Psalm 95 Story Behind
Obey his voice today
Psalm 95
About the Story Behind Layer
The Story Behind the Psalm shows how each part of the psalm fits together into a single coherent whole. Whereas most semantic analysis focuses on discrete parts of a text such as the meaning of a word or phrase, Story Behind the Psalm considers the meaning of larger units of discourse, including the entire psalm.
The goal of this layer is to reconstruct and visualize a mental representation of the text as the earliest hearers/readers might have conceptualized it. We start by identifying the propositional content of each clause in the psalm, and then we identify relevant assumptions implied by each of the propositions. During this process, we also identify and analyze metaphorical language (“imagery”). Finally, we try to see how all of the propositions and assumptions fit together to form a coherent mental representation. The main tool we use for structuring the propositions and assumptions is a story triangle, which visualizes the rise and fall of tension within a semantic unit. Although story triangles are traditionally used to analyze stories in the literary sense of the word, we use them at this layer to analyze “stories” in the cognitive sense of the word—i.e., a story as a sequence of propositions and assumptions that has tension.
Summary Triangle
The story triangle below summarises the story of the whole psalm. We use the same colour scheme as in Participant Analysis. The star icon along the edge of the story-triangle indicates the point of the story in which the psalm itself (as a speech event) takes place. We also include a theme at the bottom of the story. The theme is the main message conveyed by the story-behind.
| Story Triangles legend | |
|---|---|
| Propositional content (verse number) | Propositional content, the base meaning of the clause, is indicated by bold black text. The verse number immediately follows the correlating proposition in black text inside parentheses. |
| Common-ground assumption | Common-ground assumptions[1] are indicated by gray text. |
| Local-ground assumption | Local-ground assumptions[2] are indicated by dark blue text. |
| Playground assumption | Playground assumptions[3] are indicated by light blue text. |
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The point of the story at which the psalm takes place (as a speech event) is indicated by a gray star. |
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If applicable, the point of the story at which the psalm BEGINS to take place (as a speech event) is indicated with a light gray star. A gray arrow will travel from this star to the point at which the psalm ends, indicated by the darker gray star. |
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A story that repeats is indicated by a circular arrow. This indicates a sequence of either habitual or iterative events. |
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A story or event that does not happen or the psalmist does not wish to happen is indicated with a red X over the story triangle. |
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Connections between propositions and/or assumptions are indicated by black arrows with small text indicating how the ideas are connected. |
| Note: In the Summary triangle, highlight color scheme follows the colors of participant analysis. | |
Background ideas
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
Background situation
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Expanded Paraphrase
The expanded paraphrase seeks to capture the implicit information within the text and make it explicit for readers today. It is based on the CBC translation and uses italic text to provide the most salient background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences.
| Expanded paraphrase legend | |
|---|---|
| Close but Clear (CBC) translation | The CBC, our close but clear translation of the Hebrew, is represented in bold text. |
| Assumptions | Assumptions which provide background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences are represented in italics. |
| Text (Hebrew) | Verse | Expanded Paraphrase |
|---|---|---|
| לְ֭כוּ נְרַנְּנָ֣ה לַיהוָ֑ה נָ֝רִ֗יעָה לְצ֣וּר יִשְׁעֵֽנוּ׃ | 1 | Come to the temple, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation, whose salvation included the Exodus and even the provision of water at Massah and Meribah! |
| נְקַדְּמָ֣ה פָנָ֣יו בְּתוֹדָ֑ה בִּ֝זְמִר֗וֹת נָרִ֥יעַֽ לֽוֹ׃ | 2 | Let us approach his presence, where he rests (Ps 132:8), with praise; in songs we will cry out to him |
| כִּ֤י אֵ֣ל גָּד֣וֹל יְהוָ֑ה וּמֶ֥לֶךְ גָּ֝ד֗וֹל עַל־כָּל־אֱלֹהִֽים׃ | 3 | because YHWH is a great God and a great king over all gods, which he showed us after creating everything and sitting down to rest in his temple and reign over the cosmos. |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּ֭יָדוֹ מֶחְקְרֵי־אָ֑רֶץ וְתוֹעֲפ֖וֹת הָרִ֣ים לֽוֹ׃ | 4 | He is[a God] in whose hand are the unexplored depths of the earth and the peaks of the mountains are his; |
| אֲשֶׁר־ל֣וֹ הַ֭יָּם וְה֣וּא עָשָׂ֑הוּ וְ֝יַבֶּ֗שֶׁת יָדָ֥יו יָצָֽרוּ׃ | 5 | to whom belongs the sea —he made it— and the dry land which his hands formed. Both high and low, both sea and land—nothing is outside the scope of his sovereignty. |
| בֹּ֭אוּ נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֣ה וְנִכְרָ֑עָה נִ֝בְרְכָ֗ה לִֽפְנֵי־יְהוָ֥ה עֹשֵֽׂנוּ׃ | 6 | So as we come and continue our entrance into his holy place of rest (Ps 100:4), let us bow down and kneel! Let us kneel down before YHWH, our maker, |
| כִּ֘י ה֤וּא אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ וַאֲנַ֤חְנוּ עַ֣ם מַ֭רְעִיתוֹ וְצֹ֣אן יָד֑וֹ הַ֝יּ֗וֹם אִֽם־בְּקֹל֥וֹ תִשְׁמָֽעוּ׃ | 7 | because he, the great king over all gods, is our God and we are the people that he redeemed from Egypt and he shepherds (Ps 78:52), the flock led by his hand to resting places (Ps 23:2), including the promised land and his own resting place (Deut 12:8-9)—the same hand to which belongs all of creation. Do not take this entrance into his presence for granted, however. Today, if you want to obey his voice, fully relying on his provision and covenantal promises to provide you with a place of rest as an inheritance... |
| אַל־תַּקְשׁ֣וּ לְ֭בַבְכֶם כִּמְרִיבָ֑ה כְּי֥וֹם מַ֝סָּ֗ה בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ | 8 | "Do not harden your heart as back then[at] Meribah, that place of hostility, as [on] the day of Massah, that place of testing, in the wilderness, |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִ֭סּוּנִי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם בְּ֝חָנ֗וּנִי גַּם־רָא֥וּ פָעֳלִֽי׃ | 9 | where your ancestors put me to the test with their grumbling, despite my provision. They tested me when they lost faith in me and would have preferred to return to their former life in Egypt. They had even seen my work of splitting the seas, setting them up like a heap and providing a stable path through, just as I separated the waters at creation and provided stability for the earth! |
| אַרְבָּ֘עִ֤ים שָׁנָ֨ה׀ אָ֘ק֤וּט בְּד֗וֹר וָאֹמַ֗ר עַ֤ם תֹּעֵ֣י לֵבָ֣ב הֵ֑ם וְ֝הֵ֗ם לֹא־יָדְע֥וּ דְרָכָֽי׃ | 10 | For forty years I was disgusted with an entire generation —a year for each day they surveyed the promised land of their rest and chose not to trust me that they would inherit it— and I would think: 'They are a people whose heart strays, desirous of the blessings rather than me, the one who blesses, which leads to idolatry, and they do not recognize my ways laid out in my covenant stipulations as my special people, but would prefer to think just as the nations around them think and fear the things that they fear, rather than holding me in fear and awe. |
| אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּי בְאַפִּ֑י אִם־יְ֝בֹא֗וּן אֶל־מְנוּחָתִֽי׃ | 11 | [They are a people] about whom I swore in my anger, "They will not enter into my place of rest in the promised land!"'" So here we are, today, entering into YHWH's temple (Deut 12:9). Will you remain as stubborn and unfaithful as our ancestors were? Or will you recognize his provision and expectation that you believe in him, with faithful worship, and enter in to enjoy the rest found in his presence? |
Story Triangles
(Click diagram to enlarge)
| They are a people whose heart strays (v. 10b) | ||
| Heart | Desire | |
|---|---|---|
| Physiology | The heart is considered a central organ to the human organism | The heart is "the seat of knowledge, human reasoning, planning, intelligence, skill, affection and hatred, desire and satisfaction, humility and pride, courage and fear, joy and grief" (SDBH). |
| Function | Cause or feel desires | Be the desire |
| Container | Contains essential veins and arteries which dictate one's life | Contains essential thoughts and intentions which dictate the path of one's life |
| Changeability (van der Merwe 2023, 307) | Heart transplant | God gave him another heart (1 Sam 10:9) |
| Nature | As an interior organ, it was unknowable before modern medicine | The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jer 17:9, NIV; cf. Num 15:39; Ps 78:37) |
| Potential | Can be healthy | Can be steadfast, firm and faithful (Ps 78:72) |
| Blend | Heart is the locus of will and desire | |
| Implicatures |
| |
| Prominence | LOW
The metaphor "Heart as Instrument of Thinking and Acts of Will" (van der Merwe 2023, §3.4) is common throughout the Bible. Furthermore, it only functions in passing to describe their nature and the reason YHWH was disgusted with his people for forty years, accompanied by "they do not recognize my ways" (v. 10c). | |
| we are the people he shepherds, the flock led by his hand (v. 7) | ||
| a flock | congregation | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Needy, with a tendency to stray | Needy, with a tendency to stray from covenant faithfulness (v. 10b: עַ֤ם תֹּעֵ֣י לֵבָ֣ב הֵ֑ם) |
| Relationship (1) | Shepherd's possession | YHWH's possession (Exod 19:5) |
| Relationship (2) | The shepherd gathers the flock, protects it, seeks out the sheep when lost, and provides protection and provision. | God as shepherd gathers his flock together (Is 60:7; Jer 23:3), keeps it as a possession (Jer 31:10), seeks it out (Ezek 34:12), protects it (Ezek 34:22), encloses it in a sheepfold (Mic 2:12) and feeds it (Ps 79:13; Is 40:11; Mic 5:4) (DBI, 293) |
| Relationship (3) | The sheep listen to the shepherd's voice (John 10:3-4) | Israel should listen to YHWH's voice |
| Risk | The sheep risk being attacked and scattered | Israel risked being attacked and scattered |
| Blend | Israel is YHWH's flock | |
| Implicatures |
| |
| Prominence | HIGH
The image is repeated as a compound predicate of "we are." The image of YHWH's people as a flock needing to be shepherded is key throughout Exodus events (cf. Ps 78:52), which point to the Meribah/Massah discourse coming in vv. 8-9. The image appears following the second instance of who God is (ה֤וּא אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ), following the identification of God in v. 3 (אֵ֣ל גָּד֣וֹל יְהוָ֑ה וּמֶ֥לֶךְ גָּ֝ד֗וֹל עַל־כָּל־אֱלֹהִֽים), so is somewhat unexpected. It is also the only identification of the psalmist's group in the first person, immediately preceding the sudden shift in syntax and second person address to the flock (vv. 7c-11). | |
| Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! (v. 1) | ||
| rock | YHWH | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Associated with hardness, permanence, security (SDBH) and shade (DBI) | God who provides protection for his people (SDBH) |
| Constituent | Hard and solid, against background of Reed Sea (cf. my work in v. 9) | Trustworthy and strong among the chaos of life |
| Surroundings | Chaotic waters, weather, or landscape | Uncertainty of provision and safety (vv. 20, 53) |
| Function | Provides refuge | Provides relief from difficult circumstances |
| Product | Provided water in the wilderness (Exod 17:6) | Provides spiritual refreshment and rest (Isa 55:1; cf. 1 Cor 10:4) |
| Blend | YHWH, the God who protects and provides | |
| Implicatures | YHWH's salvation provides rest and refreshment for his people. | |
| Prominence | HIGH
While "rock" is a common image for YHWH both in the Psalms and throughout the Bible, it takes on a unique sense in Ps 95 in light of the reference to the rock out of which water flowed at Meribah and Massah (Exod 17:6), which becomes key to the Psalm's message in v. 8. The phrase צוּר יִשְׁעֵנוּ also has a significant function in the Psalm's poetic structure at the end of the first verse, with in assonance between יִשְׁעֵנוּ and the final word of the first verse of the second half (עֹשֵֽׂנוּ; v. 6). | |
| and they do not recognize my ways. (v. 10c) | ||
| physical path | YHWH's covenant stipulations | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Traveler | YHWH's people |
| Alternative | The wrong path | Straying into unfaithfulness (v. 10b: עַ֤ם תֹּעֵ֣י לֵבָ֣ב הֵ֑ם) |
| Action (1) | Walk the path | Heed YHWH's voice |
| Action (2) | Stray from the path | Not pay attention to YHWH's voice |
| Risk | Straying and getting lost | Wandering the desert for an entire generation |
| Ideal destination | End of the path | YHWH's rest |
| Blend | YHWH's covenant stipulations are paths to travel | |
| Implicatures |
| |
| Prominence | MEDIUM
The metaphor "Life as journey" is well-studied in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Kovecses 2010) and central to the prototypical Psalm in this respect, Ps 119 (Procházková 2021, 52-53, 75, 108). Here, it only functions in passing to describe their nature and the reason YHWH was disgusted with his people for forty years, accompanied by "They are a people whose heart strays" (v. 10b). Nevertheless, since the image is compounded with straying in the previous clause (cf. Ps 119:176) as well as the poetic function of the verb בוא (as an inclusio for vv. 6-11) and the final destination of entering into YHWH's rest, by the end of the psalm the image is contributing to rich and intricate strands which wrap up the climax of the psalm's message: "They will not enter into my rest!" | |
Bibliography
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Footnotes
- ↑ Common-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/ANE background - beliefs and practices that were widespread at this time and place. This is the background information necessary for understanding propositions that do not readily make sense to those who are so far removed from the culture in which the proposition was originally expressed.
- ↑ Local-ground assumptions are those propositions which are necessarily true if the text is true. They include both presuppositions and entailments. Presuppositions are those implicit propositions which are assumed to be true by an explicit proposition. Entailments are those propositions which are necessarily true if a proposition is true.
- ↑ Whereas local-ground assumptions are inferences which are necessarily true if the text is true, play-ground assumptions are those inferences which might be true if the text is true.