Posts Tagged: Truth

“When Joyous Truth Stands Before Us”

On July 26, 2022 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“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.

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ON WANTING TO BE GOD

On April 8, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

 

I have discovered what I want to be when I grow up: God!  Why fool around with half-hearted desires?  Go for the gold!  Go for the God!

I discovered this (or rather, rediscovered it) yesterday afternoon at about 5:15.  I was presenting a paper at the Stone-Campbell Scholars Conference.  I don’t think it went very well.  Immediately the voices in my head began to reproach me.

“Why aren’t you more organized?  Why haven’t you read more scholarly books and articles?  Why are you so lazy?  Why are you so old?  Why didn’t you start on this project earlier?”

The voices droned on and on.  I went to bed with their dreary, accusatory voices droning away.  Amazingly, however, I slept well.  “He gives his beloved one sleep” (Psalm 127:2).

But, when I woke up early this morning, the voices began to whisper in my mind again.  Soon, the “whispers” were blowing with a hurricane force.

And then, Truth spoke!  The first thing Truth said was spoken, not to me, but to the voices.  “Be quiet!  Have a word with yourselves!” said Truth.

And then, having quieted Truth spoke to me.  Not the superficial, distracted, insecure me, but the me that is essentially humble and good, and wants to be even better.

And Truth said, “Child what do you really want?”

“I don’t know,” I said.  But I knew I was lying.

Truth remained silent, giving me time to hear my own lie.

And then, I told Truth a half-truth.

“I want to be good at everything I do.”

Still, Truth was still.

And I got still.

“No,” I said, “I want to be perfect!”

Truth smiled a little encouragement at me, but still said nothing.  (I hate it when she does that.)

And finally, I told the truth.

“I want to be Perfect at everything!” I blurted out.  “I want to be perfect at scholarship, perfect at teaching, perfect at writing, perfect at waiting tables, perfect at gardening, perfect at being a husband—PERFECT!”

I paused to catch my mental breath, and summed it all up in a very few, blasphemous words: I WANT TO BE GOD!”

Now, Truth smiled with her whole face.  “Now, we’re getting somewhere,” she said.

And then, with a twinkle in her eyes, a twinkle that could have lit up a large city, Truth said, “I think that position has been filled already.”  And then, Truth added (with the same twinkle), “If the job ever comes open, we’ll post it on the galactic internet.”

To be full of yourself is to be very empty indeed.  To face the truth—not someone else’s truth, but your own—is to empty yourself of yourself.  And then, Truth and God rush in to fill that emptiness.

And when Truth and God enter the emptiness, the voices are quiet, and I am free to be me again.  I am full again.

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