Who is worthy of trust?
July 6, 2023 - Thursday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 115:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Two terms often appear in the Psalter concerning God. The first one is “hesed” which describes God’s steadfast love and the second one is “emet” which highlights God’s faithfulness to his promises. Psalm 115 begins with a plea directed to the Lord: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your steadfast love and your faithfulness” (Ps 115:1).
Someone defined “hesed” as a love that never lets us down. But can human love never disappoint? Christianity proclaims that God is love, that he loves us first, and that he loves us despite our sins. This message is rooted in the Bible and particularly in the Gospels where we read about Jesus loving us to the point of sacrificing his life for us. Each one of us can confidently repeat the words of Saint Paul: Jesus Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). The book of Revelation speaks about this love in the present tense - a habitual and constant action that does not change: Jesus Christ “loves us” (Rev 1:5). Thus, God’s steadfast love has been fully revealed to us in His beloved Son whose love will never let us down.
The word “emet” appears in Psalm 31 describing God as “faithful” God (see Ps 31:5). Again, we see the difference between us and God. We are often unfaithful, we easily break our promises, and we tend to forget what we promised. One can only think of the avalanche of divorces in the contemporary world. Again Christianity proclaims that even if we are unfaithful, God remains faithful. Saint Paul captured the essence of this message in one sentence: “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” (2 Cor 1:20).
The psalmist lived in an environment of which we have a glimpse in the Acts of the Apostles. The city of Athens at that time is described as “full of idols” referring to the statues of different deities (see Acts 17:16). Those of us who live in certain countries in Asia can easily relate to it. The psalmist contrasts the idols of the surrounding nations of his time with the God of the Bible. But we can also contrast them with ourselves. We can speak, see, hear, and smell - they cannot. It is worth noting that the Lord, who forbids us from making “carved images” (Ex 20:4), has created us “in his own image” (Gen 1:27). Thus, as the psalmist states by carving images, by making idols and worshipping them we diminish ourselves (Ps 115:8).
After contrasting the Lord with the idols of the foreign nations, the psalmist declares that the house of Israel trusts in the Lord. On the other hand, we are being taught to trust in ourselves. Created in God’s image and likeness, we are indeed unique creatures in the world. But, there cannot be any comparison between us and our Creator. We are limited, mortal, and very often selfish and unreliable. How can we trust in ourselves then? The only one worthy of trust is the Lord.