{"id":84821,"date":"2020-12-13T17:46:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T15:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=84821"},"modified":"2020-12-13T17:46:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T15:46:40","slug":"the-trials-and-tribulations-of-a-personal-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-a-personal-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trials and Tribulations Of A Personal God"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":"84821","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"632","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A psalm of the human condition\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While verses 7-14 of this psalm praise God abundantly as impersonally overseeing the natural world, the first half (vv. 2-6), depict God as variously (v. 2) the recipient of vows, (v. 3) the hearer of prayers, (v. 4) the forgiver of sins, (v. 5) the encourager of spiritual growth, and (v. 6) the trustworthy Deity who delivers us over and again. In other words &#8211; the personal God par excellence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two halves of the psalm would be complementary were one to see creation as entailing a hierarchy, with humans at the top, the \u201capple of God\u2019s eye,\u201d as it were (see e.g., Deut. 32:10). If the world, and all that is in it, merely serves as the backdrop for man\u2019s meaningful spiritual journey, then in order to encourage him to offer sacrifices,\u00a0 pray, repent and develop spiritually, his environment would play an important, albeit only supporting, role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There have never been guarantees to specific, all-too mortal, individuals that over the course of their lives, they will not be caught up in (v. 7) earthquakes, (v. 8) storms and floods, (v. 9) experiencing living at great distances from civilization, or (v. 10-4) drought and famine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The liturgical poem that serves as a centerpiece of the \u201cDays of Awe\u201d prayers implies that at the advent of each Jewish calendrical year, there will be the potential for some existential threat to an individual\u2019s continued existence:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is in regard to individuals. But way back in the aftermath of the Flood, humanity as a whole was guaranteed by God to survive His fits of frustration and irritation with His creation (see Gen. 9:11.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psalms is made up of the supplications of individuals facing worldly trials and tribulations, and as such, continues to be highly relevant to the overall human condition of those individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":84822,"id":84822,"title":"ps65-hand suffering","filename":"ps65-hand-suffering.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps65-hand-suffering.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-a-personal-god\/ps65-hand-suffering\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps65-hand-suffering","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":84821,"date":"2020-12-13 15:46:26","modified":"2023-03-30 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