9. Who am I?
Let's step back and see how the psalms speak about our humanity. Nowhere do we find that the poet 'has' a soul. It seems that the poet is both his "I" ánd his soul, but that these are nevertheless not identical. The poet, the "I" often observes or addresses the soul, but the soul does not reason with the "I." The soul seems to be the center of emotional drives and responses: she is cast down or lifted up, longing or fearful, gladdened or in mourning, singing or crying, excited or calm. The I is conscious, but not able to fully comprehend the soul, and sometimes overwhelmed by the soul, as if she takes over. In fact, often the word nefesh is used to describe our living being, or our being alive.
The soul in the psalms seems to be quite similar to what we would now call the heart, as the metaphorical center of our emotions. But what then is the heart in the language of the psalms?
The heart
The heart too can feel, but it can also reason and decide. There is an overlap with the soul, but it is not the same. In fact, what stands out in many references is the inner dialogue that takes place in the heart. The "I" is the voice in the heart. The heart does not have to be purely rational: it can be deceived or arrogant. It also does not have to reason or decide in a moral way: the heart can be evil. It does not have to be stable in its decisions: it can be weak or divided.
The Hebrew bible often speaks of committing yourself with all your 'heart and soul,' whereas we would want to win 'hearts and minds.' Do you see how the heart switched places, from the center of reasoning in the psalms to the center of emotions today?
Soul, spirit and flesh
In Genesis 2:7, the human being is formed from the dust of the earth. But only when God breaths into that material body, does the man become a living soul (nefesh), often translated as a living being. Likewise, in Genesis 1, animals are called living souls, often translated as living creatures. This should not come as a surprise. The very word 'animal' is derived from the Latin word for soul: anima.
So spirit makes us a living soul, and soul is the life of the body that gets it moving. But that does not mean that body, our flesh and bones, does not have a role to play. In the psalms, 'all flesh' is also a way to describe the human being, either denoting our limitedness or our baseness. Again there is overlap with the soul, but the desires of the flesh seem to be more like instincts.
In the Bible the soul is associated with the blood flow (Leviticus 17:11, Deuteronomy 12:23), whereas the word for spirit also means breath or wind. Ruach connects us with the outside. It is what drives and inspires us. According to Ecclesiastes 3:21, animals and humans return to dust when the ruach (breath or spirit) leaves them. Our spirit or inspiration can also also be polluted by impure or even evil spirits. Or it can be filled and led by God's holy spirit.
A model of the human being
In the psalms, we are our flesh (basar), our soul (nefesh) and our spirit (ruach). These concepts overlap, but evoke different associations and understandings. Compare it to the evolution of the brain: The flesh is the basis, we are first ruled by our 'reptilian' brain activated by changes in our physical state (hungry or satisfied, sleepy or awake, wounded or not, sexually aroused or not). But as soul, we are also ruled by the social emotions of our 'mammalian' brain. This allows us to live and in relationships. Finally, as spiritual beings, we have a 'human' brain that can be inspired and imagine different times and places.
It is in the heart (lev) that the instincts of flesh, the emotions of the soul and inspiration of the spirit(s) come to our conscious "I." That does not mean that the ego is fully conscious or what is going on in our body, soul and spirit! Our conscious self is often unaware and taken by surprise. It mislabels and misunderstands.
If our heart is wise and understanding, then I understand why I am doing what I do. And I can steer myself towards inspirations, emotions and behaviors that are fully aligned. Then I will flourish in every way: bodily, emotionally and spiritually. If my heart is not wise, it can be ruled by either my instincts, my emotions or ideology, without even knowing it. It can be unbalanced and then disregard my physical needs, or my emotional needs, or my spiritual needs.
Following Jesus
Although the New Testament was written in Greek, Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and even Paul's use of Greek is very much influenced by his Jewish background:
When Jesus speaks of loving God with all your heart, soul and might, then he is quoting the Hebrew Bible. And he means that if we are completely aligned in our love for God, ourself and our neighbor, then we will truly be living a blessed life. For Jesus, the 'New Testament of the heart' is when we love guides and unifies us with God, with each other and within ourselves.
Paul contrasts Adam and Jesus, the second Adam. First Adam became a living soul (living being) when God gave him spirit. But Jesus, second Adam, gave his soul (his life) and became a life-giving spirit. For Paul, the Holy Spirit now is both God's spirit and Jesus' spirit. Inspired by Jesus we become a new creation, and image-bearers of the son of God. Our spirit needs to be filled with the spirit of Jesus and then lead our soul and flesh.
Seeing that the soul is feminine, Paul also puts this into the language of marriage. The old creation is a soul that is married to her husband and master, the flesh (sarks in Greek). In Jesus we die to the old and live anew as a soul that is married to a spiritual husband, Christ. And when Paul warns the Corinthians not to led by either their flesh (sarkinos) or their soul (psychikos), rather then their redeemed spirit (pneumatikos), he is echoing Psalm 43: Send your light and your truth to lead me.
Can you see how that happens? If we are guided by love, unified in body, soul and spirit and inspired by God's future, we experience an emotional response in our soul that is capable of moving our body to do good today towards that future. It is the task of our conscious self to become more aware of our thought patterns, emotions and bodily state, and to foster healthy inspiration, relationships and work.
You want more?
A lot more can be explored about the way that the psychology and spirituality of the psalms can be applied in pastoral care, or work with classical Greek notions of the psyche, depth psychology, evolutionary psychology or neurobiology. Even the cardinal sins and virtues can be powerfully interpreted from this perspective. Feel free to contact me and collaborate.
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