Book 52: Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)
This is a series of reflections reading through Time Magazine’s top 100 novels as selected by Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo published since 1923 (when Time magazine was founded). For me this is an attempt to broaden my exposure to authors I may not encounter otherwise, especially as a person who was not a liberal arts major in college. Time’s list is alphabetical, so I decided to read through in a random order, and I plan to write a short reflection on each novel.
The Lord of the Flies is a novel I encountered in either late middle school or early high school as required reading and reread now as an adult. The novel follows a group of boys who crash on an island during a war, perhaps even a nuclear war, and find themselves alone and isolated from society. The novel is an exploration of the darkness of the human, particularly male, heart when isolated from the civilizing influence of society. The rules on the island quickly breakdown when Ralph, the boy initially selected by the boys as chief, is unable to maintain control over both the hunters, led by Jack, and the little ones who tend to do their own thing. Eventually Jack and his hunters continue to devolve into a violent and savage tribe that results in the death of two of the boys and the story ends with their hunt of Ralph before an officer of the Royal Navy arrives on the island to rescue the boys.
The Lord of the Flies is a story about children, but it also exhibits the author’s low view of humanity apart from the civilizing restraint of law and order. It might be this book’s place within the assigned reading of my childhood, but this felt like a book you were supposed to read and not enjoy. It felt like the theme of the book was more important than the characters. While there are some cleverly written plot ideas in the book, like the alluding to biblical language with the Beast from the Sea and the Beast of the Air or the Lord of the Flies, it just felt like the narration and dialogue fell flat. The individual children were more types than developed characters: Ralph was the somewhat slow protagonist, Piggy the overweight, asthmatic scared know it all, Simon the introverted and spiritual one, Jack the bully always needing to be right. It probably didn’t help that I listened to the audiobook version read by the author, and the author’s narration did not help the story.
1O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 2O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. 3O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
4who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; 5who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 6who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; 9the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
10who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures forever; 11and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever; 12with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever; 13who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever; 14and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever; 15but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever; 16who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever; who made water flow from the rock, for his steadfast love endures forever; 17who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever; 18and killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures forever; 19Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever; 20and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever; 21and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever; 22a heritage to his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures forever.
23It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever; 24and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever; 25who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
26O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
There are words that we utilize all the time that are sometimes the hardest to define. The Hebrew word hesed (NRSVue “steadfast love”) is used 245 times in the Hebrew scriptures and 127 times in the Book of Psalms. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 948) But if you ask people who study the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures to define this word you will get a variety of ideas: steadfast love, covenant faithfulness, enduring commitment, or lovingkindness. What no one disagrees with is that hesed is a defining characteristic of God’s relationship with God’s people. It appears twice in Exodus 34: 1-10 when God declares who God will be in what is known as the thirteen attributes of God (frequently repeated or alluded to throughout the scriptures):
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The LORD.” The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:5-8.
But like love, this term is difficult to put limits and boundaries on. Arthur Green, a Jewish scholar defines hesed as “a free-flowing love that knows no bounds.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 948) So perhaps trying to put limits and boundaries around the meaning of hesed is like trying to catch the wind, but it is constantly seen in action throughout the scriptures and particularly the psalms. In this psalm where refrain continually reminds us that “for his steadfast love endures forever” or as Nancy deClaissé-Walford renders the phrase, “because for all time is the LORD’s hesed.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 950) I am a believer that love is as much a verb as it is a noun, and the pattern of this psalm which matches the story of God’s actions with the enduring quality of God’s hesed “makes it clear that hesed is action; the wonders are a performance of hesed.” (Mays, 1994, p. 420)
The structure of Psalm 136 lends itself to being utilized in liturgical use where the leader most likely spoke the first half while the worshippers responded with the repetitive second half of each verse as a refrain. As Nancy deClaissé-Walford notes:
The same refrain occurs in a number of liturgical passages in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chr. 16:34; 2 Chr. 5:13; 7:3; 20:21; Ezra 3:11) and in other psalms (106:1; 107:1; 118: 1-4; 100:5). (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 948)
Most modern readers gloss over the refrain after the initial verses, but as Leslie C. Allen reminds us that this repetition in the congregation becomes, “the regular heartbeat of the congregational refrain.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 951) Creation, exodus, the promised land, the provision of daily bread are all a part of the enduring hesed of the LORD the God of Israel.
Psalm 135 and 136 share common themes and language in expressing the praiseworthiness of the LORD. Psalm 136 only mentions the name of God in verse one, and throughout the rest of the psalm is referred to by titles (God of gods, Lord of lords) or by action. As in the previous psalm, creation and the exodus narrative are linked together. This linkage brings together Israel’s unique origin story where God chooses them with God’s purpose for the entirety of creation. As J. Clinton McCann, Jr. states it,
In other words, the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (that is, from death) and entry into the land (that is life) is still the story of the fulfillment of God’s creational purposes. (NIB IV:1224-1225)
Israel was, through their covenantal faithfulness, to embody a way of living in harmony with God’s will for the world. The ways of Egypt and other kingdoms and empires throughout history that opposed God’s will would find out that this love of God is not sentimental but will resist the powers that work against the enduring hesed of God for the world and God’s people.
The psalm ends with God remembering the people in their low estate, rescuing them from their foes, and giving food to all flesh. That God’s provision of ‘daily bread’ is now linked to God’s incredible acts of hesed in the creation of the cosmos, the rescue from Egypt, and the overcoming of the barriers to reaching the promised land. Yet, the ending of this psalm and the content of Psalm 137 invites us to ponder the people of Israel at their lowest point: the beginning of the Babylonian exile. Even in this godforsaken moment the hesed of God is unending. In their low estate they are still remembered, God can and will rescue them from their foes and provide for them and all creation because the hesed of God endures forever. For that unending hesed they can give thanks to the God of heaven.
1Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD; give praise, O servants of the LORD, 2you who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. 3Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for he is gracious. 4For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.
5For I know that the LORD is great; our Lord is above all gods. 6Whatever the LORD pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. 7He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both humans and animals; 9he sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. 10He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings— 11Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan— 12and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.
13Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages. 14For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.
15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; 17they have ears, but they do not hear, a nose, but there is no breath in their mouths. 18Those who make them and all who trust them shall become like them.
19O house of Israel, bless the LORD! O house of Aaron, bless the LORD! 20O house of Levi, bless the LORD! You who fear the Lord, bless the LORD! 21Blessed be the LORD from Zion, he who resides in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
This song of praise contrasts the LORD the God of Israel who is over the heavens, the earth, and the seas, who humiliated Egypt and brought the people through the wilderness and into the promised land with the ineffectual idols worshipped by their neighbors. The imageless God of Israel who crafted creation is contrasted with these lifeless images which are the products of human hands. This song calling the people to praise echoes much of the themes and language of Psalm 115 and it may have built upon that psalm, but it plays on two central themes which permeate the psalms words about God: creation and the exodus.
Although Psalm 135 does not have the call and response structure of Psalm 136, its structure is designed for gathered worship assembly. The opening four verses and the final three verses have the priests and people declaring their allegiance to the LORD and against the idols of the nations while the center of the psalm acts like a recitation or sermon passing on central knowledge to the people about the LORD that they worship. Those gathered from Israel are called to praise the LORD who is good and has chosen this people as his possession from among the nations.
The LORD is good, but the LORD is also great. The God of Israel is the God of the heavens, the earth but also the sea with its depths. This is the God who answers to no one and who is capable of doing whatever God desires. The chaotic sea and the storms of the heavens are all within this God’s hands and all other gods are subordinate to the God of Israel. Israel does not live in a monotheistic world but a pluralistic one, but the great LORD of Israel who creates the heavens and the earth, the seas and the storms is subordinate to no other gods and certainly not to the idols of the nations. One of the primary Canaanite gods that the Israelites encountered was Baal, a storm god who tamed the chaotic seas, but now this psalm usurps the characteristics attributed by their neighbors to Baal for the LORD the God of Israel who makes clouds rise and makes the lightning and brings out the winds.[1]
There is for Israel the general knowledge of their God as the creator, but there is also the specific knowledge of the God who took them out of Egypt and led them to their place in the promised land. The LORD brought the signs and wonders against Pharoah and Egypt which culminated in the death of the firstborns (Exodus 7-12). This God journeyed with them through the wilderness and then when kings like King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan marched out to resist them God fought for Israel (Numbers 21: 21-35) as well as driving out the people of Canaan (Joshua). Israel’s position within their land is a gift from their God. The God who can do whatever God pleases throughout creation chose to take the people from their slavery in Egypt into their heritage within the land of Israel.
As mentioned above, Israel lived in a polytheistic world not a monotheistic one. Israel was always tempted by the gods of the nations around them, and the retelling of Israel’s history is full of times where the idols of the nations were worshipped alongside of or instead of the God of Israel. The faithful continued to resist and deride the pointless worship of idols, and here these gods shaped by human hands with silver are gold may have a face, but there is no breath (ruach) within them. These images formed by people created in the image of God lack the animating force of life that only the LORD can give. Those whose hands and devotions turn away to these lifeless images of silver and gold become futile like them.
Like the pilgrims of the songs of ascent (Psalms 120-134) the people have gathered together to praise and bless the LORD. The house of Israel, the descendants of Aaron who serve as priests, the Levites who work in the house of the LORD, and all those who fear the LORD are called to bless the LORD. Zion is the place where the people gather to send up their blessings and praise because the LORD has chosen to dwell among them in the city of Jerusalem. They gather together to praise the living God unlike the inanimate idols of the nations. They send up blessings to the God who presides over creation and who brought God’s chosen people out of Egypt and to the promised land with mighty acts. They join with their brothers and sisters in the act of praising the LORD.
[1]Psalm 29 also recasts the language of the worship of a storm god to worship the LORD the God of Israel.
1Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! 2Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the LORD. 3May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
Psalm 134 is the final song of ascent where the pilgrims have arrived at their destination, and they are invited to do what they came to Zion to do: praise the LORD. This short psalm is only twenty-four words in Hebrew, but five of those words are the name of God: YHWH (LORD)[1], another three are a title for God (maker of heaven and earth), and three more are the Hebrew verb barak (bless). In the first two verses God is the focus of the actions of praise and blessing as the pilgrims enter into the space of worship. In the final verse the direction is reversed as the pilgrims are sent forth with a blessing, presumably spoken by a priestly figure, as they leave Zion and return to their homes.
In the previous psalm, the unity of the people was celebrated as they came to their destination and now all the gathered ones are called to participate in the actions of blessing the LORD the God of Israel. The actions of the worship are kinetic involving the lifting up of their hands within the holy space, but barak originally meant “to kneel” and that may also be a posture of worship expected within the movement of the psalm. (NIB IV: 1217) The people have made the effort to journey to the house of the LORD, a holy place where God’s presence dwells, and now their actions are now a part of their offering of obedience, homage, and trust to their God.
Within the flow of worship there is a time to be gathered and a time to be sent. One of the actions of sending is a benediction, a final blessing. Within my congregation I typically utilize either a trinitarian benediction or the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6: 22-26. The brief benediction, which ends Psalm 134, and by extension the songs of ascent, is designed for the pilgrims who have come to Zion but now must return to their own towns or nations. The benediction seeks the blessing of the LORD upon those pilgrims, and wherever they go they are in the dominion of the maker of heaven and earth, yet the blessing emanates from this holy space in Zion where God’s presence rests. They came to this place to offer their blessing and worship to their God, and they are sent back into the world bearing God’s blessing upon them.
[1] The divine name is formed by four Hebrew letters transliterated as YHWH, often pronounce Yahweh, but is spoken as Adonai (Lord) when read by a cantor in the space of worship. This is due to the commandment about not taking the name of the Lord your God in vain. That is why most English translations will translate these four letters as LORD in all capital letters to indicate the name of God is behind the translation.
Consecration of Aaron and His Sons, illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible
Psalm 133
A Song of Ascents.
1How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 2It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. 3It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.
Bolded words have notes on translation below.
This short psalm utilizes two images of fluids flowing down as a metaphor for the good and pleasant experience of unity among kindred. Every world religion I am aware of utilizes familial imagery and then expands the imagery of family to the expectations of community life. Here within the pilgrims coming into Jerusalem and reciting these songs of ascent they are surrounded by other travelers who have come from other towns and perhaps other countries. Yet, for the Hebrew people they were all children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were all an extended family. They were all kin.
As the travelers move towards the temple the first good and pleasant image remembers the anointing of Aaron as the high priest for the people. The pouring of oil on the head is common in the ancient world and had both provided moisture to the scalp and skin as well as a pleasant odor. Yet oil is precious and the image here is of fine oil being used lavishly. The oil flows down (Hebrew yored) from the hair to the beard to the collar of the robes. The anointing of Aaron is imagined as a special and lavish event, and the pilgrims going up to Jerusalem are joined to this good and pleasant memory from the past as they come together in unity to worship the LORD in Zion.
Mount Hermon is roughly 200 kilometers north of Jerusalem and the snow and water that collects there is the source of the Jordan River. The water from Hermon flows down (NRSVue which falls on)[1] to the mountains of Zion as God provides life for the land and people. The LORD utilizes both the normal events of rain and snow and the ritual events of anointing priests to provide a good and pleasant place for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to live in unity and prosperity forevermore.
Adele Berlin suggests that the imagery of Psalm 133 may invoke a hope for the reunification of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah by poetically having the “dew of Hermon” in the northern kingdom flow to Zion in the heart of Judah. (NIB IV: 1214) Whether the psalmist imagines a reunification of Israel and Judah is uncertain, but within the context of a pilgrimage to Zion the bonds of family are extended to new kindred from different starting points but sharing a common destination. They all come together to experience the good and pleasant reality of kindred living together in unity under God’s blessing.
[1] This is the same Hebrew verb yored utilized in verse two for the oil flowing down to Aaron’s beard and robes.
Book 22: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Sty
This is a series of reflections reading through Time Magazine’s top 100 novels as selected by Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo published since 1923 (when Time magazine was founded). For me this is an attempt to broaden my exposure to authors I may not encounter otherwise, especially as a person who was not a liberal arts major in college. Time’s list is alphabetical, so I decided to read through in a random order, and I plan to write a short reflection on each novel.
The Confessions of Nat Turner is a historical fiction reconstruction of Nat Turner’s life and the rebellion he led in Virginia prior to the Civil War. The book begins with a final reading of Nat Turner’s confession prepared by his lawyer Thomas Grey but quickly moves into a flashback which walks through the life of Nat as a young slave who is taught to read and occupies a world between his white masters and the slaves who work in the fields. Nat Turner is briefly promised a path to freedom by Samuel Turner, his master at the time who educated and saw him apprenticed as a carpenter, but Turner is unable to fulfill this promise when his fortunes fail. Nat is still promised a path to freedom when he is given to Reverend Eppes, but Eppes is far from a paragon of holiness and Nat finds himself serving not only Eppes but his entire congregation. Nat finally ends up as the slave of a hardworking and honest owner named Travis who allows Nat to utilize his skills, but Nat also begins to have visions which lead him to believe he is a prophet called to lead the black people in revolt. Nat gathers a group of loyal subordinate leaders around him and plans his revolt which occurs in August 1831.
The revolt never reaches its ultimate objective for several reasons. Just as the revolt is beginning an unruly and violent slave named Will requests to join but refuses to maintain the ideals Nat Turner established of not getting drunk or raping white women. Nat is also unable to kill the people he is asking his followers to kill and that leads to conflict over his leadership, particularly by those following the violent Will, and eventually he does kill the one white person he hoped would not be present. Finally, they anticipated the slaves from the surrounding plantations joining their revolt, but some fought with their masters against the revolt and many who did join quickly became drunk and were unreliable fighters.
William Styron’s book is thought provoking, although it was hard for me to view Nat Turner as a heroic figure. I struggled with the bloodthirsty reading of the prophets which is very different than my own reading of them. Nat was given opportunities and education that few slaves could ever imagine and although his life did have betrayals and abuses, his experiences were far less abusive than many of his fellow slaves. I do think William Styron did a good job of portraying the experience of a black slave and some of the ways they had to carefully navigate their interactions with white people.
King David, the King of Israel by Gerard van Honthorst
Psalm 132
A Song of Ascents.
1O LORD, remember in David’s favor all the hardships he endured; 2how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 3“I will not enter my house or get into my bed; 4I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. 7“Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.”
8Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. 9Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy. 10For your servant David’s sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. 12If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne.”
13For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation: 14“This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it. 15I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread. 16Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy. 17There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one. 18His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam.”
This thirteenth song of ascent is significantly longer than the other fourteen songs in this collection and is the only song to link both Zion and the Davidic line together. Both the LORD and David in this psalm are given a dwelling place as the events of 2 Samuel 6-7 are reimagined in poetic form. The first half of the psalm references the return of the ark of the covenant from Kiriath-jearim to the tent David established for it in Jerusalem and David’s desire to build a permanent home for God’s presence (2 Samuel 6:1-7:3). The second half of the psalm remembers response of the LORD to David through the prophet Nathan, promising to establish a house (lineage) for David (2 Samuel 7: 4-29). This song of ascents reminds the pilgrims of how Jerusalem became Zion, the dwelling of the LORD, and the house of David.
The psalm begins by asking the LORD to remember David and the hardships he endured. Although many of the events of the psalm reflect a particular moment early in David’s reign there is also the sense that the hardships may involve the hardships that have come upon the line of David. The language of ‘remember’ and ‘hardships’ echoes the end of Psalm 89, another royal psalm that contrasts the lofty promises of the beginning of the Davidic line with the later reality of the line seeming to be a dead stump.[1] The line in verse seventeen where God causes a horn to sprout for David may also indicate that the monarchy has ceased to exist and the rising of a horn, a symbol of power and vitality, is “the restoration of something that has been destroyed” as in Ezekiel 29:21 (NIB IV: 1212). Yet, whether the pilgrim is entering the city of David where the line of David still has its throne, or a city without a Davidic king, the speaker is reminded of the original David who brought the ark of the covenant, and by extension the symbolic presence of God, into Jerusalem.
In 2 Samuel when David becomes king over all of Israel one of his first actions is to conquer Jerusalem and make it the seat of his power. Shortly after this he moves to bring the ark of the covenant from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem. Ephrathah is the region around Bethlehem where David’s family comes from and Jaar is likely Kiriath-jearim where the ark has rested since its return by the Philistines. In 1 Samuel 4 the Ark of God is captured by the Philistines, but wherever the ark rests among the Philistines it brings them affliction. The Philistines eventually return the ark to Israel at Beth-shemesh and then shortly move it to Kiriath-jearim during the early years of Samuel serving as judge of Israel.[2] David has brought the ark of the covenant to a tent in his new capital city and desires to build a house for the Mighty One of Jacob.[3] David has created a temporary space where the LORD can dwell among the people and desires to create a permanent space, a task that will fall to his son Solomon.
A continual theme of the scriptures is God’s desire to dwell among God’s people and the tabernacle, the ark, and later the temple are all dwelling places for the presence of God to rest among the people. A place where the priests and the people can orient their sacrifice, worship, and praise. Zion as a city becomes the place where the faithful ones can come to seek God’s presence and the stability provided by the kings of David’s line who are charged with providing a place of security for both the people and the house of God.
In verse eleven the LORD becomes the actor and in response to David’s actions provides a line for David. The LORD is now the one who chose Zion and chooses to dwell in the midst of the people there providing both provision and protection. Yet for the promise of a son of David remaining on the throne in Jerusalem is contingent upon their obedience to the covenant and decrees. The hope of both Jerusalem and the line of David is the presence of God among them. As the pilgrims enter the city of God, they can remember the hopes of the past and the promise of God’s presence.
In 2 Chronicles 6: 41-42 as Solomon prays over the temple he closes with verses eight through ten of this psalm. Solomon and the kings who followed after him would often fail to keep the covenant and the decrees of God and even the temple would later be polluted by practices and images to other gods, but throughout the scriptures is the image of the God who desires to dwell among the people as well as the desire for peace and security provided by a faithful ruler. Pilgrims across the generations have come to places where God’s presence was promised to dwell in order to worship, praise, and offer their gifts to God and be recalled to the way of life God calls the faithful to practice.
[3] An early epithet for the God of Israel which appears initially Genesis 49:24 during Jacob’s blessing of Joseph. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 935)
Statue of a mother with children at the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa. Photo by Alessandro Giudice CC by SA 4.0
Psalm 131
A Psalm of Ascents. Of David.
1O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. 3O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time on and forevermore.
This short psalm is striking for its central metaphor where the faithful one is a dependent child and LORD is the mother who is the safe and comforting place the child goes to. Jesus will later tell his disciples
Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.Matthew 18: 3-5
Humility plays a central role in both the posture of the psalmist and the posture that Jesus is encouraging in his disciples. The hearers are encouraged to have, “Utter trust in and childlike dependence on God for life and the future.” (NIB IV: 1209) The first verse points to the humble and childlike stance of the psalmist, while the second verse introduces the central metaphor of the childlike speaker and the mothering God who comforts and quiets the speaker’s being, and the third verse expands this posture to Israel whose hope is in the nurturing presence of God.
The heart in Hebrew thought is not the seat of emotion but the seat of will and direction, so the heart not being lifted up is not about being in an exalted emotional state but instead the inner intention of the psalmist is to remain in one’s proper state. The eyes are the outward facing representation of this stance, and they are also not raised too high. The psalmist focuses on the simple things and rather than concentrate their will and striving on great and marvelous things, they rest in their dependence on God. The triple negative of the first verse demonstrates verbally the stance of humility the psalmist has towards God and the world. If this psalm comes from David, as its attribution indicates, it paints the picture of a king who understands their limits and who places honor where it belongs. The king becomes the child needing to be quieted by the nurturing mother God.
The use of feminine imagery for God is relatively rare in the bible, but it does occur. Isaiah uses a similar image of a mother and a nursing child:
Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will never forget you. Isaiah 49: 15
The psalmist has been calmed and quieted in their innermost being. The Hebrew nephesh, rendered soul by the NRSVue, is the most essential part of life and the self but it does not have the sense of soul that is separate from the body and continues beyond life.[1] The Hebrew gamal translated by the NRSVue as weaned can mean either ‘sated’ or ‘weaned.’ If the word is translated ‘sated’, the image of the child is that of an infant who is relaxing after feeding where the hands and legs relax and the child may fall asleep on the mother’s breast or look up at their mother with a satisfied look. If the word is translated ‘weaned,’ as most translations do, the child is coming to the mother for comfort, nurturing, and a loving embrace instead of food. Normally in the bible the context indicates that gamal be translated as a weaned child but here the context allows for either interpretation. With the theme of humility, I like the translation of ‘sated’ with a completely dependent infant on the mother for nutrition, care, and love but ultimately either translation serves the metaphor.
The psalm concludes with the expansion to the people of Israel. The declaration for Israel to hope in the LORD echoes the identical declaration in Psalm 130:5 linking the two psalms together in their conclusions. The God who provides rescue from the desperate situation is the same God who quiets the inner being of humble on like a mother comforts her child. In de Profundis (Psalm 130) the petitioner waits on the LORD more than one who waits for morning, but in Psalm 131 the comforted child can be at peace in the present moment and know that their hope for the future is in the steady, comforting mother-like love of God which calms and quiets them both in the present and forevermore.
[1] The Greek philosophical idea of soul, which many Christians assume is the biblical idea, where the soul is imprisoned in the body and is liberated at death is not the perspective of the Old or New Testament. This enters Christian thought through theologians in the church influenced by Neo-Platonic philosophy (like Augustine).
The message that James wants to impart to his readers is designed to be clear and practical. Yet, I always find myself amazed at what I discover in these reflections when I walk through a portion of scriptures, the connections that get made with other portions of the text, the ways in which there is depth and richness that a casual reader may miss. James, like most of the New Testament letters not attributed to Paul, were barely touched upon in my studies in seminary, nor have they been a part of my regular preaching or study. I was amazed at the ways the letter of James connects with the law, the prophets, wisdom literature, and the words of Jesus as he attempts to shape the faithful practice of his Jewish Christian audience.
Prior to coming to this reflection on James has been a series of reflections on a significant portion of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament which have nurtured a love within me for the depth and riches of law, the history, the prophetic witness, and the wisdom tradition which all attempt to speak to the experience of the people of Israel with their God. When I worked through the Gospel of Matthew and Revelation several years ago, those reflections were shaped by the wisdom accumulated through those journeys, and now the same is true of James. I am thankful for both my own heightened awareness of the language of the scripture that the early Christians read but also for the patient work of scholars who dedicate their lives to the study of specific books. I was impressed by the richness that I had previously overlooked in James’s short letter to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora. Part of the paradox of scripture is that it can be both clear and practical and at the same time deep and profound.
James is attempting to cultivate in his hearers an authentic and living faith that is demonstrated through practices of compassion and mercy. Sometimes James can appear as judgmental to a casual reader, but fundamental to the witness of James is mercy. James does have some challenging words for our context, and his language is often like that of an Old Testament prophet, but sometimes the challenging words are the ones we need to wrestle with the most. This is a short letter, but it challenged me, it was like doing a steeper climb but for a shorter duration than my experience of some other books. This may be because I am more of a New Testament scholar than a Hebrew bible scholar, but I think it is also due to the wide number of topics James covers in this short letter. I am thankful for the witness of James and the way in which his attempts to cultivate a living faith in the communities he is writing to in his time continue to challenge us to an authentic living faith two millennia later.
Sign of the Rose 