Posts Tagged: Jesus before Pilate
“When Joyous Truth Stands Before Us”
“Psa. 100:1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Psa. 100:3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psa. 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Psa. 100:5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100, English Standard Version)
I had the privilege of hearing a good sermon from my nephew, Caleb, on Psalm 100 yesterday. He said many good things and said them well. One of the things that he did was to connect truth and joy. Or, rather, he pointed out that truth and joy are connected.
Psalm 100 is full of joy. And that joy is not optional. As Caleb pointed out, joy is commanded in this psalm. But there is a good reason for this joy. The LORD is good (verse 5) with a goodness that is absolutely rock-solidly faithful. The psalmist speaks of two ways in which God’s goodness is made known to us: God’s “steadfast love” and God’s “faithfulness”. (In the King James Version, the translation of these two Hebrew words are “mercy” and “truth”.)
The Hebrew word that is translated as “truth” in the King James Version isʾᵉmûnāṯô. “Truth” is certainly one possible translation of this Hebrew word, but the word is so rich that it is almost untranslatable. It relates to God’s faithfulness in support of us ornery cusses. It is the opposite of fickleness.
Commenting on Jesus before Pilate and Pilate’s question “What is truth?” my nephew said something to the effect that “Truth doesn’t yell at us. It just stands before us.”
This truth (which is also named “God”) stands before us offering us mercy. To receive mercy/steadfast love and truth is a humbling and awesome thing. It is also a joyous thing.
However, I’m not sure that I had ever seen the connection between truth and joy as clearly as I did during Caleb’s sermon. I had always thought of truth as solemn—even grim. Thinking of truth as a bringer of joy sounds like a really appealing way of reframing truth.
One final thought: Both truth and mercy are attributes of God. According to the Bible, they are also expected of human beings. However, we humans need to remember that, first and foremost, they are aspects of who God is. This will keep us from the stupidity of thinking that we as individuals (or our little in-groups) somehow possess the truth. We don’t. If anything, Truth possesses us. And that’s where the joy is.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
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- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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