Today’s Scripture Reading (August 31,
2013): Psalm 44
When James
II ascended the throne of England and Scotland in February 1685, he came to the
throne with some strange ideas. And one of them was the idea of religious
equality. He had probably watched the religious wars take place in his own
family between the Catholic faction and the Anglican contingent. So in 1687,
James produced a document called The Declaration of Indulgence and commanded
that the Declaration be read in all the congregations of the kingdom. The
Declaration granted toleration to all Catholic and Protestant groups in the
nation – as well as, at least in theory, toleration toward Islam, Judaism and
paganism. It is strongly suspected that the Quaker Philosopher William Penn was
the force behind the Declaration.
The move was
not appreciated by the people. And in a little more than a year, James II would
abdicate the throne of England during what is known as the Glorious Revolution.
From a human standpoint, the Declaration of Indulgence was a horrible failure –
one that took a king that enjoyed great favor from the people at the beginning
of his reign, and transformed that king from being popular to being forced to
leave the throne in disgrace - all because of a Declaration which provided
freedom to all to believe as their heart would lead them. But the idea of
religious tolerance proved to be a persistent idea, and today this questionable
idea of King James II and William Penn is accepted without question. No war has
been fought over the idea, even the Glorious Revolution is known as the Bloodless
Revolution because there were very few battles fought during the course of the
Revolution. But the idea could not be defeated.
The context
of Psalm 44 seems to be the Babylonian exile. Verse 11 clearly gives us a
picture of what the exile looked like. “You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.” (Psalm 44:11) During the
exile many of the people were simply killed, and those who survived were
scattered throughout the Babylonian Empire. And there was no way back to what
had been. But the Psalmist reminds Israel that it was never the might of their
armies that was the reason for the existence of the nation in the first place –
it was the presence of God. When the Israelites first entered the Promised Land, it was not their military might
that was in prominence – it was their willingness to follow the instructions of
God. The first city that fell to Israel was Jericho, and not a shot was fired
in taking the city. The people simply marched around the outside of the fortified
city until the walls fell down.
The Psalmist
reminds the people that if there was to be a return of the people of Israel to
the land that God had promised to them, it would not be because of a military
decision, but because God simply willed it. The people would be returned to
their nation because of a will that was beyond theirs. The time would come when
God would place it in the heart of a ruler of an empire to simply decree that
the exile was over and that all the people could just go home in peace.
We might
question the Declaration of Indulgence in our multi-ethnic world. There are
those that might like to return us to a philosophical state sometime before
someone thought of this strange idea of an equality between religions, but the
idea of religious tolerance has released a missionary vigor on the world that
would not have been possible without it. And for that reason I believe that God
has simply willed it. It was an idea that could not be defeated – no military
power could stand against it. God simply decreed it be so.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
45
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