2010/Jun/25/P002 - "Rejoice With Trembling"
There is an advertisment to the side of the screen as I am typing this, a link attempting to sell me a smartphone locked to a network. Such things are all over the place. The interesting thing about this one is that the date shown on the phone happens to be my birthday. While it is theoretically possible that the advert could pull the birthday from my profile and have some sort of code to list that date on the animated phone's display. To me, though, that seems like an absurd amount of effort to go to for the purpose of eliciting a phone contract out of me. In all likelihood it is a conincidence. Still, I do have a desire to see the advert as it appears on someone else's blog-writing page, just to see if they really did go through all that trouble. Either way, it will not convince me to buy the phone. I am already have a better phone, and a contract with another service provider which is less expensive and has a higher-rated customer-service department.
The phone advert is inimical to today's gander at Psalm 2. There is less than very little about cellular telephones and mobile contracts in the Old Testament. The poem is, however, all about communication. It mentions the rules of Ancient Israel's rivals as they make plans to confront the Hebrews. It speaks of God's communications to those rulers and to King David. David also gives his own advice to both his rivals and his followers. They key message of the passage seems to be that one had better be on the winning side of any conflict with God.
Near the end of the twelve-verse psalm, David instructs his people to serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling (Psalm 2:11). I find that turn-of-phrase very interesting, "rejoice with trembling". People do many things when they rejoice, but trembling is not particularly high on the list, as far as I know. It makes me think of something I once heard about shivering. In the same way that according to folk knowledge one gets the hiccups or sneezes when someone else is thinking about one, I have heard that a sudden shiver is the psychosomatic result of hearing something particularly true. I have no idea if that tidbit of culture existed back in King David's day, or in the ancient Hebrew tradition, but it would make sense if that is what the verse means. A call to experience truth in a way that causes a visceral reaction seems to be quite in keeping with God's appearances throughout the rest of the Bible.
The Bible is a fascinating document; it is the only one of which I know which has a context-shifting ability. The line about trembling may well have been written before getting the shivers were associated with hearing primal truths. The great thing about a divine work, however, is that it is not bound by linear time like other books are. There is another example of that even within the book. King David writes about his being a child of God, and being annointed. In verse seven, he writes, I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You-". The line made sense in David's context when he wrote it, but in the time since it has come to have a much greater meaning after its association with Jesus. It is marvellous to see how God sets up various pieces of the puzzle, and then connects them so masterfully. It seems sometimes that He is playing a game of Carcassonne with our lives. Luckily for us, as Psalm 2 reinforces, God always wins.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the Earth set themselves
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
"Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us"
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh
The Lord shall hold them in derision
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
Yet I have set My King
On my holy hill of Zion
I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
You are My Son
Today I have begotten You
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance
And the ends of the Earth for your possession
You shall break them with a rod of iron
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel
Now, therefore, be wise, Oh kings
Be instructed, you judges of the Earth
Serve the Lord with fear
And rejoice with trembling
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him
The phone advert is inimical to today's gander at Psalm 2. There is less than very little about cellular telephones and mobile contracts in the Old Testament. The poem is, however, all about communication. It mentions the rules of Ancient Israel's rivals as they make plans to confront the Hebrews. It speaks of God's communications to those rulers and to King David. David also gives his own advice to both his rivals and his followers. They key message of the passage seems to be that one had better be on the winning side of any conflict with God.
Near the end of the twelve-verse psalm, David instructs his people to serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling (Psalm 2:11). I find that turn-of-phrase very interesting, "rejoice with trembling". People do many things when they rejoice, but trembling is not particularly high on the list, as far as I know. It makes me think of something I once heard about shivering. In the same way that according to folk knowledge one gets the hiccups or sneezes when someone else is thinking about one, I have heard that a sudden shiver is the psychosomatic result of hearing something particularly true. I have no idea if that tidbit of culture existed back in King David's day, or in the ancient Hebrew tradition, but it would make sense if that is what the verse means. A call to experience truth in a way that causes a visceral reaction seems to be quite in keeping with God's appearances throughout the rest of the Bible.
The Bible is a fascinating document; it is the only one of which I know which has a context-shifting ability. The line about trembling may well have been written before getting the shivers were associated with hearing primal truths. The great thing about a divine work, however, is that it is not bound by linear time like other books are. There is another example of that even within the book. King David writes about his being a child of God, and being annointed. In verse seven, he writes, I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You-". The line made sense in David's context when he wrote it, but in the time since it has come to have a much greater meaning after its association with Jesus. It is marvellous to see how God sets up various pieces of the puzzle, and then connects them so masterfully. It seems sometimes that He is playing a game of Carcassonne with our lives. Luckily for us, as Psalm 2 reinforces, God always wins.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the Earth set themselves
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
"Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us"
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh
The Lord shall hold them in derision
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
Yet I have set My King
On my holy hill of Zion
I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
You are My Son
Today I have begotten You
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance
And the ends of the Earth for your possession
You shall break them with a rod of iron
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel
Now, therefore, be wise, Oh kings
Be instructed, you judges of the Earth
Serve the Lord with fear
And rejoice with trembling
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him