READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART XXXVI
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Psalm 48
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Psalm 48 focuses on God, who protects Jerusalem. The text refers also to international conflicts.
Psalm 48 was a text which pilgrims to Jerusalem recited in antiquity.
The historical problem is obvious: Powers have destroyed Jerusalem more than once. So, according to one interpretation, divine protection of the city has failed numerous times.
A deeper reading of the text reveals a different interpretation, though. Psalm 48 uses metaphors effectively. Jerusalem is not just Jerusalem; it represents the reign of God in all times and places. Jerusalem symbolizes the sovereignty of God. No human power can thwart divine sovereignty. That is hopeful.
Those devout Jews who prayed Psalm 48 after the termination of the Babylonian Exile understood that Jerusalem was not indestructible. So did those who prayed this text after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Neither was the psalmist naïve.
The psalmists knew…and we still know that we live in a time and space as part of a world that is fragile and troubled, terrified, and terrifying. Yet, in the midst of it all, we join the psalmist in proclaiming a new reality: God rules the world! What’s more, we claim to live by that reality above all others. For the psalmist, the vision of Jerusalem, the city of God, reshaped time and space….
–J. Clinton McCann, Jr., in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 4 (1996), 874
Realized eschatology holds that the Kingdom of God does not come; it is. We mere mortals live in linear time; God does not. So, the reality of the Kingdom of God may seem to be partial or delayed, from a human perspective. Certain events, in linear time, make the reality of the Kingdom of God more evident than it had seemed.
Realized eschatology may be sound theology, but it may also provide little comfort for people in war zones and other unpleasant circumstances. I concede that point readily. However, I return to the matter of hope, related to the sovereignty of God. If we lack hope, we may be unable to move forward spiritually. If we lack hope, we may be unable to continue living. If we lack hope, we may have no standard by which to establish an ideal. If we lack hope, we may surrender to the darkness.
May we, in God, maintain hope.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 10, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE GOOD, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF MILAN
THE FEAST OF ALLEN WILLIAM CHATFIELD, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF LOUISE CECILIA FLEMING, AFRICAN-AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY AND PHYSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA DOLORES RODRIGUEZ SOPEÑA Y ORTEGA, FOUNDER OF THE CENTERS OF INSTRUCTION, THE ASSOCIATION OF THE SOLIDALITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY, THE LADIES OF THE CATECHETICAL INSTITUTE, THE ASSOCIATION OF THE APOSTOLIC LAYMEN/THE SOPEÑA LAY MOVEMENT, THE WORKS OF THE DOCTRINES/THE CENTER FOR THE WORKERS, AND THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL WORK SOPEÑA/THE SOPEÑA CATECHETICAL INSTITUTE
THE FEAST OF W. SIBLEY TOWNER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM GAY BALLANTINE, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
Leave a Reply