* * *

Within the sequence of liturgical psalms that runs from Psalms 113 to 118, now practiced as the Hallel, Psalm 117 offers a fleeting counterpoint. Psalms 113 and 116 emphasize the inclusion of the poor with the wealthy, an inclusiveness shared in the rest of these chapters only by Psalm 115:13, “he adores | who revere the Lord / the little | with the large.” Psalm 114, most of Psalm 115, and a key section of Psalm 118, by contrast, pit the people of Israel against their neighbors, the “vulgar people” (114:1), the people who say “where pray tell | is their God” (115:2), those others who “circled me” (118:10, 11 x2, 12) and ritually expelled: “I cut them off… I cut them off… I cut them off” (118:10, 11, 12).

Here in Psalm 117, however, outsiders are invited to take part in praise: “Laud the Lord | all others / commend him | all peoples.” Why? The psalm answers at the beginning of verse 2: “for it prevails over us | his care.” What could be more ambiguous than this? These other nations and cultures, races and ethnicities, they are invited to worship because the Lord’s care has been strong for us. Is that invitation literal or ironic? Literally, the line celebrates the Lord’s strength, care, and fidelity for the us of the psalm, which it sees as cause for everyone to give praise. Ironically, however, the verb gebor points to a victory as well as strength, asking enemies to celebrate what is stronger than they are, what is stronger even than the singers themselves. Certainly, in context, even a literal reading is made ironic by the psalms that surround this, which make a point of disinviting others. This is not the same kind of universalism seen in some other psalms or in the book of Isaiah. On its own like this, the irony is amplified. Other people are just verses away from being cut off entirely.