03.01. The Divine Appearance (1-3)
THE DIVINE APPEARANCE
TEXT THE MIGHTY God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
Concerning the backdrop of the Psalm, Barton remarks:
’ The exordium or beginning of this Psalm is the most grand and striking that can possibly be imagined -- the speaker GOD, the audience an assembled world! We cannot compare or assimilate the scene here presented to us with any human resemblance; nor do I imagine that earth will ever behold such a day till that hour when the trumpet of the archangel shall sound, and shall gather all the nations of the earth from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other; when the dead, small and great, shall stand before God, and the sea shall give up the dead which are in it, and death and hell shall deliver up the dead that are in them.’ The introductory sentences are indubitably awe-inspiring. Delitzsch, without concessions, entitles the section "The Theophany", and Kidner entitles the whole Psalm "The Judge Breaks Silence", while pointing out that the features (Psalms 50:1-5) recall Mount Sinai and the covenant. The solemnity of the Theophany is even more intensified by the manner of the presentation of the subject of the first sentence itself. "The Mighty God, even the LORD...." While Craigie considers the poetic form such that it may be too artificial to make fine distinctions between the names, Delitzsch understands the Divine name El as the name for God as the Almighty, Elohim as the Revered One, and YHWH as the Being, absolute in His existence, and who accordingly freely influences and moulds history after His own plan. Gemeren synthesises the significance of the names as: "The Creator-God (Elohim) and the Redeemer-God (Yahweh) are one God (El)." The KJV translates it "The Mighty God, even the LORD;" the RSV and the Amplified versions, "The Mighty One, God the LORD (Lord--Amplified); the NIV, "The Mighty One, God, the LORD...." As according to the KJV, if Elohim was meant to be conglomerated with El, this would be one of the few El-conglomerate names of God found in the Bible: El-Berith ("God of the Covenant," Judges 9:46), El-Elyon ("Most High God," Genesis 14:18-20), El-Olam ("The Eternal God," Genesis 21:33), El-Shaddai ("The All-Powerful God," Genesis 17:1-2), El-Gibbohr ("God’s Strong Hero" or "The Mighty God" Isaiah 9:6), and, here, El-Elohim ("The Mighty God"). It can be noticed that in each of the cases above, El has been translated as "God" except in the last one, where it has been translated as "Mighty". Betty Isham and Don Stanton have this to say about El:
"EL is the most basic Hebrew word for "God." It is singular in tense, and it occurs about 250 times in the Bible. EL signifies "strong" and "first", and is the title that proclaims God as THE MIGHTY ONE, and "the First Great Cause of all."
Evidently, its meaning and usage seem to permit its being interpreted either of the ways.
Concerning Elohim, they write:
"It occurs about 2500 times. Elohim is the plural of Eloah, but it may appear along with verbs and pronouns that are singular as well as plural. It means the Mighty One (the One who is to be worshipped). It can also mean the mighty ones. Much the same as in the English - God/gods.
"Elohim is used 35 times in the account of creation.... The word contains the idea of creative and governing power, of omnipotence and sovereignty.
"Elohim (plural) is the Creator."
El-Elohim would, then, be a superlative qualificative name for God; furthermore, intended to qualify the name following it: YHWH. It may be noted that the name YHWH is the specific, personal, and sacred name of God as revealed to the Israelites. God proclaimed His name to Moses in Exodus 34:4-7, a name the meaning of which has been a subject of much research and debate. Betty and Don assume the meaning of the name as derivable from the words that add up to form the name; they are: hawa, hayah, havah, chayah. The words carry the meaning of "being in existence" and of "living", which by implication would reveal YHWH as being the eternally self-existing One. They write:
’He exists in a sense in which no other being does. He is! And the cause of His being, is in Himself. He is because He is! Yahwah is absolutely self-existent, and He alone is the true and eternal, unchangeable Elohim.
"Before Me there was no elohim formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am YHWH; and there is no saviour besides Me. (Isaiah 43:10-11)."’
Prof. Alexander, according to Barnes, renders the clause as "The Almighty, God, Jehovah, speaks," and remarks that ’the word "mighty" is not an adjective agreeing with the next word (the mighty God), but a substantive in apposition with it.’ Barnes adds: "the idea is that he who speaks is the true God; the supreme Ruler of the universe." However the understanding of the names, the juxtaposition seems to indicate atleast three things,
1. Gradation. According to Hengstenberg, "In the relation of these designations there is a gradation. Elohim is more than El, to which its singular Eloah is equivalent. The plural marks the fullness and the richness of the Divine nature. Jehovah is the highest name according to its derivation -- it marks God as the only real Being -- and, according to the usage also, which ascribes to Jehovah the most glorious manifestations of God to and behalf of His people."
2. Specification. The names move from the general to the specific. El and Elohim were names which even the gentiles would use for God, but the name YHWH was only used by the children of Israel. This was the name which the Lord said was His name forever, and His memorial unto all generations (Exodus 3:15). This was no God which the heathens served. This was YHWH, Elohim of elohim, the awesome El (Deuteronomy 10:17) who brought these Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt into this promised land.
3. Sublimation. The magnificence, splendor, and majesty of this God is resplendent in the names themselves. He is the Mighty One, the true God of all creation, and the God who has revealed Himself to His people to the glory of His own Holy name. The sublimity of the subject is even more intensively revealed in the first verb of the Psalm: hath spoken. Here is a God of communication, a God who speaks: in direct opposition to the idols of the heathens. The tense of the verb, in the Hebrew Text, is in the Piel Perfect, which is an intensive, active conjugation expressing a causative idea. The Psalm writer wants to say that the true Supreme Lord has spoken, and He has spoken strongly, weightfully, and forcefully. Isn’t that indicative of the prophetic nature of the Psalm itself?
"The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"
Evidently, the voice of the Lord is incomparably more powerful and fiery than the voice of the lion, a creature of His. Elihu felt his heart as "wine that has no vent; like new wineskins" ready to burst, when filled with words of uprightness. Jeremiah felt as if there was in his heart a burning fire shut up in his bones. He said he was weary with holding it in, and that he could not. The fire was the word of prophecy that God had given him to speak. Asaph’s implementation of the Piel conjugation does indicate that God’s word cannot be escaped being heard and re-related. A speaking God, of course, would seem to be repugnant to the philosophical mind. What does it mean for an Infinite to speak? We must, however, content ourselves with the knowledge that the Infinite has spoken, regardless of whether our minds understand the real process of the phenomenon or not. If the Infinite could not act nor speak, as the monists suppose, then the origin of the universe cannot be assessed. Common sense agrees that the world we perceive is plural and so cannot be eternal: the factuality of time cannot be denied; which means that an infinity of the past cannot be held. For that would make the reality of the present an impossibility due to an infinite regression of the past. The world began when the One-Infinite-Transcendent Lord called it into existence out of nothing. This implies action by the Infinite; a phenomenon unscrutinizable by any space-time bound finite mind, and yet undeniable without damage to both sense-in-common and reason as well. Furthermore, our God is not the Deist’s God who creates and then withdraws from His own creation. He is a God of concern, a God of care, a covenant-making and a covenant-keeping God: He is also God The Ruler, The Judge; a God who speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. This active nature of involvement in God is expressly unfolded in the Psalm in the following manner:
1. He is a God of Revelation (Psalms 50:1-7).
2. He is a God of Relationship ("my saints...those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice," Psalms 50:5; "my people" Psalms 50:7).
3. He is a God of Reproof (Psalms 50:8, Psalms 50:21).
4. He is a God of Retribution (Psalms 50:21-22).
5. He is a God of Redemption (Psalms 50:15, Psalms 50:23).
"...and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof." The call has been interpreted as a triple summons extending through Psalms 50:5 by Craigie, as we have already seen earlier (see Outline under Introduction). He understands the first summons as a summons to the "world" as a whole to observe what is about to happen. Delitzsch understands the purpose of the call as Jahve’s summons to the earth "to be a witness of the divine judgement upon the people of the covenant." He goes on to add that this "summons precedes His self-manifestation"(Psalms 50:2). The expression "from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof" has been understood by Craigie as more likely designating the passage of time; "for a whole day, from sunrise to sunset, the world is summoned as an observer of the events about to take place." He adds: "The summons must have been issued at (or just before) sunrise," interpreting it around its setting of the festival. He, however, doesn’t deny the possibility of it meaning "from east to west; viz. the entire world." Delitzsch writes:
’The addition "from the rising of the sun to its going down," shows that the poet means the earth in respect of its inhabitants. He speaks, and because what He speaks is of universal significance He makes the earth in all its compass this audience.’
Gemeren points out to the fact that "His rule extends far beyond Israel to the whole earth, poetically described as "from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets." The Call reveals atleast two characteristics of God: His Sovereignty and His Omniscience. As a matter of fact, He does iterate the truth in Psalms 50:10-12. As no part of the earth can escape the light and heat of the sun so no part of the earth can hide itself from the rule and the scrutinising eyes of the Lord Most High. The description of Zion as the perfection of beauty (Psalms 50:2) displays the importance, glory, and splendour attached to it due its being inhabited by the Lord. It is not just beautiful but is the perfection of beauty. Out of this Zion, Asaph says, God (Elohim) has shined. Barnes believes the meaning of this to be that "the great principles which are to determine the destiny of mankind in the final judgement are those which proceed out of Zion; or, those which are taught in the religion of Zion...." The verb shined, in the Hebrew Text, is an Hiphil perfect conjugation which is causative of the Qal. God has caused Himself by self-determination to shine out of Zion. This was the city which God had chosen, said Solomon in 1 Kings 8:48. Psalms 132:13 says:" For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation." God chose it according to His own Sovereign Will and has shined out of it by the same. It was not the quality of Zion that made it magnificent and beautiful: it was the Presence of El, Elohim, YHWH the Great King that made it so.
"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." The meaning of "shined" can be construed through a study of its usage in Psalms 80:1-3. There the expression "shine forth" is used parallelly with "stir up thy strength" with the purpose of a visitation to save His people. The expression here also can be interpreted by associating it with the promise of deliverance given to the true worshippers of God in verses Psalms 50:14-15, Psalms 50:23. And yet the Judgement connected with this deliverance cannot be overlooked. The Salvation of God cannot be understood apart from The Judgement of God. He saves His people from those whom He is going to punish, their enemies. If He saves one then He must also judge that one’s contrary or else Judgement is not complete. Here, the contrariety is between the ones true to His covenant and the ones untrue to it. God by Himself shines forth out of His own chosen place, Zion, to judge His people for "judgement must begin at the house of God...." The timing of the event is not absolutely clear. Craigie’s cultic interpretation of the Psalm moves him to associate the event with the former "from the rising of the sun...."
’At the moment the sun rose in the east (Psalms 50:1), God "shone forth" from Zion; thus the liturgy was timed to coincide with a natural event, which symbolized dramatically the theophany of the law-giving God of Sinai.’ The prophetic nature of the Psalm, however, must not be forgotten alongside its informative and instructive natures. God has shone forth out of Zion in the past, He shines forth now (cf. RSV), and He will shine forth in the future (Revelation 21:22-27) at the consummation of world history.
"Our God shall come,..." Most modern versions read "Our God comes." His coming is like the splendour of the sun rising in the brilliance of its strength. The verb is cast in the imperfect tense, showing that our God is not merely waiting for a future moment, to come, but that He is already on His way. He shall surely come, "and shall not keep silence...." The silence of God has given rise to atleast two kinds of responses among men in general:
1. Carefreeness, recklessness, and irreverent autonomy among the rebellious.
2. Distress, discouragement, and discomfiture among the godly.The text promises that this silence would not be for too long. In fact, the wicked are, later, reproved of the tendency of leniency into which they had fallen in response to this silence of God (Psalms 50:21). The splendour and solemnity of His coming are well captured in the next part of the verse: "a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." The word tempestuous, in the Hebrew, is saar which means "to bristle with terror; to shiver; to fear, be horribly afraid; to have a feeling of sacred awe; to be agitated, be tempestuous; to be fiery like a tempest; to rush like a storm." The word is in the Niphal Perfect tense which is a reflexive of the Qal conjugation. The clause can also be paraphrased as "and it shall by itself be a frightening, horripilating, and raging tempest round about him." Fire is symbolic of judgement in the Bible. A consuming, purifying, and cleansing agent, it has also been used as a figure of holiness, righteousness, and righteous indignation (cf. Psalms 18:8; Psalms 97:3; Daniel 7:10). It is the agent of God’s judgement on the ungodly (Genesis 19:24; Psalms 11:6; Isaiah 10:16-17; Matthew 3:10). God Himself is called a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). As T. Longman puts it: "When God comes in judgement, he appears in a threatening guise." The appearance of God on the judgement scene is indubitably accompanied by fear, terror, and dreadful panic to the rebellious.
"Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also to the gentile...."
"And the kings of the earth, and the great men...and every...man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
"For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" The fierceness, the tempestuousness, and the terror of the event is but a joy to His people; their Hero is come, and shall no longer be silent. The hypocrites, however, have reason to fear.
CONCLUSION The Lord God Almighty, the Ruler of heavens and earth is a God of revelation. He chose to reveal His name in Zion (2 Chronicles 12:13), whence His light of strength and salvation rises to enlighten the whole earth. True beauty in perfection can only be found where the Lord of Creation finds a dwelling place; from whence He causes His light to shine forth. And that is what he has called us to be: to be a light to this dark world and to reflect the beauty of His glory (Matthew 5:14-16; 2 Corinthians 3:18). This assumes greater responsibility and commitment to the truth. Our relationship with Him by His Covenant is what calls us to a greater accountability ("of the Jew first...") before Him. Therefore, Judgement must begin at the house of the Lord. This inclusion of Judgement (Curse) in the stipulations of the Covenant must not be overlooked. Isn’t that the reason why we as members of the New Covenant are called to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12)? The intensifying of wickedness and corruption in the world should only serve to remind us that the prophecies of the Bible are surely being fulfilled. This world is not our home. Our Lord is going to return as a flash of the lightning to punish the wicked and take us home.