The Beatitudes and the Psalms


The beatitudes are enigmatic.  Every line seems to raise a multitude of questions.

What does it mean to be blessed?
What is the kingdom of heaven?
Who are the poor in spirit?
What does it mean for these poor in spirit to possess this kingdom of heaven?

I was wondering where the sayings about being blessed came from.  What tradition was Jesus connecting with when he devised them?  The commentaries didn't seem to give me any ideas.  Then I was reading the psalms and I came across descriptions of the blessed, or the happy (the Greek word is makarioi) and then after consulting a concordance found that there is a concentration of this terminology in the psalms.  In fact from the psalms I could construct an alternative set of beatitudes

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked but his delight is in the law of the LORD … he is like a tree planted by streams of water … whatever he does prospers.

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage …  they go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD …  you grant him relief from days of trouble

Blessed is the man who fears the LORD …  his children will be mighty in the land

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of sons. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate

Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.

from Psalms 1, 41, 65, 94, 112, 119, 127, 128

There is a particular concentration towards the end of the psalms in the so-called psalms of the ascent - which were psalms for the journey up to Jerusalem.  I then found that looking at the beatitudes as a song seem to make sense of their enigmatic poetry in a new way.  In fact I came to understand them as a Song of Ascent into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The key character in this Kingdom of Heaven is the Father and from here the sermon on the mount unfolds.  The Beatitudes describe the character of those who are ascending into the Kingdom of Heaven, if they are true to this calling they will be a city built on a hill who will give glory to the Father in heaven

Next Jesus describes the relationship between the Kingdom of Heaven and the old way of the law and the prophets.  The way of the law and the prophets is well described in the selections from the psalms above.

The idea of hell is then introduced - obviously the opposite of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the way of hell and of the Kingdom of Heaven are contrasted.  Finally love is described as the perfect way of the heavenly father.

We then come to the kind of prayer that pleases the heavenly father, centring on the Lord's Prayer where the emphasis on father, heaven and kingdom is reinforced.

Then there are further warnings against anything which displaces trust in the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father, we should be seeking treasures in heaven not treasures on earth.

Finally we are called to seek the father in heaven in practical obedience.  It is not proclaiming the Lordship of God that counts but humbly ascending in to the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father.