Friday 06 February 2015

Psalm: Psalm 104:1-23

Background

This passage continues to press home the question raised in chapter 38: how much do we mortals reallyunderstand about the world about us, and what right do we have toquestion the way God has ordered things? The deer, the wild ass andox, the ostrich and the war horse going into battle are quoted asexamples of creation's mystery and force.

Of course, modern biology could answer some of the questions andgive a different perspective to others. But it is important not tobe distracted from the underlying issue, reflected in the versequoted above. In their debates about why people suffer Job and hisfriends have tended to speak of God as though God were a kind ofover-sized and more powerful human being. They have seen God intheir own image. These chapters emphasise the essential differencebetween God and God's creation, including human beings.

To Ponder

• Is it still a temptation to think of God in our own image? Ifso, what is the corrective?

• Job capitulates at the end of today's passage (Job40:3-5). Was he right to give up asking questions aboutGod?