By Jeremy Bell
I am going to share my personal study on Psalm 89 using groupings from my motif analysis. I have taken these groupings of the Psalm and put them together. So, the entirety of the Psalm will be posted, but these groupings will present the text in a different order. These can be easily seen in highlights in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization.
I remember from my childhood my Father preparing for the church cantata. Easter and Christmas were the big celebrations that brought the church choir together to sing something special. It was a time to use singing to mark something different, something special, from the traditional hymns we sang every week. Soloists were identified, extra practices were scheduled, and the director was allowed more freedom to direct expression from the music. The cantata was not meant for the typical joining in of the church, but more of a story that was told through movements that the church could use for meditation on God and His Son, Jesus.
The Cantata
A cantata is a piece of music primarily for vocalists though some instrumentation is included. In my church, it was the piano. Cantatas feature soloists and give a certain freedom to them to express drama. It may sound closer to the recitation of lines or could sound more melodic towards the Opera like stylings of vocal mastery. Cantatas typically crescendo into a chorus to unite others to the soloist. It works well in the church because at its basic level, it demonstrates the individual voice and that voice joining a congregation of voice, all under the grace of God, all uniquely declaring His praise.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed more than 200 cantatas. In any music education class, JS Bach is taught as one of the world’s greatest composers of all time. Bach lived and composed from 1685 – 1750. A lot of his works are not cantatas and not church related. However, at the age of 48 he read the Bible, translated by Martin Luthor. Some say He fell in love with it, but we know He was falling in love with the creator. These were not just private, casual readings, he was making notes and underlining and becoming a theologian. Two particular lines he wrote are most inspiring as he was studying first and second Chronicles. He wrote of one section, “This chapter is the true foundation of all God-pleasing music.” At another he wrote, “At a reverent performance of music, God is always at hand with his gracious presence.”
Johann Sebastian Bach became the director of church music in Leipzig in 1723. It was here he performed a cantata every Sunday and holiday, conducting soloists and orchestras. He also composed a new cantata every week. His chorale cantata cycle contains at least 40 chorale cantatas, each of these entirely based on text and tune of 18th-century poetry and Lutheran hymns. His last known cantata was composed in 1745.
The Form of Psalm 89
Psalm 89 is a bit complex when analyzing it for motif patterns. I have found that the motifs display an introduction and conclusion. Between these bookends are two verses connected by a bridge. In this posting, I will not post this particular pattern but rather take the motifs and group them together. My hope is that in deconstructing the pattern, clarity of some of the message will take place. However, this should always be considered in the reading of the Psalm as is to discern the validity of that understanding. Please take time to do that.
[ Psalm 89 ]
Grouping A of Psalm 89 according to my motif analysis
I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever.
With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever.
You established the heavens.
Your faithfulness is in them.”
Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you.
They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh.
In your name they rejoice all day.
In your righteousness, they are exalted.
For you are the glory of their strength.
In your favor, our horn will be exalted.
For our shield belongs to Yahweh,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
How long, Yahweh?
Will you hide yourself forever?
Will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short my time is,
for what vanity you have created all the children of men!
What man is he who shall live and not see death,
who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?
Selah.
The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh,
your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh?
Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh,
a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones,
to be feared above all those who are around him?
The heavens are yours.
The earth also is yours,
the world and its fullness.
You have founded them.
You have created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
You have a mighty arm.
Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
Grouping B
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David, my servant,
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
and build up your throne to all generations.’”
Selah.
Then you spoke in vision to your saints,
and said, “I have given strength to the warrior.
I have exalted a young man from the people.
I have found David, my servant.
I have anointed him with my holy oil,
with whom my hand shall be established.
My arm will also strengthen him.
Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses,
which you swore to David in your faithfulness?
Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples,
With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh,
with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.
Blessed be Yahweh forever more.
Amen, and Amen.
No enemy will tax him.
No wicked man will oppress him.
I will beat down his adversaries before him,
and strike those who hate him.
But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him.
In my name, his horn will be exalted.
I will set his hand also on the sea,
and his right hand on the rivers.
He will call to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation!’
I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more.
My covenant will stand firm with him.
But you have rejected and spurned.
You have been angry with your anointed.
You have renounced the covenant of your servant.
You have defiled his crown in the dust.
You have broken down all his hedges.
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
All who pass by the way rob him.
He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries.
You have made all of his enemies rejoice.
Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword,
and haven’t supported him in battle.
You have ended his splendor,
and thrown his throne down to the ground.
You have shortened the days of his youth.
You have covered him with shame.
Selah.
Grouping C
Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you?
Yah, your faithfulness is around you.
You rule the pride of the sea.
When its waves rise up, you calm them.
You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain.
You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
I will also make his offspring endure forever,
and his throne as the days of heaven.
If his children forsake my law,
and don’t walk in my ordinances;
if they break my statutes,
and don’t keep my commandments;
then I will punish their sin with the rod,
and their iniquity with stripes.
But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him,
nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
I will not break my covenant,
nor alter what my lips have uttered.
Once I have sworn by my holiness,
I will not lie to David.
His offspring will endure forever,
his throne like the sun before me.
It will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”
Selah.
Bach’s Joy
Johann Sebastian Bach said, “At a reverent performance of music, God is always at hand with his gracious presence.” The Psalms were written by musicians, even priestly musicians. They were not diaries for personal growth, they were for community. They wrote them and recited them with music playing behind them in what might have been similar to a cantata of Bach. Many were likely sung with enough regularity that the hearers would have known them well. Psalm 89 is a wonderful tale of what God has done for all people and His chosen people. It is why the Psalmist can sing of His loving kindness. The Psalmists envisions singing forever because God has made forever promises. God has also repeatedly given hope to the hopeless and allowed testing for the endurance of His saints that produces the character that leads to hope.
It is obvious Bach was born with the gift of music. He was multi-talented and has been appreciated for hundreds of years. Though he was blessed to know and grow into the talented professional he was created to be, he found sweetness in scripture. He established relationship with God through Jesus and relished God’s gracious presence. Bach did not find this in the nature of music though music assisted him. He found it in 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 Equipping the Saints for Local Missions Truths.
Practical Steps to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
Unity in the Bible Truths About God.
Truth Basics for Christian Living with Strategic Options.
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.