Ps 83 with Commentary by Dr Noel Donnelly
Do you ever feel you’re missing out on something? Like an outsider looking in? Especially do you ever wonder about what’s the inner secret that makes somebody appear to be so happy?
We all search for happiness in different ways. Psalm 83 is written by such a searcher for happiness. Although it has only 12 verses, yet we find the word “happy” used three times in it. It’s a psalm of deep longing to be happy like those who are actually working close to God in the Temple building. They are like the little sparrows and swallows who have built their nests near the sacred altars. He thinks: that’s all right for them. They are already physically close to the altars of sacrifice and burning incense. All of that must help their closeness to God! On the other hand the singer seems to be like a pilgrim who is passing through an arid valley, a time of estrangement from God, yet still looking for the ultimate happiness of those who stand and work within the threshold of God’s house. He thinks that it would be better to spend even one day in God’s Temple as a lowly door-keeper than a thousand left to his own devices elsewhere. He feels like an outsider who is missing something, something that will bring him a more settled happiness.
The psalmist prays in trust for the courage to keep going in the search.
Our search for happiness also goes on, as possibilities open up to our wanderings and wonderings. It’s nice that the psalmist asks for a musical interlude after verse four to allow space for reflection!
Where does our search for inner peace take us today? What ultimately makes us happy?
Ps 83: words (c) The Goal, England; music David Harris(c) Kevin Mayhew.
Ps 83: words (c) The Goal, England; music (c) Gerry Fitzpatrick
