Thursday 26 January 2023

Psalm 123 

Background

Today’s passage continues through Joel's lament about the plague of locusts and has  an interesting structure.

Verse 1 returns to the warning that the day of the Lord is coming, here expressed using very immediate language. The lament then continues, detailing how horrific a coming plague of locusts will be.

From verse 11 we see the new (to Joel) idea that the locusts are in fact the army of the Lord. The day of the Lord is now expressed in terms of judgement. Verse 12 onwards suggest that the judgement might not be fixed, that by turning back to God in sincere repentance God might avert the coming disaster.

There are going to be a range of opinions regarding how literally Joel and the people of his time understood this (and how we should understand it). Joel doesn’t seem to go for a very literal understanding that turns repentance into a magical bargain (as in 'if repentance is real then God will stop the plague'). Verse 14 makes it clear that the outcome isn’t known.

My view starts from the understanding that God is love, God is good and God works for good (see 1 John 4 and Romans 8). I do not believe that plagues etc are sent by God as punishment. However, I also believe our choices have consequences. Therefore, repentance and lives transformed by God do bring about change – just not in a linear or predictable way. The severity of all natural disasters is affected by human choices. If we are inspired by repentance, love and the work of the Holy Spirit then the consequences of a natural disaster will be reduced. For example those whose lives have been transformed will work for freedom (from bondage, poverty and war) for all. All disasters, whether from locusts, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes or wars, are made worse by poverty. This is because poverty results in flimsy buildings; homes built in places vulnerable to flooding or drought; and insufficient emergency resources or reserves to carry people through bad times. Our response to God – our choices – do indeed affect outcomes.

To Ponder:

• Do plagues come from God as a punishment? Can we measure how true repentance is by whether the plague is avoided? What are the reasons for your answer?
•  What might change us from our choices (our turning back to God, our repentance)?
  
  

Prayer

 God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Amen. (Winnifred Crane Wygal)