Tuesday 26 September 2023

Psalm 124

Background

It may seem odd that the sun and moon are created on day four of the creation week even though light and darkness, day and night, were created on day one (vs 3-5). The author must know that this makes no logical (or we might say, scientific) sense; instead he is deliberately refuting the many religions of his time in which the sun, moon and stars were seen as divine and worshipped. By contrast heavenly bodies are actually subject to God and not even top of God’s creation list. The author avoids using the names 'sun' and 'moon' for the same reason. In God’s purpose the heavenly bodies serve three functions: to delineate day and night, to define the seasons, and to “give light upon the earth” (v.15). 

The correspondence between days one and four concerning day and night, is paralleled regarding days two and five which both concern sky and earth (especially its waters, v. 7) since the fifth day concerns the creation of sea creatures and birds of every kind. It is not clear what “great sea monsters” (v. 21) are in mind, but whether they are real or assumed, there are a number of Old Testament passages which affirm God’s authority over any that assume the role of God’s enemies (including Psalm 74:13-14, Isaiah 27:1, Isaiah 51:9). Again we can note the part such monsters play in other ancient (and some modern) stories of how the world began, and to see what a different role they have in the biblical account.

God speaks to creatures for the first time in verses 22-23. It is perhaps important to notice that God’s blessing precedes God’s command, a pattern that will be repeated for humans in v. 28, and in both cases the blessing concerns the ability to reproduce.

Verses 24 and 25 describe the first act of creation on day six, consisting of land creatures of every kind (wild animals, those that can be domesticated, and all the rest). The account does not speak of God blessing these creatures in the same way as the marine and aerial ones, but perhaps we might reasonably assume that that also happened. 

To Ponder:

• To what extent does the faith that many people have in astrology suggest that the stars continue to be regarded as divine rather than as God’s creatures?
• There is much contemporary evidence that fish and birds are declining not multiplying, and that this is due to human behaviour. Has God’s blessing failed?
• How else is the principle of blessing before command a key part of Christian belief?

Prayer

 Both the galaxies and constellations, and the seeming infinite variety of living creatures on earth, declare your greatness, O Lord. Inspire me to do the same. Amen.