It is interesting that our English word “obey” comes from the Latin oboedire which, in turn, comes from ob and audire, meaning “to listen intently.” Listening intently implies an active response to what has been heard. He’s really a good person.” Such a declaration would be laughable (or worse) to a person trained in the School of the Bible.Īs the sacred author remembers God’s providential care for him personally and for Israel collectively, he is shamed into repentance, essentially concluding: “If God has been so good, how could I fail to respond to love with love – the love of obedience?” In fact, he begs for the grace to be instructed in God’s ways this time around, he will take that instruction seriously by not only hearing but acting. How often does the evening news report that someone has just committed a most heinous crime, only to be told by his attorney or friend, “That’s not who he really is. The psalmist shows himself to be distinctly “un-modern” in his assertion that “no man living is righteous before thee.” Similarly, in the Book of Proverbs, we are taught that even a just man sins seven times a day (24:16) – Hebraic hyperbole to underscore the universality of sin, which is not hyperbole. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky” (10-11). Psalm 85 sings of the total harmony of these: “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Truth be told, it is only for us mortals that justice and mercy are polar opposites in God, they are but two sides of the same coin. In the following verse, the psalmist wisely begs God not to relate to us in terms of justice for, if that were the case, we would all be in trouble, says he! No, when we plead our case before the Divine Tribunal, we ask not for justice but for mercy (as we heard from Shakespeare’s Portia). John Henry Cardinal Newman: “Conscience has rights because it has duties.” And one of those duties is to take responsibility for one’s decisions and actions. What they resisted was the logic served up by St. In all my years of high school work, I never ceased to be amazed at how those students consistently asked why God gave us freedom since that allowed us to sin and thus be punished – and this, from a generation that just as consistently (or inconsistently) demanded total freedom. The exhilarating (and concerning) truth is that Almighty God so respects our human freedom that He allows us to choose our own defective brands of freedom, to our own detriment. Mother Teresa of Calcutta would speak of our need to “give God permission.”
PRAYER AGAINST ENEMIES IN THE BIBLE FREE
Why so? Because Christ will never force His way into our hearts and lives we must admit Him of our own free accord. That verse was the inspiration for the justifiably famous painting by William Holman Hunt which depicts Christ as the Light of the World, knocking on a door without an exterior knob. “Behold! I stand at the door and knock,” says the Jesus of the Book of Revelation (3:20). Of course, God doesn’t need any “reminding” He is only too eager to be true to Himself – all He needs is the invitation from us. In a very clever way, the sacred author is, humanly speaking, putting God “on the defensive,” as it were “reminding” Him of who He is and, therefore, how He must act. Thank God that God is not like us – conniving and fickle. Paul expresses this as a truism: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim 2:13). The important point to appreciate is what the psalmist is saying – quite correctly – is that God is faithful, even when we are not! St. The very first verse is an acknowledgment of and appeal to God’s fidelity. Many of the themes we have seen already are reprised here in Psalm 143. We have reached the end of our consideration of the Seven Penitential Psalms. In thy righteousness bring me out of trouble!ġ2 And in thy steadfast love cut off my enemies, Lest I be like those who go down to the Pit.Ĩ Let me hear in the morning of thy steadfast love,ġ1 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! My soul thirsts for thee like a parched land. He has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. In thy faithfulness answer me, in thy righteousness!Ģ Enter not into judgment with thy servant įor no man living is righteous before thee. A complete list of the essays is at the bottom of this essay.
PRAYER AGAINST ENEMIES IN THE BIBLE SERIES
Editor’s note: This is the seventh and final essay in a series on The Seven Penitential Psalms.
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