Vulgata: Archetypes in the Psalms

Archetypes
in the
Psalms

Neil Patterson

Orriginally published in Issue XXII of Vulgata, Nov. 2009

What follows are the results of an exercise which I did and which I am quite sure no one has ever done before. I attempted to apply the archetype theory (New Poetics) developed by Chris and Melinda Selmys, which you can find explained here, to the Psalter. What I have found is a new way of looking at the psalms that I hope other will find useful and interesting, even if they are not familiar with or have no interest in the theory of archetypes. Broadly speaking, I have grouped the psalms into thematic categories. However, rather than being a mere pedantic pigeonholing, this categorization has helped me to better understand the true essence of each psalm and given me a much deeper understanding of their character. All this is to say that I have found this an immensely rewarding work, whether anyone else reads it or not. Nonetheless I hope that some others may find profit in it and be encouraged to become more familiar with the Psalter and with the Selmys Archetype Theory.

If you want to really understand what I have done, you will have to familiarize yourself with the New Poetics archetype theory (see link above). However, if you don’t want to do that, or at least not yet, here is the briefest of all possible outlines that will allow you to understand and enjoy this article.

The New Poetics

Firstly, the New Poetics identifies forty archetypal characters that recur in literature, mythology and life in general. They are divided up evenly among five Squares: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and White. Each square contains two heroes, two heroines, two villains and two villainesses: a right and a left hand of each (I’ll get to that in a moment). The archetypes on the same square tend to appear in stories together. It is not my intention here to describe each archetype. In this paper I have concerned myself almost exclusively with the ten heroes, making only passing reference to the other archetypes. From the text, you should get a sense of the hero archetypes without my having to describe them here.

What I will do now is give a brief definition of each Square:

The Red Square is concerned with authority and power. It is the Square of creation, its wonders and right ordering. The central dynamic of the Red Square is the throne (literal or metaphorical) and who has the right to wield its authority. The heroes on this Square are the King and the Rogue.

The Yellow Square is about wisdom and learning lessons. It is also the Square of family and growing up. The heroes on this Square are the Magus and the Disciple.

The Green Square is a constant dynamic among sin, law and mercy. To it belong the Priest and the Avenger.

The Blue Square is about the redemptive value of suffering. The central concern of a Blue Square story is typically perseverance in the face of terror and unreasoning oppression. On it are the Prophet and the Warrior.

The White Square is about the final judgment between good and evil, the laying bare of truth and the revelation of the reality behind appearances. The heroes there are the Judge and the Fool.

The first characters mentioned on each Square (the King, the Magus, the Priest, the Prophet and the Judge) are called the right hand heroes. The seconds (the Rogue, the Disciple, the Avenger, the Warrior and the Fool) are called the left hand heroes. It is not important for the reader to understand all the implications of this distinction, but let it be said simply that the right hand archetypes tend to be more noble and heroic than the left. The left hand characters, although they can often be more sympathetic than the right and indeed can be just as good in the moral sense, are somehow less pure or exalted, or need a right hand character to complete them.

You will also notice that I mention Square resonance in the text, as in “such-and-such is a Warrior-resonant Disciple psalm”. I won’t get into the technical aspects of resonance, but most basically it is a phenomenon in which characters borrow traits from characters on other squares. Specifically, characters resonate to their equivalents on non-adjacent Squares. Therefore, a King can resonate as a Priest or a Prophet; a prophet can resonate as a King or a Magus; etc. In the context of the psalms, it simply means that resonating psalms share thematic material from another Square.

The Archetypes in the Psalms

This project started as an experiment to see if I could identify which character archetype had written each psalm. I quickly learned that this was not the right question. Rather, I began to ask, what is the inner dynamic or essence of each psalm and to which archetype does that correspond? Often, this indeed meant identifying a certain archetype with the writer of the psalm, but it could also mean the image of God presented. Is the psalmist supplicating God the Priest or God the King? Ultimately, I began to ask not, for instance, ‘does this psalm belong to the Judge?’ but rather, ‘what does a Judge psalm look like?’ That is, what is the particular face of each archetype that is presented in the Psalter. In the main body of the text below, this is what I describe. The result is that we end up learning much more about the psalms on their own terms, rather than forcing them into premade categories. The archetypes, according to my analysis, are not simply something my eccentric friends made up, but rather seem to actually describe something fundamental about reality. I started with them as categories, but I have allowed the psalms to show me new dimensions and many things I had never thought of before. In this way, the psalms defined their own categories, and that is one of the things that made this enterprise so interesting.

To my great excitement, the psalms divide up relatively neatly into ten groups of fifteen. Thus, I think of this project not as a mere synthetic exercise, but as something that describes and actual state of affairs.

Some notes and Observations

As I said above, my initial plan was to divide the psalms according to which archetype is speaking the psalm. However, this soon proved to be not always the best course of action. In many of the psalms, the speaker is largely irrelevant and it is the person (almost always God) who is addressed or spoken about who determines the designation. Sometimes the decision to go one way or the other is rather arbitrary. Is Psalm 50 an Avenger begging for mercy, or does it better represent God as Priest? This is especially true for the Red Square. Many Red psalms are Rogues singing in praise of the King, who often comes off looking rather roguish himself.

If the reader is unfamiliar with archetype theory, he may be surprised by some of the names of the archetypes. I have used the “official” titles for the sake of consistency and transferability, even though some of them are not entirely appropriate to the Old Testament (I am thinking especially of the Rogue and the Fool). Don’t let it bother you.

The Rogue as bard (see below) is the psalmist par excellence. However, the mere presence of music and singing in a psalm does not make it Red.

The psalms are violent. Many psalms include prayers against the enemies of the psalmist and my first reaction was to assign these psalms to the Avenger. However, I soon realized that this is a Hebraism to be corrected for. It seems that all the archetypes in their Hebrew manifestations are quite willing to see their enemies destroyed down to the seventh generation.

To do this study, I scrupulously went over each psalm, perusing the entire Psalter several times. Until the very end, I did not give any care to how many psalms went under each archetype. When it seemed that the number of psalms was very nearly fifteen under each archetype, I took the equal distribution of psalms as an assumption which helped me to place the last twenty or so psalms that I was unsure of. If my reader wants to call that fudging, he may. I can say without hesitation that each archetype is well represented, even if my numbers aren’t quite right.

There are 11 psalms that I found very difficult to place and could probably be easily persuaded that I was in error if someone has a new insight. I have marked them with a *.

I have only worked with the heroes and have completely ignored the heroines and villains. There are a few psalms that I think arguably belong more properly to the heroines, but they are rare and can be chalked up to heroes borrowing attributes from their female counterparts.

By long tradition, the Church has not only prayed the psalms, but prayed them as Christ prayed them, as if each one was spoken by Christ to the Father. We know that Christ prayed all of the psalms and I have great respect for this way of praying and thinking about the psalms. However, in this article, I have not made any specific connections to Christ or indeed the New Covenant at all. This was a methodological decision I made because I wanted to engage with the psalms in themselves.

You will notice that I have a lot more to say about some of the archetypes than others. It offends my sense of completeness and is surely indicative of the fact that more work needs to be done, but that’s the way it is.

Finally, I have used the Septuagint/Vulgate numbering of the Psalms instead of the Hebrew. Most English Bibles use the Hebrew. However, where Psalms are doubled up (41-42, 114-115 and 146-147), even though they count as two, I have listed them as above.

The Psalms

RED

As you will notice, I have not given a general introduction to any of the other colours, but in the case of the Red Square, it is necessary. Unlike the other Squares, there is not a sharp distinction between the left and the right hand psalter. The Rogue and the King share many of the same concerns have a similar style. All of these psalms are about either God the King, or about the earthly king (who can often be identified with the messiah: cf. especially 2, 71, 88, 109). The psalmist can usually be identified as a more or less roguish character: perhaps a court minstrel or one of the King’s loyal captains. The King, whether god or his chosen on earth, sits on the throne and wields immense power and authority. He dispenses justice, punishes the wicked, and makes the nation prosper. Crowns, scepters, thrones, courts and similar images appear throughout. However, these psalms are not only about the kingdom of Israel, but they are also about creation. God has sovereign power over all nations and the whole earth: the seas and mountains, songbirds and sea-monsters. Although music appears throughout the Psalter, the Red psalters, and especially the Rogue’s psalter, includes dancing, poetry, instruments and singing as common features.

The King

“ Here I will make a horn sprout for David,
Here, I will trim a lamp for my anointed,
Whose enemies I shall clothe in shame,
While his crown bursts into flower.” Ps 131

23, 64*^Ps, 65^Ps, 66, 71, 88^Ph, 94^Ps, 95, 96, 97, 98^Ps, 131, 145, 146-147

The King, when he wields his power, is very concerned with justice. He rewards the virtuous and practices virtue himself (23, 65, 71, 36, 98, 131, 145). He promulgates just laws (88, 98, 145) and judges on the basis of them (95. 97). He loves his subjects, being merciful to the poorest of them, granting them peace and saving them (71, 88, 96, 145 etc.). There is also a subsidiary concern in the King’s psalter with farming and the harvest (64, 66, 71).

Resonance Notes: 65, 94, and 98 are all Priest-resonant, as is 64 if I have identified it correctly. 64 and 94 recall the Exodus (see Priest’s psalter). 65 speaks about the King’s power to forgive sin and his mercy upon his people. 98 is concerned with the law –> sin -> forgiveness dynamic of the Green Square. 88 is Prophet-resonant because the psalmist, the King himself, contrasts the promises of the messianic kingdom with his own impossible situation of intense suffering.

The Rogue

“ My heart is stirred by a noble theme:
I address my poem to the king;
My tongue as ready as the pen of a busy scribe.” Ps 44

2, 20, 28, 44, 46, 47, 67^(W), 75^(W), 92, 103, 109, 112, 148, 149^A, 150

The Rogue, in his bardic role, is the Psalmist par excellence. The echoes of his songs can be heard throughout the Psalter. But the psalms most properly his are his great odes to the King, often including some of the best poetry in the Psalter. To him also belong the immortal hymns of praise, 148, 149 and 150. As I said above, the Rogue psalms can be difficult to distinguish from the King psalms because the Rogue is invariably singing to or about the King. The difference is moral. The Rogue, while interested in virtue and justice after his own fashion (cf. 112), is much more impressed by the sheer awesome power of the King, be him God or man. In fact many of these psalms have little content other than simply to praise and glorify the dread right arm of the sovereign (especially 28, 75, 92, 103, 112, 148, 149, 150). The Rogue is also concerned with victory in war, tribute and booty (2, 28, 44, 47, 67, 75, 109).

Resonance Notes: 149 is Avenger-resonant because the King allows his people to take vengeance on the pagans. 67 and 75 are arguably Warrior-resonant because of the primary concern of victory in battle, but in both cases the victory is won and the theme of perseverance is not present.

YELLOW

The Magus

“ Come, my sons, listen to me,
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Ps 33

1, 4, 14, 33, 36, 48, 77, 86, 102, 106, 110, 111, 126, 127, 144*

The Magus’ psalter falls squarely within the Old Testament wisdom tradition. The Magus is the wise father or teacher explaining the ways of God and the path of virtue. Generally, the psalms are addressed to the psalmist’s hearers, rather than to God (144 and to some extent 4 being the exceptions), which are sometimes identified as sons (33) or young men (4), that is, Disciples.

What is the wisdom taught by the Magus? His message is overwhelmingly moral. What is virtue? What are its rewards? Why do the virtuous suffer? Virtue, for the Magus, is presented in various aspects. It can mean following the law and the commandments (1, 36, 77, 102, 111), prayer and sacrifice (4), positive moral action (helping the poor, sober living etc. 14, 33, 36, 111) or fear of the Lord (33, 102, 106, 127). The rewards of virtue are many, but most typically the Magus wants to live a quiet family life under the blessing of God (cf. especially 111, 126, 127). This quiet, humble life is contrasted with the temporary and worldly prosperity of the wicked (36, 48).

Read superficially, these psalms can seem pedantic and uninteresting, as though the Magus didn’t have anything more original to teach us than to be a nice guy so that God will bless you. However, a closer, more prayerful reading will reveal quite a bit of variation and subtlety, both in content and tone. If you treat the Magus with respect, as your teacher and father, you will hear a song, a tender lyric beauty, in his lectures. He will call you back gently but firmly to the love of truth and virtue and the fear of the Lord. Further, you will find all the wisdom of the other four Squares summed up, almost like a curriculum to be followed.

That the Magus communicates the wisdom of the other four Squares is a separate phenomenon from Square resonance, or, rather, it’s is what the Magus-psalmist does instead of resonating. You will notice also that he is perfectly allowed to teach Red and Green Square ideas without resonating where he is not allowed to. So as for the Red Square, the Magus psalmist teaches us about the power and universal empire of God (102, 106, 144 [144, however, is so Red Square that I’m not entirely convinced it’s a Yellow square psalm]). In Psalms 33 and 77 (which is a history lesson on the Exodus), and again in 102 and 106, he teaches us about God’s mercy and his power to forgive sins, which, obviously, is the wisdom of the Green Square. The Blue Square is perhaps underrepresented, but Psalms 33 and 48 both speak of the hardships the just man must endure but how he is nonetheless blessed in his longsuffering. Finally, the ultimate victory of good and defeat of evil, the wisdom of the White Square, is a favorite topic of the Magus psalmist (cf. especially 36 and 44, but also 1, 33, 111 and others).

Psalm 86 is completely unlike any of the other Magus psalms. It is about the marriage of God the Father (Magus) and Jerusalem, who becomes the Mother of all nations.

The Disciple

"I tried to analyze the problem,
Hard though I found it—
Until the day I pierced the mystery…” Ps 72

15, 16^W, 18, 24, 25^F, 38, 72, 76, 85, 89, 100, 118, 138, 140, 142^W

Like the Magus’ psalter, the Disciples’ psalter is connected with the Old Testament wisdom tradition. However, unlike the Magus-psalmist, who has learned his lessons and now, full of years, is ready to teach the next generation, the Disciple-psalmist has yet to graduate. As a student, the Disciple-psalmist is particularly interested in the laws and precepts of the Lord and tries hard to remember and treasure them (cf. especially 15, 18, 85, and 118). Nonetheless, he has yet to fully understand the ways of God (as if anyone has…) and so is full of questions. Especially he wants to know why it is that he should follow the way of virtue when the wicked seem to prosper (72, 78, 138). His basic answer to these and similar questions is that man should be aware of his mortality (38, 89) and that true happiness in his fleeting worldly existence is found in the love of wisdom and the practice of virtue, rather than earthly pleasures (16, 18, 72, 89, 118). This last point is most vividly illustrated in Ps 16 when the Disciple asks God to cram the bellies of his enemies full of food while the psalmist will satisfy himself with contemplating the Divine Name.

But in all these cases where the Disciple has wisdom to utter, we get the feeling that he himself has just learned it. In fact, sometimes the Disciple-psalmist learns a lesson over the course of the psalm, as in Ps 72 which I quote above. For the Disciple by no means has everything together. Within his psalter there are frequent requests for instruction (15, 24, 118 etc.) and for preservation from fault (18, 25, 118, 140). There are also pleas for mercy when he has made a mistake and fallen into sin (18, 24, 38, 72, 118) and their sequent promises of virtue (15, 38, 100, 118, 140). True to the overconfidence typical of the archetype, the Disciple also boasts to God about how well he’s been doing lately and how, even though he’s perhaps made mistakes in the past, obviously it will never happen again (16, 25, 100, 118, 138).

Resonance notes: 25 is Fool-resonant because of the desire of the psalmist for God’s house and his simple, trusting innocence. 16 and 142 are Warrior-resonant because of the concern with victory over enemies.

GREEN

The Priest

“ Now, O Lord, remember the enemy’s blasphemy,
How frenzied people dare to insult your name.
Do not betray your turtledove to the beast,
Do not forget your wretched people for good.
Respect the Covenant! We can bear no more…” Ps 73

19^K, 43, 50, 73^K, 79, 80, 84, 104, 105, 113, 125, 129, 133, 134^K, 135^K

The Priest’s psalter displays a remarkable degree of unity. This is largely because of the overarching concern throughout the Old Testament, with the Exodus and the resultant Covenant. This was a very Green Square affair and nearly all of these psalms recall the Exodus in some form or another, often as a reminder to God of his past deeds in the hope that he will again come a rescue his people (cf. especially 79, 80, 104, 105, 113, 134, 135). Thusly, many of these psalms are intercessions on behalf of a wayward people (43, 73, 79 especially). Of course, the other half of intercession is mercy. God the Priest is always patient, always ready to forgive. He wipes out the sins of his people and gives them yet another chance to be faithful (cf. 50, 84, 105, 129). Some of these psalms also include formal blessings (19, 113, 133). You will also see the Green Square concern with idolatry displayed in 113 and 134.

Resonance notes: 19 is specifically a blessing on the King, and so resonates over there. 73, 134 and 135 are also King-resonant because they speak of God’s authority, grandeur and sovereign power over creation. 135 specifically speaks of God as creator.

The Avenger

“ Destructive daughter of Babel,
A blessing on the man who treats you
As you treated us,
A blessing on the man who takes and dashes
Your babies against the rock!” Ps 136

6, 11*, 31, 37, 39, 40, 51, 69, 78, 82^R, 93^F, 119, 128, 136, 139

The Avenger manifests himself in the psalms in a well defined plot arc which can most briefly be described as sin -> punishment -> repentance -> revenge. Enemies in the Old Testament are often interpreted as punishment from God for sin. However, that does not excuse their behavior and once the sin has been forgiven the time to wipe them out is come. There are many examples of this arc in the book of Judges, but it recurs often elsewhere. The best examples in the psalms are 6, 39, 40, and 78. There are other instances, but they are not as clear, or they deemphasize one step of the cycle, as in 31 where revenge is almost not mentioned. 78 is an interesting case because, although generally speaking the Avenger is concerned with his personal enemies, in this psalm all of Israel is implicated.

Having said all this, you will notice that there are several psalms in the Avenger’s psalter which follow this pattern only vaguely or not at all. These are the curse psalms. A formal and just curse is a kind of left hand counterpart to the blessing of the Priest. The best examples are 51, 69, 82, 119, 128, and 136.

Resonace Notes: Ps 82 is Rogue-resonant because the enemies are the enemies of the kingdom of Israel. 93 is Fool-resonant because the Avenger-psalmist is praying to a very Judge-resonant Priest. Notice also the theme of childlike trust, the courtroom imagery and the key phrase “God sees nothing” from the White psalters.

BLUE

The Prophet

“ Wretched, slowly dying since my youth,
I bore your terrors—now I am exhausted;
Your anger overwhelmed me,
You destroyed me with your terrors
Which, like a flood, were round me all day long,
All together closing in on me.
You have turned my friends and neighbours against me,
Now darkness is my one companion left.” Ps 87

12, 21, 34*, 41-42, 54, 55*, 62, 68, 70^M, 87, 101^K, 114-115, 141

The other name often given to the prophet archetype is the Martyr, which calls to mind the early Christians gleefully leaping into pots of boiling oil in the sure hope of resurrection. This kind of principled acceptance of death is not entirely unknown to the Old Testament, but the more typical manifestation of the Prophet in the Old Testament is a Job or a Jeremiah. The Prophet psalms are the cries of a sufferer who is at the end of his strength and cannot see why God allows the situation to continue. Some of them include thanksgiving for deliverance from previous suffering, but these more belong to the Warrior. The most pure Prophet psalms are quite bleak.

Like the Warrior, the Prophet psalms follow the basic defeat -> victory motif. However, the Prophet experiences more inner suffering and angst than the Warrior. These psalms include some of the most brutally poetic expressions of anguish in the Psalter (cf. 21, 34, 54, 68, 87, 101 etc.). True to the Blue Square, death and sheer horror are common themes. Invariably, the Prophet is innocent and struggling to maintain hope in the face of persecution. However, it is not the prospect of victory over his enemies that drives him on. In fact, sometimes, the enemy is hardly mentioned at all (114-115). The focus of the Prophet is his God, for whom he thirsts, of whom he demands an answer, in whom he has placed his last meagre scrap of hope (cf. 12, 21, 42-43, 62, 68, 87, 101). Generally speaking, he does not look forward to standing in triumph over his enemies like the Warrior, but rather to proclaiming the faithfulness of God to his fellows. Some of these psalms look forward to a future time when the entire nation, or even the entire earth, is brought together in righteousness to praise God, thus, in a mysterious way, connecting the individual suffering of the Prophet to the fate of all creation (cf. 21, 34, 68, 70, 101).

Like many of the archetypes, the Prophet is not above violently cursing his enemies. However, ultimately these curses have a different tenor from those of the Avenger, particularly because the Prophet is innocent while the Avenger is not. See also the note below in the Warrior section.

A note on Psalms 34 and 108: The astute reader will notice that Psalms 34 and 108 are very similar in content, even though 34 is in the Prophet’s psalter and 108 is in the Judge’s psalter. Both psalmists are innocent men put on trial, deserted by their friends, at the end of their strength and begging God to come to their help and save them from condemnation. Seeing the themes of judgment and trial imagery in 108, I put it in the Judge’s psalter. Seeing the Job-like suffering of the innocent, I put 34 in the Prophet’s psalter. It was only after that I noticed the remarkable similarity between the two. I stand by my choice because intuitively I still feel that the designations are probably correct, but I await someone more intelligent than I to normalize the situation.

Resonance notes: 70, because of its focus on the wisdom of the patient sufferer and the desire of the psalmist to teach the next generation, is Magus resonant. The Prophet-psalmist in Ps 101 is not King resonant, but he makes his appeal to God the King, who sits enthroned over a restored Jerusalem.

The Warrior

“ The pagans were swarming around me,
In the name of the Lord I cut them down,
They swarmed round me closer and closer,
In the name of the Lord I cut them down;
They swarmed round me like bees,
They blazed like a thorn-fire,
In the name of the Lord I cut them down!” Ps 117

3, 17^D, 27, 29, 30, 53, 56, 58, 59^R, 60*^R, 107^R, 117, 123, 128, 137*, 143^R/D

Like the Prophet, the Warrior suffers. However, he is much less philosophical about it. He doesn’t want an answer from God, he wants victory. This movement from defeat to victory is the characteristic arc of the Warrior. Inevitably, the enemy is far stronger than our poor hero and all evidence suggests that he is going to be crushed, but the Warrior has a secret weapon. He knows that if he stands there and takes it on the nose for long enough and cries out to God loudly enough, the Lord will destroy those who stand against him. Often (cf. 17, 59, 107, 117, 143) the Warrior-psalmist, lusty and energetic as he is, is right in the middle of the battle actively fighting with divine strength. These psalms are filled with martial imagery: shields, fortresses and their natural equivalents, rocks and mountains. The enemy (archetypally a beast, of course) is often represented as an animal (cf. 53, 56, 58).

At first glance, it can be difficult to distinguish between the Avenger psalms and some of the Warrior psalms, even thought the two don’t resonate. This is because both psalmists are primarily concerned with victory over their enemies. However, a closer examination reveals that, at their heart, these psalms are quite different. The Avenger is harried because of his own sin. He is being punished by God, albeit typically through the instrumentality of his foes, and seeks forgiveness. The Warrior psalms tend to lack this more complex moral dimension and instead are about hope, strength and perseverance.

Psalm 75 does not include the defeat-to-victory motif, but is instead a hymn to God the mighty Warrior. It is reminiscent of the Rogue’s airs to God the King, but clearly depicts God more as a war hero than as a ruler.

Resonance notes: Ps 17 is Disciple-resonant. Notice the moralizing and the boasting. 143 is also Disciple-resonant because of the psalmist’s musings about mortality and the theme of family. There is also some Rogue-resonance there too when David is mentioned. 59 and 107 are very similar in content and are both Rogue-resonant because of the concerns with kingdoms and territory. 60, if I have it pegged correctly, is Rogue-resonant because of the final prayer for the king.

WHITE

The Judge

“ The fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God!’
Their deeds are corrupt and vile, there is not one good man left.
The Lord is looking down from heaven at the sons of men,
To see if a single one is wise, if a single one is seeking God.” Ps 13

5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 32^M, 35, 49^Ps, 52, 57, 63, 74, 81, 91^M, 108*

While the White Square is most often associated with less serious genres like comedy, detective fiction and courtroom drama, we should also remember that White is in some sense the highest Square. Ultimately, it is about final justice and the laying bare of truth. It is this more eschatological dimension that comes out in the Judge’s psalter. The time of the merciful Priest has passed; all men have taken their proper side and evil will no longer be allowed to flourish. Most of these psalms if only in an oblique sense, are speaking of the end of time (cf. especially 9 and 74). Certainly there is always the sense that God’s judgment is final and binding.

Most of these psalms speak of the collective enemies of the virtuous or of Israel, many of whom are archetypally Accusers (cf. 5, 9, 33, 57, 63 for the clearest examples). In any case, there is always a clear division, an impassable gulf, between good and evil. God loves the virtuous and hates the wicked. Interestingly, there is a clear and consistent characterization of the wicked in the Judge’s psalter. The wicked are those who do not believe that God will see what they are doing. They think they can keep their evil secret, or else that God does not care or that he will forget when the day of judgment comes (cf. especially 9, 13, 35, 49, 52, 63). On the other hand, God the Judge is enthroned on his judgment seat (9, 49, 81) and sees what lies in the hearts of men (7, 10, 13, 32, 52).

As we would expect from the White Square, there is the sense that evil recoils on itself. God does indeed punish the wicked, but there is always the sense that the punishment is simply the natural result of evil or that the punishment is simply evil itself. 7, 9, and 108 are the clearest examples, but cf also 5, 10, 13, 52, 57 etc.

Resonance Notes: 32 is Magus-resonant and a little different from the rest of the set. The focus is on the omniscience of God, who holds all knowledge and whose plans are inscrutably above all human plans. It is also reminiscent of the Fool. 49 is Priest-resonant because of its concern with the Covenant and the phariseism of sacrifice without mercy, but notice how the final reckoning has come and God sits in judgment. 91 is Magus-resonant because of the lines about the mysteries of God and the proverbial rewards for virtuous conduct. This psalm is a little idiosyncratic in that is speaks almost exclusively about the judgment for good instead of against evil. Also the psalmist who is able to discover the plot of his enemies is the closest thing we get to favourite extra-biblical Judges like Poirot in the Psalter.

Other Notes: Notice that 13 and 52 are almost identical. 108 is a bit strange. The comprehensive formal curses in it feel very Green Square. However, remember that many scholars argue that vv 6-15 are not the psalmist but the accuser. The curses that remain feel more White Square (“may he be wrapped in a cloak of his own evil” etc.). There may be some resonance there, but at its heart it is a very White Square courtroom drama. That being said, see also my note on Ps 34/108 in the Prophet section.

The Fool

“ Happy are the pilgrims inspired by you
With courage to make the Ascents!
As they go through the Valley of the Weeper,
They make it a place of springs,
Clothed in blessings by early rains.
Thence they make their way from height to height,
Soon to be seen before God on Zion.” Ps. 83

8^D, 22^A, 26, 45*, 61^D, 83, 90, 99, 116, 120, 121, 122, 124^A, 130, 132*

The Fool’s psalter is somewhat idiosyncratic. In it we see revealed a specific aspect of the Fool archetype that is not commonly seen in literature. There is no darkness or aimlessness in him. He is perhaps naïve, but if so, his naiveté has been thoroughly vindicated and proven to be the highest wisdom. I might even call him the triumphant or glorious Fool. Just as there is a subtle sense in which White is the highest Square, and just as the Judge’s eschatological drama is in some sense the final word on evil, its true nature and final end, the Fool’s foolishness is in some way the summation of what it means to be a servant of God. I wouldn’t go too far with this idea, since each of the psalters has their own unique truth to utter and none can be understood without understanding the rest, but nonetheless, I think the Fool-psalmist reaches the summit of the left hand psalter.

Another thing worth mentioning about the Fool is his name. In the Old Testament, the fool, particularly in wisdom literature, is the opposite of the wise and virtuous man. This is especially striking when he appears in the Judge psalms (see my quote from Ps 13 above). This should serve as another reminder not to take the names of the archetypes too seriously.

The Fool’s primary characteristic in the psalms is his absolute trust in God. God will take care of everything; all the Fool need do is rest under his shadow. This is a common enough theme in the Psalter, but with the Fool there are no strings attached. This ideas is connected to the general White Square principle that evil defeats itself and, in fact, we see the same sorts of phrases and themes in reference to God the Judge as are common in the Judge’s psalter (cf. 61, 90 etc.). Being perfectly content and secure, the Fool does not tend to moralize or ask for anything, but cf. 26 where his enemies are Accusers (a frightful right hand villain, but God the Judge is on his side).

The Fool, as we might expect, is a pilgrim, but, mark, he is a pilgrim and not a wanderer. He has a clear destination in mind, namely, Jerusalem. He also calls it the house of God, the temple, or simply God’s presence or God’s face. There are numerous examples, the best being Ps 22, 26, 45, 83, 90, 99, 121, 124, and 132. In some of these psalms he is on his way, in others he has already reached his destination. But even while yet en route he has in some sense already arrived for he has discovered peace in his heart. Appropriately, six of the fifteen Psalms of Ascents (Ps 119-133), which were sung by pilgrims as they travelled to Jerusalem, belong to the Fool.

The Fool is also given to making absurd and (seemingly) exaggerated claims (you have made him little less than a god…” [Ps 8] “though ten thousand fall at your right…” [Ps 90]) about what God can do and who he is in relation to God. These are the sort of claims that sane, rational people frown on, but are completely and literally true. Cf. especially 8, 83, 90, 120.

Resonance notes: 8 is Disciple-resonant because of its general questioning overtones and the passage concerning man and his mortality. Ditto for 61 with some added moralizing passages. The pastoral imagery in 22 is very Green Square. Technically this makes it Avenger resonant, this seems a bit absurd, but it is true. Note also “you have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my enemies”. 124 is possibly Avenger resonant because of the last line, but it also looks a lot like many of the Judge psalms which draw a stark contrast between good and evil.