Obviously, Koreans are getting a lot of attention from PSY’s video about Gangnam Style, his parody of materialism, status, and shallowness. It’s funny. It’s preposterous. It’s entertaining. But this morning, I want to talk about “Yonggwan Style.” If I haven’t abused the Korean too much for the sake of a pun, I’m talking about Glory with a capital “G,” Glory that exists in God’s Light.
Of course, the Glory that exists in God’s Light isn’t surface glitter that lasts for a little while and then, you have to pick up the litter after the party. And the Glory that exists in God’s Light isn’t a “see and be seen” relationship that may look glamorous on the eyes, but doesn’t comfort you when you need somebody real. The Glory that exists in God’s Light is a GLORY, a power, influence, and resource, that provides all we need to be all that we can be. The Glory that exists in God’s Light is a GLORY that makes life worth living because it is lived in partnership with God of ALL. And the Glory that exists in God’s Light doesn’t depend on sound and special effects to get our attention. Oh, sometimes God uses that and God’s special effects are better than anyone’s, but God doesn’t have to use that.
In fact, today’s passage begins with a strange combination—silence and praise. The song begins with silence and ends with a shout. Frankly, it reminds me that we need some of both in worship in order to remember all that God’s Glory is. I’m going to read today’s text in five parts and comment on each (though the first verse will be the longest discussion), and I will hope that God will help us learn more about our relationship with God as we do so. Again, this morning, I’ll be reading from my translation from the Hebrew text, so it may read slightly different from your favorite translation.
As per our tradition, here is Pastor Johnny’s Translation of Psalm 65:1-13 from the Hebrew (Hebrew numbers in []).
Title [1] For the Leader, a Psalm Appropriate for David, a Song
1 [2] Before You is dumbstruck awe, praise, O God, in Zion
And before You, a vow will be completed.
2 [3] All flesh will come to You, the One Who Hears Prayer.
3 [4] The things of iniquity overwhelm me;
Our transgressions, YOU will cover [atone] them.
At first, I didn’t get it. The initial verse of this song or stanza of this poem begins with the word for silence, resting, or ceasing to do something just before it speaks of praise on the temple hill of Jerusalem, just before it speaks of offering a sacrifice. I can just imagine the crowds in the temple watching the preparation, the hymns being sung, the prayers lifted aloud simultaneously, and even the bleating, cooing, and mooing of the animals gathered in the courtyard prior to the offering of sacrifices. So, what is it with this word for silence? Why is it so important for worship? Is it merely a term for “waiting” as it is translated in so many translations? [ASV, KJV, implied in Holman, implied in New Century, NIV, NKJV, implied in NRSV, implied in RSV] I don’t think so. I think it is more than waiting, although “anticipation” is part of it.
We speak of the “calm before the storm.” There was a trope in old western and army movies where one of the characters would say, “It sure is quiet out there tonight.” Then, the wise old, grizzled cowboy hero or veteran would reply, “Yeah, too quiet!” You knew they were in for it. They needed to anticipate a sneak attack. We sit in partially lit theaters awaiting the start of a theatrical or musical production and a rumbling murmur sounds like the drone of giant bees hiving in the audience. Then, the lights blink, the audience decibel level drops and people’s eyes turn toward the stage. Any residual sound is hushed, reverential. Suddenly, there is anticipation. The main event is about to occur. The curtain is about to rise.
It reminds me of a beautiful hymn by Ralph Vaughn Williams, the late British composer. In “For All The Saints,” as well as the version based on Philippians 2:5-11 (“All Praise to Thee”), the organist plays an introduction, the music director conducts the upbeat, and everyone is ready to sing on the downbeat. There is just one problem. The downbeat is a REST for the singers while the organ plays one low note. You’re already to sing, but you have to pause. Then, the verse seems so much more majestic. The anticipation, the musical version of “Wait for it!” leads us into a deeper experience— more awareness of what is going on. I believe it is necessary in worship to pause long enough to make room for an awareness of God.
I translated this idea of silence as “dumbstruck awe.” As I struggled with this initial verse, I became aware that there need to be times in the human experience where we just can’t describe what we’re experiencing. Oh, sure, we try, but part of the most awesome experience is that it is so far beyond our ordinary experience that we just can’t describe it. The psalmist, the poet in Psalm 65, recognized that encountering God required some kind of experience of NOT being able to describe it before we could TRY to describe it in our songs and prayers. So, he begins with silence and moves to praise and sacrifice in this opening idea. And speaking of sacrifice, the paying of vows, let’s just agree that part of worship requires “follow-through.” You can make all the plans and promises in the world, you can have all the great ideas and inspirations in the universe, but if you don’t do something about your encounter with God when you get home, to school, to work, or to play, it doesn’t mean anything.
The next thing I want you to see is the psalmist’s affirmation that God HEARS prayer. Some people think that God has so pre-determined the universe and history that prayer only makes a difference within us. Others think that God focuses so much on the big picture items that God doesn’t drill down to our petty needs. I’m going to confess to one of those “guilty little pleasures” in order to try to make this point. I have a fondness for Asian dramas—even though they always have more than one potential romantic triangle, goofy sound effects and super-sappy soundtracks that insult the audience by assuming we don’t know what’s really going on, the inevitable loved one with cancer about mid-season, the redeemable bad guy or girl, and the rush to the wedding in the last part of the last episode. Yes, they are predictable, but for some reason, I enjoy watching them.
I confess that in order to give you two quick illustrations. Over the last month and a half, I watched the Taiwanese drama, Office Girls. In that series, there is a villain who is packaged like a K-pop starlet. She steals, she leaks secrets from her company, she frames the male protagonist to seem like he’s having an affair, she manipulates office gossip, and, of course, she lies continuously. Yet, for some reason, the writers of the story see fit to set up the unmasking of her villainy by demonstrating that the CEO had become aware of at least part of what she was doing and that she didn’t even realize how involved the CEO had been in her life to that point. She had been an orphan, but the CEO had anonymously given scholarships to many orphans over the years and she was one of them. But, when the big moment comes for her to share part of her motivation, part of what had turned her into a “survivor” who was morally unscrupulous, she shared this marvelous background story of an alcoholic, gambling addict father who beat her mother so that she was in a perpetual coma and a lonely life in an orphanage. She said that she truly hated the parent-teacher meetings at school because she knew that no one would go to hear how she was doing—no one cared. She cried, she repented (praying in a church before a cross, no less), she confessed, and she changed her life—all in that final episode, of course. But here’s the irony—someone HAD been watching her, someone HAD heard, and someone DID care. She just wasn’t aware and open to it.
That’s why we need to see God as “The ONE Who Hears” in worship. It would be tragic to throw away our lives as though our interaction with God didn’t matter. It would be tragic to throw away our potential because we didn’t think anyone was involved.
More importantly, there is a tremendous contrast in this portion of the text. The poet states that his/her acts of iniquity, his troublesome deeds, have literally defeated her/him. He/she is overwhelmed by the consequences of her/his own sin. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes face times in my life when it seems like deadlines, problems, mistakes, stress, depression, and circumstances are about to wash over me like a huge wave. The word often translated as “overwhelmed” has the same root used for heroes, victors, and mighty men/warriors in the rest of the Bible. I like that. It says that, as humans, we are outclassed in this battle with sin.
“Wait!” I hear you asking. “Why would you LIKE the idea that we’re outclassed with sin and overwhelmed by it?” I like it because of what comes next in the verse. At the same time I’m overwhelmed, God is making up the difference, covering the cost of my sin, atoning for the sin in my life. I’m not saying that all those things which I listed as overwhelming us are sin, but I can say that our sinful actions and attitudes often bring those waves on top of us. We need a rescue. The emphasis of this verse is on what God, the YOU in the verse, is doing. Ultimately, for those of us in the New Testament Church, it points to what God did in Christ.
An old Scottish preacher, Alexander MacLaren, put it this way: “Despair of self is the mother of confidence in God.” (Expositions of Holy Scripture: Psalms, p.292) We have to realize that we are bankrupt with regard to the problem of sin and our helplessness against it before we can receive the help of God. A major part of worship is this great switcheroo—our helplessness for God’s strength. But it won’t happen as long as we think we can get by on our own. What if the hiker who fell partially down a steep cliff had told to Coast Guard to go away so she/he could take care it by himself/herself? The hiker might have fallen further—even to his/her death. It is just as dangerous for believers to try to function apart from God’s participation in their lives. Without God’s involvement in our lives, there is no forgiveness, no victory!
4 [5] Successful [To be congratulated, Blessed] is the one You choose and You bring near,
He will live in Your courts,
We will be satisfied with the goodness in Your house,
Holy is Your temple.
5 [6] You answer us with marvelous accomplishments, God of our salvation,
Hope of all the ends of the earth and the [most] distant sea.
I’m sure you recognize the similarity with Jesus’ Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. The idea of blessing doesn’t mean something that might happen someday. The idea of blessing is that God is actively accomplishing something in your life. In this stanza, the initial assertion is that success, meaning, well-being, etc. all begin at the point where we have communication with God. Now, some scholars think that the poet is expressing a bit of jealousy here for the full-time priests who were privileged to live in God’s temple. They rightly point out that the verbs “choose” and “bring near” are used in the first few books of the Bible to describe the ordination ceremonies of the professional priests. Yet, that overlooks two salient realities, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.
In the Old Testament, Israel was intended to fulfill a priestly duty to the entire world, to all of the nations. In this part of our passage, we start with the idea of being in the temple and end up spreading God’s salvation and God’s hope to the farthest reaches of land and even the sea which is most distant from Jerusalem. In fact, there is another reference to the end of the earth in the next stanza and even the idea of the east and west under God’s control. In the New Testament, the letter from Peter indicates that we as believers were called to be a holy priesthood. I suggest that this part of the passage is intended to challenge us to be faithful in our worship so that we can become increasingly effective in our daily lives. Only then, can we really expect to impact people with the good news of God’s purpose.
I also want you to recognize that the passage’s movement from temple to ends of earth and distant sea suggests that God isn’t merely interested in church things. Let me borrow a painting by Paul Zerbato to illustrate the way some believers try to balance their relationship with God and with culture. I don’t know if the artist would approve the labels I’m placing, but I’ll ask you to humor me for a few moments.
Some of us try to separate “What I Believe!” from “What I KNOW!” and what we mean by “What I KNOW!” is what can be proven in the four physical dimensions. Some of us try to separate “What I Believe!” from “What I DO!” by rationalizing that times have changed or that we know more about the body, psychology, and human nature now than they did in biblical times. Some of us separate “What I Believe!” from “What I Share!” by trying to make faith simply a private thing. And some of us separate “What I Want!” from “What I Believe!” by acting like God is holding out on us. Some of us separate “What I Feel!” from “What I Believe!” in such a way that it looks like we don’t believe God understands us. But this verse makes it clear that what happens in the temple, what happens in worship, affects everything about the earth—both the stable land and the chaotic, unstable sea. God is Lord of ALL!
6 [7] You construct the mountains with Your strength,
With might belted on!
7 [8] You still the tumultuous seas, the tumultuous waves, and roar belonging to nations.
8 [9] The ones who live at the extremes [lit. end [of the earth]] are awestruck by Your signs,
You cause the egress of the morning [order] and evening [chaos] to exult.
In the next stanza, we have God compared with the gods. Remember, the mountains were considered to be “high places” where other gods could be encountered. Yet, here in our poem, God MAKES those mountains. If other gods are considered to be mighty warriors, here’s our God with power belted onto Him like Batman’s utility belt or maybe Orion’s belt. Our God is the God who can calm the tumultuous seas and, as we noticed earlier, even tame the unruly waves. And, God isn’t merely the God of nature. Our God also comes down human storms when it fits the ultimate good which is God’s purpose.
Some believe that those who live at the extremes of the earth represent not people but the demonic. You know how maps from Ptolemy (2nd century) through medieval times would draw strange creatures to indicate the unknown? We’re familiar with “Here Be Dragons!” but there were other phrases such as: “in these places elephants are born” or “here dog-headed beings are born.” It means that traveling to these extremities was frightening, dangerous and uncertain. But with God, even danger and uncertainty are tamed. Whether these verses were talking about strange and barbarous peoples or supernatural powers, God would get their attention. And, did you know that the words for morning and evening used here can also mean order and chaos? Whether life is settled or uneasy, God wants to help us face it.
9 [10] You visit [for purposes of judgment] the earth and You water it,
You greatly bless it,
The river of God is full of water.
You cause grain to grow [be constructed] BECAUSE that’s the way You constructed it.
10 [11] Drench its furrows, soak its clods,
You soften it with showers, You bless its growth.
The next stanza uses a verb that usually suggests a visit from a powerful ruler to a less powerful ruler or from a ruler to a peasant or vassal. That visit was usually tantamount to a civilian farm getting a visit from an army of either side during the American Civil War. Guess what happened to the farm? If the army was from the same side, the farm supplied the patriotic war effort. If the army was from the opposition, the farm’s goods were confiscated for the purposes of the “right” cause. Either way, the barns and fields (or in some cases, entire towns) were usually stripped and left bare.
But in contradistinction, here is God belted with MIGHT and visiting the earth in order to water it, bless it and cause grain to grow according to God’s purpose. This is interesting because the other peoples in the region believed that Baal, the Canaanite thunder god, brought the rain or that Dagon, the Philistine god, brought fertility. Instead, God brings the rain and causes grain to be constructed, just like God caused the mountains to be constructed. I translated it that way so you’d hear the repetition. But guess what the word used for grain is in this verse? It’s “duhgahnahm” and looks almost like Dagon. The usual word for grain was “bahr.” Do you think the poet was trying to tell us something? Aren’t we supposed to realize that there are many rival methodologies, philosophies, and belief systems out there, but God is the real One who delivers the real goods? I believe so.
And look at the imagery! God provides a river of water—possibly a reference to the river of God that runs out of the temple and blesses the entire land in Ezekiel’s vision or later prophecy. God causes the growth according to God’s own blueprint. God softens the hard clods of the desert soil with refreshing showers and then, actively aids its growth. Do you want your life to mean as much as it possibly can? Make sure you’re depending on God’s plan and power instead of the false rivals.
11 [12] You have crowned the year with Your goodness;
And Your tracks drip with fat.
12 [13] The pastures of the wilderness drip
And the heights encompass themselves with rejoicing.
13 [14] The flocks cover the meadows and the valleys cause themselves to be enveloped in grain,
they shout [triumphantly] for joy. Oh, yes! They sing!
Finally, we get to where you thought I was headed from the beginning. The year is crowned with God’s goodness. Did you know that the name for the New Year in the Jewish calendar is Rosh Hashanah? Did you know it means “Head of the Year?” Isn’t that neat? This verse says that the head of the year is going to be crowned with God’s blessing. Wouldn’t it be great to come to the end of your school year, not matter whether middle school, high school, bachelor’s degree, magisterial level, or doctoral studies and sense that God placed a crown of success, a symbol of meaningful accomplishment on your head? Wouldn’t it be great to come to the end of a project, a period of working for a given company, an era of serving in a certain location, or a time of being promoted and discover that it had all been worthwhile? You see, that’s what God wants for us.
The tracks dipping with fat very likely refer to chariot tracks. Yet, the chariot tracks of this conqueror are not destructive ruts that mark the pathway to ruins and ashes, destruction and defeat. In this case, the tracks from God’s “chariot wheels” drip with the overflow of God’s bounty. Instead of being left with ruin and ruins, the evidence that God has been there is a series of welcome results—flocks and fields full of wealth. The poet cannot resist personifying the valleys and meadows. They shout with a triumphant battle cry—the joy of victory. And they sing! Oh, yes, they SING!
So, what does all of this mean for Thanksgiving? It’s really all tied together. Do you want meaningful results in your life? It all starts with the dumbstruck awe that lets us know who God is and who we are, the awareness that God has plans for us, and the willingness to become part of those plans. Where does thanksgiving come in? What do you think those sacrifices are all about? They are the tangible way of telling God that we are following through with God’s plan for our lives and that we are glad about it.
When God turns the natural and social orders upside-down for us, that great inversion of God’s interaction with us, we need to emulate the fields and valleys. We need to shout in triumph—not be afraid to make some noise for God. And we need to SING! Music speaks beyond the words. Oh, yes!
