Today’s Scripture Reading (February
28, 2013): Psalm 53
One my fears
for our society is that we have become very proficient at arguing what it is
that we think we are required to do to survive in our culture. A number of
years ago I had a discussion with a friend over the subject of lying (one of
the Bible’s Big Ten rules says this is something that we are not supposed to
do.) But the argument that was being made in the discussion was that often we
have no choice. There are times when we have to say things that are not true if
we are to survive in our society. Since that time I have heard the same
argument used to argue in favor of a number of immoral behaviors – it is the
argument of pragmaticism, this is something that we simply have to do.
And that is
precisely the attitude that the Psalmist is trying to take a stand against. The
question that is presented in this passage is this – does anyone chase after
God and his desires more than they chase after the pragmatic things of life.
But there is some confusion over the intended audience of the Psalm.
Translators have taken the psalm to be directed at the sons of men, literally “the
sons of Adam,” but an equally viable translation of this verse would be that it
should be intended for “the sons of Edom” (the original manuscripts did not use
vowels.) And the probability that this passage is intended for “the sons of
Edom” is increased by the position of this Psalm in the Psalter - following
right behind Psalm 52 remembering the sin of Doeg the Edomite.
Doeg was
known for the killing of the priests of Nob at the instruction of King Saul.
Saul was upset that the priests in Nob had hidden or provided a safe place of
refuge for David as he fled from a king that wanted nothing more at that moment
than David dead. In his anger, Saul had ordered the destruction of the priests
and Doeg had carried out the order. Doeg’s defense was that he had just been doing
as the king had ordered him to do. For Doeg, the killing of the priests was
simply the pragmatic thing to do. But God’s question in the Psalm is - is there
anyone on earth that is seeking what God wants; does anyone really seek God.
It is still
a pertinent question. Wars of the past century have questioned when it is that
an order from a superior should or should not be followed, and while the answer
to that question may not always be clear, there is always a moral element to
the answer. And part of what we understand is that if we are seeking after God,
the innocent can never be sacrificed (and an argument can be made that killing
in any form is against the desires of the God of this Universe.) But the
question remains – is there anyone left on the earth that is willing to ignore
what is pragmatic, and simply seek after God?
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
55
No comments:
Post a Comment