No one reading the psalm even for the first time will miss the dramatic excitement in it. Very likely she will also be puzzled about what is happening, because the "psalms begins like a story" and we are dropped right into the middle of the act.3 A Hebrew reader already familiar with the cultural conventions and pattern of political fortunes assumed by the psalm will have no difficulty following the proceedings. We, modern readers, need some help.
There is almost universal agreement among scholars that the psalm is a "coronation psalm," i.e., a song composed for the occasion of, or in celebaration of, a king's coronation. What cannot be ascertained is how the psalm was actually used in ancient Israel, whether it was sung or proclaimed somewhere in the actual coronation ritual or whether it was used in an annual celebration of the king's coronation, or both. Scholars are also not agreed on how the psalm was actually proclaimed or sung, whether a number of different voices are involved or whether the entire psalm was declared by the king alone.
What possible purpose then might a "coronation psalm" serve in a book of worship songs and prayer? To appreciate this we need to set the psalm within the larger context of the Old Testament.
A central theme — if not the central theme — of the entire Old Testament story is the kingdom of God. In the early history of Israel this kingdom of God was represented by the rule of the torah of God and the charismatic leaders — judges and prophets — raised up by God in her times of national needs. In the period of the monarchy (ca. 1050-586 BC) this kingdom of God came to be identified with the state of Israel and, subsequent to the split upon the death of Solomon, Judah and with the dynasty of David in particular. Though in this development the state had a human king, it was always theologically assumed, if not always practically applied, that Israel-Judah was a theocracy, that Yahweh was Israel's ultimate king and that the human king was only His viceroy, an agent who ruled on His behalf and upon His authority. But Yahweh was also the Omnipotent Lord of all the earth! He gave (and still does) the nations their births, set their boundaries, and established their place in the affairs of the world, and judged them according to their conduct. This assumption lay behind the Old Testament prophets' unapologetic castigation of the nations in their sins. Just so, the Davidic kings, as Yahweh's viceroys, held an authority over the nations, even if the expression of this authority was, due to their territorial limitations, only a matter of spiritual assertion3 rather than hard political reality.
There is, of course, more to the concept of the kingdom of God in the Old Testament than this sketch has provided, and to it we shall return when we consider how this "coronation psalm" became in the New Testament the "messianic psalm par excellence." It may be wise, however, for you, now that you have an understanding of the assumed background, to work your way through the psalm verse by verse, and come to grips with what it actually says before we consider its messianic implications. To do this we suggest you read the next section (The Structure of the Psalm), work through the psalm and then come back to the discussion on The Messianic Significance of the Psalm (we will post you a reminder at the appropriate juncture so that you would not miss out on the discussion).
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2020