Psalm 4
Godde,
answer me when I call –
I trust
your integrity.
You
liberated me during my time of trouble
O
Merciful One, help me once again.
How long
must I be confronted by my shame?
Mortals!
We love trifles, we embrace lies,
the Holy
One embraces faithfulness.
The
Gracious One hears me when I call,
and
speaks to my heart, “tremble … ”
You say,
“Do not leave me.”
We share
my bed as you search my heart.
There is
silence.
What
shall I sacrifice
in order
to be close to you?
I know.
I will give my self to you.
Holy
One, how can they demand,
“Who
shows us goodness?”
while
the light of your face shines on us?
Fill me
with joy …
the joy
of feasting, the joy of your good gifts.
Your
peace surrounds me as I lie down and sleep …
You alone, O Holy One,
make it
possible for me to dwell in safety.
Righteous. Godde is described as righteous. It is a word that encompasses much: integrity, honesty, justness, being straight or upright. Because contemporary usage has been made it synonymous with "upright" and "virtuous" or morally right and because Godde is so much more than what we mean by the word, I want to point to the Wholeness (and indirectly to the Holiness) of Godde, so in verse one I employ the word "integrity."
ReplyDeleteIn regards to human persons, I find "righteous" problematic because once a person is labelled "righteous" there seems to be a tendency to be self-contented or self-congratulatory. (see Job) Therefore I have come to understand that the terms righteousness and righteous could serve as descriptions of our proximity to Godde. It is not what we do that makes us righteous but where we locate ourselves. Godde's grace covers our error; Godde's love stands in for, filling the void of, our failures in love – of course this is metaphorical language – for how else can one speak of One who is so different from us?! But understanding “righteousness” as location (drawing close to Godde with humility and trust) rather than than the accomplishment of good deeds and/or a virtuous life is the only way most of us human persons, including King David, could be described as “righteous.”