Psalm 147:12-20Psalm 147 is a hymn from the period of exile or immediately. The collection of the last psalms of the Bible has received the name Hallel. These prayers establish the basic framework of worship as having its root in the human experience of life as a created being. Theologians have an expression for thinking of God this way. They talk about the transcendence of God. This word is from the Latin meaning, "to surpass," and it refers to the "beyondness" or "otherness" of God and to God being above creation and outside of human comprehension. That is to say, God is wholly other than what we are. Yet, Christian theology will balance this theological affirmation with the notion of the immanence of God.
The psalm has a theme like II Isaiah. The theme of the psalm is the power of God and human weakness. While human beings search for power and avoid weakness, we realize here that there is only one power, while all other power is temporary. To accept this power is to accept one’s dependence on the creator and sustainer. The psalm as a whole is an exuberant giving of reasons why we should praise the Lord -- in each section, reminders of specific actions of God become a call to offer praise. We find the understanding Israel had of its relationship with its God to be analogous to and grounded in the relationship of nature with that same God. Thus, the psalm combines two of the most prominent Old Testament themes of creation and election.
Then, in the third and closing section, Psalm 147: 12-20, the psalmist encourages 12Jerusalem and Zion to praise the Lord, 13for the Lord strengthens the gates and blesses its children. 14The Lord grants peace (shalom) within your borders and fills them with wheat. What can this mean? Will Jerusalem become a wonderland of community and cooperation? Will conflict and discord end? The area will have a form of peace under the rule of Persia, but the area was clearly not the peaceful and safe place this psalm suggests. They understood that the Lord was behind the peace that the Persians provided. The Hebrew word translated here as "peace" is shalom. Peace is a literal translation of the word, but shalom does not mean the absence of conflict. Rather, it means wholeness and having what we need to be happy ourselves. We can use shalom to denote the state of spiritual, psychological, and emotional health we would like to have as our default state. 15The Lord issues a command to the earth and the word of the Lord is swift. 16The Lord gives snow and hail. 17Who can stand before the cold? 18The Lord sends out the word of the Lord and melts them, making the wind blow and waters flow. Obviously, the author does not think of nature as having an independent existence from the Lord. Rather, nature depends on the command of the Lord. 19The Lord declares the word of the Lord, the statutes, and ordinances, to Jacob/Israel. When Israel worships, it acknowledges that each human being is the handiwork of the Lord. Human beings are only part of the creation. Thus, the fact that God cared for Israel in a distinct way was a privilege. In that context, Israel has the privilege of receiving a special revelation of the word, command, statutes, and rules of the Lord. Daily worship in the Jewish tradition begins by recalling these fundamental theological affirmations of its life with the Lord. 20The Lord has not dealt like this with any other nation, who do not know the ordinances of the Lord. Thus, the final declaration of the psalmist is that the special revelation given to Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai is unparalleled and even unknown in other nations. We can also note that throughout the psalm the movement between praise for natural revelation and praise for special revelation can sometimes occur quickly. It concludes with the invitation to praise the Lord.
What does it mean to have peace within the borders of our lives? Any "peace" in this life is not an eradication of unrest or an elimination of dilemmas and bad days. Frankly, we will all lose the battle one day in the sense that we will die. In the film “Out of the Past” from 1947, Jane Greer asks Robert Mitchum, "Is there any way to win?" Mitchum's reply: "There's a way to lose more slowly." Frankly, sometimes, losing more slowly is the only option we have, and in making that choice, we are victorious. The point is that some situations are such that the action of God in our lives enables us to have a life of confidence and resiliency despite the situation. Shalom is not some force outside of ourselves that God hands to us, but a condition God makes possible as we face honestly the threats to peace that arrive during our lives. We may need to reconsider what peace looks like. We may need to reconsider what we expect from God, self, friends, family, nation, and church. Often, we expect healing (or answered prayer, success, a fulfilling life or whatever) to look a certain way, or have particular characteristics, which we ourselves define. Yet, peace often comes when we let go of defining the outcome and simply receive the gifts God has in store for us.
Peace can come as we listen to what is going on inside of us when bad days come. God has given us the ability to think, and once we have identified what we are really experiencing on an emotional, spiritual and/or psychological level, we can sometimes isolate the source of our discomfort, an important first step in moving toward shalom again. Looking our problems in the eye, at least, helps us determine whether we have a role in their formation and in their solution. Some troubles, of course, do come from outside of ourselves, but even in those cases, clarifying our inner experience can help us to decide our next actions.
We can ask a trusted friend to share the burden -- not to carry our load, but to collaborate with us in thinking it through. Peace may well be not so much the absence of struggle, but the presence of love. The friend who listens to our troubles is loving us, and that contributes to the restoration of shalom.
Now, does God genuinely care about your peace? I can assure you; God does. Julia Ward Howe, the American poet and songwriter who in 1862 published the patriotic hymn, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," asked Sen. Charles Sumner to come to the aid of a needy citizen. Sumner turned her down, saying that he had grown too busy to concern himself with individuals. Howe replied, "Charles, that's remarkable. Even God hasn't reached that stage yet."
what about a chemical answer to anxiety?
ReplyDeleteNot sure of your point. Some might be necessary of course. Adult beverages take the edge off.
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