Like the Reedeemed Blogs at Facebook

Monday, February 4, 2013

Clanging Cymbals

This semester I'm in a grad course on preaching Psalms and Wisdom Literature. It's a hybrid, so we spent about three days together last week and the rest will be online (all pertinent information, I'm sure).  One requirement was to give a sermon on one of the Psalms during the in-person portion, and one of my peers chose Ps 150.

*Fast-forward two days* Yesterday the preacher read through 1 Cor 13, and something caught my ear in a way it hadn't before. 13.1 mentions that, without love, he's like a clanging cymbal or noisy gong. I was fairly certain I had heard that phrase, and recently. It was in my peer's sermon on Ps 150, where the psalmist calls for the audience to praise God with x, y, z, and clanging cymbals. So I had to look something up.

First, the Greek for 1 Cor 13.1:
Ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον.
Second, the LXX for Ps 150.5:
αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν κυμβάλοις εὐήχοις, αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν κυβάλοις ἀλαλαγμοῦ.
Now, this isn't an extensive list of where either κύμβαλον or ἀλαλαγός occur in either the NT or LXX (though Lust, Eynikel, and Hauspie list count κ. 20x and ἀ. 9x). I see off the bat, however, that for Ps 150 ἀ. is a genitive noun, whereas in 1 Cor 13 it's a participle from ἀλαλάζω.

Even so, I can't help but wonder: is there a connection here? Is Ps 150 sitting quietly in the background of 1 Cor 13? Let's say it does for just a moment. There is no small amount of research on OT texts in NT contexts, but there's no theological library in my town so I'm stuck speculating for the time being. I also don't have awesome Bible software to look up every instance of certain words or phrases.

But what if Ps 150 had some influence on 1 Cor 13? The works and gifts of the Spirit, outside the context of love, are apparently worthless to Paul. Or are they? Is there something inherently wrong with clanging cymbals? Not in Ps 150. It's just one more way to glorify God. But if it's not used to praise God, it's just a piece of metal. If I've got supernatural linguistic powers from heaven, but they're not used for God, what are they worth? Not much more than a piece of metal, I presume.

I've always heard 1 Cor 13 used in weddings. I have not, however, heard it used much in the context of worship. This would be a very different way of looking at things for me. However, it certainly makes sense. Clanging cymbals are all well and good, as are gifts from the Spirit.

So how does it change things if 1 Cor 13.1 is read in light of Ps. 150?