Psalm 11 (12):6,7

interpretation

By the hand of his beatitude Archbishop Barnabas of Southern California and Alaska, and with the assistance of his freshly-minted godfather Dcn. meharee zemelak, my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; as it is written (Matthew 28:18-end).

His former name is Ezekiel, the parabler of parables, whom Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi calls the father of scripture. His new name is welde tinsaé (son of the resurrection). A name he shares with the archbishop, and our groundskeeping priest.

Not by the will of man, but by providence, the psalm selection we chanted during the eucharistic liturgy happened to be the same one we chanted during our holy matrimony nearly two years ago.

Here are the verses in ge’ez

ይእዜ እትነሣእ ይቤ እግዚአብሔር

እሬሲ መድኃኒተ ወአግህድ ቦቱ

ቃለ እግዚአብሔር ቃል ንጹሕ

yiizé itnesai ybé igzeeabihér

irésee medhaneete weaghid botu

qale igzeeabihér qal nitsuh

Here are the verses in the American language

I will now arise, says yahweh

I will set him in salvation; I will speak openly for him

the sayings of yahweh are pure sayings

Now, I arise. Or, now, I stand-up. This refers to yahweh being a god of action. He does not simply sit there blind, deaf, and dumb like the handcrafted statues and idols of the gods and goddesses. They have eyes, and yet they do not see. They have ears, and yet they do not hear. They have mouthes, and yet they do not speak. He has none of the above, and yet he sees, hears, and speaks with superlative power and authority. If you think he is merely the grand clockmaker of the universe, as the Enlightenment deists say, you are far too impatient. Pray and be patient. Above all, seek his will.

The Masoretic Hebrew in English speaks next of “safety for which he yearns,” whereas our Old Greek translations speak of salvation and advocacy or speaking openly or manifesting on behalf of. On behalf of whom? This is why every time I invite you to read-aloud a verse or two of a psalm, the savvy readers amongst you will know I am in fact inviting you to eat the whole chapter. If you do, you will learn what you could have guessed. The poor and the needy are the subject here, as they oft are. Repeated and reframed ad infinitum into your eardrums till you get the message.

Since the words, oracles, utterances, speech, and sayings of yahweh are pure words, oracles, utterances, speech, and sayings, there is only one thing left to do. Them. In this case, let him use you, by taking care of the poor and the needy. Keep it local.