READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART VIII
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Psalms 8, 19, and 104
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Psalms, 8, 19, and 104 share the theme of God in creation. God, who provides for the creatures, has made human beings little lower than the elohim, literally. And divine glory permeates the created order. Human beings have received the responsibility of exercising stewardship of nature.
We have failed, obviously. We have mistaken stewardship for ownership and the license for pollution and exploitation, usually in the name of short-term profits.
God delights in nature. Psalm 104 speaks of
Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
We should also delight in nature.
The created order depends entirely on God. Human beings, as part of the created order, depend entirely upon God. Many of us labor under the delusion of rugged independence, though. Biblically, this is the essence of wickedness. When we imagine that we must and can rely on ourselves, the ends may seem to justify the means.
Elohim is an interesting word. It can mean “God” or “gods.” Elohim is plural. Yet, in Hebrew, it usually functions as singular. Elohim is a linguistic fossil of Hebrew polytheism. And, in Psalm 8, many translators render elohim as “the angels.” TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures translates elohim as “divine” in Psalm 8. Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation is literal; people are
a little lower than the gods.
When we recall Genesis 1, we may remember that people bear the image of God. Tselem is literally “idol,” not “image.” In other words, we meet God in human beings. We may also remember that God had pronounced human beings “very good” and other creations “good.” So, we are little less than divine.
The myth of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) condemns the collective arrogance that results from forgetting our place–higher than other animals and lower that God. We may vainly imagine ourselves to be all that and a bag of potato chips. Yet God, poetically, still has to come down and squint to see the projects of which we are so proud. Hubris goes before the fall. And, historically, the myth is a way of dividing the Mesopotamian empires that had menaced Israel and Judah.
When we accept that we all stand together before God, we can better treasure nature and each other. May we do so. May we transform our planet and our societies for the better.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 15, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE NINETEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF THOMAS BENSON POLLOCK, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF FRED D. GEALY, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF HENRY FOTHERGILL CHORLEY, ENGLISH NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT, AND LITERARY AND MUSIC CRITIC
THE FEAST OF JOHN HORDEN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MOOSENEE
THE FEAST OF RALPH WARDLAW, SCOTTISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCDONALD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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