the reflective attitude, as it seems to ponder over man’s place in the universe, but it is assuredly not a teaching nor a wisdom psalm. It has been maintained by some scholars that the first two and last two lines were meant to be sung by a chorus, while the body of the hymn is a solo. However, it is more natural to suppose that in the use of the plural, “Yahwe our Lord,” the psalmist is simply recognizing himself as one of the many followers of Yahwe, rather than that a choir is singing. The truth is that the psalm is intensely individualistic and dominated from beginning to end by the feeling of adoration for Yahwe, the Hebrews’ God and only God, whose name is glorious in all the earth. It is a hymn of praise, but one that stands apart because of the originality and beauty of its literary form, and the sincerity and profundity of the spiritual experience that inspired it. Chapter V HEBREW HYMNS IN PRAISE OF SACRED INSTITUTIONS But there were in Hebrew religious poesie not only hymns in praise of deity, but also hymns in praise of sacred institutions. Especially prominent were hymns in praise of the sanctuary. Naturally however, only those that were written in praise of the temple in Jerusalem, or could be so interpreted had a chance for survival, and of those we have in the Psalter only 84 , 122 , 48 , and 87 . It is best to begin with Psalm 84 , for it represents a transition stage between the psalm of lamentation and petition and the hymn of praise. In great part Psalm 84 is addressed in the second person to deity, and it actually has, in verses 9, 10, a petition for Yahwe’s favor. The request in these verses is not explicit, yet the context, especially verses 3 and 11, makes it clear that our psalmist, like the author of Psalms 42 - 43 , earnestly desires the privilege of worshipping in the temple. Moreover the petition of verses 9, 10 is reinforced by a profession of devotion in verses 11-13 that corresponds to the affirmation of faith, so characteristic a feature of the prayer of supplication. In so far this psalm is also itself a psalm of lamentation and supplication. On the other hand verses 2-8 are essentially an expression of devotion to the temple: How lovely is thy dwelling, O Yahwe of hosts! Longeth, yea fainteth my soul For the courts of Yahwe; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. —Verses 2-3. He envies the birds which nest in the temple (verse 4), the priests who are continually in the sanctuary praising God, and the men who, by God’s favor, are privileged to pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to pass from rampart to rampart, and to behold God in Zion. Psalm 84 therefore deserves to be grouped with the hymns in praise of the temple. As Psalm 84 has kinship with the psalms of lamentation and supplication, so Psalm 122 has a certain kinship with the psalms of faith. In the latter the psalmist has a joyous confidence in Yahwe, in this psalm he has great joy in the temple and the holy city. Verses 1 and 2 affirm his joy in the temple, and his positive intention of attending in company with others the great festivals: I am glad whenever they say unto me, Let us go to the house of Yahwe. Our feet shall assuredly stand Within thy gates O Jerusalem. Then follows, in verses 3-5, his praise of Jerusalem the city of David: Jerusalem that is built As a city compact and solid, Whither go up Yahwe’s tribes. A law is it for Israel to give thanks to Yahwe’s name, For there abide the thrones of justice, The thrones of the house of David. Having thus praised the city, the psalmist exhorts others to pray for it: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, May thy dwellings prosper, May peace be within thy walls, Prosperity in thy palaces. —Verses 6, 7. The psalm then closes with his personal protestation of devotion to the city: For the sake of my brethren and companions I will say: “Peace be in Thee.” For the sake of the house of Yahwe our God I will seek thy good. —Verses 8-9. It has been said above that this psalm has some similarity to the psalms of faith. It is possible that it also, in verses 6-9, reflects the influence of prophetic style. But, since the spirit that animates it is one of enthusiasm for the holy city, it is best classed among the hymns of praise. Psalm 48 is also, in a sense, a transition hymn, for it praises, not God alone, but both God and the city in which he dwells. Verse 2 praises Yahwe, and verse 3 the city: Great is Yahwe and to be praised exceedingly In the city of our God on his holy mountain. Beautiful for situation, the joy of all the earth, Is Mount Zion, on the Northern slope, The city of the great King. Then verses 4-8 record the city’s chief glory, that Yahwe has been in its midst, its mighty defender against its foes: God is known in her palaces as a defense: For lo, kings assembled; They invaded her together; They saw, so they marveled; They were troubled, they fled. Fear seized them there, As pain seizes a woman in travail, While thou didst shatter them, As an east wind the great merchantmen. Our psalmist and his associates are obviously pilgrims to Jerusalem. They had previously heard of such events as the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib; they have now seen with their own eyes the sacred sites which testify to such deliverances. They have meditated on Yahwe’s goodness in the holy temple, and are certain of his universal fame. Therefore, they can bid Zion and the towns of Judah rejoice in their God: As we have heard, so have we seen In the city of Yahwe of hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. We have thought O God of thy loving kindness In the midst of thy temple. As thy name O God, So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. Victories fill thy right hand. Let Mount Zion rejoice, Let the towns of Judah be glad Because of thy deliverances. It is evident that the closing verses (13-15) must have been spoken in Jerusalem, and it is perhaps equally clear that they must have been spoken, not by the pilgrims to residents of Jerusalem, but rather by residents of Jerusalem, probably the temple choir to the pilgrims, exhorting them to make their final procession around the city, that they may know it and be able to tell the story of the city to the oncoming generation, and so inspire in them reverence and loyalty for the God of their fathers: Walk about Zion and go round her: Count up her towers; Give heed to her ramparts; Consider her palaces, That you may tell it to the coming generation, For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death. But if verses 9-12 were spoken by the pilgrims, and verses 13-15 by the temple choir, then it is probable that likewise verses 2-4 were spoken by the pilgrims, and verses 5-8 by the temple choir. Thus Psalm 48 may be considered a liturgical hymn of praise, rendered in the temple on one of the great religious festivals that brought the pilgrims of the diaspora to the holy city. Psalm 87 is a hymn devoted entirely to the praise of the temple and the holy city. Unfortunately the text is in disorder. Probably verse 5b should be brought back to verse 1, and then the introductory verses 1-3 would read: Its foundation is in the holy mountains, And the Most High doth sustain her. Yahwe loveth the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things he speaketh concerning thee, O city of God. The rest of the psalm is exceedingly difficult. Verse 3 leads us to expect a divine pronouncement regarding Zion’s future glory. In that day Egypt and Babylon, Philistia and Tyre, together with far distant Ethiopia, will recognize it as a distinction to be a Hebrew. Verses 4 and 5 perhaps read: I will cause Egypt and Babylon to remember thy children, Behold Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia, They shall say of Zion, “This one and that one was born in her.” Then the psalmist informs us (verses 6, 7) that Yahwe himself will count up the scattered Jews of the diaspora, and they in turn in that great day will be proudly mindful of the mother city: Yahwe will count them in the midst of the peoples This one and that one was born there; And princes as common people will say We shall all make our home in thee. Two psalms, 119 and 19:8-15 , are in praise of the Jewish law. Since Psalm 119 is an alphabetical psalm, each successive eight lines beginning with the twenty-two successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, its one hundred seventy-six lines are necessarily a very mechanical and mediocre production. Psalm 19:8-15 , on the other hand, is a much finer piece of craftsmanship. The first six lines (verses 8-10) which are strikingly uniform in style, draw attention to six complementary virtues of the law. Then four lines (verses 11-12) express in general terms the joy that is to be found in knowledge of the law and the practical benefit to be derived from obedience to it. Verses 13 and 14 present his humble petition that he be delivered from violating the law unwittingly or presumptuously, while verse 15 dedicates the hymn so carefully written, not to any princely patron but to Yahwe, his strength and redeemer. Another little group of hymns deals with the king, who as the anointed of Yahwe was also a sacred institution. From a modern standpoint however Psalm 45 is purely secular in character, celebrating as it does the king’s wedding day. Verse 2 is introductory in which the author announces himself as a clever poet. Verses 3-10 are in characteristically extravagant praise of the king. Verses 11-16 are devoted to the bride, while verse 17 makes tactful and appropriate reference to the princes yet to be born. Verse 18 concluding the poem, makes the naïvely modest promise that the pen of the poet will guarantee immortal fame to the king. Psalm 101 is likewise secular, for it is evidently a king’s proclamation. As such it may have been used in the coronation service in the temple, and so preserved in the sanctuary song book. Quite naturally, as is always to be expected, the king promises to walk uprightly in his own private life, to choose wise counsellors, to turn a deaf ear to slanderers, to give protection to honest men, and to suppress the wicked. Psalm 72 might likewise be fitted into the coronation service, being then the prayer offered for a just and successful reign. This would mean translating the successive sentences of the psalm from verse 1 to verse 11 and from verse 15 to verse 17 as petitions. Thus verse 2 would be translated: May he judge thy people with righteousness And thy poor with justice, and the other verses correspondingly, and the psalm would accordingly be classed as a prayer of supplication. On the other hand if the successive sentences, with the necessary exception of verse 1 are to be regarded as predictions of a glorious reign, then the psalm is to be regarded as a hymn in praise of the Messiah, or possibly of an ordinary king who has just ascended the throne. Psalm 110 and Psalm 2 are clearly hymns in praise of the king. Psalm 110 brings to the king in verse 1 the oracle of Yahwe: Oracle of Yahwe to my lord, sit on my right hand Until I make thy enemies my footstool. Then in verses 2-7 the priest supplements this oracle with his assurance of Yahwe’s effective support, and the king’s great triumph over all his enemies. The imagery describing Yahwe’s activity belongs to eschatology, and we undoubtedly have here an eschatological hymn in praise of the king. Psalm 2 is likewise an eschatological hymn, dealing with that same feature of the last days as Psalm 110 , and the last futile rebellion of the nations against the will of Yahwe and Yahwe’s king. In verses 1-3 some one, perhaps a layman, asks why the nations are so foolish as to rebel against Yahwe: Why do the nations rage, And the peoples plan a mad thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, And princes plot together Against Yahwe and against his anointed: “Let us break their bands And cast from us their cords.” Then in verses 4-5 a priest, one who knows the plan of God, gives answer: He that sitteth in the heavens laugheth; The lord is scornful of them. Presently he will speak to them in his anger, And terrify them in his rage: “I, on my part, have set my king Upon Zion, my holy hill.” And now it is for the king himself to add a final authoritative word concerning Yahwe’s plan, for to the king himself Yahwe had actually spoken: I will declare the decree; Yahwe said to me: “You are my son;” I this day have adopted you. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, And the entire earth your possession. You can beat them with an iron rod; You can break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Yahwe’s decree, bestowing such power over the nations upon Israel’s king, having thus been made known, it only remained to advise the nations to make humble submission to Yahwe and to Yahwe’s representative upon the throne in Zion: And now, O kings, be prudent; Take warning, ye judges of the earth. Worship Yahwe with reverence, Submit to him with trembling. Do homage to the son, lest he be angry and ye perish, For his anger is quickly kindled. Happy are all who secure his protection. Here again, as in Psalm 110 , because of the prominence of the king in this dramatic setting forth of one of the important features of the last days, Psalm 2 must be classed as an eschatological hymn in praise of the king. Division II ASSYRIAN HYMNS OF PRAISE Chapter VI ASSYRIAN HYMNAL INTRODUCTIONS TO PRAYERS As in the case of the Hebrew hymns of praise, so also it is right to attempt to see the Assyrian hymns in relation to the whole body of Assyrian religious poetry. Assyrian communities and Assyrian individuals inevitably had their afflictions, and like their kinsmen the Hebrews they called out unto deity in their distresses in prayers of lamentation and supplication. They experienced also on various occasions what they believed to be deliverances out of their troubles, and when they could attribute those deliverances to the aid of deity, they felt gratitude and expressed their gratitude by sacrifices and thanksgiving to the gods. Furthermore the Assyrians felt adoration for deity, trusted in deity, reflected upon the will of deity and the secret of the prosperous life, and like their kinsmen the Hebrews they strove to express their ideas and their emotions in poetry. Accordingly we have in Assyrian religious poetry much that corresponds to what is found in the Old Testament psalter. However, one striking difference between Hebrew and Assyrian religious poetry confronts us at the very outset. The Hebrew poetry is concerned with the one god Yahwe, while Assyrian poetry has to do with many gods, Shamash, Sin, Nebo, Ninib, Nergal, Adad, Nusku, Bel, Marduk, and others. This might seem to make it very difficult, if not impossible, to form any unified conception of Assyrian religion, or to make any satisfactory comparison between the psalms of Assyrian and Israel. But from the beginning there were many points of similarity between the Assyrian gods of the various city states, who frequently bore, to be sure, different names, but who represented or were associated with the same objects or forces in nature. Furthermore the growth of political unity in Mesopotamia was accompanied there, as it has been elsewhere, by a growth in religious unity. As one city gained authority over other cities, its god not only acquired greater prestige, but he also extended his authority in greater or lesser measure over the conquered cities and over the gods of those cities. Moreover he tended to take to himself the chief prerogatives and attributes of the conquered deities. With the growth and organization of empire there developed, in the exaltation of one god to a supreme place, a tendency toward monotheism; and with the inevitable interchange of religious ideas a gradually increasing similarity in the attributes and prerogatives of the chief gods. Especially is it to be recognized that hymnal enthusiasm tends to blot out for the time the consciousness of other deities, and to exalt in wisdom and power and goodness the deity which is being worshipped, so that for the moment the attitude of the worshipper may be practically that of a monotheist. Accordingly the many names for deity have relatively little significance; they offer no serious obstacle to the student who would compare the religious ideas and experiences of Mesopotamia with the religious ideas and experiences of Israel. Here again, however, it must be borne in mind that the literature of Assyria which has survived is only a small fraction of that which once existed, and what we now have owes its survival in part, to be sure to merit, but in part also to mere chance. Nevertheless sufficient literature exists to justify two general observations. The first is this, that the closest correspondence between Assyrian and Hebrew religious poetry is to be found in the psalms of lamentation and supplication, which represent and express only the lowest level of religious experience in the Hebrew psalms. The second general observation is that while Hebrew religious poetry develops, and clearly differentiates into independent literary species, the Assyrian religious poetry does not achieve so full a development, nor so clear a differentiation. The one explanation of this fact would seem to be that Assyrian religion did not go so far in emancipating itself from superstition and formalism, and in achieving a lofty conception of deity and a profound religious experience. Certain it is that Assyria did not develop to the same degree as did Israel the independent prayer of thanksgiving, the independent psalm of faith, the independent wisdom psalm, nor the independent hymn of praise. The number of Assyrian hymns copied, transliterated, and translated by Assyriologists, is between sixty and seventy. The number can not be definitely fixed, since many texts are but mere fragments because of the breaking and marring of the clay tablets. The fact that so many hymnal compositions are incomplete necessarily makes the task of interpreting the individual hymns and of arriving at well founded general conclusions much more difficult. The sixty odd hymns, it may be of interest now to note, are distributed among the Assyrian deities as follows: Marduk 14, Nergal 8, Shamash 7, Ninib 7, Ishtar 6, Sin 5, Adad and Nusku 3 each, Nebo, Bel, and Belit two each, Enlil, Asshur, Sarpanitum, Damkina one each. Perhaps the most important general fact about the Assyrian hymns is that the great majority of them are addressed directly to the deity in the second person, which is the usage of prayer. Moreover a very large proportion of these can not be called independent literary compositions, since they are followed by, and are introductory to, prayers, or magical ceremonies, or the offering of sacrifices. In some cases the prayer is much longer than the hymn, while in others the prayer shrinks to a very brief petition, couched in general terms. This has occasioned much confusion of terminology, some calling a poem a hymn, others naming it a prayer. It is necessary therefore at this point to attempt to distinguish clearly between the hymn and the prayer. The purpose of the hymn is to praise the deity and the emotion behind the hymn is enthusiasm for the great and glorious god; for his power, for his wisdom, for his great achievements. The genuine hymn, accordingly, is objective rather than subjective. The prayer, on the other hand, is concerned with the relationship of worshipper and deity. The worshipper is in trouble and looks to the deity for forgiveness, or prosperous and turns to the deity with gratitude. The prayer is accordingly subjective rather than objective. In the hymn, the deity is prominent; in the prayer the worshipper. Prayers are most naturally addressed to the deity in the second person, while the hymn, in which the worshipper recedes into the background and the thought is of God alone, would more naturally employ the third person. Since then these Assyrian hymns are in the second person, which is the usage of prayer, and since the vast majority of these hymns are actually followed by prayers, it is best to begin with the hymns which are clearly only hymnal introductions to prayers, and then to pass by way of those, in which the petition is secondary and unimportant, to that which approaches the genuine independent hymn. It seems at least possible that the Assyrian hymn is an evolution from the hymnal introduction of the prayers. Beginning then with class I of Assyrian hymns, the hymnal introductions to prayers, it is to be further observed, that these prayers are temple prayers. Marduk No. 9 has fourteen lines of directions for the performance of certain ceremonies, after which the priest is instructed to take the hand of the sick man and repeat the psalm, of which lines 17 to 44 are the hymnal portion, and 45 to 94 the prayer proper. So also Marduk No. 12 states in lines 1 to 5 of the text that the Urugallu priest is to arise in the first hour of the night on the second day of Nisan, wash in river water, put on a linen garment, and repeat the psalm; of which lines 6 to 28 are hymnal, 29 to 32 petition the favor of the deity for the city Babylon and the temple Esagila. In a hymn to Marduk No. 11, the connecting link between the hymnal portion and the petition is: “I, the Urugallu priest of Ekur, would speak the favorable word.” A hymn to Ishtar No. 3 is followed by an enumeration of the sacrifices for the goddess and of presents for the temple servants. Above all, the hymns are in such a uniform and formal style, and the gods are so frequently addressed as lords of such and such temples that one is compelled to look to the temple as the birthplace and home of many of these Assyrian hymns. It is altogether natural that there should be a hymnal introduction to the temple prayer. The Assyrian god in his temple is as the king in his palace. He must not be approached abruptly or brusquely. Indeed the Assyrian gods are kings, queens, princes. Consequently the formal court style is used in addressing them. It is not used rigidly in all hymns, but it is the norm from which it is advisable to take our departure. An example of this formal court style is Nergal No. 1.

Related documents

• Hymnal / Pierre (Bob) Stephan#1119613
• Corpus of Christ, from the Altarpiece of the Crucifixion#650354
• The Latin Hymn-writers and Their Hymns#56337
• Hymnus I#495868
• The Medieval Latin Hymn#56045