{"id":81679,"date":"2020-10-18T16:03:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-18T13:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=81679"},"modified":"2020-10-18T16:03:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T13:03:27","slug":"the-wisdom-of-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-wisdom-of-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wisdom Of Nature\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"81679","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"592","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The only way to know God\u2019s ways\r\n\r\n","content":"

The psalmist sets up a dichotomy between the righteous, on the one hand, and evil-doers on the other, praying, as he often does throughout Psalms, that God will support the former, and not allow the latter to gain the upper hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

The author asserts (v. 8-9, 12, 14) that he trusts that God will \u201cguide\u201d those who believe in him, and \u201cteach\u201d them His ways. But one has to wonder regarding the degree to which an \u201cinscrutable\u201d God will allow Himself to be directly involved in the lives of even those determined to seek Him out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Verses 4-5 call to mind Moses\u2019 ultimately unsuccessful attempts to \u201csee\u201d God, having to settle for listening to a description of the thirteen Divine attributes and extrapolating from them whatever spiritual guidance he is able:<\/span><\/p>\n

13 <\/b>Now, if I (<\/span>Moses<\/span><\/i>) have truly gained Your favor, pray let me know Your ways, that I may know You and continue in Your favor\u2026 <\/span>20 <\/b>But,\u201d He said, \u201cyou cannot see My face, for man may not see Me and live\u2026\u201d <\/span>6 <\/b>The LORD passed before him and proclaimed: \u201cThe LORD! The LORD! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, <\/span>7 <\/b>Extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children\u2019s children, upon the third and fourth generations\u201d (Exodus 33:13, 20; 34:6-7).<\/span><\/p>\n

Radak on Psalms 25:5 interestingly explains that the psalmist, despite the implied intimacy of his requests to be educated by God, realistically remains within the limits imposed on a human being in this regard. The commentator places the series of verbs: <\/span>Hodiaini<\/span><\/em> (\u201clet me know\u201d); Lamdeini<\/em> (\u201cteach me\u201d); and <\/span>Hadricheini<\/span><\/em> (\u201cguide me\u201d) within the limited context of a young child being guided to take his first steps, or a calf or wild donkey being trained to mind his keeper. Just as these are all examples of limited intelligences, being shown only what is expected of them, rather than their ability to appreciate the reality of their circumstances as well as of the mentors educating them, Radak explains that the most that can be known about God is what can be indirectly concluded via the observation of the overall Creation: <\/span>Chochmat Ha-teva<\/span><\/em> (\u201cthe wisdom of nature\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

Maimonides says as much in his halachic compendium, Mishnah Torah:<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the path (<\/span>to attain<\/span><\/i>) love and fear of Him? When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and (<\/span>thereby<\/span><\/i>)<\/span> appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify (Him,) yearning with tremendous desire to know (<\/span>God’s<\/span><\/i>) great name, as David stated: (Psalms 42:3) “My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living God” (The Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah 2:2).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Radak, assiduously studying nature also constitutes a form of Divine \u201cteaching.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":81680,"id":81680,"title":"ps25-wisdom nature","filename":"ps25-wisdom-nature.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps25-wisdom-nature.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-wisdom-of-nature\/ps25-wisdom-nature\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps25-wisdom-nature","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81679,"date":"2020-10-18 13:02:43","modified":"2020-10-18 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