In Psalm 93 we have an example of a psalm that celebrates the  eternal enthronement of Israel’s God.  It is a song that invokes  images from creation to offer up praise to God, in celebration of God’s strength, power and majesty.  The psalmist begins with the declaration that it is YHWH, Israel’s God, who is “robed in majesty,” and “girded in strength.”  It is YHWH who has “established” the world in such a way that “it shall never be moved.”  The psalmist continues in verse 2 by celebrating God’s everlasting presence and reign.

Verse 3 represents a shift; here it is as if the psalmist has fallen silent before God and yet God’s creation itself  continues to ring out with praise and thanksgiving.  The imagery of the waters and the floods is crucial here.  Throughout the Hebrew Bible, “the waters” often signal a chaotic and untamed force (see, for example, the  beginning of Genesis).  In his book Seeing the Psalms, William Brown asserts: “Typical of royal temple liturgy, the psalm boldly affirms God’s cosmic reign to ensure the stability of creation…  As royal warrior, God is poised to  subdue any force that would plunge creation into chaos.  And, as the second half of the psalm attests, the mighty

waters or floods would do just that…  God’s majesty exceeds the deafening roar of rushing floodwaters.  God’s ‘voice’ overpowers all threats of chaos and can be distinctly heard in the divinely wrought decrees…”  In verse 5,  the psalmist’s reference to the Lord’s “house” indicates the temple, which serves as a kind of “residence” for Israel’s “victorious God” (see the New Oxford Annotated Bible).

Those of us living in North Carolina know all too well how the waters bring both harvest and destruction,  sustenance and chaos, life and death.  While all parts of the state have been deeply affected by flooding at different times, there is a particular connection between this ancient psalm and the eastern part of North Carolina.  Indeed, the floods have brought chaos into thousands of lives.  In this context, we learn to hear this psalm as a proclamation of faith, that God remains “in charge” despite evidence to the contrary.  Today, we might imagine a modern-day psalmist looking out over the destruction of the land, farms, roads, businesses and homes uttering a lament, grieving

the many losses that have occurred.  And yet, we might also imagine the psalmist raising his or her voice again in praise of the God who is always present in suffering, who is at work in mysterious – and often unseen – ways,  bringing forth hope from sorrow and new life even in the midst of death.

BY CHRIS LIU BEERS, PROGRAM ASSOCIATE

NC COUNCIL OF CHURCHES