Psalms as Temple Litergy

One of the podcasts I listen to each week is Talking Scriptures. Their main take on the Psalms is that they are songs that were meant to accompany an annual temple ritual in ancient Israel.  This is an interesting idea to me because I have recently become an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple and have been working hard to try to memorize temple ceremonies. Of course, the ancient temple ceremonies are not the same as the modern ones, but there are some similarities. 

In the podcast , Bryce Dunford talks about the different stages of the ancient temple ritual.  He never lists them explicitly, but these are the ones I picked up on. 

1. approaching the temple in an attitude of repentance

2. being washed, anointed, and clothed in temple clothing

3. learning about God as the creator of the universe

4. the battle between God and the powers of darkness

5. people make covenants of loyalty and obedience to God

6. God promises that the people can become kings and priests.

7. the people are brought back into the presence of God.

8. they live with God forever. 

 

I decided to go through the Psalms and find passages I think might refer or be connected to each of these stages of the temple ceremony.

1. approaching the temple in an attitude of repentance

Psalm 32: 5 "I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and though forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

2. being washed, anointed and clothed in temple clothing. 

Psalm 26:6  "I will wash mine hands in innocency; so will I compass thine alter, Oh Lord."

also

Psalm 18:32 "It is God the girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."

and

Psalm 23:5 "thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over."

3. learning about God as the creator of the universe.

Psalm 8: 3-4 "When I consider thy heavens, the work of they fingers, the moon and stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Also Psalm 29 and Psalm 33

4. the battle between God and the powers of darkness

Psalm 10:15-16 "Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man.; seek out his wickedness til thou find none. The Lord is King for ever and ever:"

5. people make covenants of loyalty and obedience to God.

Psalm 63:1-4 "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is....Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name."

6. God promises that the people can become kings and priests

Psalm 2:6-11 "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion...Be wise no therefore, oh ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."

also

Psalm 110: 4 "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedek."

8. the people are brought back into the presence of God

Psalm 27:4 "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."

9. they live with God forever.

 Psalm 61:4-5 "I will abide in they tabernacle for ever; I will trust in the covert of thy wings. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows; thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear him."

 

These are only suggestive. They don't prove that these were used as temple text, they only suggest that they may have been used.  Still, it was an interesting study to find them all.

He that hath clean feet?

 We have started three weeks of studying Psalms.  This week I chose two chapters to read in Hebrew, Psalms 23, and 24.  Both are super familiar in English, but all Psalms are poetry and it is very hard to accurately translate poetry. The translator has to make choices whether to match the literal or the figurative meaning more closely. 

In Psalms 24, I found an interesting translation choice.  In verse 3-4 in the KJV it says: 

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?

or who shall stand in this holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart. 

 

 The most common Hebrew word for hand is,"pronounced "yad  יר   but that is not the word used in this passage. The word used here is כף   pronounced "chaf".  It means the palm of your hand or the soul of your feet. The question, then, is why did the translator assume we were talking about hands and not feet?  I did a survey of some of the other places the word is used.  It is used to mean palm of the hand more often than soul of the feet.  Also, when it refers to feet, it often has the other word for feet, רגל         nearby so that it basically says, the "palm" of the feet. An example is when the dove came back to the Ark because it couldn't find a place to rest theכף" " of his feet. (Gen 8:9). The translator probably made the best choice he could.  Still I couldn't help but think of all the lovely imagery that could be found if they had translated it "feet" instead of "hands." 

There are a lot of scenes in the Old and New Testament where feet play an important role.  Abraham washed the feet of his holy visitors when they came to tell him he would have a son in his old age.  Moses had to remove the shoes from his feet because he was on sacred ground.  Throughout the Old Testament, there are accounts of someone kneeling at someone else's feet to show submission.

So, why did people need their feet washed in the ancient world?  They wore open, sandal-like shoes and their feet would become covered with dirt, dust, and probably refuse. It would have been really nice to have that washed away. It was considered an act of humility to wash someone else's feet. In the New Testament, Jesus washed his disciples feet just before he was betrayed.  When Peter didn't want the Lord to wash his feet, Jesus said, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me."  

Why was it so important for Jesus to wash his disciple's feet? (John 13: 8) Of course, by washing his disciple's feet, Jesus taught the importance of humility and service.  There may have also been a symbolic meaning. We learn in Genesis that "dust" is a symbol of fallen man (Gen 3:19).  Just as Jesus, by humbling himself, cleansed his disciple's feet from dust, He would later that night, by humbling himself before his father, cleanse their sins through the atonement, remove from them the consequences of the fall, and enable them to eventually stand in the "holy place."

It, therefore, seems pretty fitting for the passage in Psalms 24:4 to read, 

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?

or who shall stand in this holy place?

He that hath clean feet, and a pure heart.

How would they become clean? Through Jesus' willingness to humble himself enough to make them clean.

 

 

"Hast thou considered my servant, Job?"

 This week in Come Follow Me we are studying the book of Job. It is the second book of the "Wisdom Writings" after Esther, and scholars can't agree about when it was written or even when it is set. Most scholars believe that Job wasn't a historical character, and that the entire book is an extended parable. Some people believe that the book of Job is one of the greatest works in all world literature. There were a couple of things that stood out to me as I studied Job this week. 

The theology of Job stands in stark contrast to everything that has come before it in the Bible. In all that we have read so far, the Lord is portrayed as a national deity.  He is the god of the Israelites who helps them prosper when they obey his laws, and leaves them to be destroyed by their neighbors when they do not. There is little discussion of personal welfare and salvation. Obedience to God's law ensured community safety, and those who are obedient are blessed because they have contributed to the well being of the House of Israel. In the book of Job, there is no discussion at all about how Job's obedience or disobedience will affect the community.  Even his detractors don't ever say, "Hey, Job, you better shape up or you will bring the wrath of God down on our city".  This is our first look at God and his relationship with the individual. 

This is also the first time that the Bible authors address the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  We see, in the words of Job's "friends" that there is a prevailing idea that good people receive blessings and bad things happen to bad people.  Much of the narrative from Joshua to Nehemiah seems to be written to show that the House of Israel was conquered and taken into captivity because of their wickedness. The southern tribes last 120 longer than the northern tribes because they had a couple of righteous kings. After all that, here is the book of Job arguing that even though Job is righteous, the Lord allows him to suffer.  Could this parable be push-back from Jews written during or after the Babylonian captivity because their leaders always said they were conquered because of their wickedness? Could it be their way of saying, "Hey, we weren't captured because of wickedness, but just because it was God's inscrutable will that we should be conquered."

The most intriguing argument I heard on my podcasts this week was one mentioned by Taylor Halverson on Book of Mormon Central.  It is the idea that this story could be an early hint of the Plan of Salvation and that it represents the pre-earth life, life on earth, and the post-life paradise prepared for the righteous.  I really liked this idea, though I admit it is probably not the way that ancient Hebrews would have seen the book. Job's prosperity in the beginning of the story could represent the pre-earth life.  Earth life is represented by Job's trials.  Like Job, everyone enters mortality will eventually lose everything they ever had.  They can't take their possessions with them when they die.  Most people see many of their family and friends die before they do as well.  As Job says "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither."  Then, in the end of the story, Job is admitted into God's presence. After Job is examined, and is brought to acknowledge that the Lord's ways are just, has restored to him all that he had lost, and more. This is like the final judgement when the righteous shall receive their reward.  Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints are the only Christians that preach this progression, but the Book of Job may indicate that there may have been groups among the ancient Hebrews that understood this as well.

One last note.  Although the Book of Job is a discussion about why good people suffer, the book doesn't really give a clear answer to the question.  God never explains to Job why he let him suffer.  His only response to Job's questions about why all the terrible things happened to him, was to show Job how God's power, glory, and greatness exceeds Job's, and indeed, all human's.  I actually think this is really the only answer to the question of suffering.  The Earth and all the universe are under God's command, so we should trust that he knows best.