Suffering in the Psalms

This week we are looking at worshipping while suffering.

Lesson 2 of this week I thought hit on an important point: “surrendering to the will of the Father when we suffer is worship.”

How true is this! How many situations in the Bible turned bad because someone wanted to avoid suffering:

Why did Adam and Eve sin? Hebrews tells us “Since therefore the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bonding.” (Hebrews 2:14-15). What does it mean that Adam and Eve were afraid of death? It’s hard to say, but maybe that talking dragon (what the Hebrew word for serpent really means) has something to do with it!)
Cain wanted to avoid the suffering that goes along with giving up the best of his fruits
Abraham did not want to suffer any longer without children so he helped himself to Hagar, his wife’s servant. His descendants through Hagar, Ishmael and his children, became a constant source of problems for God’s chosen people through Isaac.
God’s people did not want to “suffer” through giving up their immoral practices they picked up from the Egyptians. That led to just straight idolatrous worship!
Before entering the Promised Land the first time, God’s people didn’t want to fight! They wanted to just roam around in the desert rather than risk suffering and fight the people in the land of Canaan–despite God’s promise he would help them.

This is just the first five books of the Bible and my list is already getting long. Let’s jump to the New Testament.

Peter didn’t want Jesus to suffer and so Jesus plainly said, “Get behind me Satan!”
Peter didn’t want to suffer so he denied Jesus three times!
The Apostles didn’t want to suffer so they ran away during his hour of need

Who did God’s will through the suffering? Of course we know: Jesus.

We are going to suffer. Sometimes it is physical suffering. Sometimes it is suffering of our reputation. Sometimes it is watching a loved one suffer. Sometimes it is moral suffering. Sometimes the suffering is attending a really bad liturgy with terrible music and weird people and surrounded by people who don’t seem to care, but instead of focusing on them, we turn our hearts to God and think about him more than the imperfections of the situation.

True worship, as Jesus shows is to do God’s will. Not to avoid suffering, not to insist that God take it away from us (though Jesus shows us we certainly are free to ask!); but to always stay faithful in the suffering.

This is the heart of Book 3 of the Psalms.

The Pattern of the Psalms

I’ve mentioned many times before how much I have enjoyed John Bergsma’s book, Psalm Basics for Catholics. One fascinating insight is seeing how the different Books of the Psalms are pattered after the story of Israel.

We can see the kingdom established with Saul as the first king, but it was not an ideal kingship. However, God’s plans rapidly improved the situation for Israel as David was appointed king. Shortly after his rule, Solomon took the king and his sons after him and the kingdom divided into the 10 northern tribes of Israel and the 2 southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah. At one of the lowest points, both parts of the kingdom were descimated leaving God’s people to ponder why. God alleviated some of their suffering by ending their Bablyonian captivity and allowing them to return to Jerusalem.

Bergsma points out that while the tone of the Psalms in Book 5 is more uplifting and positive, there is great messianic expectation because after the exile, there is Davidic king. The last book of Psalms becomes more Messianic as they await the true Messiah who will allow David’s throne to exist forever!

The Importance of Duty and Avoiding Sin

“You are the man!” Nathan admonishes David for his sins

Unit 3 of our Bible Bee invites us to focus on God’s forgiveness and the repentance sought by David.

Of course, Psalm 51 was written after David’s incident with Bathsheba which may or may not be difficult to explain depending on the age of the children, depending on their age and how much you have explained to them about the messiness of sin.

Our kids understand adultery as being “treating someone as your husband/wife who is not your husband/wife.” They understand marital fidelity probably more than we can articulate, but certain things that are appropriate for little ones include, “I wouldn’t hold hands are kiss someone other than Daddy. I don’t spend time hanging out with a man apart from Daddy,” etc. They intuit, without having to spell out matters of intimacy, friendships and interactions that are normal for married people and that would not be normal for people who are not married.

So adultery certainly can be explained at a young age, without getting into anything the kids may not be ready for.

I did explain to my 7 and 9 year old how David’s adultery caused Bathsheba to have a baby and so David got caught and he committed murder trying to get out of the situation. My kids are not real fluent on birds/bees stuff yet. I was curious if they would stop me and ask more, but they didn’t. I moved right on to the murder part. If you are not ready to discuss the Birds and the Bees with young ones, you can judge your child’s readiness and include details or not. You can get to the murder without having to include the baby, I think.

What should be noted for all ages, in my opinion, is the progression of sin that makes it easier for us to fall into other sin. David’s first sin was not just the lust, but it was the refusal to do his duty. Notice how the narrative begins with:

Then it happened ^[a]in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
²Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing
2Samuel 11:1-2

Not only was David not doing battle like kings ought to be doing, he was lounging around taking naps in the middle of the day! David’s laziness and lack of adhering to his duty led him to the occasion of sin.

How often do our children (and us!), when they should be doing something they ought to be doing neglect their duties and end up fighting with a sibling, in mischief, or end up just wasting time and then are grumpy because their duties still await them. This is a great lesson for all of us to be diligent with what we ought to do so we avoid the occasions of sin that await idle and distracted hearts!

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called “capital” because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.
CCC, 1866

A Few More Ups and Downs

Before we reach the end of the Old Testament, we witness the people of Judah, who have returned to their land have to endure even more trials in their homeland. The first major trial is the invasion of the Greeks into their land and the persecution of their people.

The Greeks marched into their land, persecuted God’s people and desecrated their Temple, the second Temple, by sacrificing unclean animals on it. God had mandated certain sacrifices that were permissible and it was a serious offense to violate the terms of right worship. In a defiant act, the Greeks profaned their Temple.

The Jews underwent grave persecution at the hands of the Greeks. We read about this during the time of the Maccabees. The Books of First and Second Maccabees testify to the brave witness many Jews gave—often at the cost of their lives—to remain faithful to the Lord. Despite some falling by the wayside and allying themselves with the Greeks, an entire army was assembled of faithful Jews who would fight for their God, their people, and their land while putting their hope in the Lord.

In a particularly inspiring episode, the Jewish people trusted in God so resolutely, they refused to fight on the sabbath for fear of violating God’s law. They died a martyr’s death for refusing the engage in battle (1Maccabees 2:37-38). Ultimately, the Jews were able to defeat the Greeks and rededicate their Temple after it had been profaned which is the setting for the feast of Chanukah.

The historical setting for the very end of the Old Testament and the dawning of the New is that the Romans have now invaded Jerusalem and were occupying their land. The hostile, pagan, and brutal ways of the Romans was not only offensive to the Jewish people, but contributed to the experience of their feeling in exile even while they were in their own land. Once again, their hopes for the kingdom were in stark contrast to the reality of their situation. They were in their own land, but the 10 northern tribes were still lost and there was not a Davidic king on the throne. They still had their hopes set on a Davidic messiah to deliver them and restore the kingdom.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively. Hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead established itself as a consequence intrinsic to faith in God as creator of the whole man, soul and body. The creator of heaven and earth is also the one who faithfully maintains his covenant with Abraham and his posterity. It was in this double perspective that faith in the resurrection came to be expressed. In their trials, the Maccabean martyrs confessed:
The King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws. One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him.
CCC, 992

Rebuilding and Recommitting

Nehemiah Directing the Building of the Temple

If you were a Jewish person in exile, and you felt the weight of the punishment for the infidelity of Israel and Judah, it became very important to start taking God’s word seriously. As mentioned previously, since there was no Temple where the Jews in exile could worship, adherence to Torah was their worship. We see a genuine change of heart among God’s people.

The time for their punishment to end had come. 70 years after the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were carried into exile in Babylon, a new strong world power arose: Persia. Led by King Cyrus, the Persian empower conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews exiled in Babylon to return home. He even helped to fund the rebuilding of the Temple with the gold the Babylonians stole from the original Temple.

With a renewed zeal for Torah and right living, religious leaders such as Ezra and Nehemiah organized a recommitment from the returned exiles to be faithful to the Lord and his word. A second Temple was constructed, though it was much less glorious than Solomon’s Temple. As people praised the Temple at its dedication, weeping could be heard from those old enough to remember the splendor of Solomon’s temple and how this new one paled in comparison.

We see in this period of time a real sense of renewal and zeal. Sin was immediately repented of by the religious leaders with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. Any hint of scandal was snuffed out aggressively so as to not go down the road that that led to exile in the first place.

The humbled remnant, worshipping in their humbled Temple resembled gold tested in fire. They had in many ways been purged of their impurities and worshipped God with deeper sincerity and single-heartedness than ever before.

However, there was a sense of incompleteness. They were without a Davidic king (an anointed one, or messiah) and the remaining 10 northern tribes were still scattered among the. nations. They were home, but the kingdom was in ruins. They waited for God to fulfill his promises to the prophets and reunite his people.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit (Cf. Gen 18:1-15; Lk 1:26-38. 54-55; Jn 1:12-13; Rom 4:16-21) In Abraham’s progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself, (Cf. Gen 12:3; Gal 3:16) in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will “gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad”(Cf. Jn 11:52). God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and “the promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” ( Eph 1:13-14; cf. Gen 22:17-19; Lk 1:73; Jn 3:16; Rom 8:32; Gal 3:14)
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
“Behold, I am doing a new thing.”⁷⁸ Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the people of the poor, who await in hope the “consolation of Israel” and “the redemption of Jerusalem” (Cf. Zeph 2:3; Lk 2:25,38).
CCC, 706, 711

Promise of a New Covenant

Before we move on to what happens to the Jews in exile in Babylon, it is important to take a moment and look at a very important prophecy in the book of Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah wrote to warn God’s people to reform their behavior, but needless to say they did not heed his warning. It seems pretty clear that Jeremiah knew this would be the case because he spoke of the punishment that would come when they did not repent.

As mentioned before, Jeremiah does not leave them to wallow in their punishment. He reminds them that after their punishment, he will forgive them and bring them back,

“The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity[a] and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.” (Jer 30:3)

“‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.”
Jeremiah 30:10

Notice, the promise is made to bothIsrael and Judah! This is really important! Israel (the 10 “lost” northern tribes ) will not be forgotten in the restoration.

The restoration of his people comes with a very important promise: a new covenant. There had already been many covenants already established: with Adam, with Noah, with Abraham, Moses, and most recently with David. So God establishing covenants is part and parcel of how he interacts with his people.

But this covenant is not being established now. It will beestablished in the future. This new covenant will involve the restoring of Israel (Jer 31:1); it will be a covenant reminding them of God’s unfailing love (Jer 31:3); it bring the people from the lands of the north (Jer 31:8) as well as the healing of the blind and the lame (Jer 31:8). It will supersede the covenant with Moses (Jer 31:32) and will involve the absolute transformation of their hearts (Jer 31:33). The covenant will involve forgiveness of sin (Jer 31:34).

The prophet Ezekiel elaborates on these promises:

“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness.”
Ezekiel 34:24-29

We see here images of washing, gathering, the gift of the and changing of their hearts. This is done so that God may defend his holy name which Israel profaned by their faithlessness. If God abandons them to the nations, then God’s previous covenants don’t look all that meaningful! So God makes sure his name will be honored and defended by bringing them back—all of them. This will be done through the New Covenant.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations. Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope of Israel’s salvation. The purest figure among them is Mary.
CCC, 64

Worship and the Law: A Renewed Relationship

While Judah was in exile in Babylon for 70 years, there was a sober realization about the quality of their worship in the past. God’s punishment had brought about its intended effect. Judah began to call out to God (commonly in lament!), commit themselves to the Torah and recognize e the importance of right living. Not having the Temple, the faithful of Judah saw faithfulness to the Law a fitting expression of true worship. It was a true and heartfelt change for those who remained faithful and hopeful in the Lord.

The prophets Daniel and Baruch wrote during the time of Babylonian captivity. The prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel and warned them before they exile of their coming doom, but they also spoke of the time when the punishment would be over and God would restore them. They did not heed the prophets, and so what the prophets said came to pass. Since the prophets were right about God’s punishments, they recalled their words of hope as well.

The book of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27 specifically) gives particular hope that there would be an end to the exile, a rebuilding of the Temple, an “anointed” who comes, then is cut off, and the destruction of the sanctuary once again. These events play out just as Daniel prophesied. The Temple is rebuilt (though only to a shade of its former glory, an anointed one comes (Jesus) but is “cut off” (he is crucified) and the Temple is once again destroyed (this occurred in AD 70).

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death: it is the Exile, apparently the failure of the promises, which is in fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit. The People of God had to suffer this purification. In God’s plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the Exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.
CCC, 710

Judah in Exile and the Destruction of the Temple

Image of the Judeans carried off in chains to Babylon

The Judaean kings, with very few exceptions, fell into and tolerated idolatry. Thinking themselves safe from the kind of punishment Israel (10 northern tribes) experienced because of God’s covenant with David and the presence of the Temple, they did not heed the warnings from the prophets who called them to repentance.

Jeremiah 52 describes the bleak consequences of their sin: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon entered Jerusalem and besieged the city. The Judean king Zedekiah was captured and all his sons were slaughtered right in front of him, and then his eyes were cut out. The last thing he saw was his lineage (and the Davidic line!) brought to an end (Jeremiah 52:10-11).

Nebuchadnezzar then did the unthinkable. He burned the house of the Lord and ransacked its precious medals and jewels. He carried away almost all the Jewish people into Babylon as his captives.

The kingdom of David, the one that God promised would be everlasting, was completely in ruins. The Temple, which was supposed to be the climactic statement of God’s victory for his people and a central place of worship for both Israel and the Gentiles, was gone. God’s people were in their darkest hour and would remain so for the next 70 years.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
For the People of God, the Temple was to be the place of their education in prayer: pilgrimages, feasts and sacrifices, the evening offering, the incense, and the bread of the Presence (“shewbread”) – all these signs of the holiness and glory of God Most High and Most Near were appeals to and ways of prayer. But ritualism often encouraged an excessively external worship. The people needed education in faith and conversion of heart; this was the mission of the prophets, both before and after the Exile.
CCC, 2581

Problems in Judah

Meanwhile, back down south, there was also the constant tendency of idolatrous worship. The Bible judges the rectitude of the kings based on how faithfully they worshipped the Lord. Some kings may not have worshipped idols themselves, but did not tear down “the high places”—the altars to foreign gods. So they basically tolerated people in their kingdom doing it which still does not a good king make.

The Books of Kings and the Books of Chronicles detail—often covering the same time period—the works of the various kings and how they responded to idolatry. Either: a) the kings were idolatrous b) the kings were not idolatrous, but they didn’t stop their people from worshipping false gods c) The kings were not idolatrous and they tore down the high places. In some cases, many of these good kings even instituted reform by renewing the worship of their people towards God.

King Jehoshaphat (1Kings 15; 2Chronicles 17) was a good king who fit into the category of not tolerating false worship. He had the “high places” torn down (most of them, anyway!). King Josiah (2Kings 22-23; 2Chronicles 34-35) was another good king who sought to reform Judah by renovating the Temple. During the renovation, he discovered scrolls of the Torah (or portions of it) and Josiah took their words seriously. He brought about major reform and reinstituted the Passover.

Unfortunately, these reforms were short-lived and Judah needed punishing of their own for breaking the covenant. There was probably a sense of presumption from Judah that because the Temple was there, God would not permit the same calamity to befall them as befell Israel (10 northern tribes).

Were they ever wrong!

The Lost 10 Tribes

The worship of Israel (10 northern tribes) continued to deteriorate and God sent many prophets to warn them to repent of their idolatry or they would be punished. Specifically, Amos, Micah, and Hosea are the main prophets sent to speak to the northern tribes to try to garner their repentance. It didn’t work!

They persisted setting up “high places” all around to their various false gods. Eventually, they were punished and their 10 northern tribes were invaded by Assyria who invaded their land and physically carried off the Israelites to different lands. There was no hope of brining these 10 tribes back again because they were disseminated among the Gentiles. These are called the “Lost 10 Tribes.”

What is fascinating is that Moses actually warned them about this very thing in Deuteronomy 28:63-65:

You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.
65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.

The situation for Israel and for the Davidic kingdom was not just hopeless. It was impossible. After they were carried off to live among the nations, there was no getting them back. So how could God keep his promise to David of an everlasting kingdom? What do we do with Moses’ own words in Deuteronomy 30:

1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations,
2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.
5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Deuteronomy 30:1-6

We are going to move away from Israel and turn to Judah. But do keep these things in mind…they will come back and relate to the biblical understanding of true worship!