Soul Food - 8/4/8

From Today's Reading: Psalm 30, 95, 97-99, 1 Chronicles 21-22, 2 Samuel 24

weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

- Psalm 30:5b

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

- Psalm 95:6-7

Point of Interest:

1)

1 Chronicles 21 and 2 Samuel 24 both recount David taking a census of Israel's fighting force. What makes this displeasing to God is that David's motivation is to gauge Israel's overall military strength against their adversaries'. David is thereby putting his trust in the human strength of his military rather than the divine strength of God's care to protect Israel regardless of which nation has a stronger military.

2)

1 Chronicles 21 begins:

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

2 Samuel 24 begins:

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."

Which brings up the question of what is "God's will" amongst others. Volumes have been and continue to be written on this subject so I will try to keep my meager contribution short.

Much of my understanding springs from philosopher Baruch Spinoza's concept of the Best of all Possible Worlds which I won't go into here.

Everything in the universe is God's will from a Macro sense - not necessarily from a Micro sense.

In other words, it is God's will that there be trees (macro) it is not God's will that we cut down branches and club each other with them (micro).

It is God's will that gravity exist (macro) it is not God's will that we use gravity to drop stones on each other's heads (micro).

It is God's will that there be love and peace and harmony (macro) but there is no way to set up a universe with those attributes unless the other side of the coin is possible as well (hatred, strife and war).

While you can argue that everything that happens for good or ill is God's will in the macro sense (because God is the ultimate creator) - that does not mean that everything in the micro sense is pleasing to him.

In fact, it is for this reason that we fervently pray for God's intervention in micro while being able to accept the ultimate outcome regardless in the macro.

This is why one Biblical author can say that God prompted David (because if God had set up the universe differently, David would not have been tempted) while another biblical author can acknowledge that, while God did set up the universe in the macro, it was Satan who tempted David in the micro.

While it was God's macro will that he create the possibility that David might disobey by taking a census, it does not mean it was God's micro will that he do so.

It was God's macro will that the existance of Satan be a possiblity - it was not God's micro will that possibly should come to pass.

God made the tree from which you fashioned the club to beat your neighbor. While it was God's macro will that he create the possibility that you might beat your neighbor with the limb of one of his tress, it does not mean it is his micro will that you do so.

And now if I hear the terms "micro" or "macro" for a week, I think I will throw up . . . .

3)

1 Chronicles 21:14-22:1 explains how the site for the Temple in Jerusalem was chosen.