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The Language of Praise: Creation's Silence in Psalms 19 and 65.

Attention to the role of silence in the psalms often focuses on the experience of divine absence that generates laments (e.g., Pss 13:2-3; 22:2-3). Yet multiple silences populate the psalms, whether in the muted agony of the sufferer (Ps 38:14-15) or in the injunction to silent wisdom that awaits Go...

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Published in:Catholic Biblical Quarterly Vol. 87; no. 2; pp. 246 - 265
Main Author: PETRANY, CATHERINE
Format: Article
Published: Catholic Biblical Association of America Apr2025
Subjects:
Psalms (Musical form)
Hymns
Laments
Praise
Sin
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: The Language of Praise: Creation's Silence in Psalms 19 and 65.
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        au: PETRANY, CATHERINE
      su:
        Psalms (Musical form)
        Hymns
        Laments
        Praise
        Sin
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        subj:
          Psalms (Musical form)
          Hymns
          Laments
          Praise
          Sin
      keyword:
        creation
        hymn
        lament
        praise
        Psalm 19
        Psalm 65
        psalms
        silence
        sin
      ab: Attention to the role of silence in the psalms often focuses on the experience of divine absence that generates laments (e.g., Pss 13:2-3; 22:2-3). Yet multiple silences populate the psalms, whether in the muted agony of the sufferer (Ps 38:14-15) or in the injunction to silent wisdom that awaits God's justice (Ps 37:7). In this article, I explore positive manifestations of silence in contexts of praise in Psalms 19 and 65. Both psalms challenge and augment the prevailing presentation of silence in the Psalter's hymnic passages, where verbal terminology dominates (e.g., 145:21) and silence signals the absence of praise (e.g., Ps 30:10, 13). Though silence functions differently in Psalms 19 and 65, both psalms involve a constructive interplay of silence and praise, and both contextualize this interplay with explorations of human sin and nonhuman creation. Ultimately, these texts illustrate the marginal, differentiated, and yet integral presence of silence, beyond its communication of the absence of God, as part of the psalmic dialogue of praise.
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    language: English
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