Words II ...

Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Words are important. We have started to explore the meaning of words in our life. They have a much deeper meaning than we often think - our spirit, our mind, our emotions are shaped by words, guided by words, they are filled with words and images (described by words). Words go deep.

What is men? …

As a scientist I have been thinking about how our mind operates now for many years. You can approach the question from a neuroscience perspective. How do the neurons and their connections form thoughts and emotions and mental activity? You can approach it from a perspective of social sciences and philosophy. You can use tools of psychology. You can try to understand it from a theological perspective.

We think in terms of categories. We know shoes, houses, cars. We think in terms of relationships and attributes: big and green. In information science we try to capture such things in terms of programming languages and data bases. And the categories of our mind are strongly linked to words. We express it all by words - the relationships and attributes as well as the categories themselves. We cannot but use words, and I would go as far as saying: we are words. There is no human without language and its use.

In the light of the insight which science gains today, the focus of the biblical texts on words is quite amazing. The bible knew it all the time. It is full of deep insight into what men is. The role of god's law is reflected in many passages of text and in the songs of the psalter. Words go deep, since they do not only shape what we are, but how we behave and what we do as well. Let us look into Psalm 119, where the word of God is the key topic:

God's Word …

169 May my cry come before you, Lord; give me understanding according to your word. 170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. 171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. 172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. 173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. 174 I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight. 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

(Psalm 119, 169ff)

The psalm talks about God's word, and about his law. But note: it is far away from being self-righteous. It is a prayer. The author is urging God. But he knows that it is all up to him. He is searching to act according to the law. But that does not save him. He needs help. The law is there to sustain him, it is not him who has the power. Deliverance is up to God alone! God is the great teacher.

This psalm, as so many, has a prophetic dimension. The writer realizes that he needs salvation, that he is like a lost sheep. He longs for God's salvation. It is not yet there, though he has the law. He needs to wait, he needs to long. God's salvation will come in Christ Jesus, and it has come by now. But when the psalm was written it was prophetic, taking a glimpse into the world to come and the relationship between Old Testament and New Testament, here in the middle of the old one. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts