Final Resolution is Sure for the Humble in Discord
By Jeremy Bell
Following is my personal study on Psalm 10 using groupings from my motif analysis, further described in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization. I have taken these groupings of the Psalm and regrouped them. So, the entirety of the Psalm is written, but these groupings will present the text in a different order. Broken creation points to God’s perfect creation; discord points to resolution.
Chords and Ways they Manipulate
Chords are collections of notes, played together, to express the structure of a portion of a melody. They work together to build a music story for the ear that consists of discord and resolution. A song will typically consist of more than one chord that will follow a pattern. There are many ways to make up a chord, but each makeup of chord will produce a sound that will express something to the ear. Some chords people identify as evil, even if they cannot identify what the chord is or what is going on. Chords and their patterns give pleasure and joyful feelings as well.
A pattern of chords may lead the listener on a journey as their structure leads the ear to desire the next chord. The ear may be satisfied in resolution, or it may not. The composer creates a story through chord structures and patterns that he wants to tell the audience. Sometimes there is discord. When a listener hears notes played together in a chord that clash, it is unsettling, annoying, and a chord of discord is known to be off. It is no secret there is something off in the human experience. Even in how that experience has affected all of nature. There is discord and there are identifiable elements that make the discord known.
My Analysis
From my analysis, Psalm 10 is a Verse Bridge form. A verse is one idea that still has a breakdown of pattern, but those patterns are contained in one idea. A bridge is a link to something. That something may be the next idea, a refrain, or space to contemplate what was just expressed. A bridge takes an idea and extends it.
Each verse begins with a brief introduction. I call it the ‘A’ section. I am going to read the ‘A’ sections together first, as well as the ‘bridge’, as it relates directly with the ‘A’ section. What follows will be groupings of the verses.
When I write for visualization, my goal is to highlight the patterns and intent rather than the strict translation. I hope it gives fresh encouragement, but I strongly recommend the Psalm to be read as is for proper understanding.
[ Psalm 10 ]
Regrouped and modified for clarification
Why do you stand far off, Yahweh?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Arise, Yahweh!
God, lift up your hand!
Don’t forget the helpless.
The helpless are crushed.
They collapse.
They fall under his strength.
He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face.
He will never see it.”
In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak.
They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
His ways are prosperous at all times.
He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight.
As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken.
For generations I shall have no trouble.”
He lies in wait near the villages.
From ambushes, he murders the innocent.
His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless.
He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.
Why does the wicked person condemn God,
and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account?”
Break the arm of the wicked.
As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
Yahweh is King forever and ever!
The nations will perish out of his land.
that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings.
He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh.
The wicked, in the pride of his face,
has no room in his thoughts for God.
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
But you do see trouble and grief.
You consider it to take it into your hand.
You help the victim and the fatherless.
Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble.
You will prepare their heart.
You will cause your ear to hear,
to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
The Composer’s Rights
A composer has every right to compose the story they wish to convey how they wish to convey it. If they choose, they may compose an entire piece of discord, never allowing their hearers a resolution. As a listener, you know if that is the case irrespective of if you can identify what the composer has done. God has constructed a piece of perfect chordal arrangement with perfect harmony of chordal structure. Yet, there is discord, we can all hear and identify it.
The good news is that everything needed to accomplish Gods’ plan of magnifying His glory throughout His good creation through His people was finished through Jesus, 2,000 years ago. When a composer writes, they will often use established patterns and discord to train the listener. When the discord comes, the listener knows resolution is coming by what the composer has written in the music before. All the elements of Gods’ song have been accomplished and sung. There is discord, but because of what God has established, we know resolution is coming whether we know the details of how God wrote the song or not. There is no joy in discord but there is assured hope in the resolution is the very Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Equipping the Saints for Local Missions Truths.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.