{"id":84563,"date":"2020-12-06T15:08:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=84563"},"modified":"2020-12-06T15:08:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:08:50","slug":"divine-present-absentee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/divine-present-absentee\/","title":{"rendered":"Divine Present Absentee"},"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":"84563","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"627","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"David was anticipating a time in the future when it would be necessary once again for God to demonstrate by His absence, how man was incapable of winning his own struggles without divine assistance.\r\n\r\n","content":"

The specific details of the military history underlying v.2 are clouded in mystery. \u201cWhen he (David) fought with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated Edom\u2014twelve thousand men\u2014in the Valley of Salt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of Psalm 60 implies that the Jews suffered defeat rather than success, in contrast to the actual historical record appearing elsewhere in the Bible. E.g., \u201cDavid gained fame when he returned from defeating Edom in the Valley of Salt, 18,000 in all\u201d (II Samuel 8:13), or \u201cAbshai son of Zeruiah struck down Edom in the Valley of Salt, 18,000 in all\u201d (I Chronicles 18:12).<\/span><\/p>\n

Even more disconcerting are David\u2019s plaints concerning God\u2019s \u201cabandonment\u201d of the Jewish people at the end of this psalm: \u201cBut You have rejected us, O God; God, You do not march with our armies\u201d (12). This was accompanied by the king\u2019s hopes : \u201cGrant us Your aid against the foe, for the help of man is worthless…With God we shall triumph; He will trample our foes\u2026 (13-14), that served to buttress v. 6-7: \u201c<\/span>\u2026<\/b>Give those who fear You because of Your truth a banner for rallying. Selah. That those whom You love might be rescued, deliver with Your right hand and answer me\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The conclusion being that in the future, God will again fight on His people\u2019s behalf, implying that such a circumstance must be contrasted with what had just taken place. Hadn\u2019t the expeditions proved victorious and therefore should have contributed to a sense of pride and gratitude in the military achievement, rather than discouragement and supplication?<\/span><\/p>\n

Some classical commentators account for this apparent \u201cdisconnect\u201d by assuming that the psalmist is addressing events both in the past as well as in the future. They contend that \u201csuccess\u201d is relative, and it is significant only when it has been preceded by suffering and tragedy and succeeded by a sense of personal inadequacy, failure and abandonment, resulting in a dependency upon God and His interventions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their having been oppressed in Egypt for so long, made the Jews ready to\u00a0 acknowledge that on their own, they were incapable of defeating their enemies. Their eventual victories during the time of the plagues and the splitting of the sea, all facilitated by God\u2019s power, were experienced as that much sweeter. Similarly, the seeds of the eventual defeat of Haman and his minions, had already been planted long before their actual fall, as implied by Esther 8:16: \u201cThe Jews \u2018<\/span>haytah\u2019 <\/span><\/i>(<\/span>lit. pluperfect; fig. \u2018already had\u2019<\/span><\/i>) enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honor\u201d (Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 1:1) in anticipation of what was to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consequently, these commentators contend that just like in the past, Jews were taught the \u201chard way\u201d to appreciate God\u2019s involvement in their lives and military battles. David was anticipating a time in the future when it would be necessary once again for God to demonstrate by His absence, how man was incapable of winning his own struggles without divine assistance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Divine Present Absentee","main_caption":"David was anticipating a time in the future when it would be necessary once again for God to demonstrate by His absence, how man was incapable of winning his own struggles without divine assistance.","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84564,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84563\/revisions\/84564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}