Psalm Reading for September 10, 2023

Psalm 148 uses the imperative PRAISE! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

A NOTE FROM CELESTE LETCHWORTH:

As most of you know, Tom went to be with the Lord in June 2018.

Since the lectionary cycles every 3 years, I am able to copy Tom’s SOAR studies from the archives and post them each week with our current year’s dates.

However, I can’t find any SOAR for this Sunday’s Psalm selection (which is Psalm 149).  I couldn’t figure out just why Tom used Psalm 148 instead. Then I found the answer — In the past, the United Methodist lectionary always offered Psalm 148 as an alternative because there is not a responsive psalter reading in our hymnal for Psalm 149. (Psalm 148 is number 861 in the United Methodist Hymnal.) I don’t know why they stopped suggesting using Psalm 148 as an alternative in 2023.

So, the bad news is that I can’t find anything in the archives that Tom wrote for Psalm 149.

But the good news is that I found his SOAR posting for Psalm 148, which has been used in the past as an alternative Psalm reading. (Well, at least in the United Methodist lectionary.)

So I hope you’ll enjoy studying Psalm 148 this week.

You’re on your own for Psalm 149, but I think you’ll enjoy reading it as well. It’s just 9 verses. As a musician, I especially noticed verse 3:

Let them praise his name in the dance!
Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!

And I’m intrigued by the NRSV translation of verse 5:

Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.

Looks like even couch potatoes are encouraged to sing praise to God (LOL).

And now… Tom’s SOAR study on Psalm 148:

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 148
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of unrestrained celebration and joy.  It falls into the category of a hymn and/or doxology, praising God.

The Psalmist uses the imperative praise! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

The Psalmist describes a hierarchy in the praises from all creation:

• He begins at the zenith of creation with the angelic realm.
• The next rung of the hierarchy describes the celestial bodies — the sun, moon and stars.
• The third level includes all of the forces of nature that contribute to the chaos of nature — sea monsters from the deeps, the fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind.
• Fourth, he moves on to the grandeur of the mountains of the earth, and the trees and animal life that are all sustained on the earth.
• Finally, the Psalmist concludes his hierarchy of praise with the human voices that he calls upon to worship Yahweh, including the political powers of the day — kings and princes — as well as people of all generations, both men and women.

This pattern parallels the pattern of Genesis 1, which moves from the creation of  the fundamental elements of nature, to the water and the dry land, all the vegetative and animal life, and then the climax of creation with human beings who are made in the image of God.

The first section of the Psalm, from verse 1 to 4, is a cosmic call to praise.  He summons first the heavenly, spiritual beings that inhabit the courts of the Lord:

Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his army!

The Psalmist then unapologetically refers to non-human aspects of creation in anthropomorphic terms, calling upon sun and moon, shining stars, waters above the heavens to praise God.

In verses 5-6, he explains the reason that these should praise the Lord.  All the celestial cosmos owes its existence to the Lord:

Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
For he commanded, and they were created.
 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The Psalmist also makes clear that part of God’s task in bringing order to creation is to set boundaries for all that he has made:

He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The word decree can also be translated boundary.

This reminds us of the creation account in Genesis 1, when God separates light from darkness, the dome of the sky from the chaos of the waters, the sun and moon to separate day from night, and so on.

The Psalmist continues to summon praise from the chaotic, unpredictable aspects of nature:

Praise Yahweh from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all depths!
Lightning and hail, snow and clouds;
stormy wind, fulfilling his word.

Though they are chaotic, these natural forces are still subject to the control of the Lord:

fulfilling his word.

Praises are to ring forth from:

mountains and all hills;
fruit trees and all cedars;
wild animals and all livestock;
small creatures and flying birds!

And finally, of course, with the human kingdoms, all generations and genders are called upon to praise God:

kings of the earth and all peoples;
princes and all judges of the earth;
both young men and maidens;
old men and children:
 let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.

Again, this echoes the climax of Genesis 1:26-27. God announces his intent to make humankind in his own image.  What this means is that they would have dominion over all creation as God’s representatives on earth; and that both male and female are required to fully reflect the image of God:

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This is a fascinating parallel with Psalm 148.  To be made in God’s image is to have the responsibility of rule in God’s name, and for men and women to reflect God’s nature.  And so all people — rulers, men and women, old and young — are to praise God.

The Psalmist sums up this call to praise by acknowledging that the Lord is to be worshiped exclusively:

let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the earth and the heavens.

And at last the Psalmist returns to an ancient symbol, reflecting God’s blessing to Israel:

He has lifted up the horn of his people,
the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near to him.

The horn hearkens back to a symbol of the bull, denoting strength in ancient Israel.

Interestingly, as the focus of the Psalmist has narrowed from its height among the angels, it has finally come to rest on the saints who are defined as:

the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise, it seems, brings God’s people closer to him.

Clearly, all that exists is called upon to praise God, who is the source of all benefits and blessings.

APPLY:  

It is fitting that all creation, from the angels to the stars to the oceans and the mountains and the beasts and kings and all people everywhere should praise God!

I would venture to say that the angels and nature do fulfill their calling to praise God.  They do so in part by simply fulfilling their purpose as part of God’s creation, by:

fulfilling his word.

With kings, rulers, men and women, this may be a bit more difficult to compel.  Because of human free will, people don’t seem to be joined in one voice today for the purpose of praising God.

Perhaps this is the ongoing task of the church — to continue to proclaim and praise God by word and deed until the rest of the world catches on!

RESPOND: 

The Scriptures provide definitive guidance to my faith and practice.  Without them I’d be lost.

However, there are moments in my life when the mental fog rolls in and I find myself in a “gray night of the soul.”  So many different views of the Christian faith and the Bible can create confusion even after a lifetime in the Christian church and many years as a committed Christian.

On occasions like these, I find the Psalmist’s summons to praise very helpful. To go outside on a clear night and look at the stars and the moon; or to stand on a mountainside and consider the distances of the valley below; or to stand at the edge of the ocean and watch the wild surf — these can be powerful reminders of the creative power of God.

As just one example of the power of nature to enkindle faith, I quote Eric Metaxas, a Christian writer:

There are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life — every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart … Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident?

Lord, I join the angels and the archangels, the stars and the planets, and all the creatures of the earth in praising you.  May my praise join with the praise of all that lives and moves and has its being in you. And may my praise bring others closer to you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"praise-word-scrabble-errand-1987229" by FotoRieth is from pixabay.

Psalm Reading for June 4, 2023 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 8 is the classic expression of the majesty of God. In just nine brief verses, David’s Psalm surveys the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth, contrasts the seeming insignificance of humanity to the vast heavens, and then firmly establishes the unique relationship of human beings with God.

The Psalm is addressed to the Sovereign God, as a Psalm of praise:

Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,
who has set your glory above the heavens!

And then, there is a twist in the plot, so to speak.  Instead of describing the mountains or the oceans, the Psalmist speaks of the praises of the tiny and the most vulnerable creatures on earth:

From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

There is a paradox here — that the babbling of infants becomes a kind of fortress against malefactors!  The God who created heavens and earth and all that is in them values those things that seem so insignificant. Innocence defeats evil!

We can’t help but think of Mary’s Song in Luke’s Gospel:

He has put down princes from their thrones.
And has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52-53).

There is a kind of inversion that recurs in the Scripture, where the small and insignificant are exalted, and the big and powerful are diminished.  We see this again in these next wonderful verses of the Psalm:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
 what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?

Here, David is appropriately aware of human insignificance in contrast to the cosmos that stretches out on a starry night.  He asks the right question — how can God possibly even notice me in comparison to the vastness of the heavens?

And yet, as it is for the babes and infants, and the lowly and hungry, we might say the world is turned right-side up:

For you have made him a little lower than God,
and crowned him with glory and honor.

We are reminded of creation theology, which makes clear what the relationship is between God and humanity, and between humanity and creation:

You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

This echoes the creation theology of Genesis 1:26.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Human beings are subordinate to God, but are nonetheless just below God in the hierarchy of beings.  And with this exalted position comes great responsibility for all creatures.

Kings in ancient times placed their images in the lands over which they had dominion.  In a similar way, human beings are the living images who represent God’s dominion over the world, and act as stewards of it.

The Psalm ends with a refrain of the first verse, as David seems filled with wonder for what God is and what he has done for humanity:

Yahweh, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

APPLY:  

When we turn our attention to the heavens, two things seem to be impossible.

First, it seems impossible for us to conclude that the cosmos came into existence by accident.  There  is mystery and wonder when we consider the origin story of the universe. But to conclude that all has come into being by random accident seems to require more faith than admitting that there was a creating mind behind it all.  And of course, from the Biblical perspective, that creating mind is God.

Second, it is impossible to look at the moon and the stars and not conclude that we are microscopic in comparison, especially as we have learned about the vast distances of space.

And yet. And yet.  And yet! We are created in the very image of God — which means that at our best, when we are living lives of love, reason, and justice, we are God’s representatives in the world.

The notion of the image of God was that humans were to be God’s ambassadors.  This is why we are given rule over creation, because we are to be stewards of creation.  Our dominance over creation is not given so that we might exploit it, but so that we may care for it responsibly.

RESPOND: 

This Psalm provides a balance for me in my self-image.  On the one hand, I am keenly aware of how insignificant I can feel in the cosmos, and in the human world of celebrity and historical events.

I am reminded of a story about President Teddy Roosevelt.  He owned an estate called Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York. As a man with deep passion for hunting, the outdoors, and nature in general, this was a favorite retreat for him.

One of the things he loved to do was to go outside on a starry evening with a friend and look up at the skies, identify the constellations, and speculate about the vast distances in the universe.  And then, when they had gazed awhile and grew silent with awe, he would say, “Well, I think we’re small enough now.  Let’s go inside.”

I always remember this tale when my wife and I go outside and look at the moon and the stars.  If Teddy Roosevelt, that larger-than-life hunter, writer, and statesman could recognize how small he was when looking at the stars, how small do I feel?

On the other hand, this Psalm reminds me of God’s regard for me, far above what I deserve.

I am reminded of Hamlet’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!
[The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene ii, lines 303-307]

This is an important balance to maintain — we are rightly humble in our relationship with God, but we are made bold by his grace that has created us in his own image and has saved us from the sin that damaged that image.

Our Lord, your creation leaves me speechless with awe, and I become aware of how tiny a part of it all I really am.  But then you remind me that you care enough for me to become a human being and die for me! That is truly awesome!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"Psalm 8:3-4 What is man that you are mindful of him?" by Unlocking the Bible is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for June 4, 2023 Trinity Sunday

And God said… LET THERE BE LIGHT!

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 1:1-2:4
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

This week’s lectionary readings focus on Trinity Sunday in the Church year.

OBSERVE:

This passage for Trinity Sunday is the beginning of the origin story for the entire Bible.  All of the ingredients for all life and existence are introduced here.  But the central character that is introduced is God himself:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

As someone has said, anyone who has trouble with the premise of the first sentence of the Bible, telling us that God has created the heavens and the earth, is going to have trouble with the entire book.

For those looking for evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament, they need look no farther than Genesis 1 for the first hint.  The first word used for God is the Hebrew word Elohim.  The word El is the root of the word for God; but Elohim is a plural word.  In the Hebrew Bible, the most common grammatical use of Elohim for God is singular.  We might say, it is a singular plural.  An analogy might be when we describe a forest of trees — it is one forest made up of many trees.

So, when Elohim says in verse 26:

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness….

He may not simply be speaking in the so called “royal we;” he may actually be speaking as One God in Three Persons, relating within himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This premise is reinforced by these words:

Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

This is a description of the chaos and formlessness that existed before God’s first act of creation.  But God’s Spirit is present as an agent of creation from before the very beginning.

Then there is the act of creation itself.  God speaks, and light comes into existence.  It may be a far-fetched speculation, but we are reminded of John’s Prologue, when he says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made (John 1:1-3).

The Word (Greek Logos) is the very mind of God — and in John’s Gospel the Second Person of the Trinity.  The three persons of the Trinity are all represented — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the singular plural Elohim.  One God in three persons.

In his act of creation, God not only creates existence and matter, but also time itself.  By creating finite beings, matter itself becomes a kind of created “clock” by which time may be measured.  Each act of creation is done in a day. 

In his Systematic Theology Trilogy, Thomas Oden writes of God’s providence in creation, and speaks of four classes of creaturely beings in an ascending scale (from The Living God, p. 288):

• Lifeless matter (inanimate creaturely beings)
• Living plants (living, but immobile, vegetable beings)
• Animals (living mobile beings lacking human rationality)
• Humans (living, rational, accountable, self-determining moral agents)

This ascending scale does seem to reflect the order of creation in Genesis 1:

• Light, sky, waters, earth all fall under the category of “lifeless matter” that provide the stage and foundation for all that follows. All of this happens from day one to day three.  The sun, moon and stars also fall into this category, but they aren’t mentioned until the fourth day.
• Grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth are created on the third day — they are the “living plants” that will make animal and human life possible.
• Animals of all kinds — sea creatures and birds, livestock and creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind, moving, swarming and abounding — were created on the fifth day.
• And the piece de resistance, God’s ultimate act of creation, was human beings — God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This does seem to be a kind of “hierarchy,” or what the ancients might have called a great chain of being. 

And it is clear that all of this creation, from the inert and impersonal matter from which the earth and waters and skies are made, to the most sentient and personal human beings, are all declared to be good by God.  Moreover, when God completes his creative work, he announces it is very good. 

Once this work is completed, God rests from his work following the sixth day.  The seventh day is blessed as holy, and will become a sabbath day of rest for the people of Israel.  This will become a mandate in the fourth commandment given to Moses on Sinai:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy (Exodus 20:8,11).

APPLY:  

This passage is a theological statement, not a scientific treatise.  It tells about the nature of God as Creator, and his goodwill toward all creation.  And there are multiple layers in this theological statement.

First, all creation is very good.  This is a rebuke to philosophical and religious doctrine that suggests that the material world is corrupt and evil, and that only the “spiritual” is desirable.  That worldview represents a kind of dualism that rejects the material world.  The Biblical worldview embraces both spirit and matter.  John’s Gospel reaffirms this when the Word who is God and who has created all things, actually becomes flesh!

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Second, this description of the creation makes it clear that there is One God — Elohim (the proper name “Yahweh” — I Am — is introduced in Genesis 2:4).  God is the creator of all things.  God’s nature is in contrast to both polytheism and pantheism.

Polytheists tended to look upon certain creatures as gods and goddesses — for example, the Egyptians worshiped Ra as the sun god.  Sin was the moon goddess of Mesopotamia.  Genesis 1 makes clear that though the sun rules the day and the moon rules the night they are created objects that provide light — they are not deities.  Elohim alone is creator and ultimate ruler over all creation.

And this passage also makes it clear that God is creator of the world — the world and all that is in it is not itself imbued with divinity.  God is distinct from his creation in the way that an artist is distinct from her painting.  Although her creativity and brush strokes reflect her character, there is a distinction between artist and art.  God’s character is reflected in creation, but nature is not God.

Third, human beings are the apex of God’s creation.  God makes that very clear:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

There are several applications of this imago Dei: 

• Genesis doesn’t carefully define what it means for us to be made in the likeness of God. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that we literally look like God!  Rather, we can deduce that our character and nature — the capacity for reason, for love, for creativity, for freedom of the will — reflect God’s image.
• One role for human beings includes dominion over all the creatures. This is to be as God’s representatives, and implies stewardship of the earth’s resources, not mere exploitation.   As God has dominion over us and cares for us, so we are to have dominion over and care for all living things and the planet.
• To be created in God’s image is inclusive of both men and women. God’s nature transcends gender, although we are taught in the New Testament to call upon him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Nevertheless, there are aspects of God’s character that we might traditionally describe as masculine or feminine.  The point is both genders reflect God’s image — and God’s nature and character reflect characteristics that might be thought of as masculine and feminine.
• Just as all living things have been commanded to be fruitful and multiply, so are human beings. Human sexuality and procreation are hardwired into human nature by God.

Fourth, and finally, the rhythms of work and rest are built into creation.  God worked and rested, and commands us to do the same.

RESPOND: 

Genesis is among the most majestic and powerful passages in all of Judeo-Christian Scripture — and it is also among the most controversial.

Creation takes place when Elohim speaks the word let there be.  In contrast, most scientists say that the whole universe began with a tiny, compacted particle of matter known as a singularity that suddenly and brilliantly began to expand in what they call the Big Bang. 

Creation of the earth and its creatures takes place in six days. In contrast scientists say that the universe is 13.8 billion years old, and the earth, though younger, is 4.5 billion years old.

Light, sky, waters, earth, vegetation, sun and moon and stars, animals and human beings all are created whole, it seems, in one moment.  Most scientists today argue that the development from inert material to life and on toward complex organisms and sentience evolved over hundreds of millions of years.

The sincere Christian who also wishes to respect the claims of scientific research can be very confused.  We remember that Copernicus and Galileo were persecuted by the Church because they followed their scientific research, which led to different conclusions than what the Church was then teaching.

For perspective, we need to remember a few things.  First, all truth is God’s truth.  And God has provided our senses and our brains so that we may use reason, as well as his own special revelation in sacred history and Scripture.  It seems impossible for these to contradict one another.

My own view is that the Bible is not a scientific treatise.  It teaches me what I need to know for relationship with God and for salvation through revelation.  Science teaches me about God’s physical world as experienced through reason, which is another of God’s gifts.

One way of putting it is to use the old questions posed by journalists, researchers and police investigators — Who, What, Why, How, Where, When.  It seems to me that the Bible answers two of these questions — Who and Why — in a way that science simply can’t.  Scientists don’t pretend to be theologians.  Scientists deal in empirical facts.  But the Scriptures reveal Who (God), and Why (because he is good and his lovingkindness endures forever).  Science can answer What, How, Where, and When.  But they don’t pretend to answer Who and Why.

Frankly, I can see a correlation between the so-called Big Bang and the instant of creation when God spoke:

Let there be light.

And my own “traditional” and “orthodox” faith in the Scriptures doesn’t preclude me from accepting the possibility that the stages of creation depicted in Genesis 1 correlate with some form of the theory of evolution.  God created all life — how God creates is in his power.

And finally, I don’t have difficulty understanding that the days referred to in Genesis 1 aren’t necessarily solar days of 24 hours.  Twenty-four hours is the length of a day on Earth, measuring the length of time it requires for Earth to rotate completely on its axis.  By comparison, a day on the planet Venus is 5,832 hours!

I would argue that because God transcends time, all time is relative to him. After all, God’s relation to the universe and to time is not limited to planet Earth. This is suggested by Scripture:

But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).

We may not be able to calculate exactly how much time the day in Genesis 1 measures — or even whether it is intended to be of the same length in each case.  After all, if we wish to be literal, light was created on day one — the sun wasn’t created until day four in this narrative!  Hypothetically, a day in cosmic time might have spanned millions or even billions of years!

A little levity might be needed to lighten this very serious subject.   A man is talking to God, and asks:  “God, how long is a million years to you?”  God answers, “About a minute.” So the man pushes on: “God, how much is a million dollars to you?” God says: “About a penny.”  So the man seizes the opportunity:  “God, may I have one of your pennies?” And God replies with a smile: “Sure, in a minute.”

Lord, you are creator of all things.  And you make all things good. Help us to be good stewards of your creation, as you bring time and history to its blessed consummation in your kingdom.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Creation” by Jeff Simms is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for June 12, 2022 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 8 is the classic expression of the majesty of God. In just nine brief verses, David’s Psalm surveys the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth, contrasts the seeming insignificance of humanity to the vast heavens, and then firmly establishes the unique relationship of human beings with God.

The Psalm is addressed to the Sovereign God, as a Psalm of praise:

Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,
who has set your glory above the heavens!

And then there is a twist in the plot, so to speak.  Instead of describing the mountains or the oceans, the Psalmist speaks of the praises of the tiny and the most vulnerable creatures on earth:

From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

There is a paradox here — that the babbling of infants becomes a kind of fortress against malefactors!  The God who created the heavens and earth and all that is in them values those things that seem so insignificant. Innocence defeats evil!

We can’t help but think of Mary’s Song in Luke’s Gospel:

He has put down princes from their thrones.
And has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52-53).

There is a kind of inversion that recurs in the Scripture, where the small and insignificant are exalted, and the big and powerful are diminished.  We see this again in these next wonderful verses of the Psalm:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
 what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?

Here, David is appropriately aware of human insignificance in contrast to the cosmos that stretches out on a starry night.  He asks the right question — how can God possibly even notice me in comparison to the vastness of the heavens?

And yet, as it is for the babes and infants, and the lowly and hungry, we might say the world is turned right-side up:

For you have made him a little lower than God,
and crowned him with glory and honor.

We are reminded of creation theology, which makes clear what the relationship is between God and humanity, and between humanity and creation:

You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

This echoes the creation theology of Genesis 1:26.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Human beings are subordinate to God, but are nonetheless just below God in the hierarchy of beings.  And with this exalted position comes great responsibility for all creatures.

Kings in ancient times placed their images in the lands over which they had dominion.  In a similar way, human beings are the living images who represent God’s dominion over the world, and act as stewards of it.

The Psalm ends with a refrain of the first verse, as David seems filled with wonder for what God is and what he has done for humanity:

Yahweh, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

APPLY:  

When we turn our attention to the heavens, two things seem to be impossible.

First, it seems impossible for us to conclude that the cosmos came into existence by accident.  There is mystery and wonder when we consider the origin story of the universe. But to conclude that all has come into being by random accident seems to require more faith than admitting that there was a creating mind behind it all.  And of course, from the Biblical perspective, that creating mind is God.

Second, it is impossible to look at the moon and the stars and not conclude that we are microscopic in comparison, especially as we have learned about the vast distances of space.

And yet. And yet. And yet! We are created in the very image of God — which means that at our best, when we are living lives of love, reason, and justice, we are God’s representatives in the world.

The notion of the image of God was that humans were to be God’s ambassadors.  This is why we are given rule over creation, because we are to be stewards of creation.  Our dominance over creation is not given so that we might exploit it, but so that we may care for it responsibly.

RESPOND: 

This Psalm provides a balance for me in my self-image.  On the one hand, I am keenly aware of how insignificant I can feel in the cosmos, and in the human world of celebrity and historical events.

I am reminded of a story about President Teddy Roosevelt.  He owned an estate called Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York. As a man with deep passion for hunting, the outdoors, and nature in general, this was a favorite retreat for him.

One of the things he loved to do was to go outside on a starry evening with a friend and look up at the skies, identify the constellations, and speculate about the vast distances in the universe.  And then, when they had gazed awhile and grew silent with awe, he would say, “Well, I think we’re small enough now.  Let’s go inside.”

I always remember this tale when my wife and I go outside and look at the moon and the stars.  If Teddy Roosevelt, that larger-than-life hunter, writer, and statesman could recognize how small he was when looking at the stars, how small do I feel?

On the other hand, this Psalm reminds me of God’s regard for me, far above what I deserve.

I am reminded of Hamlet’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals!
(The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene ii, lines 303-307)

This is an important balance to maintain — we are rightly humble in our relationship with God, but we are made bold by his grace that has created us in his own image and has saved us from the sin that damaged that image.

Our Lord, your creation leaves me speechless with awe, and I become aware of how tiny a part of it all I really am.  But then you remind me that you care enough for me to become a human being and die for me! That is truly awesome!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

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Psalm Reading for May 15, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 148
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of unrestrained celebration and joy.  It falls into the category of a hymn and/or doxology, praising God.

The Psalmist uses the imperative praise! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

The Psalmist describes a hierarchy in the praises from all creation:

• He begins at the zenith of creation with the angelic realm.
• The next rung of the hierarchy describes the celestial bodies — the sun, moon and stars.
• The third level includes all of the forces of nature that contribute to the chaos of nature — sea monsters from the deeps, the fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind.
• Fourth, he moves on to the grandeur of the mountains of the earth, and the trees and animal life that are all sustained on the earth.
• Finally, the Psalmist concludes his hierarchy of praise with the human voices that he calls upon to worship Yahweh, including the political powers of the day — kings and princes — as well as people of all generations, both men and women.

This pattern parallels the pattern of Genesis 1, which moves from the creation of  the fundamental elements of nature, to the water and the dry land, all the vegetative and animal life, and then the climax of creation with human beings who are made in the image of God.

The first section of the Psalm, from verse 1 to 4, is a cosmic call to praise.  He summons first the heavenly, spiritual beings that inhabit the courts of the Lord:

Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his army!

The Psalmist then unapologetically refers to non-human aspects of creation in anthropomorphic terms, calling upon sun and moon, shining stars, waters above the heavens to praise God.

In verses 5-6, he explains the reason that these should praise the Lord.  All the celestial cosmos owes its existence to the Lord:

Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
For he commanded, and they were created.
 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The Psalmist also makes clear that part of God’s task in bringing order to creation is to set boundaries for all that he has made:

He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The word decree can also be translated boundary.

This reminds us of the creation account in Genesis 1, when God separates light from darkness, the dome of the sky from the chaos of the waters, the sun and moon to separate day from night, and so on.

The Psalmist continues to summon praise from the chaotic, unpredictable aspects of nature:

Praise Yahweh from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all depths!
Lightning and hail, snow and clouds;
stormy wind, fulfilling his word.

Though they are chaotic, these natural forces are still subject to the control of the Lord:

fulfilling his word.

Praises are to ring forth from:

mountains and all hills;
fruit trees and all cedars;
wild animals and all livestock;
small creatures and flying birds!

And finally, of course, with the human kingdoms,  all generations and genders are called upon to praise God:

kings of the earth and all peoples;
princes and all judges of the earth;
both young men and maidens;
old men and children:
 let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.

Again, this echoes the climax of Genesis 1:26-27. God announces his intent to make humankind in his own image.  What this means is that they would have dominion over all creation as God’s representatives on earth; and that both male and female are required to fully reflect the image of God:

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This is a fascinating parallel with Psalm 148.  To be made in God’s image is to have the responsibility of rule in God’s name, and for men and women to reflect God’s nature.  And so all people — rulers, men and women, old and young — are to praise God.

The Psalmist sums up this call to praise by acknowledging that the Lord is to be worshiped exclusively:

let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the earth and the heavens.

And at last the Psalmist returns to an ancient symbol, reflecting God’s blessing to Israel:

He has lifted up the horn of his people,
the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near to him.

The horn hearkens back to a symbol of the bull, denoting strength in ancient Israel.

Interestingly, as the focus of the Psalmist has narrowed from its height among the angels, it has finally come to rest on the saints  who are defined as:

the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise, it seems, brings God’s people closer to him.

Clearly, all that exists is called upon to praise God, who is the source of all benefits and blessings.

APPLY:  

It is fitting that all creation, from the angels to the stars to the oceans and the mountains and the beasts and kings and all people everywhere should praise God!

I would venture to say that the angels and nature do fulfill their calling to praise God.  They do so in part by simply fulfilling their purpose as part of God’s creation, by:

fulfilling his word.

With kings, rulers, men and women, this may be a bit more difficult to compel.  Because of human free will, people don’t seem to be joined in one voice today for the purpose of praising God.

Perhaps this is the ongoing task of the church — to continue to proclaim and praise God by word and deed until the rest of the world catches on!

RESPOND: 

The Scriptures provide definitive guidance to my faith and practice.  Without them I’d be lost.

However, there are moments in my life when the mental fog rolls in and I find myself in a “gray night of the soul.”  So many different views of the Christian faith and the Bible can create confusion even after a lifetime in the Christian church and many years as a committed Christian.

On occasions like these, I find the Psalmist’s summons to praise very helpful. To go outside on a clear night and look at the stars and the moon; or to stand on a mountainside and consider the distances of the valley below; or to stand at the edge of the ocean and watch the wild surf — these can be powerful reminders of the creative power of God.

As just one example of the power of nature to enkindle faith, I quote Eric Metaxas, a Christian writer:

There are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life — every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart … Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident?

Lord, I join the angels and the archangels, the stars and the planets, and all the creatures of the earth in praising you.  May my praise join with the praise of all that lives and moves and has its being in you. And may my praise bring others closer to you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"04 November - Psalm 148:13 is today's #scriptingscripturedaily verse, hosted by @planningbeauty" by natalie419 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for September 6, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 148
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of unrestrained celebration and joy.  It falls into the category of a hymn and/or doxology, praising God.

The Psalmist uses the imperative praise! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

The Psalmist describes a hierarchy in the praises from all creation:

• He begins at the zenith of creation with the angelic realm.
• The next rung of the hierarchy describes the celestial bodies — the sun, moon and stars.
• The third level includes all of the forces of nature that contribute to the chaos of nature — sea monsters from the deeps, the  fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind.
• Fourth, he moves on to the grandeur of the mountains of the earth, and the trees and animal life that are all sustained on the earth.
• Finally, the Psalmist concludes his hierarchy of praise with the human voices that he calls upon to worship Yahweh, including the political powers of the day — kings and princes — as well as people of all generations, both men and women.

This pattern parallels the pattern of Genesis 1, which moves from the creation of  the fundamental elements of nature, to the water and the dry land, all the vegetative and animal life, and then the climax of creation with human beings who are made in the image of God.

The first section of the Psalm, from verse 1 to 4, is a cosmic call to praise.  He summons first the heavenly, spiritual beings that inhabit the courts of the Lord:

Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his army!

The Psalmist then unapologetically refers to non-human aspects of creation in anthropomorphic terms, calling upon sun and moon,  shining stars, waters above the heavens to praise God.

In verses 5-6, he explains the reason that these should praise the Lord.  All the celestial cosmos owes its existence to the Lord:

Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
For he commanded, and they were created.
 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The Psalmist also makes clear that part of God’s task in bringing order to creation is to set boundaries for all that he has made:

He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The word decree can also be translated boundary.

This reminds us of the creation account in Genesis 1, when God separates light from darkness, the dome of the sky from the chaos of the waters, the sun and moon to separate day from night, and so on.

The Psalmist continues to summon praise from the chaotic, unpredictable aspects of nature:

Praise Yahweh from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all depths!
Lightning and hail, snow and clouds;
stormy wind, fulfilling his word.

Though they are chaotic, these natural forces are still subject to the control of the Lord:

fulfilling his word.

Praises are to ring forth from:

mountains and all hills;
fruit trees and all cedars;
wild animals and all livestock;
small creatures and flying birds!

And finally, of course, with the human kingdoms,  all generations and genders are called upon to praise God:

kings of the earth and all peoples;
princes and all judges of the earth;
both young men and maidens;
old men and children:
 let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.

Again, this echoes the climax of Genesis 1:26-27. God announces his intent to make humankind in his own image.  What this means is that they would have dominion over all creation as God’s representatives on earth;  and that both male and female are required to fully reflect the image of God:

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This is a fascinating parallel with Psalm 148.  To be made in God’s image is to have the responsibility of rule in God’s name, and for men and women to reflect God’s nature.  And so all people — rulers, men and women, old and young — are to praise God.

The Psalmist sums up this call to praise by acknowledging that the Lord is to be worshiped exclusively:

let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the earth and the heavens.

And at last the Psalmist returns to an ancient symbol, reflecting God’s blessing to Israel:

He has lifted up the horn of his people,
the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near to him.

The horn hearkens back to a symbol of the bull, denoting strength in ancient Israel.

Interestingly, as the focus of the Psalmist has narrowed from its height among the angels, it has finally come to rest on the saints  who are defined as:

the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise, it seems, brings God’s people closer to him.

Clearly, all that exists is called upon to praise God, who is the source of all benefits and blessings.

APPLY:  

It is fitting that all creation, from the angels to the stars to the oceans and the mountains and the beasts and kings and all people everywhere should praise God!

I would venture to say that the angels and nature do fulfill their calling to praise God.  They do so in part by simply fulfilling their purpose as part of God’s creation, by:

fulfilling his word.

With kings, rulers, men and women, this may be a bit more difficult to compel.  Because of human free will, people don’t seem to be joined in one voice today for the purpose of praising God.

Perhaps this is the ongoing task of the church — to continue to proclaim and praise God by word and deed until the rest of the world catches on!

RESPOND: 

The Scriptures provide definitive guidance to my faith and practice.  Without them I’d be lost.

However, there are moments in my life when the mental fog rolls in and I find myself in a “gray night of the soul.”  So many different views of the Christian faith and the Bible can create confusion even after a lifetime in the Christian church, and many years as a committed Christian.

On occasions like these, I find the Psalmist’s summons to praise very helpful. To go outside on a clear night and look at the stars and the moon; or to stand on a mountainside and consider the distances of the valley below; or to stand at the edge of the ocean and watch the wild surf — these can be powerful reminders of the creative power of God.

As just one example of the power of nature to enkindle faith, I quote Eric Metaxas, a Christian writer:

There are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life — every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart … Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident?

Lord, I join the angels and the archangels, the stars and the planets, and all the creatures of the earth in praising you.  May my praise join with the praise of all that lives and moves and has its being in you. And may my praise bring others closer to you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"04 November - Psalm 148:13 is today's #scriptingscripturedaily verse, hosted by @planningbeauty" by natalie419 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for June 7, 2020 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 8 is the classic expression of the majesty of God. In just nine brief verses, David’s Psalm surveys the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth, contrasts the seeming insignificance of humanity to the vast heavens, and then firmly establishes the unique relationship of human beings with God.

The Psalm is addressed to the Sovereign God, as a Psalm of praise:

Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,
who has set your glory above the heavens!

And then, there is a twist in the plot, so to speak.  Instead of describing the mountains or the oceans, the Psalmist speaks of the praises of the tiny and the most vulnerable creatures on earth:

From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

There is a paradox here — that the babbling of infants becomes a kind of fortress against malefactors!  The God who created heavens and earth and all that is in them values those things that seem so insignificant. Innocence defeats evil!

We can’t help but think of Mary’s Song in Luke’s Gospel:

He has put down princes from their thrones.
And has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52-53).

There is a kind of inversion that recurs in the Scripture, where the small and insignificant are exalted, and the big and powerful are diminished.  We see this again in these next wonderful verses of the Psalm:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
 what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?

Here, David is appropriately aware of human insignificance in contrast to the cosmos that stretches out on a starry night.  He asks the right question — how can God possibly even notice me in comparison to the vastness of the heavens?

And yet, as it is for the babes and infants, and the lowly and hungry, we might say the world is turned right-side up:

For you have made him a little lower than God,
and crowned him with glory and honor.

We are reminded of creation theology, which makes clear what the relationship is between God and humanity, and between humanity and creation:

You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

This echoes the creation theology of Genesis 1:26.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Human beings are subordinate to God, but are nonetheless just below God in the hierarchy of beings.  And with this exalted position comes great responsibility for all creatures.

Kings in ancient times placed their images in the lands over which they had dominion.  In a similar way, human beings are the living images who represent God’s dominion over the world, and act as stewards of it.

The Psalm ends with a refrain of the first verse, as David seems filled with wonder for what God is and what he has done for humanity:

Yahweh, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

APPLY:  

When we turn our attention to the heavens, two things seem to be impossible.

First, it seems impossible for us to conclude that the cosmos came into existence by accident.  There  is mystery and wonder when we consider the origin story of the universe. But to conclude that all has come into being by random accident seems to require more faith than admitting that there was a creating mind behind it all.  And of course, from the Biblical perspective, that creating mind is God.

Second, it is impossible to look at the moon and the stars and not conclude that we are microscopic in comparison, especially as we have learned about the vast distances of space.

And yet. And yet.  And yet! We are created in the very image of God — which means that at our best, when we are living lives of love, reason, and justice, we are God’s representatives in the world.

The notion of the image of God was that humans were to be God’s ambassadors.  This is why we are given rule over creation, because we are to be stewards of creation.  Our dominance over creation is not given so that we might exploit it, but so that we may care for it responsibly.

RESPOND: 

This Psalm provides a balance for me in my self-image.  On the one hand, I am keenly aware of how insignificant I can feel in the cosmos, and in the human world of celebrity and historical events.

I am reminded of a story about President Teddy Roosevelt.  He owned an estate called Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York. As a man with deep passion for hunting, the outdoors, and nature in general, this was a favorite retreat for him.

One of the things he loved to do was to go outside on a starry evening with a friend and look up at the skies, identify the constellations, and speculate about the vast distances in the universe.  And then, when they had gazed awhile and grew silent with awe, he would say, “Well, I think we’re small enough now.  Let’s go inside.”

I always remember this tale when my wife and I go outside and look at the moon and the stars.  If Teddy Roosevelt, that larger-than-life hunter, writer, and statesman could recognize how small he was when looking at the stars, how small do I feel?

On the other hand, this Psalm reminds me of God’s regard for me, far above what I deserve.

I am reminded of Hamlet’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals!
(The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene ii, lines 303-307)

This is an important balance to maintain — we are rightly humble in our relationship with God, but we are made bold by his grace that has created us in his own image and has saved us from the sin that damaged that image.

Our Lord, your creation leaves me speechless with awe, and I become aware of how tiny a part of it all I really am.  But then you remind me that you care enough for me to become a human being and die for me! That is truly awesome!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

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Old Testament for June 7, 2020 Trinity Sunday

And God said… LET THERE BE LIGHT!

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 1:1-2:4
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

This week’s lectionary readings focus on Trinity Sunday in the Church year.

OBSERVE:

This passage for Trinity Sunday is the beginning of the origin story for the entire Bible.  All of the ingredients for all life and existence are introduced here.  But the central character that is introduced is God himself:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

As someone has said, anyone who has trouble with the premise of the first sentence of the Bible, telling us that God has created the heavens and the earth, is going to have trouble with the entire book.

For those looking for evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament, they need look no farther than Genesis 1 for the first hint.  The first word used for God is the Hebrew word Elohim.  The word El is the root of the word for God; but Elohim is a plural word.  In the Hebrew Bible, the most common grammatical use of Elohim for God is singular.  We might say, it is a singular plural.  An analogy might be when we describe a forest of trees — it is one  forest made up of many trees.

So, when Elohim says in verse 26:

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness….

He may not simply be speaking in the so called “royal we;” he may actually be speaking as One God in Three Persons, relating within himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This premise is reinforced by these words:

Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

This is a description of the chaos and formlessness that existed before God’s first act of creation.  But God’s Spirit is present as an agent of creation from before the very beginning.

Then there is the act of creation itself.  God speaks, and light comes into existence.  It may be a far-fetched speculation, but we are reminded of John’s Prologue, when he says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made (John 1:1-3).

The Word (Greek Logos) is the very mind of God — and in John’s Gospel the Second Person of the Trinity.  The three persons of the Trinity are all represented — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the singular plural Elohim.  One God in three persons.

In his act of creation, God not only creates existence and matter, but also time itself.  By creating finite beings, matter itself becomes a kind of created “clock” by which time may be measured.  Each act of creation is done in a day. 

In his Systematic Theology Trilogy, Thomas Oden writes of God’s providence in creation, and speaks of  four classes of creaturely beings in an ascending scale (from The Living God, p. 288):

• Lifeless matter (inanimate creaturely beings)
• Living plants (living, but immobile, vegetable beings)
• Animals (living mobile beings lacking human rationality)
• Humans (living, rational, accountable, self-determining moral agents)

This ascending scale does seem to reflect the order of creation in Genesis 1:

• Light, sky, waters, earth all fall under the category of “lifeless matter” that provide the stage and foundation for all that follows. All of this happens from day one to day three.  The sun, moon and stars also fall into this category, but they aren’t mentioned until the fourth day.
• Grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth are created on the third day — they are the “living plants” that will make animal and human life possible.
• Animals of all kinds —  sea creatures and birds, livestock and creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind, moving, swarming and abounding — were created on the fifth day.
• And the piece de resistance, God’s ultimate act of creation, was human beings — God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This does seem to be a kind of “hierarchy,” or what the ancients might have called a great chain of being. 

And it is clear that all of this creation, from the inert and impersonal matter from which the earth and waters and skies are made, to the most sentient and personal human beings, are all declared to be good by God.  Moreover, when God completes his creative work, he announces it is very good. 

Once this work is completed, God rests from his work following the sixth day.  The seventh day is blessed as holy, and will become a sabbath day of rest for the people of Israel.  This will become a mandate in the fourth commandment given to Moses on Sinai:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy….for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy (Exodus 20:8,11).

APPLY:  

This passage is a theological statement, not a scientific treatise.  It tells about the nature of God as Creator, and his goodwill toward all creation.  And there are multiple layers in this theological statement.

First, all creation is very good.  This is a rebuke to philosophical and religious doctrine that suggests that the material world is corrupt and evil, and that only the “spiritual” is desirable.  That world-view represents a kind of dualism that rejects the material world.  The Biblical world-view embraces both spirit and matter.  John’s Gospel reaffirms this when the Word who is God and who has created all things, actually becomes flesh!

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Second, this description of the creation makes it clear that there is One God — Elohim (the proper name “Yahweh”  — I Am — is introduced in Genesis 2:4).  God is the creator of all things.  God’s nature is in contrast to both polytheism and pantheism.

Polytheists tended to look upon certain creatures as gods and goddesses — for example, the Egyptians worshiped Ra as the sun god.  Sin was the moon goddess of Mesopotamia.  Genesis 1 makes clear that though the sun rules the day and the moon rules the night they are created objects that provide light — they are not deities.  Elohim alone is creator and ultimate ruler over all creation.

And this passage also makes it clear that God is creator of the world — the world and all that is in it is not itself imbued with divinity.  God is distinct from his creation in the way that an artist is distinct from her painting.  Although her creativity and brush strokes reflect her character, there is a distinction between artist and art.  God’s character is reflected in creation, but nature is not God.

Third, human beings are the apex of God’s creation.  God makes that very clear:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

There are several applications of this imago Dei: 

• Genesis doesn’t carefully define what it means for us to be made in the likeness of God. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that we literally look like God!  Rather,  we can deduce that our character and nature — the capacity for reason, for love, for creativity, for freedom of the will — reflect God’s image.
• One role for human beings includes dominion over all the creatures. This is to be as God’s representatives, and implies stewardship of the earth’s resources, not mere exploitation.   As God has dominion over us and cares for us, so we are to have dominion over and care for all living things and the planet.
• To be created in God’s image is inclusive of both men and women. God’s nature transcends gender, although we are taught in the New Testament to call upon him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Nevertheless, there are aspects of God’s character that we might traditionally describe as masculine or feminine.  The point is both genders reflect God’s image — and God’s nature and character reflect characteristics that might be thought of as masculine and feminine.
• Just as all living things have been commanded to be fruitful and multiply, so are human beings. Human sexuality and procreation are hardwired into human nature by God.

Fourth, and finally, the rhythms of work and rest are built into creation.  God worked and rested, and commands us to do the same.

RESPOND: 

Genesis is among the most majestic and powerful passages in all of  Judeo-Christian Scripture — and it is also among the most controversial.

Creation takes place when Elohim speaks the word  let there be.  In contrast,  most scientists say that the whole universe began with a tiny, compacted particle of matter known as a singularity that suddenly and brilliantly began to expand in what they call the Big Bang. 

Creation of the earth and its creatures takes place in six days. In contrast scientists say that the universe is 13.8 billion years old, and the earth, though younger, is 4.5 billion years old.

Light, sky, waters, earth, vegetation, sun and moon and stars, animals and human beings all are created whole, it seems, in one moment.  Most scientists today argue that the development from inert material to life and on toward complex organisms and sentience evolved over hundreds of millions of years.

The sincere Christian who also wishes to respect the claims of scientific research can be very confused.  We remember that Copernicus and Galileo were persecuted by the Church because they followed their scientific research, which led to different conclusions than what the Church was then teaching.

For perspective, we need to remember a few things.  First, all truth is God’s truth.  And God has provided our senses and our brains so that we may use reason, as well as his own special revelation in sacred history and Scripture.  It seems impossible for these to contradict one another.

My own view is that the Bible is not a scientific treatise.  It teaches me what I need to know for relationship with God and for salvation through revelation.  Science teaches me about God’s physical world as experienced through reason, which is another of God’s gifts.

One way of putting it is to use the old questions posed by journalists, researchers and police investigators — Who, What, Why, How, Where, When.  It seems to me that the Bible answers two of these questions — Who and Why — in a way that science simply can’t.  Scientists don’t pretend to be theologians.  Scientists deal in empirical facts.  But the Scriptures reveal Who (God), and Why (because he is good and his lovingkindness endures forever).  Science can answer What, How, Where, and When.  But they don’t pretend to answer Who and Why.

Frankly, I can see a correlation between the so-called Big Bang and the instant of creation when God spoke:

Let there be light.

And my own “traditional” and “orthodox” faith in the Scriptures doesn’t preclude me from accepting the possibility that the stages of creation depicted in Genesis 1 correlate with some form of the theory of evolution.  God created  all life — how God creates is in his power.

And finally, I don’t have difficulty understanding that the days referred to in Genesis 1 aren’t necessarily solar days of 24 hours.  Twenty-four hours is the length of a day on Earth, measuring the length of time it requires for Earth to rotate completely on its axis.  By comparison, a day on the planet Venus is 5,832 hours!

I would argue that because God transcends time, all time is relative to him. After all, God’s relation to the universe and to time is not limited to planet Earth. This is suggested by Scripture:

But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).

We may not be able to calculate exactly how much time the day in Genesis 1 measures — or even whether it is intended to be of the same length in each case.  After all, if we wish to be literal, light was created on day one — the sun wasn’t created until day four in this narrative!  Hypothetically, a day in cosmic time might have spanned millions or even billions of years!

A little levity might be needed to lighten this very serious subject.   A man is talking to God, and asks:  “God, how long is a million years to you?”  God answers, “About a minute.” So the man pushes on: “God, how much is a million dollars to you?” God says: “About a penny.”  So the man seizes the opportunity:  “God, may I have one of your pennies?” And God replies with a smile: “Sure, in a minute.”

Lord, you are creator of all things.  And you make all things good. Help us to be good stewards of your creation, as you bring time and history to its blessed consummation in your kingdom.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
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Psalm Reading for June 16, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 8 is the classic expression of the majesty of God. In just nine brief verses, David’s Psalm surveys the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth, contrasts the seeming insignificance of humanity to the vast heavens, and then firmly establishes the unique relationship of human beings with God.

The Psalm is addressed to the Sovereign God, as a Psalm of praise:

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.

And then, there is a twist in the plot, so to speak.  Instead of describing the mountains or the oceans, the Psalmist speaks of the praises of the tiny and the most vulnerable creatures on earth:

Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

There is a paradox here — that the babbling of infants becomes a kind of fortress against malefactors!  The God who created heavens and earth and all that is in them values those things that seem so insignificant. Innocence defeats evil!

We can’t help but think of Mary’s Song in Luke’s Gospel:

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:52-53).

There is a kind of inversion that recurs in the Scripture, where the small and insignificant are exalted, and the big and powerful are diminished.  We see this again in these next wonderful verses of the Psalm:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals  that you care for them?

Here, David is appropriately aware of human insignificance in contrast to the cosmos that stretches out on a starry night.  He asks the right question — how can God possibly even notice me in comparison to the vastness of the heavens?

And yet, as it is for the babes and infants, and the lowly and hungry, we might say the world is turned right-side up:

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.

We are reminded of creation theology, which makes clear what the relationship is between God and humanity, and between humanity and creation:

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

This echoes the creation theology of Genesis 1:26.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind  in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,  and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

Human beings are subordinate to God, but are nonetheless just below God in the hierarchy of beings.  And with this exalted position comes great responsibility for all creatures.

Kings in ancient times placed their images in the lands over which they had dominion.  In a similar way, human beings are the living images who represent God’s dominion over the world, and act as stewards of it.

The Psalm ends with a refrain of the first verse, as David seems filled with wonder for what God is and what he has done for humanity:

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

APPLY:  

When we turn our attention to the heavens, two things seem to be impossible.

First, it seems impossible for us to conclude that the cosmos came into existence by accident.  There  is mystery and wonder when we consider the origin story of the universe. But to conclude that all has come into being by random accident seems to require more faith than admitting that there was a creating mind behind it all.  And of course, from the Biblical perspective, that creating mind is God.

Second, it is impossible to look at the moon and the stars and not conclude that we are microscopic in comparison, especially as we have learned about the vast distances of space.

And yet. And yet.  And yet! We are created in the very image of God — which means that at our best, when we are living lives of love, reason, and justice, we are God’s representatives in the world.

The notion of the image of God was that humans were to be God’s ambassadors.  This is why we are given dominion over creation, because we are to be stewards of creation.  Our dominance over creation is not given so that we might exploit it, but so that we may care for it responsibly.

RESPOND: 

This Psalm provides a balance for me in my self-image.  On the one hand, I am keenly aware of how insignificant I can feel in the cosmos, and in the human world of celebrity and historical events.

I am reminded of a story about President Teddy Roosevelt.  He owned an estate called Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York. As a man with deep passion for hunting, the outdoors, and nature in general, this was a favorite retreat for him.

One of the things he loved to do was to go outside on a starry evening with a friend and look up at the skies, identify the constellations, and speculate about the vast distances in the universe.  And then, when they had gazed awhile and grew silent with awe, he would say, “Well, I think we’re small enough now.  Let’s go inside.”

I always remember this tale when my wife and I go outside and look at the moon and the stars.  If Teddy Roosevelt, that larger-than-life hunter, writer, and statesman could recognize how small he was when looking at the stars, how small do I feel?

On the other hand, this Psalm reminds me of God’s regard for me, far above what I deserve.

I am reminded of Hamlet’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals!
(The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene ii, lines 303-307)

This is an important balance to maintain — we are rightly humble in our relationship with God, but we are made bold by his grace that has created us in his own image and has saved us from the sin that damaged that image.

Our Lord, your creation leaves me speechless with awe, and I become aware of how tiny a part of it all I really am.  But then you remind me that you care enough for me to become a human being and die for me! That is truly awesome!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
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Psalm Reading for September 10, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 148

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of unrestrained celebration and joy.  It falls into the category of a hymn and/or doxology, praising God.

The Psalmist uses the imperative praise! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

The Psalmist describes a hierarchy in the praises from all creation:

• He begins at the zenith of creation with the angelic realm.
• The next rung of the hierarchy describes the celestial bodies — the sun, moon and stars.
• The third level includes all of the forces of nature that contribute to the chaos of nature — sea monsters from the deeps, the  fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind.
• Fourth, he moves on to the grandeur of the mountains of the earth, and the trees and animal life that are all sustained on the earth.
• Finally, the Psalmist concludes his hierarchy of praise with the human voices that he calls upon to worship Yahweh, including the political powers of the day — kings and princes — as well as people of all generations, both men and women.

This pattern parallels the pattern of Genesis 1, which moves from the creation of  the fundamental elements of nature, to the water and the dry land, all the vegetative and animal life, and then the climax of creation with human beings who are made in the image of God.

The first section of the Psalm, from verse 1 to 4, is a cosmic call to praise.  He summons first the heavenly, spiritual beings that inhabit the courts of the Lord:

Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his army!

The Psalmist then unapologetically refers to non-human aspects of creation in anthropomorphic terms, calling upon sun and moon,  shining stars, waters above the heavens to praise God.

In verses 5-6, he explains the reason that these should praise the Lord.  All the celestial cosmos owes its existence to the Lord:

Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
For he commanded, and they were created.
 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The Psalmist also makes clear that part of God’s task in bringing order to creation is to set boundaries for all that that he has made:

He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The word decree can also be translated boundary.

This reminds us of the creation account in Genesis 1, when God separates light from darkness, the dome of the sky from the chaos of the waters, the sun and moon to separate day from night, and so on.

The Psalmist continues to summon praise from the chaotic, unpredictable aspects of nature:

Praise Yahweh from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all depths!
Lightning and hail, snow and clouds;
stormy wind, fulfilling his word.

Though they are chaotic, these natural forces are still subject to the control of the Lord:

fulfilling his word.

Praises are to ring forth from:

mountains and all hills;
fruit trees and all cedars;
wild animals and all livestock;
small creatures and flying birds!

And finally, of course, with the human kingdoms,  all generations and genders are called upon to praise God:

kings of the earth and all peoples;
princes and all judges of the earth;
both young men and maidens;
old men and children:
 let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.

Again, this echoes the climax of Genesis 1:26-27. God announces his intent to make humankind in his own image.  What this means is that they would have dominion over all creation as God’s representatives on earth;  and that both male and female are required to fully reflect the image of God:

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This is a fascinating parallel with Psalm 148.  To be made in God’s image is to have the responsibility of rule in God’s name, and for men and women to reflect God’s nature.  And so all people — rulers, men and women, old and young — are to praise God.

The Psalmist sums up this call to praise by acknowledging that the Lord is to be worshiped exclusively:

let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the earth and the heavens.

And at last the Psalmist returns to an ancient symbol, reflecting God’s blessing to Israel:

He has lifted up the horn of his people,
the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near to him.

The horn hearkens back to a symbol of the bull, denoting strength in ancient Israel.

Interestingly, as the focus of the Psalmist has narrowed from its height among the angels, it has finally come to rest on the saints  who are defined as:

the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise, it seems, brings God’s people closer to him.

Clearly, all that exists is called upon to praise God, who is the source of all benefits and blessings.

APPLY:  

It is fitting that all creation, from the angels to the stars to the oceans and the mountains and the beasts and kings and all people everywhere should praise God!

I would venture to say that the angels and nature do fulfill their calling to praise God.  They do so in part by simply fulfilling their purpose as part of God’s creation, by:

fulfilling his word.

With kings, rulers, men and women, this may be a bit more difficult to compel.  Because of human free will, people don’t seem to be joined in one voice today for the purpose of praising God.

Perhaps this is the ongoing task of the church — to continue to proclaim and praise God by word and deed until the rest of the world catches on!

RESPOND: 

The Scriptures provide definitive guidance to my faith and practice.  Without them I’d be lost.

However, there are moments in my life when the mental fog rolls in and I find myself in a “gray night of the soul.”  So many different views of the Christian faith and the Bible can create confusion even after a lifetime in the Christian church, and many years as a committed Christian.

On occasions like these, I find the Psalmist’s summons to praise very helpful. To go outside on a clear night and look at the stars and the moon; or to stand on a mountainside and consider the distances of the valley below; or to stand at the edge of the ocean and watch the wild surf — these can be powerful reminders of the creative power of God.

As just one example of the power of nature to enkindle faith, I quote Eric Metaxas, a Christian writer:

There are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life — every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart … Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident?

Lord, I join the angels and the archangels, the stars and the planets, and all the creatures of the earth in praising you.  May my praise join with the praise of all that lives and moves and has its being in you. And may my praise bring others closer to you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

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