Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Psalm 73:28


But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works. (English Standard Version) 

Psalm 73 is the first psalm in Book III of the Psalter, and thus may reasonably be taken for this section's introduction. Psalms 73-83 are attributed to Asaph. In Psalm 73, Asaph's trust in God is restored when he remembers the eschatological judgment the wicked will suffer, along with the comfort which the Lord's companionship brings to his people in this life and the next. In this context, the psalm closes with Asaph's declaration he will "tell of all [God's] works" as a discipline to maintain a right understanding of God and the world.

The verb translated "tell" in the ESV and "declare" elsewhere is r#EÚpAsVl, which can be glossed as "count, recount, relate." It's not the most common verb for speaking or singing, and suggests Asaph's "tell[ing] of all [God's] works" will not merely be an act of personal devotion, but a public recounting of God's works in a public setting. (r#EÚpAsVl may even suggest writing.) In its broader canonical context, then, Psalm 73:28 introduces the remainder of the psalms of Asaph, which, through direct citation or allusion, are particularly concerned to relate the Lord's history with Israel.

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