21. The Lesson of History

A Meditation of Psalms 105 and 106

Psalms 105 and 106 share the same theme. They make an attempt to interpret the history of the Jewish people. A large number of people who belonged to different tribes settled in the place now called Israel. That happened at least 12 centuries before Christ. How they happened to get there, and how they further organized themselves to become a nation, and how they got scattered again is the subject of these psalms.

Life was not easy for them. They were slaves in Egypt. Once they got out of slavery, they had to wander around in the deserts for about half a century before they could settle down in Israel. It was important for their survival to stand together. Initially, they managed to function together under the leaders called Judges. Later they managed to become a kingdom. After enjoying their freedom for a brief period of time, they had to surrender it to the neighboring empires. Most of them were made captives or slaves in Babylon and elsewhere. These psalms were probably written at that time. Psalm 106 ends with this prayer:   Save us, LORD, our God; gather us from among the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name.

It is often said that India has stood as an entity for centuries because of its legends and epics from the ancient past such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. These stories and their characters live in the collective unconscious of the people of India. This is true about the Jewish people as well. Stories from the ancient past served to keep them together and give meaning to their life. The heroes such as Abraham, Joseph, and Moses lived in their collective unconscious explaining life to them, and motivating them to face the challenges of life.

The story of Abraham was the very basis upon which they founded their life. According to their story, Abraham was such a righteous person that he gained the friendship of Yahweh. Pleased at his righteousness, Yahweh agreed to give the land of Israel to his forthcoming generation.

"I will make you into a great nation
 and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:2-3)

This agreement was further confirmed with Isaac, and then with Jacob. Thus the children of Abraham became a special people of Yahweh, protected by an agreement.

With this agreement as the beginning point, the psalmist traces the history of the Jewish people to find out if this agreement was kept or not. Psalm 105 tells how Yahweh kept His part of the agreement. Psalm 106 tells how the people did not keep their part of the agreement. They remembered their privileges but forgot their responsibilities. Without realizing that they were a means for God to bless all the people in the world, they mistakenly believed that God’s blessing stopped with them.

Even at the time of Jesus, the Pharisees asserted their privileges for being the children of Abraham. That is why John, the Baptist, chides them for claiming to have Abraham as their father. John angrily calls them a brood of vipers and asserts that God is able to raise children for Abraham from the stones on the ground. Those who forget their responsibilities and claim their privileges and rights are vipers.

Any nation or people may believe that God has chosen them as a special people.  But God chooses someone or some people not just to give a privilege, but to assign a responsibility. God’s calling does not make anyone or any people superior to others. God always calls someone or some people to be a medium through which God can bless all the people in the world.  

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