waves

September 22, 2016

Yahweh God (Isa 51:15-51:16)

“I am Yahweh!

Your God!

I stir up the sea

So that its waves roar!

Yahweh of hosts is my name.

I have put my words

Into your mouth.

I have hidden you

In the shadow of my hand.

I have stretched out the heavens.

I have laid the foundations of the earth.

I say to Zion.

‘You are my people.’”

Once again, Second Isaiah makes clear that Yahweh is speaking in the first person singular. He is their God. He makes the waves of the sea roar. Yahweh of hosts is his name. He puts words in their mouths. He has hidden them in the shadow of his hands. In his usual manner of speaking, he has stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. Clearly he says to Zion that they are his people in a covenant way.

May 29, 2016

The problems of surety (Sir 29:14-29:20)

“A good person

Will be surety

For his neighbor.

But the one who has lost

All sense of shame

Will fail him.

Do not forget

The kindness of your guarantor.

He has given his life for you.

A sinner wastes

The property of his guarantor.

The ungrateful person

Abandons his rescuer.

Being surety

Has ruined many

Who were prosperous.

It has tossed them about

Like waves on the sea.

It has driven the influential

Into exile.

They have wandered

Among foreign nations.

The sinner comes to grief

Through surety.

His pursuit of gain

Involves him in lawsuits.

Assist your neighbor

To the best of your ability.

But be careful

Not to fall yourself.”

Surety is guaranteeing of a loan or the collateral for a loan. Obviously, a good kind person will guarantee a loan for his neighbor. However, there are shameful people out there who will take advantage of this generous guarantee. A sinner and an ungrateful person will waste this guarantee. They will abandon their rescuer. Sirach says that guaranteeing loans for others has led many a prosperous person to be ruined and tossed about like waves on the sea. Some have been exiled and wander from country to country. Quite often the sinner and his actions lead to law suits. Sirach then ends with this cautionary note that you should try to help your neighbor as much as possible, but be careful and not fall yourself.

April 11, 2016

Ship’s wooden idols and providence (Wis 14:1-14:5)

“Again,

One preparing to sail,

About to voyage over raging waves,

Calls upon a piece of wood

More fragile than the ship that carries him.

It was desire for gain

That planned that vessel.

Wisdom was the artisan who built it.

But it is your providence,

O Father!

That steers its course.

Because you have given it a path in the sea,

A safe way through the waves.

You show that you can save it from every danger.

Thus even a person who lacks skill

May put to sea.

It is your will

That works of your wisdom

Should not be without effect.

Therefore people trust their lives

Even to the smallest piece of wood.

They pass through the billows

On a raft

So that they come safely to land.”

Apparently there was a custom to put a wooden idol on the front or the prow of the ship to protect them. Even today we see some sort of decoration on the front of ships. Obviously, this decorative idol was less firm than the whole ship. However, this author points out that it was the wisdom (σοφίᾳ) of the carpenter and the desire for gain that built the ships. God was the providence (πρόνοια) and father (πάτερ) of all who steered their course through the waves of the sea. Once again, this is a Greek philosophical and biblical concept about providence guiding the world. Thus even those who lacked skill were still protected by divine wisdom (τῆς σοφίας). People put trust in the tiniest piece of wood to guide them through rough patches on the sea.

November 13, 2015

The final plea to Yahweh (Ps 88:13-88:18)

“I cry out to you!

Yahweh!

In the morning

My prayer comes before you.

Yahweh!

Why do you cast me off?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Wretched and close to death from my youth on,

I suffer your terrors.

I am desperate.

Your wrath has swept over me.

Your dread assaults destroy me.

They surround me

Like a flood

All day long.

From all sides,

They close in on me.

You have caused friends

To shun me.

You have caused neighbors

To shun me.  

My companions are in darkness.”

Just like Job, the psalmist remains faithful despite all his sufferings. Thus this psalm ends with a direct appeal to Yahweh, over and over again. He cried out in the morning to God. Why was he cast off? Why couldn’t he see the face of God? He believed that his physical suffering was related to his spiritual sufferings. His whole life he has been close to death with his physical afflictions. He felt like he was surrounded with waves of water all around him. More than that was the fact that his friends and neighbors were now shunning him. The only friend that he had left was darkness itself. Wow! This is a dreary bleak psalm of agony.

September 24, 2015

A northern plea (Ps 42:6-42:8)

“My soul is cast down within me.

Therefore I remember you

From the land of Jordan,

From Hermon,

From Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep

At the thunder of your cataracts.

All your waves have gone over me.

All your billows have gone over me.

By day,

Yahweh commands his steadfast love.

At night,

His song is with me.

It is a prayer to the God of my life.”

The psalmist was far from the Temple in the land along the Jordan River. He was at Mount Hermon, the northern mountain range between Syria and Lebanon. He was at Mount Mizar, a small mountain range near Mount Hermon which was the source for the Jordan River. He felt like he was in the deepest spot possible. Thunder and cataracts filled his eyes. He felt like waves and gases had overcome him. However, he still was steadfast in the love of Yahweh during the day. At night he sang his song to God, the source of his life.