The lectionary readings for today include Psalm 36:5-11, a passage from the Hebrew scriptures that resonates with the meanings of the New Testament story of Holy Week and Easter for us. The first section of this passage speaks of what God is like:
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep;
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
The Psalmist tells us that the qualities characterizing God include love and faithfulness, righteousness and justice, with the result that God acts to save “both man and beast.” Thinking of the salvation Psalm 36 describes, its writer is moved to rejoice, “How priceless is your love, O God!” Another Psalm speaks similarly, saying “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name” (63:3-4). The realization of the breadth and depth of divine love is reason for thanks and praise!
As Christians, we may remember that the Gospel of John says something similar in relation to Christ: that God’s love is for the entire world, and results in divine saving action through the incarnation (3:16-17). Soon, as we celebrate the events of the Thursday and Friday of Holy Week and ultimately of Easter Sunday itself, the breadth and depth of divine love as revealed in and through Jesus will be brought to the forefront for us in a very special way.
The next section of our current Psalm describes what divine love means for those who turn to God:
Your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
They feast upon the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the well of life,
and in your light we see light.
Notice the words that are used here to talk of divine love: it is a refuge in times of need; it is a feast that, like food and drink, fills with abundance and delight; it is a well of life, overflowing with nourishment; and it is a revealing light of help and guidance. The Psalm suggests that God’s love is the ultimate source of support and blessing.
Christians may also call to mind Jesus’ description of himself as “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), as well as his statement that he came so that we “may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). That life and the divine love that brings it about are not simply abstractions: they involve and may transform all the many moments and situations of our lives, day in and day out. As the words of Psalm 36 remind us, “How priceless is your love, O God!”
Steve Geitgey