Tuesday 13 April 2021

Psalm 116

Background

Verses 16-17 could serve as a summary of the whole letter to the Romans. The message Paul proclaims is about salvation or deliverance offered by God to all who accept it in faith. It is the message first given to the Jews, but it is also for the Gentiles. Paul supports his argument in verse 17 by quoting Habakkuk 2:4 in the Greek translation familiar to Jews throughout the Roman empire, although it differs slightly from the original Hebrew as reflected in the English translation of Habakkuk.

In verses 18-25 Paul begins to set the scene against which salvation can be understood, focusing first on the Gentile world. ‘Wrath’ should not be thought of as uncontrolled rage. It is God’s total opposition to all forms of evil. We see it in action against those who reject him (verses 24-25). In today’s passage Paul develops this in relation to the idolatry of the Gentile world of his day. He will turn to the Jews in chapter 2. It is not that people have been without the possibility of knowing God. God is revealed in the wonders of creation, but they have ignored the evidence and substituted idolatry, and the immoral practices that tend to go with it, for the worship of the one true God. God’s response is to let them live with the consequences of what they do.

To Ponder:

• Is it so easy to recognise God in the created universe?
• Is Paul too hard on those who do not have faith in God?
• In the light of this passage what do you understand by ‘salvation’?