The Psalms of Solomon

The Psalms of Solomon is a pseudepigraphal work of 18 poems that can be dated around the time of Pompey’s conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BC. The psalms anticipate a righteous messianic ruler who will bring justice to Israel and rule the nations.

The psalms begin with a lament over the profaned sanctuary in Jerusalem (1:8). Jerusalem lies conquered because the Israelites “defiled the sanctuary of the Lord” (2:3). Through judgment God has “exposed” Israel’s sins of incest, adultery, stealing from the sanctuary, and defiling the sacrifices (8:8-12) – sins that demonstrate that Israel “surpassed the gentiles” in wickedness (8:13). Through judgment, God proves himself righteous. And yet, because God is faithful to his covenant, God’s judgment becomes a means of disciplining Israel (8:26, 28).

Is Psalm 2, God is implored to pour out his justice upon the gentile conquerors (2:23-25). One conqueror (perhaps Pompey) is highlighted as receiving God’s justice (2:26-27) because he arrogantly refused to bow to the sovereignty of God (2:28-30).

God’s judgment does not mean God has abandoned his people. As descendents of Abraham, Israel enjoys a special place “above all nations” (9:9). God’s name is upon his people and “it will not cease forever” (9:9). The psalmist is confident that God has “made a covenant with our ancestors concerning us” (9:10). His generation still benefits from God’s covenant in the past. Thus the psalmist is confident that “in your kingdom your goodness is upon Israel” (5:18), for “[w]e are the people whom you have loved… we are yours” (9:8).

The “good news” is that God will restore Israel, for his mercy is eternal (11). God has sworn that David’s kingdom will be everlasting (17:4), but Israel’s sin has brought judgment (17:5ff.). However, judgment is not God’s last word to his people. Instead, God’s judgment is a means of disciplining his people. In light of this, the psalmist prays that God would raise up a king, “the Son of David, to rule over your servant Israel” (17:21). A king who will destroy unrighteous rulers, purge Jerusalem from gentiles, drive out apostate Jews from their inheritance, and destroy unlawful nations (17:22-24). This king will gather his holy people, that is, devout Jews (17:26-28), and judge the nations, forcing the gentiles to serve him (17:29-30). The psalmist looks forward to the day that Israel’s “king shall be the Lord Messiah” (17:32), one “free from sin” (17:36), powerful in the holy spirit, full of wisdom, strength, and righteousness (17:37). A special blessing is pronounced upon those who live to see messiah’s day (17:44; 18:6).

Until this time, God’s devout ones must “remember the Lord all the time” (3:3) and accept the Lord’s discipline, desiring always to be in his presence (3:4). They should “constantly search [their] house[s] to remove unintentional sins” (3:7). The devout should stay far away from hypocrisy (4:6) and doing deeds to impress others (4:7). Lawful righteousness is proof of love to God (4:25). This is important for it is the devout that inherit the Lord’s promises (12:6), upon whom the Lord’s mercy will be shown (13:12). The righteous are called to endure in order to receive mercy (16:15).

During this period of gentile oppression, the devout must accept God’s disciplining judgments, for “the Lord is good to those who endure discipline” (10:2). God’s discipline is a sign of his love, for God disciplines his firstborn, “wiping away their mistakes with discipline” (13:9-10). It is through discipline that God brings his people back to himself: “If I sin, discipline me that I may return” (16:11). God’s discipline is preferred over gentile oppression: “Discipline us as you wish, but do not turn us over to the gentiles” (7:3)

The devout are urged to obey God’s commandments. When they sin, they are to atone for sins of ignorance “by fasting and humbling” (3:8) which brings cleansing from the Lord (3:8). It is this repentance that brings cleansing of sins (9:6-7). Strong warnings are given to sinners, who are doomed to perish if they remain obstinate to God’s commands (3:9-12; 13:11-12; 14:6-9; 15:10-12). A curse is called down upon them (12:4).

In short, “The Lord is faithful to those who truly love him, to those who endure his discipline, to those who live in the righteousness of his commandments, in the Law” (14:1-2).

God is “great and glorious” (18:10), “a great and righteous king” (2:32), “a great and powerful judge in righteousness” (4:25). God is good “to those who persistently call upon him… his devout” (2:36). He will listen to his people’s prayers (5:5) and treat them with mercy. Calling upon the Lord brings blessing and relief from fears (6).

The Lord is “king forevermore” (17:1), the “savior” of Israel (17:3), whose kingdom “is forever over the nations in judgment” (17:3). As one of the covenant people of God, the psalmist has every confidence that God’s judgment will, through his discipline, purify a devout people who will see God’s righteous kingdom come through the a future Davidic king. In light of God’s faithfulness to his promises, his mercy and compassion for his people, and his righteousness, the oppression of the gentiles will eventually end. For this reason, the psalmist prays, “Do not neglect us, O God, lest the gentiles devour us as if there were no redeemer” (8:30). Faithfulness to God in the midst of God’s purifying discipline is so important that the psalmist promises to continue to come to God, even if God does not restore the people during his lifetime (5:7).

The Thanksgiving Hymns of Qumran

The scroll containing the Thanksgiving Hymns was discovered in Cave one, in the spring of 1947 along with several other scrolls. It dates from the first century AD and is sometimes thought to have been the work of the teacher of righteousness, a key figure in Qumran history. Blessing and thanksgiving are prominent in the hymns, composed mostly in first person. The large number of copies found in the Dead Sea Scrolls underscores the significance of this document in the Qumran community. No longer participating in the cult of the Jerusalem temple, these documents shed light on the worship life of the separated community.

The chief composer repeatedly confesses to being a mere man who has experienced deliverance from sin, in accordance with God’s revelation to Moses (4:12) –the revelation that God forgives every transgression (4:15; cf. Exo. 34:6-7). Though privy to special knowledge, the author is “an edifice of dust” (5:20-21) completely dependent upon God (18:1-7). In an extended description, he describes himself as “a vessel of clay and kneaded with water, a foundation of shame and a spring of filth, a melting pot of iniquity and a structure of sin, a spirit of error, perverted without understanding and terrified by righteous judgments” (9:21-23). The author claims “that [I have] not [relied on my own power] to exalt [myself], finding security in my strength. Nor have I any fleshly refuges […] no works of righteousness to rescue myself” (15:16-17).

The author confidently admits his love for God: “I love you freely and with all my heart” (7:10). Certain sayings seem to imply that he holds a special place in the community: “You, my God, have appointed me as a holy counsel to the weary” (15:10). “For all who attack me You will condemn to judgment” (15:12). “I shine forth in sevenfold light, in l[ight which] You have [esta]blished for Your glory” (15:24).

Throughout his expressions of thanksgiving, the author repeatedly recounts suffering for righteousness’ sake. “Within the domain of wickedness” he has experienced shame, derision, slander, and taunting (10:7ff.). When he considers this, and the end of the wicked, he is often overwhelmed with grief (13:22ff.; 19:19ff.).

Through it all, the author holds fast to God’s covenant (10:21-22). It is this which makes his “face to shine” (12:5), for “You have not shattered me for the sake of Your covenant” (15:8).

In the Thanksgiving Hymns, God is the “eternal God” (15:31) to whom “no power can compare” (17:17). There are no bounds to his glory (17:17).

God is the creator of all things (8:17). All things have been created for his glory (9:10). God works to make his glory known (5:19).

God is also sovereign over all, having determined all human works before creation (7:14). Nothing happens apart from God’s sovereign will: “in the wisdom of Your knowledge You determined their destiny before they came into existence and according [to Your will] everything come[s to pass], and nothing happens apart from You” (9:19-20; 9:8). This extends to the acts of the righteous and the wicked: “not for man, [but for] Your [glory] You have worked, for You created both the righteous and the wicked” (12:38). God has created the righteous to give heed to God’s covenant “at the appointed time of grace” leading to “eternal salvation and everlasting peace” (7:15-16) raising “his glory above the mortal” (7:17). God created the wicked to experience God’s wrath, for from the womb they are set apart for slaughter (7:17) “so that all might know Your glory and great power” (7:20). Yet, all remain responsible for their own evil deeds: “all righteous works and true counsel belong to You; sinful service and the deceitful works belong to the sons of men” (9:26-27)

God knows all (9:23-26). A dominant reoccurring theme in the Thanksgiving Hymns is that God gives knowledge and understanding to human hearts (5:25; 6:8; 6:25, 27; 9:21; 12:27-28; 15:26-27; 19:27-28). This knowledge is usually connected to the concept of practicing righteousness and hating evil. God gives this knowledge to mere “vessels of clay” (9:21) and “by the spirit” (20:11-12). Because of the lack of this knowledge, the wicked are “ruined” (12:7).

God is compassionate and merciful, a God who “forgives those who turn from sin” (6:24). God’s tender mercies take on parental dimensions for the author: “For You are a father to all the children of Your truth, and You rejoice over them as loving mother over her nursing child” (17:35-36).

It is this mercy that gives the author confidence in God’s presence. God is willing to forgive because God is good: “in Your goodness is an abundance of forgiveness” (19:9). There is therefore “hope for those that turn from rebellion, and for those who abandon sin” (14:6). The “perverse spirit” can be “cleansed from great transgression” in order to “take his stand with the host of the holy ones, and enter together with the congregation of the sons of heaven” (11:21-22). The author rests in God’s mercies and abundant compassion because God atones for iniquity and purifies from guilt (12:37). Only God’s goodness and abundance of compassion justifies a man (5:22-23). “I know that no one can be righteous apart from You” (8:20). God’s forgiveness is done for his glory’s sake: “For your glory’s sake You have cleansed man from transgression” (19:10).

The author has a glorious and terrifying view of the end that causes him to be filled with gratitude and trembling at the same time. Because God is righteous, God destroys wickedness forever, revealing his righteousness (6:16). The wicked will be shut up in the pit of Sheol and Abbaddon (11:15-18).

The wicked deserve this end, for they “hatch the plots of Belial” (12:13) and “seek You with a double heart, and are not founded in Your truth” (12:14). They do this through idolatry (12:15) and “through the words of lying prophets” (12:16). All this culminates in deception, the antithesis of God’s true knowledge (12:20-21).

In the end “[t]he war of the heroes of heaven shall spread over the world and shall not return until an annihilation that has been determined from eternity is completed. Nothing like this has ever occurred.” (11:35-36). Then a glorious tree fed by “the rivers of Eden” in a “world without end” will grow accompanied by a “spring of light” that becomes an “everlasting fountain” that burns all the “child[ren of injustice]” (14:16-18). There will be “no escape for the creatures of guilt, they shall be trampled down to destruction with no rem[nant]” (14:32). But the purified saints will “rise up from the dust to an et[ernal] council” taking their position “before You with the eternal hosts and spirits [of truth], to be renewed with all that shall be” (19:12-13). This both staggers and overwhelms the psalmist  (15:4-5).

Dupont-Sommer best summarizes the wide variety of expressions in the Thanksgiving Hymns:

With their lofty mysticism these songs are outpourings of the soul in which the author expresses in turn his adoration of God, his total submission to the divine will, his love for the Most High God and his hatred of Belial, his despair and his sudden leaps of infinite hope, his mortal anguish at the thought of the imminent end of the world, and his triumphant joy in the dreams of eternal bliss in the bright company of the angels (Dupont-Sommer, Essene Writings from Qumran, p. 199).

Conclusions

The Jewish self-understanding demonstrated in the preceding two works stands in stark contrast to two common Christian stereotypes regarding Jewish piety: the first, regarding perceived Jewish solidarity on the significance of ethnical privilege in relation to messiah, and the second, regarding Jewish “works-righteousness”.

Sometimes one is given the idea that the Jewish people were monolithic in their understanding of messiah’s reign. I grew up hearing that the Jews expected a nationalistic leader who would destroy the Gentiles and deliver the Jews. Jewish identity, therefore, guaranteed salvation and Gentile identity, with rare exception, guaranteed judgment. But both documents demonstrate that Jewish expectation was not so simplistic. The Qumran community understood themselves to be God’s special people in a way that other Jews were not. Jews outside their community were considered to be double hearted, caught up in the “plots of Belial” through idolatry and their trust in lying prophets (1QH 12:13-16). In the Psalms of Solomon, wayward Jews are included in the judgment of the coming messiah. They will be driven out from participating in the Jewish inheritance, separated from the devout Jews (Ps. 17:22-30). In short, neither the Thanksgiving Hymns nor the Psalms of Solomon assume that simply because one is Jewish, one is certain to benefit from messiah’s coming reign. Thus, John the Baptist’s message that Jewish ethnicity is not a guarantee of experiencing God’s kingdom blessings is not as unique as some claim.

Oftentimes, devout Jews are presented as caught up in their own self-righteousness achieved through so-called “works-righteousness.” A fair reading of the Thanksgiving Hymns and the Psalms of Solomon exposes this stereotype as the distorted caricature that it is. In the Psalms of Solomon, the author speaks of his desire to remain always in the presence of God (Ps. 3:4). The devotion of God’s people is to be meticulous (Ps. 3:7) but also authentic. The devout must stay far away from hypocrisy and performing deeds only to impress others (Ps. 4:6-7). Throughout the Psalms there is a clear understanding that obedience should be strict, but also, authentic. The intense desire to obey God’s law is not for the purpose of gaining merit with God, but for the end of demonstrating one’s love to God (Ps. 14:12).

The same sentiment is found in the Thanksgiving Hymns. The author has clearly experienced deliverance from personal sin and proclaims his complete dependence upon God (1QH 4:12; 18:1-7). The author offers “no works of righteousness to rescue [himself]” (1QH 15:17). He freely recognizes that only God’s goodness and abundance of compassion can justify a man (1QH 5:22-23), for “no one can be righteous apart from You” (1 QH 8:20).

In short, neither Thanksgiving Hymns nor the Psalms of Solomon paint a portrait of legalistic, self-righteous Jews bent on earning God’s favor through their own works of righteousness. Instead, there is a clear understanding of personal sin, the need for God’s abundant forgiveness, and the call to demonstrate one’s devotion to God through the faithful keeping of God’s law. To label this mindset as legalism is to misconstrue, distort, and caricature Jewish believers in the time of Christ. Reading the New Testament with the assumption that Jewish believers were simply hypocritical, self-righteous legalists with no real heart for God is to misread the New Testament, and to lose touch with the fact that the New Testament pronouncement is that the fulfillment of all Israel’s hopes have been realized in the person of Jesus.

For too long, we have read about ancient Jews through the lens of Martin Luther’s obsessive pursuit of self-righteousness or simply in light of the negative statements made in the New Testament concerning certain Jewish leaders. This reading is too simplistic, leading to a distorted caricature having little or no basis in reality, and resulting in a distortion of the Gospel message. Our reading of the New Testament must be informed by the Jewish writings of the period, lest we fail to understand the expectations, values, motives, and attitudes of the time. This is the value of the two preceding documents – just the tip of the iceberg in regard to helpful primary sources available to us today.

© Richard J. Vincent, 2003