Teaching the Psalms in Korean-American Churches with Theologico-Cultur

A Final Paper

Teaching the Psalms in Korean-American Churches with Theologico-Cultural Awareness

 

Almost every Korean believer has a (or more than one) calligraphic frame/plaque of Psalms in his/her home. Psalms such as 1.1-2; 18.1-2; 23.1-2; 37.5; 95.7; 119.105; 128.3 are popular sources of the works. Judging by this outer penchant, Korean Christians rank among the top lovers of Psalms. We, however, are not to be content with this, especially as these plaques often excerpt one or two verses from the psalms.  These verses are severed from the whole contexts to make the art form, and they are then romanticized and interpreted subjectively. Believers can then develop the habits of neither listening to sermons on Psalms in their churches, nor studying the psalms with a theological orientation.[1] What has happened, and how should the Psalms be restored to their proper settings in the canon and the churches, so as to be powerfully utilized in personal/communal prayer and worship?

 

Beyond the Fortune Cookie Psalms

First of all, we have to alert ourselves to the old fashioned Confucian way of reading which demands that practitioners recite essential verses from their texts, and to do so verbatim. The framed Psalms hung in believers’ houses indicate our culturally contextualized connection with the Psalms. History reports that the Romans thought that recitation with whips could inscribe grammar into their pupils’ minds (Augustine, 11); similarly Koreans have thought that diligent and fervent memorization was the ideal way to master the canonical texts. Although the declamation of Psalms in worship is a history-rooted tradition to be encouraged, that the words of God in OT were initially heard through the human voices, this cannot guarantee correct understanding and use of the Psalms. In fact, it is ironic that mechanically reciting verses from the Psalms might prevent us from realistic engagement with the Psalms.

Secondly, we need to question our ex machina mentality about the bible. Asians tend to assume, supposedly under their religious influences, that canonical verses mysteriously effectuate, so far as a man heartily reveres the verses. It is so prevalent in indigenous religion that, for an instance, in Shnitoism (a syncretized Japanese religion of natural spiritualism and nationalism), the monks give an amulet to each worshiper at various occasions such as childbirth, examinations, weddings, promotions, hospitalization, and commercial transactions. Many Korean churches duplicate such practices. Pastors give each believer written notes containing scriptural verses, mainly from the Psalms, at the eve of the New Year, at church events such as retreats, or at pastoral visitations (given in a framed form). This practice can easily become associated with the pagan, mindless rituals. It hinders the believers from intellectual engagement with the Psalms. A great many Korean believers do not know the difference between pagan mantras and bible verses. If we ignore or overlook this trend in the name of encouraging uses of the Word, we could soon see “fortune cookie Psalms” in the Chinese restaurants!

Thirdly, why do preachers in Korean churches seldom preach on the Psalms? Perhaps it is due to their lack of understanding of certain Psalms. Few pastors can stand the lament Psalms, in particular, because they think that these Psalms are not suitable for public preaching. It is understandable because many Korean pastors address people who think of themselves as middle-class, and who wish to sustain the status quo. It is too much for them to reflect on suffering, affliction, sorrow and anguish. Therefore, sermons on the Psalms, if any, serve as a spiritual massage comforting Christians fatigued by life. It was a shocking that one pastor delivered nine sermons on the Psalms, taught in a serial format, in 2009.[2] However, each sermon came to the same forced conclusion, no matter what texts he dealt with; “The suffering must be veiled gifts. Tear off the wrappers by faith. Use your key of confidence. The divine solutions are on the way!” Dr. Phil or Dr. Laura (America’s celebrity in Counseling and Therapy) was echoed in his sermons. He not only distorted the theology of the Psalms but also suffocated the diverse genres of the each one of Psalms he was preaching on. Such a catchall and monotonous interpretation became a stumbling block instead of a stepping stone for the community with respect to the development of a comprehensive understanding of Psalmic spirituality.

 

A 10 Weeks Small Group with the Psalms

Individual and pastoral misconception of the Psalms has resulted in the misuse, abuse and nonuse of the Psalms in Korean-American churches. But then, should we be in a silence, and just sit with folded arms? This situation can be changed. Korean Christians can form a small group which studies the Psalms on a voluntary base. It can be either in-bound church or out-bound church, and be easily modified for seekers or non-believers in search of the true meaning of life.  General information and a syllabus for such a group follow.

 

1.      Formation

l  Numbers of gathering: 5-7 persons

l  Time for gathering: About 2 hrs for each session

l  Contents: Praise, Texts declamation (by hosts/hostesses), Reflection & meditation, Sharing, Small lecture (necessarily led by a Psalms student), Corporate prayer, Fellowship, Weekdays follow-through with email etc., and a Half-day retreat (at the end of the term).

2.      Features

l  Every member is required to do self-study on the designated Psalm (the first one in the Pss. Columns). Study aids (pastoral and academic-level aids are preferred) are useful, but self-study always takes priority. 

l  Group leader helps the members study the Psalms, just as when they appreciate other poems (like those of John Donne, Francis Thompson, etc). Members are thus encouraged to focus on forms, genres, setting, literary devices, and spirituality in the Psalms.

l  Primitive study methods (like Quiet-Time type bible study) and hodge-podge Sunday school theology is to be avoided.  

l  Feel free to incubate doubts and challenges concerning exterior elements like authorship (of David mainly), dates of writing/editing/compiling, and historical backgrounds.

l  Be attentive to the Psalmists’ focal points more than your prefigured life applications. Do not be insensitive about cultural infusions and ways in which the Psalms have been interpreted and preached with Korean-centered emphases.

l  Practicality should be a primary concern. Remember that you do not need to add your name to the OT scholars list; they are full! Think and pray about how to live out the words and spirit of the Psalms.

l  The group leader should inform members that the category or genre of the Psalms is controversial, and that the genres sometimes overlap, depending on the scholars’ interpretations. In the syllabus, the Psalms bracketed in are recommended additional readings for members to ponder at home during each week of the study group.

 

3.      Syllabus

 

Genres	Pss.	Guide Points	Sharing Questions
Christian Life & the psalms		Psalms as the Word of God revealing who Yahweh is, what he has done and is doing for his people in history and society, and our words to God; how to engage with the Psalms and to use the Psalms in our faith and life; short introductions to genres, forms, and characteristics as Hebrew poetry; the circulation of the “praise- protest- plea- trust- thanksgiving- obedience” (Goldingay, 68) in the Psalms.	When did any given Psalm (or verses of Psalms) resonate with your life, and why? Make some contrasts/comparisons between the other inspiring poems in Asian literature and the Psalms. What differences/similarities do you find in both poems? Which invokes faith and confession? Why?
Wisdom	1 (37; 39; 73)	Ps. 1 as preface to the entire Psalter; Relation between Torah meditating life and the blessedness; concepts of the blessed vs. the wicked; the significance of wisdom in OT.	Do you feel you’re blessed? When and what makes you feel blessed? If not, why? Can you distinguish being blessed from being happy (about yourself)? Does it seem possible to trace the Beatitudes of Jesus back to this Psalm? Teachings of Confucius and Buddha are overflowed with references of wisdom. How do their teachings differ from the Psalms’?
Creation	104 (33; 136)	Creational faith in OT; Relation between creation and praise; Contrasts these Psalms with those in the Ancient Near East (“sun-disc,” for example)	Why are these Psalms important to our faith? What occasions can we use these Psalms? Sightseeing at the Grand Canyon? Why we can praise Yahweh all the more when we confess him as creator? Facing with the destructing powers of the world (wars, natural disasters, poverty, abortion, human tracking and medical murders [euthanasia]) how we implement this faith?
Praise	8 (19; 29; 33; 46-48)	Explaining the structure of Praise Psalms (“opening invocation – rationale for praise – renewed call to praise,” Tucker, 582)	Give your definitions of praise, and confer with the praise Psalms. In Asian culture, modesty and humility is universally commended as summum bonum (cf. C. S. Lewis, 90). What God is Yahweh, whom the Psalmists order us to praise? How can you assess your praise both in communal worship and your personal life? Do you think that the praise songs sung in your church strike a balance between giving reasons for praise and evoking emotion?
Lament	3 (6; 7; 12; 44; 60)	Sorting the features of these (for examples, Individual and communal, and the prayers of the accused, illness Psalms etc); explaining why these Psalms are prominent in the whole Psalter; How to deepen our faith in Yahweh through lament; How risky it is if we lose this aspect of spirituality.	What Is your view on suffering and on the affliction of a sincere Christian? Why do bad things happen to good people? What are your responses to sorrow and loss? Good deal of OT/NT figures were of tears. Considering this, why do we so often say ‘no’ to ｅxpressions of our pain and mishaps?
Thanks- giving	18 (30; 32; 52)	Introducing the dynamic and correlation of descriptive & declarative praise (Westermann, 116-122) and lament; Dealing with the ‘vow’ of the Psalmists in these; featuring thanksgiving and community; showing the [widely accepted] structure of these Psalms (“Introduction – Narrative body – conclusion,” Tucker, 584)	What tones and manners did the Psalmists use when offering thanks to God?  What are the overarching characteristics of these Psalms? Can you find some differences in your thanksgivings and those in the Psalms? In our culture, mature adults shy away from giving thanks, because they may have made someone jealous. Are there any ways to freely give thanks to God and people without being scandalous to others? How does your church encourage and enrich thanksgiving?
Penitence	51 (6; 32; 38; 102)	Defining the various Hebrew words/idioms with connotations of sin and pardon (Goldingay, Course Notes, 96); Clarifying the biblical notion of forgiveness; Contrasting these Psalms with Babylonian ones (Goldingay, Course Note, 84)	Can you differentiate regret, remorse and repentance from one another? What is the thrust or theme of these Psalms? Why, and about what, are the Psalmists so penitent that they groan and whine? What problems do they wrestle with? on what basis do the Psalmists petition Yahweh for forgiveness and restoration? How does this relate to the NT criteria of atonement?
Revenge	58 (109; 137)	Explaining the background of this set of Psalms [oath-curse formula in common in routine life]; prohibiting personal uses of them and excavating a Psalmic theology [paradoxical ｅxpressions of God’s reign]; Vindication of Yahweh.	What is your unfiltered impression on these Psalms? Some argue that these texts are contradictory to the character of God, supportive of the premature ethical conscience of the OT, and that this concept is nowhere to be found in the NT. Do you agree/disagree with this? Why, why not? But what if these were requests for God’s righteous and just reign?  Can we address God and pray with these Psalms in order to promote righteousness and fairness in this Leviathan-like world?
Royal	2 (18; 20; 21; 45)	Accounting for the role of the king in the Psalms; Suggesting particular incidents from the life of a king that became associated with the Psalms; Readdressing the importance and purport of these Psalms in the light of individual–communal relations.	In the so-called royal Psalms, what roles does the king carry out? Is he mediating salvation to the people, or is he the embodiment of salvation? Identify what people thought of the Chinese or Japanese King (Tianzi, Tenno) in ancient times (if you have knowledge), and compare these treatments of kings with the treatment of kings in the Psalms. Is it valid to interpret the king as the coming Messiah, namely Christ?
Half-day Retreat		Wrapping up the spirituality of the Psalms; sharing the Psalmic blessing and hope; Launching the triad life of praise- lament – thanksgiving in/out of the believing community	Reciting the Psalms aloud together; Praying with verses from the Psalms; Composing one’s own Psalms; Rhythming & melodying the Psalms (for instances, listening to Beethoven’s symphony 9 as meditating on the praise Psalms; to Schubert’s Arpeggione sonata as with lament, and Gounod’s Sanctus from Messe solennelle for penitent Psalms as such)

 

 

From Conservative Pietism to Critical Realism

N. T. Wright, in his insightful work, Scripture and the Authority of God: Getting beyond the Bible Wars, lists twelve ways that conservative Christians have characteristically misread the bible and argues that these readings do not do justice to the bible. From the list, two find close cousins in the ways Korean conservatives read the bible: “Undifferentiated reading of the Old and New Testament” and “Unacknowledged and arbitrary pick-and-mix selection” (Wright, 107). Especially with the Psalms, his critiques reveal our Achilles’ heel. Though often cited and quoted, given and seen, the Psalms are largely foisted as proof-texts for messianic references in NT. They could be compared to a “100 Classic Collection for Relaxation,”[3] a TV promoted easy-listening CD set, recorded by a third-rate local orchestra, purchased by consumers, and left unopened and gathering dust in people’s CD racks.

Wright suggests 5 “strategies for honoring the authority of scripture” in his conclusions. He states that “How can we be sure that our understanding and improvisations of scripture facilitate the Spirit’s working in and through us….? We do so by a reading of scripture that is (a) totally contextual, (b) liturgically grounded, (c) privately studied, (d) refreshed by appropriate scholarship, and (e) taught by the church’ accredited leaders” (Wright, 127, italicized is mine). While (b) hints at his Anglican roots, all five strategies can resuscitate the Psalms in the hands of Korean-American believers. Korean-American Christians have lost their sense of what being contextual means when they read the bible. “Each word must be understood within its own verse, verse within its own chapter…., and each book within its own historical, cultural and indeed canonical setting” (Wright, 128). The author’s accusations that the church in present days forfeited “the Reformers’ emphasis on the literal sense of scripture,” and reduced it to “taking everything literally…..in free-floating speculation” (Wright, 135) clearly mirror our own practices. He suggests that that “they [church leaders] do not give the church the benefit of fresh, careful and prayerful study of the text”, and this statement could easily apply to Korean-American church leadership today.

We do not need to implant Dr. John Goldingay’s Psalms class to our churches. It would be naïve to do so, not because it is too theological, but because it is less theologico-culturally reflected of Korean immigrants’ Sitz im Leben. But the spirituality he extracted from the Psalms- individual and community; prayer; confession of sin; trust; intercession; anger; interrelationship of praise and prayer (Goldingay, 58-68) is a catalogue of what they earnestly want to enjoy here and now. A few (not every) of these believers are wonderfully pre-paved with humility for the road to Zion (Ps. 84.5), vulnerable and desperately desiring God’s rescue from the pit (40.2), and already hoarse with frustration from uttering “My God, My God” (20.1). They will thus be remolded and refreshed by Psalmic honesty, not by cheap grace, and will be awakened and restarted by Yahweh.

 

Bibliography

C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms: The Celebrated Musings on one of the Most Intriguing Books of the Bible, Harcourt (New York, 1958)

Claus Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms, Trans. by Keith Crim and R. Soulen, John Knox (Atlanta, 1981)

John Goldingay, Psalms; Volume 1: Psalms 1-41, Baker (Grand Rapids, 2003)

_____________, Course Notes, 2010 winter, FTS (Pasadena, 2010)

N. T. Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God: Getting Beyond the Bible Wars, HarperOne (San Francisco, 2006)

St. Augustine, The Confession, Trans. by Rex Warner, Signet Classic (New York, 2001)

W. D. Tucker Jr., Book of Psalms 1 in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry and Writings, Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns (eds.), IVP (Downers Grove, 2008)

 

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[1] I reviewed the sermon lists of three largest, history-rooted Korean churches in LA and Orange County, collected through their churches’ homepages and church bulletins. SRCC (Sa-Rang Community Church; KPCA) has four times sermons on Psalms by senior pastor who majored in OT at Th. M level all through 2009. OMC (Oriental Mission Church; inter-denomination) has nothing to do with sermons on Psalms in the year. YNPC (Young-Nak Presbyterian Church) shows two sermons related with Psalms on their bulletins in 2009. It is peculiar that none of them have treated Psalms in a sermon series. 

[2] See. 2009 Sermon Board, in All Nations Church homepage (http://www.onnurila.com/kor/index.php). It shows a banner, which is from Ps. 62.8. (Accessed by March 10, 2010.) I politely asked the Sr. pastor [the preacher of the Psalms series] for a telephone or email interview, but my request was unanswered for weeks. I thus gave it up. I wanted to ask questions about why he preached the Psalms in a serial format, how he prepared them and the like.

[3] I’ve watched the promotion on TV late night, and found it again online. Accessed on March, 12, 2010. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350325652624&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WXS%3F&GUID=fe40da2c1230a0e20531b5f1fcc90ad2&itemid=350325652624&ff4=263602_263622).