creation faith of the psalmists, The

Trinity Journal, Fall 2000 by Obenhaus, Stacy R

Similarly, in Psalm 89, the psalmist asks why, if God showed his faithfulness at Creation, he would not continue to show faithfulness with respect to his covenant with David to establish his throne forever.34 Creation is similarly invoked to motivate God to action in Psalms 90 and 102. In each of these psalms, the psalmist liturgically remembers God's original act of salvation-liberation of the world from chaos-in order to move God to renew that act of salvation in the present by redeeming the believer or the community.35

In some psalms, Creation serves as a warrant for maintaining a certain social order.36 An example is Psalm 89, generally classified as a sort of royal lament for a recent defeat of a Davidic king.37 The psalm begins with a recital of the covenant with David to "establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations," and later it speaks of the anointing of David and the promise to give him power over enemies and defeat his foes (Ps 89:3-4, 19-37). In between these two passages is a reference to God's faithfulness and mighty acts, illustrated by God's mythological defeat of the sea creature Rahab at Creation and the founding of the world (Ps 89:9-12). It is a regular feature of communal laments to recite glorious deeds of the past, but here the placement of the Creation story in the middle of the recital of the covenant and faithfulness suggest that Creation and the covenant with David constitute a single event.38

The psalm regards the founding of the house of David as part of the foundation of the world, just as several Mesopotamian cosmogonies list the king and the temple as things created at the beginning.39

In addition, God promises to the king the power that God mustered at Creation to defeat chaos: "I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers" (Ps 89:25). For the Davidic king, God will repeat the divine victory at Creation: just as God kept the cosmic waters of chaos at bay, he will assert similar power to maintain David's throne.40

The powers overcome by Yahweh (Ps 89:10-13) have their counterpart in the Davidic ruler's domination of an earthly kingdom .... The cosmic taming power of Yahweh in vv 10-13 is demonstrated in the ruling power of the king.41

Thus, God's continued faithfulness in maintaining the created order will be paralleled by God's continued faithfulness in maintaining the rule of a Davidic dynasty.

Psalm 146 shows creation functioning in the service of an ethical order. The psalm is a hymn of praise to God, urging the believer not to trust "in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help" (Ps 146:2). Instead, believers are truly blessed "whose hope is in the LORD their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever" (Ps 146:5-6). Immediately following the recital of God's creative act and faithfulness, there appears a recital of the acts of God in ensuring justice. It is the God of Jacob

who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down .... he upholds the orphan and the widow. (Ps 146:5-8)