Divine Inheritance: Psalm 33
THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Over these past eleven weeks of Trinitytide, we have encountered various types of Psalms. Psalms of wisdom, exemplified in the righteous man of Psalm 1 and a Psalm of confidence as expressed in Psalm 27, sung to God who is [our] light and [our] salvation. Some psalms celebrate Divine Kingship and covenant loyalty; Psalm 18 would be a good example of this sort of Psalm, which concludes by confessing, Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore (Ps 18:50). Some are prophetic, such as Psalm 110, which foresees a son of David seated upon the throne and the earth his footstool. Some are penitential, like Psalm 51. There are Psalms of Lament, Psalms of complaint and confusion, and the Psalms of Ascent, which pilgrims would sing as they ascended the hill of the Lord into his Holy Temple. And many, like Psalm 23, bring comfort and peace to a troubled soul. The Psalms speak into the soul and every aspect of our being because he who speaks is Jesus Christ, for he is the voice of the Psalms.
Sometimes, the Psalmist's words pierce our hearts, bringing forth tears of compunction and sorrow over sin that lead to repentance and life. Other times, he expresses the frustrations of life or its anxieties that we can't quite put our finger on. Often, the Psalmist can't help but overflow with rejoicing. Such is the 33rd Psalm appointed for this 11th Sunday after Trinity: it is a Psalm of rejoicing. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; for it becometh well the just to be thankful (33.1). Within three verses, the Psalmist invites us three times to sing praises to the Lord. We are exhorted twice to praise the Lord and to do so with harps, a lute, and an instrument of 10 strings! We are to sing and praise him lustily, meaning to 'shout out' our praise and to do so with great confidence! (Think Appalachian tent revival!)
He then proceeds to list the reasons for his rejoicing in God. The Lord's word is true, meaning he never lies. His works are faithful because he "puts his money where his mouth is;" he does what he says he's going to do (v. 4). He praises His virtue and righteousness. Because he is the Divine judge, the earth is full of his goodness, a world filled with beauty, provision, and mystery, endowed with everything humanity needs to live and flourish. By his word, he made the heavens, air to breathe, and clouds that pour down rain. He gathered the waters, separated them from the dry ground, and filled them with a treasure-house of swimming things to eat and water to drink. Such is God's general grace and gifts given to all people, whether they worship the Lord or not. But this Psalm is written by a son of Israel, a covenant child of God, unto whom Yahweh has given so much more. What is the ultimate basis for this man's rejoicing specifically in the God of Israel? It's not the blessings of creation nor the wonderful aspects of God's nature (both are wonderful!). The answer lies right in the middle of the Psalm, in verse 12:
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord JEHOVAH; and blessed are the folk that he hath chosen to him, to be his inheritance.
The ultimate source of his joy comes from possession. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord Jehovah (Ps 33:12b). In the first sense, he is rejoicing because he is blessed or is made happy because he is numbered among the people whose God is the Lord JEHOVAH: joyful because as a child of the covenant, he possesses the Lord God of Israel. But he also speaks of a second possession: and blessed are the folk that he [God] has chosen to him, to be his inheritance. Before the Psalmist or the people of Israel could sing the praises of possessing God, God had first to possess them: God chose Israel to be his inheritance.
God is free to choose. God chose to place the first man and woman within an Edenic sanctuary to worship him and to mediate his purposes for creation. God chose Noah as a righteous vessel to preserve man and beast through the perils of Divine judgment and great tribulation. He chose Abraham to mediate a covenant to bless all the nations of the earth, and Moses, to redeem his people from the bondage of Egypt. And on Mt. Sinai, God chose Israel, out of all the nations of the earth, to be his people. From within a cloud, he declared unto Moses, The LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day (Dt 4.20). He chose, he elected Israel, not because they were deserving, special, or merited his favor.
The LORD, your God, has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Dt 7:6-8).
He chose them because he loved them, and in the words of today's Psalm, because "the word of the LORD is true," he determined to honor the oath he had made to their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And although this isn't a homily on election, let me say this. The election of Israel unto salvation was not at the exclusion of the nation’s not chosen. Israel was chosen for a purpose: to witness the love and faithfulness of Yahweh to all the nations so that all would come to know and worship the one true God. Divine election is a privilege that comes with great responsibility.
God chose to possess a people to be his inheritance. What does it mean to be the inheritance of God? The Old Testament also depicts Israel as the inheritance of God as we read in Dt 4:20. As God's inheritance, He protected (Ps 28:9), blessed (Ps 33:12), sometimes punished (Ps 78:62–71), and redeemed (Dt 9:26) Israel in accordance with His will. To be the inheritance of God is to be under his Divine care in this life and to inherit the vast treasury of blessings he has promised.
In the New Testament, God's inheritance is first given to the true Israel, who is Jesus Christ himself; he is the blessed inheritor (Mk. 12:7) because Jesus is the faithful Son who lived in accordance with his fathers will, and by his obedience, came into possession of the promises of God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that this same Son has been appointed the heir of all things (Heb. 1:2). Like Israel, God has looked upon us Gentiles, the church, with mercy, grace, and compassion, and in love, has made us daughters and sons.
Now, if we are children, (says St. Paul) then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17).
Beloved, by faith and the regeneration of Holy Baptism, we have, by adoption, received the divine heirship. Our inheritance is something that is given by God's grace because of the new identity he has bestowed upon us by rebirth, and like Israel, is in no sense merited or earned: we love him because he first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). Sometimes we think of our relationship with Christ from the standpoint of possessing him: we chose him, accepted him into our lives, and turned to him. But the reverse is true. God is the first mover who moved toward us in grace. And the faith that saves us, even this, says Holy Scripture, is a Divine gift. We are saved by Jesus' faith, by his faithfulness to the Father; it is our faith in HIS faith that saves us. Listen closely to St. Paul,
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. (Gal 2:16).
To be possessed by God is to be given every perfect gift: the gift of faith which trusts in Christ's faithfulness and supernatural love for him that we never possessed until he first possessed us. To be in Christ is to be in the possession of the Father. For St. John testifies that no one who denies the Son has the Father. [But] Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also (1 Jn 2:24). And because Jesus, as the perfect Israel, the perfect Son) has first inherited the riches of every covenant blessing, then it is only in him, that we share in and partake of the same. Our inheritance in Christ spans every understanding of time: past, present, and future: we were chosen in Christ before the foundations of the world; In Christ, adopted into the family of God and presently called sons and daughters of the Most High; the hope of eternal life beyond death is not only assurance for today but the true and future terminus on the last day, we will be raised from the dead and inherit eternal life. And we shall obtain the fullness of our inheritance: Jesus Christ himself, for he is our inheritance, and we are his. So, with the Psalmist,
REJOICE in the LORD, O ye righteous; for it becometh well the just to be thankful. Praise the LORD with harp; sing praises unto him with the lute, and instrument of ten strings. Sing unto the LORD a new song; sing praises lustily unto him with a good courage. For the word of the LORD is true, and all his works are faithful (Ps 33:1-4).
Yet how often do we contemplate the inheritance we have in Jesus? And to take a step further: do we truly believe that we are God's possession? That he has made us his own and our lives hidden in Christ? Well, if we were to be honest, probably not. We conceive of "having Jesus as our God," but what about "our being in Him?" "I believe in Jesus," but he never becomes more than an object or idea we either agree with or disagree with, or some tend to relate to him in the abstract: he's a cosmic life-coach offering expert advice on how to live your best life on earth. These approaches to God expose how we view things: if Jesus (God) exists, then he's way up there, and we're down here. We're not "in him" because He's not here. He's provided some great "life principles" (this is what the Bible is for!), and now it's every man and woman for him or herself. We may say we believe, even profess to love him, but let's be honest: we're creating a world and building lives that don't need God. And this isn't so much a criticism but the reality in which we exist.
We've explained everything and devised technology to fix anything. Every obstacle to human flourishing can be diagnosed, rationalized, and explained (except death); therefore, we can and will figure it out. And for those really challenging problems, we'll devise an even greater intelligence comprised of our collective brains (hello, AI!) With such a robust belief in our human capabilities and functional atheism (God's not here), you can see why people (Christians) feel alone in this world. And when difficulty and tragedy invade an isolated life, it pushes them deeper into the realm of secular isolation. If this isn't the first thought that crosses the mind when bad things happen, it's most certainly the second: "You see, I told you God's not with me. If he were here, I wouldn't suffer. He's not here, and he doesn't love me. I am alone."
And yet, he is here. The invisible God dwells amidst His visible creation. More than that, by the Spirit, Christ has indwelt you: he is in you, and you are in him. His presence does come to us through the means he said he would: His Word and His Sacrament. His word is the seed that penetrates our soul, taking root in good soil and producing the fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). Jesus said we take his whole person into ourselves when we eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus makes himself present to his people in the blessed bread and the blessed cup; through receiving Holy Communion, we feast WITH him and ON him.
I hope you see and appreciate why people (Christians) trapped in the secular isolation I described above (an existence devoid and absent of God) find it so hard to believe, in fact downright reject, that Christ is with us through the very sacramental means he instituted for our mutual possession; our communion with him until he comes and brings us finally and fully into eternity with himself. "How can Jesus be present in something like bread when he's not present with me? Or in my marriage, or the affairs of this nation, or my child’s illness, or whatever?" But whether we believe it or not, Jesus is with us because He said so. And he sent the promised Holy Spirit by whom we were indwelt through faith and received in baptism. He is with us through the words of Holy Scripture. And he is with us in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus is with and within us: because he promised to be, even until the end of the age.
Two things can be true at the same time. God can be with us, and at the same time, we can be suffering through all sorts of terrible things. I think the life, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ would be my strongest argument. He was tempted, tried, abused, maligned, slandered, and beaten. His circumstances often changed for the worst, and yet circumstances never robbed him of joy. The writer of Hebrews says, For the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2). His joy remained because joy isn’t circumstantial it’s POSSESSIVE. Joy comes from possessing that which is most loved.
When we hold our children in our arms, we experience the joy of parenthood. Joy fills a husband's heart embracing his wife after a prolonged absence. Old friends reuniting is always a joyful occasion! Joy is derived from sharing intimate communion with those we so dearly love. This is why parting is "such sweet sorrow." Absence diminishes joy. Jesus knows this, which is why he spent a great deal of time and attention comforting and preparing his disciples for his absence. Jesus knows this, so he provides sacramental mysteries to mediate his loving presence to his people until he comes again. Thus, we can honestly say that Jesus is our joy because, through these divinely appointed means, we receive the One we love more than anything in this world. And by these very same means, he beholds us whom he greatly loves. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine (SOS 6.3): this is the song of a people whose God is the Lord JEHOVAH; the folk that he hath chosen to him, to be his inheritance. This is the blessed state of mutual possession.
But our present joy is imperfect because Jesus hasn't come back to put everything back to rights. And though he is near through His Spirit and the ministration of the Church, joy on this side of the resurrection can only be described by a word invented by St. John Climacus, one of the Eastern Church Fathers. Our joy is χαρμολύπη (charmoliepeh), meaning happy and sorrowful, a sorrowful joy, laughing while crying, weeping yet hopeful, for we rejoice in the Lord who we have not seen while weeping over the state of this world. We are happy in him yet sad until we see him face to face: χαρμολύπη.
Remember, my friends, we are God's possession, and he is our God, and that means he is with us, and we truly do have hope: Blessed [happy*] are the people whose God is the Lord JEHOVAH; and blessed are the folk that he hath chosen to him, to be his inheritance. God is here; He is with you; He is in you. Therefore beloved, our heart shall rejoice in him; because we have hoped in his holy Name. And [may his] merciful kindness, be upon us, like as we do put our trust in [Him] (Ps 33:20-21). Amen+
