Skip to main content

Everlasting

             Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  (Psalm 90:2)

 

It would be easy to write a piece exploring the idea of an everlasting God as a thought experiment. In fact, I did, and deleted it. As a thought experiment, it doesn’t matter much to either of us if God actually exists. Even the possibility is kept at a reasonably comfortable distance by the label attached: a thought experiment. Thoughts aren’t real. They’re just what happens when biochemical reactions take place in our heads. So it’s all safe even if it’s not all good.

But what does it mean to us? What does it do to us? What does the existence of a being that brought forth the world, who existed before that, and will continue to exist even if the universe is destroyed mean in our lives? Does it really mean anything? I think it’s clear that it meant something to David. And while there are still far too many people who have this foolish notion that people who lived back in David’s day were stupid (or stooooopid,) there is growing archeological evidence that they weren’t.

So, if we put aside the temporally-arrogant presumption of ancient idiocy, why would David have waxed eloquent in his praise of God’s eternality? Looking at the rest of the passage, it looks like David is being selfish. He is praising God for his eternality because God has been in covenant with Israel for a long time, and God has protected Israel. It makes sense that as long as Israel remains in covenant with God, God will continue to protect it. In a way, then, David is saying that God has lasted this long without being dethroned, and therefore isn’t likely to be dethroned. That means we should praise Him because it will keep him on our side.

We do some of the same things. We’re right there with Him when we have needs, but when we don’t – well, the “with Him” part tends to slide. But go back to the concept. Why do you and I need God to be a forever sort of god, and not one who goes away, fades away, or is kicked off the throne? One possibility goes back to the definition of joy. It is the conviction or settled belief that we are cared for by someone who is capable of caring. Another way of saying it is that it is the conviction that we are loved, even if we feel unloveable.

Other people fall short in this regard, but because God has been around forever and will be around forever, and no one has managed to kick Him out of heaven, He is the only consistent foundation for joy – not for getting our way, but for building the conviction that we are loved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more