{"id":89050,"date":"2021-02-18T07:14:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T05:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=89050"},"modified":"2021-02-18T07:14:14","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T05:14:14","slug":"praising-gods-power-through-poetic-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/praising-gods-power-through-poetic-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Praising God\u2019s Power through Poetic Movement\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"89050","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":77758,"related_cahpter":"680","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Neither fortune nor chaos determines the course our life takes - hallelujah!\r\n\r\n","content":"

Poems are arguments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through aesthetic beauty, they attempt to convince the reader or listener to think, act or feel a certain way. Hallel (Pss 113-118), for example, asks that we celebrate the might and majesty of God. Psalm 113, its opening poem, sets the stage through the dramatic use of movement. It calls upon its audience to praise God and explains why. In fact, the entire liturgical unit is likely called Hallel because the first verse contains the root <\/span>h-l-l<\/span><\/i> \u201cto praise\u201d three times. In this opening line, an anonymous prayer leader demands that the \u201cservants of God\u201d praise Him. The poet states his thesis. In the following verse, he either supplies or elicits from his audience an appropriate response: God is blessed (<\/span>mevorach<\/span><\/em>) \u201cfrom now until eternity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The movement between verses 1 and 2 appears not only by call\/response, but also by the repetition of <\/span>shem YHWH<\/em> <\/span>\u201cname of God\u201d in each verse. Verse 3 continues with praise (<\/span>mehulal<\/span><\/em>), this time from sunrise to sunset. God is once again praised through time. The imagery of time morphs into praise through space with the movement of the sun from east to west. This verse acts as a bridge. Verse 4 focuses exclusively on space: God is above the heavens; he is \u201cover all the nations,\u201d which mean both \u201cexalted\u201d (conceptually) and \u201chigh above\u201d (physically). With one double-entendre, the poet encapsulates his key theme: praise of God through all dimensions of human existence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Verses 5 and 6 intensify the imagery of space: God rises (<\/span>magbihi<\/span><\/em>) to sit and looks down (<\/span>mashpili<\/span><\/em>) upon heaven and earth. The static \u201clofty\/high\u201d transforms into a dynamic up-down motion, denoted by the causative grammatical form (<\/span>hif\u2019il<\/span><\/em>) of gava<\/em> \u201cto be high\u201d and <\/span>shafal<\/em> <\/span>\u201cto be low.\u201d Verses 1-6 show the reader how to praise God. The poet further underscores God\u2019s central place in this part of his poem by using the four-letter name of God in each verse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The final verses of the psalm (vv. 7-9) explain why one should praise God: His incomparable might. It, too, follows a bridge. Verse 6 highlights God\u2019s loftiness, but also his supervision. God watches, always. In verses 7-9, this ever-vigilant deity acts as only a God can: He inverts the natural order and reverses fortunes. In the ancient world, the poor remained indigent and the infertile stayed childless. Wealth and children, however, were key markers of status and worth. In verses 7-9, God intervenes. He raises (note the directionality) the indigent from scrounging for food in a trash heap and places them amongst the nobles who likely scorned him in the past. He bestows many children upon the infertile woman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through God\u2019s might, fate reverses. Psalm 113 opens the Hallel liturgy by providing a model for praise and by arguing that God is worthy of it. An ever-watchful Lord controls the universe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither fortune nor chaos determines the course our life takes. God does. Praise Him!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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