Day 128: “Our Soul Waits” in Psalm 33:20

²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
²² Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

–Psalm 33:20-22

Through the Bible: Psalm 25, 29, 33, 36, 39

Being a former editor, “Our soul waits” made me want to reach for a red pencil. Same with “our heart is glad” in verse 21. They are plural pronouns with singular subjects. And that can’t be right, can it?

I expect the Psalmist to say “my soul waits,” as he does in Psalm 62:1 and 130:5-6. Or the 78 other times the Psalmist refers to “my soul.”

But here and nowhere else in the Psalms is there such a subject-verb disagreement. “Our heart” isn’t much better. Only one other “our heart” (Psalm 44:18).

What– were the grammar police off duty that day?

Verses 20-22 are the only times first person is used at all in this Psalm, and they are all plural:

• Our soul waits: a corporate waiting
• Our help and our shield: a corporate helping
• Our heart is glad: a corporate gladdening
• We trust: a corporate trusting
• Let your steadfast love be upon us: a corporate blessing
• Even as we hope: a corporate hoping.

So for all the plural pronouns, why the singular subjects? Why “our soul waits” instead of “our souls wait?” Why “our heart is glad” instead of “our hearts are glad?”

Perhaps the point isn’t grammatical correctness. Maybe its a reminder of unity. Maybe it’s a reminder that all of us are supposed to be of one soul and one heart.

Paul would tell the Ephesians that

 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4-6

And to the Philippians:

² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

–Philippians 2:2-5

It sounds impossibly naive. If we can’t even agree on the color of the carpet, how can we ever hope to be “in full accord and of one mind?” Can we agree on “one hope, one faith, and one baptism” and yet not agree on worship styles?

God, thank you for bad grammar. It reminds me of the need to have one soul and one heart. That can only happen through:

The steadfast love of the Father…

The redemption through His blood of the Son…

And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

One God.

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