Who is as mighty as you, O LORD?

 

Tuesday, August 8, 2023


Psalm 89:1-18

2 Samuel 14:25-15:6

John 11:17-37


Observance: Dominic, priest, founder of the Order of Preachers (d. 1221)


Who is as mighty as you, O LORD?


This first part of the 21st century truly is an amusing time to be alive. Creativity is absent from popular media, and the ease of international communication provided by the internet has brought out the basest of human nature right into our pockets. One of the most amusing side-effects of these cultural and technological movements has been the rise in what is called “neo-paganism”: a belief system that I am sure is mostly tongue-in-cheek, whereby the old “gods” of the vikings are considered still relevant and worthy of veneration. Seeing as the most famous of these heroes of old are now dressed up in tight-fitting, brightly coloured clothing and appear in B-grade film adaptations of comic books, this is the definition of a fad, moving out of fashion even as it was coming in.


Most beliefs follow the same trend: some power, greater than a human, is dreamed up, set apart and above as influential in our lives, and then appealed to in the hope that this power might benefice us with their grace. But they all fail the toddler test; working her way back up the chain, starting with the ant, and ending up with Zeus or Jupiter, the toddler asks: “but who made them?”


Thinking on God’s supreme difference as the Being above everything else has the same effect as when you look up at the night sky when you are out in the bush: the wonder of what you see makes you keep bending backwards, trying to soak in more. Microscopic creatures are placed in their life cycle, feeding on particles, spawning into more microscopic creatures. They exist within water systems, or layers of soil, which themselves are effected by everything from the cow’s hoof to the exhaust from our cars. We are spinning in a ball suspended in space, zooming around a vacuum at incomprehensibly high speeds, in a galaxy filled with little balls, each on a dance of their own. Then there is the spiritual realm: angels, spirits, powers and principalities, all working at their own task. Above it all, yet within it all, there is God, the Creator of everything, holding it all together by the word of His power (Heb 1:3). Who is this God, with such absolute power, such wondrous creativity, such holiness and yet such patience, mercy and love? Who is this God who would condescend to come as a human to save humans? Who is as mighty as you, O Lord?



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