Monday 15 July 2024

Psalm 19

Background
In the story of Exodus, the character of God is revealed in unprecedented ways, to Israel (6:3, 7; 10:2); to Pharaoh and the Egyptians (7:17; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29) and to all the nations on earth (15:14-15; 18:8-12). The aspects of God’s character revealed in Exodus become key themes that recur throughout the Bible – they are the foundations on which the Judeo-Christian understanding of God is built. They include:

• God’s faithfulness The God revealed to Moses at the burning bush is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (v. 3) and is committed to keeping the promises made to the patriarchs (see Genesis 12:1-3) of land and being a blessing to the nations. God is faithful and true to the covenant forged with the people of Israel (vs 5, 8).
• The divine name At the burning bush, Moses said to God that he would not be believed by the Israelites or Pharaoh if he did not know the name of the one who sent him. In response, God revealed the divine name, YHWH, translated here and elsewhere as ‘The Lord’ (see Exodus 3:15 as well as v. 3 in today’s passage). Moses’ ancestors knew God as El Shaddai (God Almighty). In Moses’ day, the act of revealing one’s name made one vulnerable – it was an offer of intimacy to establish a relationship. It means that the people of Israel could grow into a deeper relationship with God, but also left the divine name open to abuse (which is why one of the Ten Commandments forbids taking it in vain).
• The willingness of God to be wounded in solidarity with human suffering In today’s passage, God tells Moses that God heard the groaning of the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt (v. 5). In Exodus 3:7, at the burning bush, God tells Moses that God ‘knows’ their sufferings – the Hebrew verb yada means more than simply understanding, indicating that God is experiencing the suffering of the Israelites with them. For Christians, God's willingness to enter into human suffering in order to bring about healing and restoration finds its fullest expression in Jesus dying on the cross.

For more information, see A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament (2nd ed.) by Bruce C Birch, Walter Brueggemann, Terence E Fretheim and David L Petersen, pp. 104-110.

To Ponder:

• Which attributes of God are most important to you? If you were asked to describe God to someone in four words, which would you choose?
• How do you address God, when you pray?
• How is God revealed to you? Where do you go (or what do you do) to find out more about God, and to feel God’s presence?

Bible notes author: The Revd Naomi Oates
Naomi is a Methodist minister, currently serving in four churches in the North Kent Circuit. When not being rugby-tackled by her two toddlers, she enjoys cycling, baking and reading Golden Age detective fiction (although not all at the same time).