THE WORLD OF THE "I" IN THE PSALMS.

 THE WORLD CREATED THROUGH THE POETIC LANGUAGE OF THE PSALMS MIRRORS IN MINIATURE THE WHOLE BIBLE.  THE PSALMS MIRRORS IN MINIATURE THE WHOLE BIBLE. THE PSALMS REFLECT THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD, AND THEY SIGNIFICANTLY SHAPE THE LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. "MARTIN LUTHER" WROTE IN HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALMS: IT COULD WELL BE CALLED A "LITTLE BIBLE" SINCE IT CONTAINS, SET OUT IN THE BRIEFEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL FORM, ALL THAT IS TO BE FOUND IN THE WHOLE BIBLE.... IN ORDER THAT THOSE WHO COULD NOT READ THE WHOLE BIBLE THROUGH WOULD HAVE ALMOST THE WHOLE OF IT IN SUMMARY FORM, COMPRISED IN A SINGLE BOOKLET.
OF THE 150 PSALMS, 123 ARE WRITTEN AT LEAST IN PART FROM THE FIRST-PERSON POINT OF VIEW. FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF THE "I" A WORLD OF RELATIONSHIPS IS CREATED. THE "I" CARVES OUT A WORLD POSITS A COMPLEX OF FORCES. FROM THAT INTERIOR VIEWPOINT, THE "I" IN THE PSALMS DESCRIBES SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FORCES, AS WELL AS THE THREATENING OF CHAOS AND THE ORDERING POWER OF GOD. INSOFAR AS THE "I" IS DEFINED BY THE WORLD EMANATING FROM THE "I," IT CREATES ITSELF, AS READERS WE ACCEPT THE FABRICATED WORLD OF THE "I" AND EXPLORE THE DYNAMICS AT WORK IN IT. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE ASSUMES THE CREATIVE POWER OF LANGUAGE. IN WHAT IS CALLED "CREATIVE WRITING" THAT POWER IS OBVIOUS. THE NOVELIST JOHN BARTH SAYS THAT THROUGH LANGUAGE HE REINVENTS THE WORLD. ALL LITERATURE DEPENDS  UPON THE THE POWER OF LANGUAGE, BUT ITS INFLUENCE EVEN MORE THROUGHGOING. A CLUE IS GIVEN IN THE BIBLE ITSELF. GOD CREATES THROUGH THE WORD (GEN 1). HE SPEAKS, AND THROUGH HIS SPOKEN LANGUAGE, LIGHT APPEARS, HE SPEAKS, LIVING CREATURES SWARMS  FORWARD AGAIN AND THERE IS A FIRMAMENT. THEN, THROUGH LANGUAGE MAN HIMSELF IS CALLED INTO BEING.
THUS SAYS THE PSALMIST:" BY THE WORD OF OF THE LORD THE HEAVENS  AND ALL THEIR HOSTS WERE MADE BY THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH. FOR HE SPOKE AND ALL CAME TO BE AND MAN HIMSELF IS CALLED INTO BEING;  HE COMMANDED, AND IT STOOD FORTH (PS. 33:6-9). AND IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ONE OF THE MOST  TELLING EPITHETS USED TO CHARACTERIZE JESUS IS THE CREATIVE WORD: "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. HE WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD; ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, AND WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANYTHING MADE (Jn. 1:1-3). THAT WORLD-CREATING POWER OF LANGUAGE IS NOT LIMITED TO GOD'S USE.  WORDS ARE CREATIVE AS WELL AS REFLECTIVE FORMATIVE AS WELL AS IMITATIVE. LANGUAGE PROVIDES MAN WITH TOOLS TO TRANSFORM CHAOS INTO ORDERLY COSMOS. N.SCOTT MOMADAY SPEAKS OF THAT TRANSFORMATION IN THE FOLLOWING STORY ABOUT HIS GRANDMOTHER,AHO: WHEN AHO SAW OR HEARD OR THOUGHT OF SOMETHING BAD, SHE SAID THE WORD ZEI-DL-BEI, "FRIGHTFUL." IT WAS THE ONE WORD WHICH SHE CONFRONTED EVIL AND THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE. I LIKED HER TO SAY IT, FOR SHE SCREWED UP HER FACE IN A WONDERFUL LOOK OF DISPLEASURE AND CLICKED HER TONGUE. IT WAS NOT AN EXCLAMATION SO MUCH, I THINK, AS IT WAS A WARDING OFF, AN EXERTION OF LANGUAGE  UPON IGNORANCE AND DISORDER. I DO NOT TRIVIALIZE THE BIBLE BY SPEAKING IT AS AN A'RT OF WORDS.