By Jeremy Bell
Psalm 36 with notes on Playing Pipes. Faith, Hope, and Love, discovered in truth in the writings of a people God has preserved for thousands of years. The Nature of Joy is not defined by failing humans. It is experienced through a perfect God who restores relationship to any who would respond.
Here is my personal study on Psalm 36 according to my motif analysis. I have taken the elements of the analysis of the Psalm and grouped them together. So, the entirety of the Psalm will be here, but in a different order. My hope is to share insights as to what the author intended to convey. This is a theologically sound practice, though good theology does not rely on one observation point alone. Take time to read the Psalm, pray on it, and test it in scripture to gain a good understanding of what God is saying through the author.
Pipes and the Shepherd
In the times of the Old Testament, playing pipes was done by shepherds to calm the sheep. They were musical instruments with three holes, and they sounded like birds chirping. Of course, the instrument was used as entertainment as well to help keep the boredom of sheep watching to a minimum. David was a shepherd and likely played such an instrument. These playing pipes were, of course, used for many occasions including announcing royalty, celebratory occasions, funerals, and children could play them for all sorts of entertainment.
When Solomon was anointed by the priest as the king to succeed David, the people celebrated, playing pipes. When Job was deep in misery, he used the pipe to lament. Playing music and connecting with nature mystically strikes truth. Sounds of nature glorify God and speak to the brokenness of the relationship between God and humans. We hear the piping of the birds and connect. We hear the lament of the whales and identify. The piping of a shepherd, the games of children, these are music to lead the listeners to the player’s purpose. The player is no servant to the sound, the player is the master. David, a servant of Yahweh, writes this Psalm, responding to the music of Yahweh.
My motif analysis reveals Psalm 36 in 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. I have identified 5 distinct sections, or elements. These sections are much like the sections of a piece of music, each related, but distributed in a pattern throughout the Psalm. This may sound unclear, but it is visually represented in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization. You can find it here!
[ Psalm 36 Regrouped According to my Motif Analysis ]
A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:
Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens.
How precious is your loving kindness, God!
Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
“There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to detect and hate his sin.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.
Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plots iniquity on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesn’t abhor evil.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.
There the workers of iniquity are fallen.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
Your judgments are like a great deep.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
Yahweh, you preserve man and animal.
For with you is the spring of life.
In your light we will see light.
All equal Under Christ, King
In this Psalm, king David writes as a servant. He humbles himself before the true king, God. By acknowledging his servant position, he also puts himself on equal footing with all other humans. He knows his righteousness is not produced by what he brings to God as a nobleman, it is based on what he brings as a servant. Nothing. As a servant, he is at the mercy of what God will give him. Because of Gods’ loving kindness, David is declared righteous. David asks for Gods’ help to remain in Gods’ light as opposed to the wicked who puff themselves up and fall, unable to rise.
When Solomon was crowned king, the people played music, including playing pipes, to celebrate what God had done in providing a king for them. In Matthew, Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the children of the priests the prophets rebuked for being religious and unjust. Law keeping while being unkind and uncompassionate. Jesus told them they were “like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance.”
For Whom are the Playing Pipes?
They were playing pipes as shepherds, to appease the sheep; to appease God and were shocked He didn’t come running. Their pipe playing wasn’t to celebrate the coming king, Jesus, it was to hold God to a contract they had already broken. Had they been servants, like king David, they would have followed the king. The Pharisee were in charge and their game was set and they expected God to play. John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
They had opportunity to humble themselves as servants before the almighty king or puff themselves up as if they were kings. David saw himself as a servant and found a spring of life in relationship with Yahweh, the king. The wicked fell and did not get back up.
Jesus said, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the fringes of their garments, and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi by men.
But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
False Control
It is usually not easy but serving is the way of Christ. Even serving enemies. Do we as Christians see ourselves as servants, playing pipes in celebration of a king who is the definition of love? Or are we playing pipes to lure the king to serve us? The truth is that the pathway of religious mastery is the pathway to the nature of burden. The pathway of Christ, to springs of living water, is The 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 Practical Steps to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
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.