1. Be still before the Lord and wait

We continue the lecture of Psalm this August and today¡Çs text is Psalm 37. The writer teaches us to live by trusting in God without being envious of evil men who carry out successfully wicked schemes in the earthy world. The poem takes a form of lesson given by an elder to young fellows. The first letter of verses are in the alphabetical order, which continues till 40th. Today we will focus on 1 to 11 to reflect on the whole contents. The opening expression ¡ÈDo not fret¡É should be the key to the teaching ; - Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; (Psalm 37:1)

We see the same expression also in other verses ; - Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.(Psalm 37:7) and ; - Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. (Psalm 37:8)

The poet tells : ¡ÈDo not fret¡É about the temporary evil world in which the right are suffering from wicked acts of evil men. At the same time, it teaches that we must face sincerely the reality.

Indeed, we fret about present circumstances. Because we cannot trust totally in God¡Çs power which rules the world. But God knows perfectly acts of evil men and will punish them, the poet says ; - like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. (Psalm 37:2)¡É

He continues ; - For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.(Psalm 37:9-10)

Therefore he leads us to ; - Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this.(Psalm 37:3-5)

Then the conclusion comes ; - The meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.(Psalm 37:11)

¡ÈThe meek¡É in Hebrew doesn¡Çt signify the poor in material sense but socially weak and exploited persons. The Septuagint*1 translated it into ¡È¦Ð¦Ñ¦Á¦Åῖς,¡É which is also took in Matthew 5:5 ; - Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

¡ÈThe meek¡É represents those who bear harsh conditions by waiting for the salvation of God. They can do so because they are faithful to God, not because they are merely obedient or servile. Instead, they are empowered by the faith in God to stand up to difficulties.

Therefore the poet teaches ; - Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.(Psalm 37:7)

Nonetheless very often we cannot ¡È Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him¡É but get angry and try to get even. For example, after September 11 attacks*2, G. Bush, US president of the time, addressed a speech to American citizens on the site of the former World Trade Center. He said that US won¡Çt forgive terrorists and would take action to destroy them. The majority of Americans appreciated his willingness and American forces started bombardments over Afghanistan and Iran which were considered to be home bases of terrorists.

Now almost 10 years passed since then. But wars are still lingering and more than 6000 American soldiers were killed. Besides more than 100,000 persons died as victims of those military operations, including Afghan and Iranian civilians.

The fact shows that a christian country like US could not ¡ÈBe still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.¡É That way human anger and wrath generated calamities. Therefore Psalm 37:8-9 appeals ; - Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

The lyric implies that US, which yielded to wrath and took human revenge on the evil, is paying costs now.

However the poet doesn¡Çt teach us to surrender to the evil. He tells instead ; - Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.(Psalm 37:3)

We must carry on good acts regardless of the evil. And Niebuhr¡Çs famous ¡ÈSerenity prayer¡É *3 shows concisely the wisdom of Psalm 37 :
— 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.

*1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint
*2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
*3 http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/special/serenity.html

2. Trust in the Lord and do good

Though the poet admits the existence of the evil in the world, he appeals to us: ¡È Trust in the Lord and do good.(Psalm 37:3)¡É Throughout the long history, humans ask why the evil exists in the world that God himself created. The question is called ¡È Theodicy (¦¨¦Åός - god + ¦Ä¦É¦Êέ - justice) ¡É or ¡Èthe Problem of evil¡É in philosophy and theology *1

David Hume*2, a Scottish philosopher and historian, wrote : ¡ÈIs he (God) willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?¡É

Following that reasoning, many people in modern times conclude that God doesn¡Çt exist. As a matter of fact, this world seems filled with rivalries and struggles, in which the powerful exploit the weak. We are witnessing numerous cases and their results. But, just for that very reason, we must call for God who keeps silence.

Jesus asked aloud the same question ¡ÈGod, why?¡É Jesus called for God on the Cross ¡ÈMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?(Matthew 27:46)¡É

And God responded finally to his cry and resurrected him. Therefore we believe in God. The poet of Psalm 37 emphasizes that too. He says: ¡ÈGod will make your righteousness and the justice of your cause shine. So be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. For evil men will be cut off. In contrast, those who are meek but in hope will inherit the land. I saw the wicked proliferating like wild trees by challenging God. But they will soon wither and die like green plants.(seePsalm 37:2-36)¡É

Naturally, the poet should have profound knowledge of the history of the Jewish people who had survived successive dominations of powerful empire, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and Macedonia. But those countries which had enjoyed the supremacy disappeared. In contrast, he points up the fact that the little nation of Israel persisted.

So was the same as Hitler and Stalin. Though they had had temporary hegemonic power, they were destroyed and passed away in the history. And christian faith see the Providence of God behind the fact. Even if the meek and faithful were exploited and suffering the poet didn¡Çt lose the hope. ; - though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.(Psalm 37:24)

The similar hope must be given to faithful persons. Viktor Emil Frankl testified one of the cases. He wan Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, as well known as a Holocaust survivor. His best-selling book, ¡ÈMan¡Çs Search for Meaning¡É chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate. And he wrote in that book: ¡ÈThose who looked up the sunset and admired its beauty with hope could survive.¡É The hope gives the very power to live, which comes from the faith in God.

*1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil
*2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume

3. God made the evil to disciple us

We ask why the evil exist. But at that moment, we must recognize that God put it in the world. Because the world is created and ruled by God.

Paul said ; - And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.¡É(Hebrews 12:5-6)

He understood that humans must undergo the discipline to become the children of God authentically. And, for that purpose, God made the evil as a tool. Then we must seek what to do after the training. We can find the answer in today¡Çs invocation verse 2 Corinthians 1:4 ; - who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

The verse teaches us that, to begin with, we consider sufferings to be discipline by God. However we cannot help getting angry with those who put us into troubles. But that anger can be a power for us to help neighbors who are suffering from similar problems. That is the very lifestyle adequate for christians.

Tokyo Baptist theological Seminary invited this year Pastor Sekita as the lecturer of the summer school. Pastor Sekita told that only those who experienced sufferings and healing by God could talk in language of consolation. The lecture was based on ¡ÈThe Wounded Healer¡É by Henri Nouwen*1

In addition, Pastor Sekita interpreted Mark 9;49-50 as a parable of God¡Çs training. Mark wrote ; - Everyone will be salted with fire. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Pastor said : ¡ÈBe salted with fire¡É implies discipline given by God. He though that we receive words of God through those training practices. In other words, the evil troubles us in order that we learn how to heal neighbors. Thus we become understanding with those who suffer from pains caused by the evil.

Then he presented one of medical cases treated by V. Frankl, the psychiatrist*2. Frankl received a phone call at about midnight from a woman who was under an impulse of suicide. Frankl tried to prevent her from yielding to it. He spent longtime telling about the hope found in the concentration camp. But She said that she had already read about it in his book. However she promised at least not to kill herself till the next morning though she did not yet abandon the desire to die. He had nothing to do further. In the very next morning, she came to him and smiled at him. She said then that it wasn¡Çt his words which changed her mind. Instead, the existence of a person like him who listened to an unknown woman during one hour in the midnight encouraged her to live. Thus she arrived to admitted that the world was worthy of living.

And pastor Sekita concluded the episode : It must be the most delightful moment for Frankl as a psychiatrist. As Frankl suffered so much in the camp, he could share the pain of life with her. Thanks to the harsh experience, he could save her.

¡ÈThe world is worthy of living¡É must mean that she found the light in the dark as John wrote ; - The light shines in the darkness.(John 1:5)

The mission of the church is to put up that light to the world. We suffered once from pains caused by the evil. We came to the church then and were healed with the blood of Jesus Christ. We recognized that our sufferings had been given by God who disciplines us. We were empowered to live again that way. Besides, those experiences made us healers. Kawano Susumu, a Japanese pastor and poet, created a poem ¡È Without pains. ¡É The lyric sings:
— There are prayers which cannot be prayed without pain. There are miracles which cannot realize without pain. There are words which cannot be listened to without pain. There are sacred places which cannot be reached at without pain. There is a face which cannot be looked up to without pain. Oh, without pain, we cannot be even human.

We were gathered in the church through sufferings. It was because we are predestined by God to be healers through discipline. God gave pains then healed us for that purpose. And today, we give thanks to God for that training.

*1 Henri Nouwen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Nouwen
*2 Viktor Frankl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl