Psalm 90

Some notes. Before I start : please remember that I am a scholar, as well as a pastor. When I have the time, I try to read the text in their original languages. Greek for the New Testament and Hebrew for the Old Testament, and occasionally (frankly, very frequently) this opens the text in new ways.

Also know, that scholars routinely disregard the superscriptions to the psalms as secondary, that is, as later additions which in some way comment upon the text, and when this is done, the opening lines of Psalm 90 proper (in the King James Version, which is my favourite translation to English) are :

"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations"

The first note I have is the word 'Lord'. Usually, when we read 'Lord' or 'The Lord' in English-language bibles, what is behind the term is the name Yahweh (I am a scholar, I use the name, if it offends you I am sorry, but I am not going to stop doing so) . Not so in this psalm. Here we have the Hebrew word 'dny which means 'my lord' and can be used both of God and of a normal master / lord. SO, strictly speaking, at this point of proceedings our only pointer as to the identity of the Lord in question is the fact, that we are dealing with a text which is placed among other texts, which all deal with God and with the relationship between God and humans.
Not until the end of the following verse do we find a proper designation of who is adressed : "From (out of) Eternity and until Eternity, you (are) God"

The next note is on the word which, in the KJV, is translated 'dwelling place'
The Hebrew word is m'wn or ma'on and really ... translating that with 'dwelling place' is selling the word short. There are two different words that are spelled spelled exactly the same way, one is the 'dwelling' of the KJV, the other means 'help' or 'assistance'. The basic root has a number of meanings as well : to dwell, to cover, to call for help.

Now, this word can be qualified with words like 'sacred' or 'holy', and quite frequently is, in which case the scared or holy ma'on is synonymous with the Temple, which - in Old Testament speak - is also synonymous with the palace of God, God's heavenly abode. In the Old Testament, they are all the same, they are where God lives.

But ma'on isn't qualified here.
What is more, it is not referring to a place, but to a person. To God.
So, not 'your dwelling' but "you are, to us, a ma'on" A place of peace, where we can be at home, can find help or assistance, can be safe. A home.
Now, isn't that a wonderful opening :-)

Lord, you (!) are our home.
And have been so for generation after generation.

It is not an invitation to make my home with God, or to find a home in some 'house of God' or other. The entire sentence (in Hebrew) is constructed in a way that says this is; it isn't something which is in a remote future or past, or even in a different dimension or reality. Here and now, right now, God is my home. And for generation after generation, in every possible 'now', God is my home.
All I need do is move in.

Carol reminded me that I had this blog.
The Psalms-study also reminded me of Psalm 3.
When the 'Quilting the Psalms' group had their most recent read, this one started quite a lot of thoughts in me, and, being who I am, I decided to share.

As some might (not) know, I am a pastor, but I am also a biblical scholar, specializing in Hebrew Old Testament, teaching at University, longhaired and ivorytowered; this means, that I can (and do) read the psalms in the original format as well as in translation. And one of the things that have - recently - crystallized in my mind is the fact that when reading the Old Testament (in translation), we also translate the name of God. We read 'The Lord' rather than the name, but ... I am a christian.
And one of the things about being a christian is, that I call God by name. God gave me that right when he was born as a man, as a human being. When God chose to become flesh and blood, all human, God also chose to become my brother, and made me free with his name.
I know the name of God, and God himself gave me leave to use it.
Now, what I will suggest is anathema to scholarship. If any of my students at university attempted it, I would flog them alive.
Why?
Because the scholarly study of a text is an attempt to read what is there, however inconvenient it might be (and it is occasionally) it is not a reading of faith. This blog, however, is very much about faith, so ... This is my meditation on Psalm 3 :

Lord Jesus Christ
There are many against me, and I am just one
There are many who call me an idiot, because I seek you
They laugh and say : God never answers anyone

But you are Christ, my saviour
You protect me where I walk and where I stand
You fill my life with meaning, so I don't have to fill it all on my own
You give me meaning
You make me someone
You give me a voice, when there are no words left to me

When I call on you, you answer
When I feel like death, you resurrect me

Some attack me in the open
Some oppose me under cover
But with you, my fear disappears
In your love, I am never alone

Lord Jesus Christ
You are God, and I know you by name
With you in my life, the idiots and their idiocy becomes harmless, nameless, meaningless

Almighty, eternal God
Father, Son and Spirit
You are salvation - I am yours
You are blessing - I am yours
You are abundance - I am yours
You are God - I am yours

Amen

P.S. And the name of God, in the Old Testament, is Yahweh, not 'Jehovah'; the latter is a misconception (that I can elaborate on if wanted). To me, however, God's name is Jesus Christ.