Psalms
(The Bible)
In Psalm 46, the writer crows in the assurance of a hiding place for himself and for those who are his. Surprisingly, what he appears to seek protection from is the wrath of nature. Hear him, ' Therefore, will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and...........' It must be recalled that before the fall of man, there was no record of any conflict between man and nature.
The first hint we had that there might eventually be a massive confrontation between nature and man was immediately after the fall when the Creator put an enmity between the seed of the woman and that of the serpent. In addition, God cursed the ground on account of Adam's disobedience, an action He repeated after the murder of Abel. Despite the fact that man was set over nature, it is hardly surprising therefore that nature appears set to spectacularly rebel against man just as man rebelled against God. With the fall, man had lost control making a mess of his dominion mandate. Otherwise how do we explain the spate of natural disasters that have bedevilled man since his fall. Despite everything that man has done to tame it, it seems nature has refused to play ball. This rebellion seems to continue as man still experiences all sorts of things like flooding, earthquakes and several other disasters.
The psalmist is not unaware of all these things and he knows that the godly man needs to be protected not only from the raging heathen but from nature itself. He infers that one must be able to internalise the fact that only God can provide the perfect refuge for His people. He goes on to talk longingly of another place, a city founded and inhabited by God. According to him, this is no other place than the presence of God where there is gladness forever. As he dwells in the presence of the Lord, he believes he belongs to this city. He believes he is safe no matter what happens be they the overturning of kingdoms or the eruption of the anger of the ungodly.
Finally, he invites us to see the doings of the Lord who will eventually have the last laugh as He brings everything under His control.
Resumos Relacionados
- Psalms
- Genesis
- Nature Education
- Othello
- Prasanthi Thoughts
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