Psalm 48
(Lectionary Translation)

1 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; *
in the city of our God is his holy hill.

2 Beautiful and lofty, the joy of all the earth, is the hill of Zion, *
the very center of the world and the city of the great King.

3 God is in her citadels; *
he is known to be her sure refuge.

4 Behold, the kings of the earth assembled *
and marched forward together.

5 They looked and were astounded; *
they retreated and fled in terror.

6 Trembling seized them there; *
they writhed like a woman in childbirth,
like ships of the sea when the east wind shatters them.

7 As we have heard, so have we seen,
in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God; *
God has established her for ever.

OUT OF OUR FORTRESS, INTO LIFE

PSALM 48: 1-9
(A Rendering from the Hebrew)

A Tune for the “Rebel Choir”.

2. Becoming ever brighter now, this radiant light
glows even through our battlements of strength,
lighting up the craggy mountain fastnesses
that keep us from our world so far apart.

3. How beautiful are these heights to us!
But while the whole earth round us cries with joy,
our parched peak stands here, hidden and remote,
a meeting place for the lonely lords we are.

4. Here the Powers we adore dwell in their palaces,
Safely out of reach, as we know so well.

5. See how Their Lordships come when called,
and then, they’re all just up and gone.

6. See how bewildered they make us,
how harried and hurried and scared!

7. Yet still, when trembling hits us hard,
and when we writhe in inner pain,
it’s there and then
we can all become
a woman crouching to give birth!

8. Even an invincible Armada must founder and break,
in this ancient wind: the gift of sacred breath!

9. This is what we heard and what we saw
from behind our battlements so strong:
a host of angels, Ever-Becoming Life
indwelling even the fortress of our so-called might.

So… are we ready now to venture out,
into the world, just as it is?
Yes!

NOTES ON THE TEXT:

Verse 1 in the Hebrew text is a “superscription” – shir mizmor libnei korah. The “Sons of Korah” in the Book of Numbers were rebels against Moses; later, they are liturgical singers in the Temple.
(a) “Becoming ever…”: The personal and intimate divine name (YHWH) reflects the continuing (interior) act of becoming, or “Ever-Becoming.” The title “LORD” often used in English translations is a “filler” and does not reflect the essential meaning of the sacred name. On the other hand, “Yahweh” – while being a personal name - does not communicate the active sense of Ever-Becoming.
(b)“Brighter…radiant…light…”: The Hebrew word for “praise” found here (mehullal) has the same root as the word for “psalms,” (tehillim), with the essential meaning of radiance. Our English word “halo” comes from the same root.
(c) “Battlements of Strength”: In the Bible, a “city” (‘ir) is a walled and fortified place. The Hebrew word ‘Elohim – usually translated “God,” – is rooted in the concept of Force, Strength and Power. In the Hebrew Bible there is a constant interplay between ‘Elohim (Power, Force, even Coercion) and YHWH (the process of Ever-Becoming, an interior emergent presence).
(d) “So far apart…”: The root meaning of kadosh (“holy”) is – in one view – “apartness.”
(a) “Our parched peak…”: The place-name “Sion,” or “Zion,” comes from the root tsi’a meaning a dry, parched place.
(b) “the lonely lords we are.”: The Hebrew melekh is usually translated “king,” but its root meaning is “counselor.” Here, however, the emphasis is on how inadequate our own “counsel” or “lordship” is in the face of divine reality.
(a) “Powers we adore…”: Again, rendering ‘elohim.
(b) “Safely out of reach…”: The Hebrew misgav means “unattainable.”
“Their Lordships”: Parallelism in the Hebrew verse points to an echo of ‘elohim (“God”) in melakhim (“kings”).The “Powers we adore” parallel the “lordships” of our own self-importance, within our fortresses of mind.
“Harried and hurried and scared…”: The Hebrew adjectives pile on the sense of being lost, upset and at our wits’ end.
In this verse the psalm takes a turn, and introduces redemption from the lonely stronghold attitudes thus far. Here, our defenses crack, and real life breaks in.
(a) The Hebrew idiom – ‘oniot tarshish – appears throughout the Bible as a metaphor for an awesome navy of sea-going vessels. The word “Armada” conveys the idea well.
(b) “this ancient wind: the gift…” I choose the meaning “ancient” for kadim, which also means “from the east.” The “wind” is the “spirit,” in both Hebrew and Greek. Here, I add a few words to make it clear that our “armada” of defenses is not broken by brute force, but by spiritual life itself.
This verse in the Hebrew text is very long: clearly it tries to summarize the message and challenge of the psalm to this point. Our defenses have fallen, and divine life is bringing us to birth, into a world of vulnerability and joy. The name YHWH appears once in this verse, and the title ‘elohim, twice (I think one of these is a “typo” in the ancient text, where scribes sometimes repeat a word in error). The dialogue between “might” and “life” is clear here. The Hebrew root kon can mean “establish” but I opt for its other meaning: “are we prepared?…” This question fittingly closes this section of the psalm. The last word is Selah (“Lift Up!”) – an affirmative exclamation, like the “Amen!” we might find at the end of a prayer. So – “Yes!”

Rendered from the Hebrew by Henry Ralph Carse.