Sunday thoughts for 9/11/2005

Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

   

¹ I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
         From whence comes my help?
    ² My help comes from the LORD,
         Who made heaven and earth. 

   

³ He will not allow your foot to be moved;
         He who keeps you will not slumber.
    ⁴ Behold, He who keeps Israel
         Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 

   

⁵ The LORD is your keeper;
         The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
    ⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
         Nor the moon by night. 

   

⁷ The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
         He shall preserve your soul.
    ⁸ The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
         From this time forth, and even forevermore.

On this Sunday, four years after the tragic crime committed against America, I am reminded that there is One who is bigger than the false god the terrorists worshipped.

On this Sunday, two weeks after the terrible hurricane that ripped through the Gulf Coast, I am reminded the the true God of the Universe has everything in His control.

On this Sunday, looking back on such sorrow and pain and death, I know that my Redeemer has conquered death and offers life to all who love Him. He offers to walk beside, to protect and cherish, and to welcome home those who love His appearing. I know that He is good and loving, kind and patient, and as the prophet Isaiah proclaimed:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

   

  “ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; 
      The whole earth is full of His glory!”

How can I say this? How, after acknowledging the horrific events I just did,  can I say that God is good or kind?

I know that He created a perfect world. I know that we, in our parents Adam and Eve, sinned against Him in this perfect world. I know that He had every right - indeed the duty - to wipe them out and start over.

But He didn't.

Instead, He permitted us to live with the consequences of breaking His Law, from that day to this. However He hasn't left us there: the semi-culmination of history was when He sacrificed His own Son to pay for all our lawlessness, our wickedness, our hatred of Him.

I know He loves me that much. I know He loves you that much.

And so, before I start asking Him how He could permit this, I will meditate on how He answered Job out of the whirlwind:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

     “Who is this who darkens counsel
      By words without knowledge?

    Now prepare yourself like a man;
      I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

    “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
      Tell Me, if you have understanding.

     Who determined its measurements?
      Surely you know! 
      Or who stretched the line upon it?

    To what were its foundations fastened?
      Or who laid its cornerstone,

    When the morning stars sang together,
      And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

    “Or who shut in the sea with doors,
      When it burst forth and issued from the womb;

    When I made the clouds its garment,
      And thick darkness its swaddling band;

      When I fixed My limit for it,
      And set bars and doors;

      When I said,
      ‘This far you may come, but no farther, 
      And here your proud waves must stop!’

      “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
      And caused the dawn to know its place,

      That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
      And the wicked be shaken out of it?

      It takes on form like clay under a seal,
      And stands out like a garment.

      From the wicked their light is withheld,
      And the upraised arm is broken.

      “Have you entered the springs of the sea?
      Or have you walked in search of the depths?

      Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
      Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?

      Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
      Tell Me, if you know all this.

     “ Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
      And darkness, where is its place,

      That you may take it to its territory,
      That you may know the paths to its home?

      Do you know it, because you were born then,
      Or because the number of your days is great?

      “Have you entered the treasury of snow,
      Or have you seen the treasury of hail,

       Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
      For the day of battle and war?

      By what way is light diffused,
      Or the east wind scattered over the earth?

      “Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water,
      Or a path for the thunderbolt,

      To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one,
      A wilderness in which there is no man;

      To satisfy the desolate waste,
      And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?

      Has the rain a father?
      Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

      From whose womb comes the ice?
      And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?

      The waters harden like stone,
      And the surface of the deep is frozen.

      “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
      Or loose the belt of Orion?

      Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
      Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?

      Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
      Can you set their dominion over the earth?

      “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
      That an abundance of water may cover you?

      Can you send out lightnings, that they may go,
      And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?

      Who has put wisdom in the mind?
      Or who has given understanding to the heart?

      Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
      Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

      When the dust hardens in clumps,
      And the clods cling together?

      “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
      Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

      When they crouch in their dens,
      Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?

      Who provides food for the raven,
      When its young ones cry to God, 
      And wander about for lack of food?

Until I can answer these questions, as well as the ones which follow, I will follow Job's example:

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

     “I know that You can do everything,
      And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

    You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
      Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, 
      Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

      Listen, please, and let me speak;
      You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’

    “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
      But now my eye sees You.

      Therefore I abhor myself,
      And repent in dust and ashes.”   

Blessed be the Name of the Lord, blessed be His Word. Amen.