Today’s Scripture Reading (July 10,
2013): Psalm 43
I am a
homebody. There is no place quite like home. It is good to sometimes get away
(right now I am looking forward to a much needed break that I will be taking
later this month) but for me it is almost better to come back home. In fact, I
often try to arrange my holiday time so that there is some part of the vacation
that is just spent at home. And if I am away from home too long, I start to
literally dream about the things that I could do - if only I was home.
There is
some confusion about when this Psalm was written. Some experts believe that at
the latest it was written during the last days of Israel. The proof that they
offer for this belief is found in the last clause of this verse – the place
where you dwell. In some translations this phrase is translated into the word
tabernacle. And the tabernacle was the place of worship actually before the
building of the temple. Supporters of this date argue that the phrase indicates
that there was still activity going on in the temple or on the temple mount. And
all of that kind of activity ceased when the temple was destroyed and Judah was
finally carried off into captivity.
But the
argument might be flawed. The actual word used in this passage (Mishkan) is one
that really means dwelling place. In some translations it is translated as
tabernacle, but never temple. We are fairly sure that the Psalm is post David,
so the literal tabernacle tent was long gone – it had been replaced by the more
permanent temple. So the NIV’s translation of this as the “place where you
dwell’ fits nicely.
It also
highlights another problem. There is a considerable discussion among Biblical
experts as to whether or not the building of the temple was ever requested by
God. We know that David wanted to build the temple, but God said no. We are not
sure whether the final go ahead for the temple that Solomon would build really came
from David (Dad) or God. And part of the problem that emerged with the temple
was the idea that God could only live on the temple mount. While the tent of
the tabernacle could have been raised anywhere – and moved frequently during
the desert wanderings – the temple became God’s fixed address on earth. And it
became difficult for the people to imagine God anywhere else. So as the
captives are carried into Babylon, they are actually being carried away from
their God – because even though the temple was gone, temple mount was still the
place where the God of Judah lived.
And so this
Psalm emerges as a lament for what went before, and a misplaced lament for the
presence of God the people still believed lived on that mountain in Jerusalem.
If it was really written during the time of exile, it is a cry of longing of a
people who just want to go home.
Tomorrow’s, Scripture Reading: Psalm
66 & 67
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