Psalm 107 pt. 4/4
He stilled the storm to a whisper,
and the waves of the sea were hushed. They rejoiced because of the calm, and he led them to the heaven they desired. Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, his wonders for the children of men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the meeting of the elders. He changes rivers into the desert, springs of water into thirsty ground fruitful land into a salty waste, for the wickedness of those who live there. He changes deserts into pools of water, thirsty ground into springs of water. There he settles the hungry, and they establish a city to dwell in. They sow fields and plant their vines, which yield an abundant harvest. He blesses them, they grow in numbers. He does not let their cattle decrease. He pours contempt upon princes makes them wander in trackless wastes. They are diminished and brought low by oppression, evil, and sorrow. But he raises the needy from distress; makes families numerous as a flock. The upright see it and rejoice, while all the wicked close their mouths. Should not one who is wise recall these things, and understand the merciful deeds of the Lord? Let them thank the Lord for his mercy his wonders for the children of men. |
Let us take a moment to recount some of these wonders for the children of men:
To Noah He sent a dove with an olive branch in its mouth, To Abraham he visited and promised Sarah would give birth in her old age, Moses walked on dry ground ...and Joshua crossed the Jordan with water to his left and to his right, Elisah caught the fallen cloak of his master, The Magi were given the light of a Morning Star, To Simon, Andrew and John He appeared Transfigured, speaking with Moses and Elijah about all that was to come, And as the disciples gathered, the Spirit descended upon them like tongues of fire. He changes rivers into the desert, springs of water into thirsty ground fruitful land into a salty waste, It is easy to let some of these images take over our reading of the Psalm. Even after recounting just a few of His mercies and wonders for the children of men, when we hear of God changing flowing rivers into dry desert land, once flowing springs of cool water into thirsty ground, and fertile farmlands into empty wastes it can become discomforting to think of such a vengeful and spiteful God who terrorizes and withers those who do not obey His commands and laws. This is, after all, the God of the Old Testament that most of us have heard about. The God of Ezekiel who scatters the fields with dry bones (Ez 37:1-2); the God who David calls upon to “Turn back the evil upon my foes; in your faithfulness, destroy them.” (Ps 54:7); pours His wrath through the mouth of Ezekiel (Ez 6:10); who commanded Moses and Joshua to slaughter every inhabit of the land He was giving them, that “you shall save alive nothing that breathes” (Dt 20:16-18); the God to whom the Psalmist also sings: “O daughter Babylon, destroyer, blessed whoever repays you the payment you paid to us! Blessed whoever grasps and shatters your children on the rock!” (Ps. 137:8-9). We do not want to think about these images, of a God filled with such anger and hatred of even the innocent, and with good cause. But is this God who the Psalmist is singing about? There is something that strikes me very hard when I hear these words: He changes rivers into desert, springs of water into thirsty ground. He changes springs of water into something thirsty. This means that it was not thirsty before. A spring of water, yes it’s a good thing and often used as an image for the righteous so that our instinct may be to focus on that part of the image, of a God taking the righteous and those He has blessed and turning them into a parched land. But the land is now thirsty. We cannot over emphasize the importance of this word here, even and especially in the presence of rivers that have been changed into desert, and the fruitful land that has been turned into a salty waste. Who among the righteous is perfect? Who among the springs and rivers and fertile fields of the earth has looked upon the perfection of God and survived? Who has been deemed worthy of seeing His face? Even Moses was only allowed to see His back. And the Son tells us, “No one has seen the Father except the Son” (Jn 6:46, 1:18) and “No one knows the Father except the Son” (Mt 11:27). There is not one among us who has reached the heights of perfection. The springs of water made thirsty can also mean only that they were no longer thirsty, they had been quenched and satisfied within themselves, no longer seeking or pursuing the one that they love. Would these springs have asked, “Lord, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty,” as the Samaritan woman who thirsted (Jn 4:15). It is not God’s vengeance and hatred that dries up the riverbeds or turns fertile land into barren fields of salt. What did the Psalmist sing immediately before? Let them thank the Lord for his mercy. his wonders for the children of men. It is the Mercy and Love of God that commands and caresses the soul. That tender touch of our Beloved that at the same time soothes and pangs us. Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn, Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the Beloved! Upon my flowery breast, Kept wholly for himself alone, There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him, And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze. The breeze blew from the turret As I parted his locks; With his gentle hand he wounded my neck And caused all me senses to be suspended. His is the touch of the One who cares enough to touch us with His very fingers and hold nothing of Himself from us. It is His Mercy and His Love that the wicked cannot endure, not from judgment and condemnation; but as the darkness can not endure the light. “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:3c-5). I think that here, many of us want to imagine the darkest vision that we can comprehend, a darkness that is black and palpable, possibly a sphere or pool of roiling liquid, hovering in the middle of nothingness, protruding outward to engulf anything, or anyone who might approach; perhaps we can also see shapes and the forms of hands and faces pressing from the inside, captured without any chance of escape. Or maybe we imagine a darkness that is a little more real, like the black-hole spinning at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. A darkness so dense that even waves of light cannot escape and so massive that it devours stars and planets like they are nothing more than a mid-day snack. Whatever we imagine this darkness to be, when it sees the Light that it cannot overcome, which it cannot endure, I think that many of us might also imagine sounds of wailing and shrieking as the darkness shrinks away, clawing and letting out one last shrill cry before if winks out of existence. The darkness cannot endure the light, but not in this way. The darkness is not an enemy to be extinguished; darkness does not even exist, but only as a place that has not seen the Light. That the darkness cannot endure the light means that that the light will come to all corners of creation; that there will be nowhere that the light does not shine; from the east and west, the north and the south, no darkness will endure but only the Beloved who will cover all and who will touch all. This is the same as it will be for the wicked, who are the rivers that have turned into desert, the fig tree that bears no fruit (Mk 11:12-14), the salt which has lost its flavor (Lk 14:34; Mt 5:13), the water that does not quench (cf. Jn 4:10-17), the wilderness that has become trackless, slaves subject to a king, those who have descended into caves and pits. Of which of these can endure the touch of the Lord? Who can be touched by such Grace and remain barren? Could Sarah in her old age, or Mary who had known no man? What tree can receive the Light of the World and remain dead? But that the wicked cannot endure is like saying that by the touch of the Lord the sick will be made whole, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk and the dead will rise that they may have life again. If Lazarus came out of death at the sound of the Lord’s Word, can anything bear the touch of the Creator and remain dead? And what do we make of the pain they feel, that we feel when He cares to touch us so unhesitatingly, even our ugly, leprous and diseased parts? It is a healing pain, of life returning, not of judgment and torture at the hands of a hateful God: it is our infirmities he took and our disease that he bore. (Mt. 8:17). Do we not remember what he also told the prophet, “Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?” (Ez 18:23) And so, the Psalmist tells us: He pours contempt upon princes makes them wander in trackless wastes. They are diminished and brought low by oppression, evil, and sorrow. The princes we have already spoken about and are those who seek power and wealth. After leading such a life for so long they can not longer find their way. Caught in the pursuit of gaining material goods, of advancing in career and worldly success they have become lost in the wasteland and on their own cannot find their way back to God. They are diminished and brought low by oppression, evil, and sorrow. Notice that it is not the Lord who has brought them to their depths. He has not extended His hand to single them out, but the work and fruit of their own endeavors: by oppression, evil, and sorrow. But he raises the needy from distress; makes families numerous as a flock. The upright see it and rejoice, while all the wicked close their mouths. Should not one who is wise recall these things, and understand the merciful deeds of the Lord? Recall those that cried out to the Lord in their need, and he rescued them from their distress. All who are in need and cry out are raised and their families made abundant. It does not pass judgment according to worthiness, or respond with an answer of blame. That we are concerned about those who had been diminished and brought low by oppression, evil, and sorrow, does not mean that the Lord leaves them in darkness and insecure. He does not say, “You have descended by the work of your own hands, so by toil and the sweat of your brow you must raise yourself.” But it is by toil and sweat that He humbles us and by the storm winds raises up to the highest heavens, that all who cry out to the Lord in their need are rescued from their distress. The upright see it and rejoice, while all the wicked close their mouths. The upright, who in the beginning gave thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endures forever. Who are the angels and the saints who have gone before us; who have seen his wonders for the children of men; seen how he blesses them, that they grow in numbers. He does not let their cattle decrease, that is, the good that we accomplish, the blessings that have been bestowed upon our souls, he will not decrease that which has become good in us, while all the wicked close their mouths as we ascend the ladder in secret and secure, as we climb, are drawn and raised higher by the Spirit, those parts within us that we would call wicked, the infirmities that may have once screamed in pain, become silent because they have seen the Light, they have seen the promise that has already been fulfilled, and the darkness that cannot endure. The upright see it and rejoice, while all the wicked close their mouths. Should not one who is wise recall these things, and understand the merciful deeds of the Lord? Think about these angels and saints in heaven and the great promise that the Psalm is revealing to us. The upright see us, in our daily struggles, in our desires, in our stumbles, our difficulties and failures, or successes and commitment to moving forward. They look down and see the work of the soul and they rejoice. Should not one who is wise recall these things, and understand the merciful deeds of the Lord? His mercy endures forever and the redeemed have already been redeemed. We have already been redeemed through the blood of the one hanging on the cross. Redemption is ours, not to gain or to wait for and receive on some future day, of a day and hour that not even the Son knows (Mk 13:32); it is the promise that we have already received, already touched by His loving hand. So that we may gaze up to heaven, to Thrones and Dominions, to the Seraphim and Cherubim, to the many winged and multitudes of Saints who stand before the throne, praying for us, interceding for us: The upright see it and rejoice, The incense wafting high, beyond our vision and foresight: The upright see it and rejoice, Our hope, our struggles, our sufferings and our faith--an aroma that is fragrant and pleasing to the Lord: The upright see it and rejoice! |