Consolation Series - Part 63

Beloved

I am a rose of Sharon,

a lily of the valleys.

Lover

As a lily among thorns,

so is my love among the daughters.

Beloved

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,

so is my beloved among the sons.

I sat down under his shadow with great delight,

his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banquet hall.

His banner over me is love.

Strengthen me with raisins,

refresh me with apples;

for I am faint with love.

His left hand is under my head.

His right hand embraces me.

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the roes, or by the hinds of the field,

that you not stir up, nor awaken love,

until it so desires.

The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping on the mountains,

skipping on the hills.

My beloved is like a roe or a young deer.

Behold, he stands behind our wall!

He looks in at the windows.

He glances through the lattice.

My beloved spoke, and said to me,

“Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

For behold, the winter is past.

The rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth.

The time of the singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

The fig tree ripens her green figs.

The vines are in blossom.

They give out their fragrance.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.”

Lover

My dove in the clefts of the rock,

in the hiding places of the mountainside,

let me see your face.

let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.

Catch for us the foxes,

the little foxes that plunder the vineyards;

for our vineyards are in blossom.

Beloved

My beloved is mine, and I am his.

He browses among the lilies.

Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,

turn, my beloved,

and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.

Song of Solomon 2

Consolation Series - Part 62

For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.  I will feed them with good pasture; and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on fat pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh. “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.

“I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”

“I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing. The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them. They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid. I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more. They will know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23-31

The balance of this passage indicates that Ezekiel is fairly angry with the priests of the time, who clearly engaged in a lot of self-dealing and neglected the needs of their flock.  However, today our interest in this passage is God’s promise to that he will take over the shepherding of the flock Himself.   Nothing will stand in the way of God’s Covenant with us.

The theme of God, or God’s chosen, as shepherd reverberates throughout Scripture. David is tending the sheep when he is chosen to be the next king.  Shepherds are called to witness Jesus’s birth.  Jesus refers to himself as a shepherd looking after the lost sheep (perhaps an oblique reference to this passage), and as having a voice the sheep of his flock will hear and recognize.   Shepherding today is often given a moral connotation: the shepherd moves a group of insensate or resistant creatures along a path of good behavior and appropriate belief.  But Scripture generally does not mean it that way. Shepherding in the Scriptural sense is purely protection.  It is the shepherd’s duty to ensure the flock has abundant pasture in which to browse, and clean water from which to drink.  The Shepherd protects the flock from predators and tends to their wounds.  In this case, God will release them from slavery and protect them from fear. 

Image: Jean Baptise de Champaigne, 17th Century    

Consolation Series - Part 61

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

a time to be born,

and a time to die;

a time to plant,

and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill,

and a time to heal;

a time to break down,

and a time to build up;

a time to weep,

and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn,

and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones,

and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace,

and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek,

and a time to lose;

a time to keep,

and a time to cast away;

a time to tear,

and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence,

and a time to speak;

a time to love,

and a time to hate;

a time for war,

and a time for peace.

What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.  I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. Also, that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God. I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should revere him.  That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago. God seeks again that which is passed away.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Carrying on from yesterday’s existentialist theme, today the Preacher again affirms that there is little we can do that will persevere.  Additionally, everything has its time, nothing is out of place.  I am reminded of the fact that our Creation narrative is not a creation out of nothing, but rather an ordering of Chaos.  God starts with darkness over the Deep, and separates water from earth, earth from sky, and night from day.   When Chaos returns in the form of the Flood, God puts Noah on a life raft and locks the door behind him so that he can float safely over the Chaos until it subsides.  God is with us when Chaos returns.  It, too, has its place and finally has no power over us.

Existentialism has a reputation for gloominess, but for Ecclesiastes, it is all good.  God has made everything beautiful and eternal, regardless of what we may do or not so, so that all of it can be the subject of reverence and rejoicing.

Consolation Series - Part 60

In vain!” says the Preacher. In vain! All is that is done is done in vain.  What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?  One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.  The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.  The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.  All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.

 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.  I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.  I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is done in vain and a chasing after wind.  That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted.  I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”  I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.  For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 1:2-18

The typical interpretation of this passage uses the term, “vanity,” which distracts from the true meaning and suggests this is a passage about humility. 

In fact, this passage and all of Ecclesiastes is an extraordinary study in existentialism.  The Preacher notes that everything we can accomplish in our lifetimes will inescapably be erased.  Even the pursuit of wisdom is, ultimately, not worth anything.  Nature itself reflects this – the sun goes up, but its progress in the sky is reversed as it goes down; the winds blow one way and then another; the rivers labor to fill the ocean to capacity but it never happens.

Most of us define ourselves by our accomplishments – whether it is building a business, building a family, promoting good, filling our eyes with memorable sights, or filling our minds with memorable experiences (e.g.: the recently minted term, ‘bucket list’).  If we are asked to say a little about ourselves, we inevitably start with career, vocation, family or something else that identifies us with a group or an interest.   At life’s crossroads, especially at the end of earthly life, this can all seem like an exercise in futility.  And it is.

Fortunately, our relationships to each other are not about what purpose we serve for each other. Our relationships transcend what we can accomplish for one another.  This is especially, transcendentally true of our relationship to God.  We are not what we can accomplish for God, and God is not what He can accomplish for us. We stand is an existential relationship – He loves us regardless of our accomplishments on our résumés and regardless of our wisdom, experiences or goodness.  

It is said that faith provides us with meaning and purpose. I don’t think that’s entirely true.  Faith confirms we need not serve any purpose and still be the beloved of God.  And that infuses our lives with extraordinary meaning.

Image: Earth seen from the surface of Mars.

Consolation Series - Part 59

Praise Yah!

Praise Yahweh, my soul.

While I live, I will praise Yahweh.

I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.

Don’t put your trust in princes,

in a son of man in whom there is no help.

His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth.

In that very day, his thoughts perish.

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,

whose hope is in Yahweh, his God:

who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them;

who keeps truth forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed;

who gives food to the hungry.

Yahweh frees the prisoners.

Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind.

Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down.

Yahweh loves the righteous.

Yahweh preserves the foreigners.

He upholds the fatherless and widow,

but he turns the way of the wicked upside down.

Yahweh will reign forever;

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise Yah!

Psalm 146

Consolation Series - Part 58

Hear my prayer, Yahweh.

Listen to my petitions.

In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.

Don’t enter into judgment with your servant,

for in your sight no man living is righteous.

For the enemy pursues my soul.

He has struck my life down to the ground.

He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.

Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me.

My heart within me is desolate.

I remember the days of old.

I meditate on all your doings.

I contemplate the work of your hands.

I spread out my hands to you.

My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land.

Hurry to answer me, Yahweh.

My spirit fails.

Don’t hide your face from me,

so that I don’t become like those who are forgotten.

 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning,

for I trust in you.

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,

for I lift up my soul to you.

Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies.

I flee to you to hide me.

 Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God.

Your Spirit is good.

Lead me in the land of uprightness.

Revive me, Yahweh, for your name’s sake.

In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.

In your loving kindness, spare me from my enemies,

and those who afflict my soul.

For I am your servant.

Psalm 143

Consolation Series - Part 57

Yahweh, you have searched me,

and you know me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up.

You perceive my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,

but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.

You hem me in behind and before.

You laid your hand on me.

This knowledge is beyond me.

It’s lofty.

I can’t attain it.

Where could I go from your Spirit?

Or where could I flee from your presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

If I take the wings of the dawn,

and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand will lead me,

and your right hand will hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me.

The light around me will be night,”

even the darkness doesn’t hide from you,

but the night shines as the day.

The darkness is like light to you.

For you formed my inmost being.

You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to you,

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Your works are wonderful.

My soul knows that very well.

My frame wasn’t hidden from you,

when I was made in secret,

woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my body.

In your book they were all written,

the days that were ordained for me,

when as yet there were none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

How vast is their sum!

If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand.

When I wake up, I am still with you.

Search me, God, and know my heart.

Try me, and know my thoughts,

and lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139: 1-18, 23

Image: The Carina Nebula