Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. – Psalm 77:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 9, 2013): Psalm 77

Over the past few weeks there has been a considerable amount of concern over the actions of Syria. The problem that has been posed to us is that the Syrian military is thought to have used chemical weapons against their own people. In a world where the mere mention of chemical weapons condemns a vast number of people to nights plagued by nightmares, this is a problem. But there is also a problem with the accusation. No one really saw the event. Apparently Canada has chosen to accept the United States’ assessment of the situation. But on the other hand, Russia and Britain are not so easily convinced of this uncomfortable indictment. The reasons are complex, but they all seem to boil down to two things; they are not sure that Syria’s use of chemical weapons has any impact on them and they did not see the incident happen with their own eyes.

The Psalmist goes back to the beginning of the nation, to that wonderful horrible night that Israel left their lives as slaves in Egypt and made a run for the desert. On that night they had freedom in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. It was a night that was full of potential and possible disaster. And as the nation stood on the banks of the Red Sea (or the Sea of Reeds), it seemed like it was disaster that was winning. But on that night the Sea parted. Now, no one saw the reason why the sea parted. It was not like God’s hand suddenly became visible as the water parted. And it was not God that stood in the midst of the water with his arm stretched out holding back the water. The only one to be actually seen was Moses. But that did not change the fact that it was God who did it, even though all that could be seen was the result.

The Psalmist wanted his readers to make the double connection. What had happened on that night was connected to them, and it was important to them. Without the events of that dark night, the Israel that they knew would never have come into existence. And even though he was not seen, it was God who moved on that night, and it was this same unseen God that had moved throughout the length of the nation’s history. In both the external history of the nation, and inside the conscience of the person; God would seems to work secretly. And that left Israel with a question that they would need to wrestle with. How should all of that effect the way that they lived their lives?

As for Syria, my suspicion is that the United States is correct and chemical weapons were used on Syrians by their own government. And in the global village, we can no longer afford to believe that anything that has been done somewhere else has no effect on us. But by concentrating on those two conditions, we are avoiding the hard question – what should be our moral response to the situation? And that, in all circumstances like this, is something that each of us have to wrestle with in order to find an answer.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 78