“We Awake In the Night in the Womb of the World”

May 14, 2013

The above title is the first line in the refrain of Andrew Peterson’s “Come Back Soon.” On Sunday my old and dear friend Dean Barham, in his morning sermon at Woodmont Hills, alerted me to Peterson’s music and particularly this line. It has stuck with me for a few days now.

Yesterday I read Keith Brenton’s funeral eulogy for his wife. He has decided with faith and courage to grieve with hope. I grieved with my friend, prayed for his family, and protested her death.

April 30 to May 22 has become a season of lament for me. April 30th is the anniversary of my first wife’s death (Sheila), May 10 is my deceased father’s birthday, May 21 is the anniversary of the death of my son (Joshua), and May 22 is the anniversary of my first marriage. In the last five years my emotions during this time have been particularly evident to me as I have attempted to face my grief.

But I recognize that my lament is only a small part of the larger dimensions of sorrow within the world. The Psalms evidence this range of lament–lament for evil and injustice and lament over our own sins as well as lament over disease and death. It is not only the lament of an individual but the lament of communities, ethnicities, nations, and, indeed, the whole world.

We all “awake in the night.” At some point we all lose our innocence, and we realize the world is often a dark, lonely, and broken place. “Every death,” Peterson sings, “is a question mark.”

“We awake in the night,” and the refrain continues,

We beat our fists on the door
We cannot breathe in this sea that swirls
So we groan in this great darkness
For deliverance
Deliverance, O Lord.

Peterson’s language evokes Biblical images of chaos (sea and darkness) against which humanity protests (fists). “We awake in the night” when we lose our innocence and experience creation’s chaos.

Existentially, I had my awakening on April 30, 1980. I’ve had several since then as well–some due to tragedy, some due to my own sin and brokenness. But the groan remains the same….”we groan in the darkness” and we cry “for deliverance.” “So,” Peterson sings, “we kick in the womb and we beg to be born.”

We beg to be born. It is “in the womb of the world” where we awake, where we beg, where we groan. We cry for this broken creation to give birth to a new one.

The last song, “Don’t You Want to Thank Someone For This,” on the CD (“Light for the Lost Boy”) brings this yearning to a climax.

There is lament. “Can’t you feel it in your bones, something isn’t right here.”

But there is also joy. The sun comes up every morning, Spring follows Winter, and “beauty abounds.”

There is awakening. Though it is in the night, it is in the womb. Though we cry “How long?” we also pray “Come back soon.” And “when the world is new again,” then the children of the King will sing on, and their mourning will be turned to dancing.

“Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Come back soon!”

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Lament Songs: We Need More

April 18, 2013

We need more lament songs.

I was reminded of of this while studying Amos 8:9.  The prophet offers the most chilling metaphor for lament imaginable for an ancient Israelite:  ”I will make it like the mourning of an only son.”

Children killed in their schools, on the streets of a sporting event, by abuse at home, by terminal diseases, and by tragic accidents. And there is much more than that to lament.

There is so much to lament, and we need more lament songs. Our assemblies, devotions, and private prayers should voice lament just as ancient Israel did (almost half of the Psalms are lament).

I am grateful that my good friends Konstantin Zhigulin, a Russian believer in St. Petersberg (Russia), and Jeff Matteson (a citizen of the United States) have produced a “Lament For the Innocents.” Konstantin leads and Jeff sings in a group called Psalom (Facebook page).  Click on the link and listen to the beautiful tones and words (taken from Biblical texts of lament and hope).

We need lament to voice our anger, bewilderment, misgivings, doubt…and, yes, even praise and hope.  Lament is spiritual therapy by which we process our grief and hurt as we sit on God’s lap…even as we protest, yell, and accuse.  God listens and responds.

At the same time, there is so much for which to be grateful. We are blessed more than we could ever realize or grasp.

So, we give thanks and we lament. That is the life of faith.

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Anchors for the Soul: Trusting God in the Storms of Life

September 1, 2012

Last weekend I was honored to spend some time with the University Park Church of Christ in Maryland. I was encouraged by their desire to serve the Lord and the integrated nature of their family. Dorn & Carolyn Muscar are serving the church there in a wonderful way.  They are a dedicated couple in the service of the kingdom.

The University Park website has posted my presentations on their website.  I have provided them below should you care to listen.

Five Anchors of Faith in the Storms of Life — How Long, O Lord: Psalm 13, by Dr. John Mark Hicks, 8-26-2012

Five Anchors of Faith in the Storms of Life, Bible Class, by Dr. John Mark Hicks, 8-26-2012   “Comforting Sufferers:  What Should We Do…Say?

Five Anchors of Faith in the Storms of Life, Session 1 – Learning to Lament: What the Psalms Can Teach Us About Grief, by Dr. John Mark Hicks, 8-25-2012

Five Anchors of Faith in the Storms of Life, Session 2 – Suffering with Jesus: How Jesus Transforms Suffering, by Dr. John Mark Hicks, 8-25-2012

Five Anchors of Faith in the Storms of Life, Session 3 – Trusting the Love of God: Assurance in the Storm, by Dr. John Mark Hicks, 8-25-2012

4 Comments | Pastoral Care, Theology | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks

Malachi 3:13-18 — Faithful and Unfaithful Lament

August 29, 2012

Everyone who has heard my story or has read much of what I have written knows that I encourage lament. The Psalms invite us to lament before God in the midst of our storms. Several days ago my Psalms class discussed Psalm 88–which is one of the most profound laments in the Psalms, and some raised the question of whether the Psalmist crossed a line with God. Did the Psalmist say too much or go too far?

Lament is encouraged and modeled in Scripture, but there is a boundary. Israel complained in the wilderness in a way that God rebuffed. They complained in a way that demonstrated a lack of faith. They pursued unfaithful lament. Malachi, in this text, confronts just that kind of lament.  It is quite appropriate for believers to lament their circumstances when they are enduing famine, sword or oppression. Believers lament, but Malachi addresses those whose complaints subverted faith.

Initially, Yahweh says through Malachi, “Your words have been hard against me!” “Hard”–in the Hebrew sentence–has the emphatic position. The words mean “strong” or perhaps “binding.” It puts a “hold” on God; it binds God. Israel’s response indicates that “hard” was understood as an attack against God; it is to say something “against” God.

What did they say? Malachi is quite specific.  They say…

  • There is no profit in lament or serving God.
  • The arrogant are blessed.
  • Evildoers prosper and escape judgment.

There is something about this that Yahweh regards as “hard.” What is at the heart of these three accusations “against” God? It seems the root is an assumed quid pro quo relationship with God. If I scratch God’s back, he will scratch mine. If I serve God, he will bless me. The language binds God to a mechanical process by which the good are blessed and the evil are judged. It is a legal approach to God that binds God to a particular behavior when I behave or misbehave. God has to bless me (e.g., remove suffering from my life and give me stuff that makes me happy?) if I follow him. God has no freedom; God has no room to maneuver. God is locked in by our obedience and lament.

Consequently, this lament subverts the freedom of God and thus fundamentally assumes that humans are the center of the universe rather than God. The sovereignty of God gives way to human obedience. When, in the eyes of this lamenter, human obedience is not blessed or human disobedience is blessed, then God is no longer just and there is no profit in serving God. One might as well simply give up on God.

Unfaithful lament asserts that there is no profit in serving God and this arises out of a motive to serve God for profit. This is exactly the question the satan asked Yahweh in Job 1. Does Job serve you for nothing? “Job is only interested in profit” is the implied accusation. But Job rejects the profit motive (cf. Job 21:16) and never curses God.

But did Job question God about the prosperity of the wicked? Indeed, he did (Job 21:1), as did Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1) among others (Psalms 37, 73). Why is that not unfaithful lament since Malachi’s audience  does something similar?  One key lies in the fundamental assumption of the sovereignty of God.

Job (as well as Jeremiah, for example) believed in the freedom of God. What Job confessed in Job 1:21 and 2:10 is that God is sovereign and he may “give” and he may “take away.” This is the divine prerogative. Job does not question that reality though he does ask why God does what he does. While he confesses that the “hand of God” has done everything to him (Job 12:9-10), he asks why. But he does not question God’s sovereignty (that is, God is God) and neither does he take the side of those who say that serving God is unprofitable.

Malachi contains this same contrast.  There are those, who like Job, “fear Yahweh.” And they speak with each other. They did not speak “hard” words against God but rather spoke out of faith (fear). They are a community of believers (or fearers). According Malachi, God responds to their conversation with each other.

  • Yahweh paid attention.
  • Yahweh listened.
  • Yahweh wrote it down in a “book of remembrance.”

This does not mean that people did not lament, but rather they talked with each other about their laments in the context of trust and esteem for the name of Yahweh. They may question God’s rationale and ask “why?” But they, nevertheless, trust (Psalm 13).

The “book of remembrance” is a metaphor that arises out of the Persian setting of the book. One might remember how the Persian Emperor Xerxes was reminded of how Mordecai saved his life when the “book of remembrance” was read to him one evening when he could not sleep. The book is a permanent record of events. When God listens to his people, it is permanently recorded in his heart and mind. God remembers his people.

I often suggest to my bible classes that we need not repeat every name in a prayer after we have asked for prayer requests. When the people of God talk with each other about their hurts, problems, praises, etc., they do not need to repeat every specific item to God in a formal prayer. Rather, God is present and listening to their conversation. He pays attention, hears and writes it down. God overhears his people talking and acts in response. Prayer requests are prayers since God is listening!

Most importantly, the charge against  God is unfounded. There is a deep contrast between God’s people and the wicked. God’s people are his “treasured possession” which is the language of Exodus 19:5-6 (also 2 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 1:14). God loves Israel as his own child and will “spare” them.

But it is a different story for the wicked. God knows the difference between the righteous and the wicked. It may not appear to many that he does, but God knows who serves him and who does not. And God will clarify this difference in no uncertain terms when the “day of the Lord” comes.

So, how do we lament? We lament in faith, trusting in the sovereignty of God. Faith is shattered when we permit present circumstances to subvert divine sovereignty. Faith does not live for profit and neither does it bind God to some kind of mechanistic, legal principle (such as quid pro quo). Rather, faith trusts that God’s righteousness and goodness will reveal itself and demonstrate the justness of God’s grand project to reconcile with the human race.

We lament, but we trust (Psalm 13), just like Jesus on the cross whose words “My God, My God, why have your forsaken me” were also laid beside “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Zechariah 12:10-13:1 — Mourning the Pierced One

April 25, 2012

The first section of Zechariah 12 (verses 2-8) promises Israel a new Exodus as the Angel of Yahweh will lead them into the safety of their land free from the oppression of the nations. This is the eschatological hope of Israel.

Zechariah 12:9 functions as a segway between this hopeful proclamation and the spiritual renewal of Israel. “On the day” that God purposes to destroy the nations hostile to Jerusalem, God will also rejuvenate Israel’s spiritual life through lamentation.

God will “pour out…a S(s)pirit of grace and supplication” upon the royal house of David and upon Jerusalem. This promise resonates with Joel (2:28-30) and Ezekiel (39:29) who also envisioned a time when God will pour out a gracious Spirit upon Israel. This is the renewal of Israel as they experience God’s grace and turn to God in supplication. The grace of God will turn the dynastic house of David and Jerusalem to Yahweh. God’s redemption will turn the hearts of Israel to their God.

Israel will respond to this gracious outpouring. They will mourn the one whom they pierced. The phrase containing the “pierced one” is notoriously difficult. Historically a Messianic text in both Jewish and Christian interpretation, the exact translation and its resultant meaning is problematic.

The text may read either that they will look “to” (ASV) or “on” (NIV) either “me” (NIV) or “him” (RSV; JB). The relative clause “whom they have pierced” may either refer to the one “upon” or  the one “to” whom they look (NASB) or to another whom they lament as they look to “me” (JPS). The difficulties are too complex to explain for the purposes of this post, but it is important to say something for the sake of understanding.

Yahweh is the speaker, and the traditional text reads that they (the house of David and Jerusalem) will look to or upon Yahweh (“me”). If this is the correct reading, Israel—by the grace of God—has been reoriented toward Yahweh as they look to their God for redemption. It is possible, however, that “me” should read “him” (as some Hebrew MSS do). Either way, the pierced one is either Yahweh or Yahweh’s servant (martyr).

The occasion for this reorientation is lament. Israel laments the pierced one. Is the “pierced one” Yahweh? If so, it is a metaphorical expression in Zechariah for the pain which Israel caused Yahweh. But the Hebrew may mean that Israel looks to Yahweh concerning the “pierced one,” that is, they mourn the pierced one whom Yahweh sent. Again, either way, the “pierced one” is the object of mourning.

Early Christians, as in John 19:37 and Revelation 1:7, identified the “pierced one” as Jesus. The Gospel of John associates this piercing with the thrust of the spear into the side of Jesus as the nations (Roman soldiers) and Jewish leaders (chief priests and rulers) watched. Revelation 1:7 applies this text—in combination with Daniel 7:13—in an eschatological context. When Jesus returns—when every eye will see him—“those who pierced him” will also see him and “all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.”

The New Testament, then, applies Zechariah 12:10 in two contexts: (1) the crucifixion of Jesus itself and (2) the eschatological return of Jesus. Everyone, not just Israel, will see the pierced one, and everyone, not just Israel, will mourn. In both cases Jesus is the “pierced” servant of Yahweh. Though the nations and Israel—everyone–looked upon his death with satisfaction, in the eschatological day of which Zechariah and Revelation speak they will mourn that same piercing. All the earth will recognize Jesus as the servant of Yahweh.

In the light of this piercing, Israel, according to Zechariah, will mourn. It will be a boundless mourning like morning for your “firstborn,” but even more like mourning for your only child. The language of “firstborn” echoes the Exodus narrative (and also anticipates Jesus as Yahweh’s firstborn), but also reminds us that Israel is Yahweh’s firstborn. But more pointedly, to mourn one’s only child is to mourn the loss of one’s family lineage. It is to mourn the loss of the family’s future.

That mourning is described as similar to the practice of a pagan lamentation well-known to Israel. Hadad is the Aramaic version of the storm God, Baal. Syria’s (Aram) rulers were often named after this God who first appears in the Gilgamesh Epic. Apparently, there was a well-known lamentation ritual practiced at Megiddo which would parallel the kind of mourning Israel would experience in the light of the pierced one. (Some think this lamentation actually refers back to the death of Josiah at Megiddo which ended the hopes that Israel might yet avoid exile, and his death was still lamented in the postexilic period; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:25.)

The whole of Israel—the whole land, including wives—will mourn. More specifically, the houses of David (royal dynasty), Nathan (prophets), Levi (priests) and Shimei will mourn. Why are these mentioned? These are the houses associated with the coronation of Solomon (cf. Dean R. Ulrich, WTJ 72 [2010] 251-265). The house of David had not faired well since the accession of Solomon. The royal house of David, and consequently involving the temple and Jerusalem, became a covenant-breaker; it degenerated into faithlessness. But now those institutions, on the day God pours out redemption upon Israel, will mourn the one they pierced and turn again to Yahweh in faith and covenant loyalty.

“On that day” (13:1), the day of repentance and mourning, a cleansing fountain will flow over the house of David and Jerusalem for the forgiveness of their sins. God will forgive and cleanse Israel from sin.

The promised renewal in Zechariah 12:2-8 will usher in a time of general repentance, cleansing and forgiveness. It is the reconciliation of Israel with their God. Israel will, on that day, mourn the piercing of Yahweh’s servant. Their lament will also signify their redemption. God will remember the promise to Israel.

9 Comments | Biblical Texts | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks

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