Canter Bridge

The psalms are full of hopeful assertiveness that ‘I shall never be shaken’.

Such confidence, even when it is more fragile than its articulation might appear, grounds itself in the world’s presumed moral stability. That is, justice exists and justice shall prevail. If one cannot trust in this feature of YHWH’s craftsmanship, then little else matters.

At the same time, human experience knows about much-delayed justice. It aches for a vindicating reality that its eyes have not yet seen and, truth be told, too seldom see. Still, the assertive hope in an outcome that reasonable people can agree is right persists. It knows that YHWH, ultimately, will do no less than this.

For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;
but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another. (Psalm 75:6-7 NRSV)

In the psalms and well beyond, the biblical anthology is shot through with the notion of a cosmic drama. Randomness doesn’t stand a chance against the conviction that YHWH has a plan for his world, that this plan is hotly if mysteriously resisted from shadowy but fierce quarters, that human experience is the privileged stage of this drama, and that its outcome is sure. In this cosmic theatre, YHWH moves pieces in a way that—paradoxically—does not elicit resignation but rather resolve and decision. Put in conventional terms, he lifts up the lowly and humbles the proud.

The writer of the seventy-fifth psalm sips this strengthening brew as he contemplates the hubris of the arrogant who seem to stand all around him. He feels certain their doom is sure. What is more, he praises ‘the God of Jacob before he has yet seen their downfall for pulling the rug out from under them.

Preemptive praise does that. It is just sure enough of its confidence to find strength in the moment to celebrate what YHWH is only now baring his arm to accomplish.