You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies. – Psalm 89:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 31, 2016): Psalm 89

The context of our words are everything. It is one of the reasons that I really don’t like text driven communication. There is too much communication that is not done with our words, but rather with our expressions and body language. It is spoken with timing. Such was the case after Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Eastern Finals. The Toronto Raptors Bismack Biyombo was asked about the finger wag that he gave to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game that, unlike to the two previous games, was dominated by the Raptors. In an interview, Biyombo insisted that the retired Congolese great Dikembe Mutombo gave him permission to use the finger wag that he had once used on his opponents. The two men are good friends and Congolese brothers, they speak to each other often and seem very proud of each other. But then Mutombo is caught by some reporters and asked if he did indeed give Biyombo permission to use the finger wag. Mutombo smiles and simply says that he doesn’t remember when that happen. And then the headlines hit “Dikembe Mutombo denies giving Bismack Biyombo of Toronto Raptors permission to use finger-wag celebration.” Ah, now we have what we want – controversy. Except that the words convey a different story when we watch the video. In the video, it seems that the whole conversation is done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Is Mutombo upset that Biyombo used the finger-wag? No, Mutombo simply says “he’s making me famous.” But reading the facial expressions and movements of the retired star, you get a slightly different message than when just read the words. In the video of the conversation you can almost hear Mutombo saying, “come on guys, it’s a finger-wag, this is my brother Biyombo’s time to shine. I shone yesterday.” But context is everything.

For many of the Psalms, we simply don’t know enough context to know specific details or even when the Psalm was written. This psalm seems to be one of these. And part of the problem circles around the mention of Rahab. We know that we are not talking about the prostitute of Jericho. The Rahab mentioned in this passage is … well, that is the question. The answer is most likely either the multi-headed sea monster that was involved some of the ancient Middle East creation stories, or a code name for Egypt herself.

So what is the context of the word? The preceding verse indicates that God rules “over the raging sea,” a comment that would seem to indicate Rahab the Sea Monster. It would probably also indicate a fairly early authorship of the Psalm. The message is that the Creation of God is mightier than that of Rahab, or the he is the God who rules over creation.

But there are those who argue that this is written not around the time of David, but at the time of the Babylonian Captivity. The ending of the Psalm seems to strongly suggest that this is true. But that would not seem to change the meaning of Rahab. The message remains that my God is stronger than yours!  My God can defeat, dismember, and kill the multi-headed sea monster that you seem to believe made the world. And even though Israel has long since disappeared and Judah has been carried into captivity in Babylon, our God, the defeater of Rahab, is still on the throne.

But still others argue that Rahab is not the sea-monster here, but a metaphor for Egypt. If that is true, then it would seem that the context and the time of writing is very late – maybe even later than anything else in the Old Testament. The image of an Egypt that was crushed didn’t really match Egypt in the sixth-century B.C.E or Egypt at the time of the exile. Egypt was still believed to be a power then, and some had even hoped that Egypt would be able to come to the defense of Israel in their struggle against Babylon. But over the next couple of centuries, the power of Egypt would be crushed and the once mighty nation would be a shadow of herself. By the mid-fourth century, Egypt’s power was totally gone and the nation never regained its worldwide prominence. Then, these words regarding Rahab who was crushed would be totally appropriate being applied to Egypt.

And so we are left with the questions over context. Does any of this change the main message that we are to take from the Psalm? Maybe not. It changes places of writing and maybe the enemy in view and the circumstances, but the message remains the same – whatever the problem is that we face, God remains firmly on the throne.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 1

Cover their faces with shame, LORD, so that they will seek your name. – Psalm 83:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 30, 2016): Psalm 83

Prosperity is not always a good thing. Often it hides the weak points in our lives. It is not when things are going well that we have the drive to make the changes that are necessary for our lives. It is when things begin to fall apart that changes are made. I wish it wasn’t that way. It would be better if we could make the life change needed before the diagnosis of high blood pressure, or the work changes before the warning from our boss about our job, but we just don’t seem to do that. Prosperity convinces us that change is not needed, even when, deep down, we might not be convinced that that is really true.

The high blood pressure story is now mine. For years, I have blissfully ignored some needed changes because my blood pressure has remained in the normal range. And then, suddenly, all of that changed. I have no idea why there has been a change or what the cause might be, but suddenly I am monitoring my salt and caffeine intake (and I have always loved my salt.) Now the time for change has come.

The Psalmist seems to want nothing less than the absolute destruction of Israel’s enemies. The imagery is strong. God, be the wind that blows them around helplessly like a tumbleweed and be the fire that utterly destroys; pursue them like a storm that will overtake and kill. God, destroy my enemy. Make it as if they never existed. And we have all been there. That prayer might be one of the most common prayers that we pray. We all know the pain of having someone not treat us the way that we feel that we should be treated. And, in that moment, there is nothing we would like more than for God to consume them and overtake them with destruction.

But then there is a pause. We have prayed the prayer, but if we are honest we have also been on the other side of the problem. We are the ones who have failed someone, or the ones who have attacked someone. Suddenly we are not the ones praying the prayer about someone else. We are the ones about whom someone else is praying the prayer. God consume and destroy them – meaning us. We try to ignore it or make excuses – but we know that we are wrong.

But here the prayer changes. No longer is the psalm about destruction. It is about conversion. God, give them so much trouble that they have nothing else that they can do but seek you. Give them the trouble necessary for them to want to find you - to make the changes necessary to be healthy once more. And while we have all prayed the first prayer about someone else, this is the prayer we need to pray over ourselves as well as our enemy. God give me the reason that I need to turn to you. 

That is a very difficult prayer to pray, but maybe one that we need to pray a little more often than we do.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 89

God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods” … Psalm 82:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 29, 2016): Psalm 81 & 82

Charles I of England was executed on January 30, 1649, at the age of 48. It is said that Charles asked for two shirts on the morning of his execution because it was cold and the king did not want the weather to cause a shiver that the people might mistake for fear. He calmly went to his death, no accusations were uttered other than to himself. His final speech was not heard by anyone except those standing on the platform with him. He believed that his death was justified because almost eight years earlier he did not (or could not) stop the unjust execution of Thomas Wentworth, 1^st Earl of Strafford. He was the king, and this is something he should have been able to do. He may have been partially correct, although the situation was much more complex than even Charles understood.

Charles believed in the king's absolute right to rule. It was a belief that during the seventeenth century was being questioned by the people – especially those in lower power who surrounded the king. But it wasn’t just Charles’ belief that he answered to no one but God that got him killed. He also had a penchant for pursuing policies that the people did not support because he felt that the policies were right. But then again, much of what Charles I did seems to depend on his belief that he alone would be accountable before God. So he must do what is right.

There is much that I have to admit I admire about Charles I – although, in all honesty, at least part of the attraction I have to Charles is because of the way Alexandre Dumas portrayed him in the fictional “The Three Musketeers” series of books. But I also share the same desire to do what is right rather than what is politically popular, a tendency that tends to get me into trouble. In his defense at his trial, Charles quoted principals he believed to be straight out of the Biblical texts - 

… the authority of obedience unto Kings is clearly warranted, and strictly commanded in both the Old and New Testament ... for the law of this land, I am no less confident, that no learned lawyer will affirm that an impeachment can lie against the King, they all going in his name: and one of their maxims is, that the King can do no wrong (Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1906), The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution 1625-1660).

Part of that idea of the right and the responsibilities of kings is found in Psalm 82. The opening phrase describes what the rest of the psalm is really about – God taking to task the human leaders of the people (the ‘gods’) for their actions – or inactions. These words of the Psalm serve as a reminder of what God has the right to do. He stands in the midst of the great assembly (or the great congregation) and judges those who judge on the earth. The notice is served – those who rule on the earth may feel that they are beyond judgment, but God stands in their midst and sees when they do what is good and when they commit wrong. In the mind of Charles, the wrong was the execution of his faithful aide Stafford, and that justified, by the order of God, the removal of his own head on the day of his execution. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 83