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Uncle Theology · Common Grace · Track 8

Psalm 147

Common GraceTrack 8 of 10
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About this songA doo-wop elevator out of narcissistic regret — put your eyes above on the God whose name is love, and get your mind off yourself completely. (The “One Hundred and Forty Six” track.)
Big ideaA doo-wop elevator out of the ego's basement: because "more self won't cure the wound," the only exit from narcissistic regret is to lift your eyes to the God whose name is love and forget yourself completely — the very turn Psalms 146–147 and Colossians 3 make for you.
Doctrine
Repentance; self-forgetfulness; praise
Anchor text
Psalm 147 (with Colossians 3:1–2)
Form
Doo-wop meditation / elevator uplift
Voices
—

What do you tell your busy mind
as you're stuck doing the time
that came with all your crimes?

You've got to watch out for the lies
that stir up all the pride
that got you here to begin with.

There is a kind of despair
that keeps its focus there,
on the human side of living.

A narcissistic regret,
an ego mourning event —
but more self won't cure the wound.

You've got to put your eyes above
to the God whose name is love,
and get your mind off you completely.

One Hundred and Forty-Six Psalms later,
this one's an elevator
to get you off yourself
into God.

Scripture References

  1. Psalm 147
  2. Psalm 146
  3. Colossians 3:1-2

Study this song

Teaching aids drawn from the song — for personal study or group discussion.

How the song moves

1
The cell of self-talk
Opens inside the head — "what do you tell your busy mind as you're stuck doing the time that came with all your crimes" — and warns of "the lies that stir up all the pride that got you here" (Proverbs 16:18).
2
Worldly grief diagnosed
Names the trap: a despair that keeps its "focus there, on the human side of living," a "narcissistic regret, an ego mourning event — but more self won't cure the wound" (2 Corinthians 7:10).
3
Eyes above
The cure is a change of direction, not more introspection — "put your eyes above to the God whose name is love, and get your mind off you completely" (Colossians 3:1–2; 1 John 4:8).
4
The 147th elevator
The closing image: "One Hundred and Forty-Six Psalms later, this one's an elevator to get you off yourself into God" (Psalm 147; Psalm 146).

Key terms & allusions

  • Psalm 147 / Psalm 146 — Psalms 146–150 form the Psalter's closing "Hallel," each framed by Hallelujah; "one hundred forty-six psalms later" simply means 147 arrives right after 146, both pivoting the worshiper's gaze off himself and onto God.
  • things above (Colossians 3:1–2) — The lyric's "put your eyes above" renders Paul's command ta anō phroneite — "set your minds on the things that are above, where Christ is," not on the things of earth.
  • narcissistic regret — Narcissus, in Ovid's Metamorphoses, wasted away staring at his own reflection; the song names the ego-loop where regret keeps gazing inward — "an ego mourning event" that only deepens the wound.
  • incurvatus in se — Augustine's and Luther's diagnosis of sin as the self "curved in on itself"; the line "more self won't cure the wound" is that doctrine's exact antidote — the cure is outside you, not deeper in.
  • the God whose name is love — Echoes 1 John 4:8, "God is love" — the divine character to which the song directs the eyes, so that looking up is looking at love itself.

Discussion questions

  1. The song separates "narcissistic regret" from true repentance. In your group's experience, how can you tell worldly sorrow that just circles the self from the godly grief that turns outward to God (2 Corinthians 7:10)?
  2. Psalms 146–150 all swing from the worshiper's troubles to God's praise. How does gathered, sung worship actually work as the "elevator" this song describes — lifting a whole room off itself and into God?
  3. "More self won't cure the wound." Where do our culture and even our churches prescribe more self-focus as the remedy, and what would it look like to counsel one another toward "things above" instead?

For contemplation

  1. What lie stirs your pride and keeps replaying "the time that came with all your crimes" — and what would it take to stop staring at the human side of it?
  2. In an "ego mourning event," do you reach for more introspection or for the God whose name is love? Which has actually healed you?
  3. Read Colossians 3:1–2 slowly. What would change today if you set your mind on things above instead of on yourself?