Gratitude through Generations : Thoughts on Psalm105

 

One morning, as part of my own meditation, I read all of Psalm105. I didn’t plan to read it; I just happened to read it. This Psalm essentially asks people to worship and trust in the Lord, because of what He has done for us.

This Psalm has 45 verses, wherein almost about 600 years of history is captured, from Abraham to Joshua. Isn’t it amazing?

Let’s think a little bit about King David, who writes this Psalm. Can you imagine almost a thousand years separate him from when Abraham lived.  It is also almost  350 years after the Israelites went into Canaan. Now consider this, At the time when  King David  was writing this Psalm, he did not have access to the internet, nor to libraries in the same way that we do today.

There are a couple of things we can conclude about King David and his context. The first and the most obvious one is this: King David was a well-read man who had access to all the literature of that time. Second, there was some sort of thorough way in which history was recorded. Either it was meticulously passed on through oral tradition or it was carefully recorded in writing. Third, King David was a poet. His poetry was deeply reflective. He was able to connect the history of that time to his context and relate it to God’s faithfulness to His People.

Isn’t it amazing? Despite a 1000 years separating Abraham and King David, the king was able to connect various elements of Israel’s history right from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then the travails of Joseph. Here, he speaks of Joseph’s role in prison and then as a helper to Pharaoh and it goes on. We then come to the birth of Moses, the captivity of Israelites in Egypt and how they lived for several years. Then arrive the plagues, miraculous signs in the plagues and then the journey of the Israelites across the Red Sea and giving them food through manna. He also opened the water from the rock,  All these aspects are captured by David in one single Psalm!

What struck me through all of this is the fact that we have a living word. At different levels and at different times, you will see that the mercies of the past and the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all fulfilled. Thus, when we look at our current context, the Psalm 105  can inspire us to recount the faithfulness of our Lord over the past generations. We have an opportunity to connect God's Faithfulness from our  ancestors to our present times and Praise our Lord. 

The Creation of Adam- Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

I had the opportunity to take this picture 2018

Collaboration and Foresight

When Nazarene, my wife,  asked me the difference between Independence Day and Republic Day I thought it would be good to revisit the meaning of Republic, even as we celebrate our 71st Republic Day tomorrow. 

The Oxford Dictionary  gives  this definition : A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

A quick search into history tells us that India became an independent nation on the 15th of August 1947 when the British Rule ended. They appointed a Governor General Mr. C Rajagopalachari who was the representative of the British Sovereign and head of State of India. India formed its constituent assembly who created our constitution and on November 26th 1949 this constituent assembly gave us our constitution and declared ourselves a Republic on the 26th January 1950.

The most critical aspect of being Republic is that there is no Monarch to rule over us and we take responsibility for our governance. Of the 220 plus countries in the world, thankfully 120 are Republic, we have about 29 Monarchs ruling over 43 countries and 7 are Theocratic states while regrettably over 50 that are dictatorships and Authoritarian regimes. Since the power is held by the people being a  Republic makes us accountable to ourselves.

I thought this aspect was beautifully illustrated through two small creatures from nature which are the Ants and Locusts. The Proverbs say it succinctly “ The Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer”  where as the “locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks”.

Powerful lessons can be drawn from the ants and locusts. Both are in a manner ‘Republic’ especially as the ants display foresight, planning and assiduous working towards their goal while the locusts are a fantastic example of collaboration and working towards common purpose. Pristine equality of status and opportunity.

Let us look at the preamble to our constitution which is admirable and is worth reviewing on occasions such as these.

WE, The PEOPLE of INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens:

Justice , social, economic and political;

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all

Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

In Our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, Do Hereby Adopt, Enact and give to Ourselves this Constitution.

As Indian citizens we have chosen to be self governed and self regulated. Since it is our choice we are accountable to ourselves.

I believe being truly Republic comes alive when we are able to collaborate  for a common cause with wisdom and  foresight  while executing with diligence.

Wish you a meaningful Republic Day.