Ps 91/92
for the 11th Sunday of Year B
Psalm 91/92
Amongst all the 150 psalms there is only one that has the superscription that it
is to be sung on the Sabbath. Possibly this arose from the fact that it uses the
sacred name for God seven times, seven being the perfect number and the day
that God rested. Moses, you’ll remember, was given this sacred name for God
at the Burning Bush. “I AM who I AM!” We use the word “Yahweh” for this
name. This is a name that is unique to the Chosen People, and it is both
intimate and scary. Interestingly the Jewish commentary on this psalm, the
Mishnah, says it is the psalm not only for the Sabbath but also for the occasion
when time will become one endless Sabbath. This Commentary says, “This
psalm will be a song for all the eternal time to come, when time will be all
Sabbath with its everlasting rest!”
There is supposed to be a joyful musical accompaniment using the ten-stringed
lyre, the lute and the harp, and they are to play their instruments “to proclaim
God’s love in the morning and the watches of the night ” as verse 3 puts it.
Instrumentalists: we have a sacred tradition to the purpose of our playing! We
are to proclaim God’s love!
Verses 4-6 tell us why we should give thanks, “For the great works of your
hands”, says psalmist. Creation as well as Sabbath are themes in this psalm.
The song goes on to specify the singer’s special thanks for receiving the
strength of the wild ox, and adopting the upright and bold stance of the palm
tree and the majestic strength and stability of the Lebanon cedar tree. These
are contrasted with the foolish shallow people who live life boringly, like short-
rooted grass, people who haven’t a clue about what life is about; “brute-like”
says the psalmist.
The psalm ends with, “planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish, still
bearing fruit when they are old, still full of sap, still green, to acclaim the Lord!”
Psalm 91 is placed this weekend between the freshly planted shoots of new
Cedars in the first reading and the tiny beginnings of the mustard seed in the
Gospel. Growth, even in small fresh steps from perhaps tiny beginnings are
offered to us as we face the new week.
