Raised eyes and humble hearts : the body as/in space in Pss 123 and 131

Abstract

As a mobile spatial field, the human body is a space and functions in space. The body governs spatial orientation and perceptions of direction, location and distance and determines human experiences and representations of space on the continuum between positive and negative and/or sacred and profane space. In the Psalter, space is represented and experienced through the eyes of a “lyrical I” whose body is located off-centre, in chaos and despair, or at-centre, in harmony and peace. Supplication and praise, ritual and prayer are all expressions of the lyrical I’s desire to be located at-centre, in the presence of the deity, in sacred space. Sacred space is not an ontological location, but a subjective, bodily experience of being in the presence of the divine. An analysis of the whole-body experience of the lyrical I in Pss 123 and 131 illustrates the poet’s longing for (Ps 123) and experience of being at-centre (Ps 131), in divine presence, i.e., in sacred space.