By Jeremy Bell
I am going to highlight theocentric perspective using Psalm 117. All scripture is God breathed, written through His uniquely made people. People use it to learn to be people of God. Scripture is NOT people breathed to uniquely create God. Theocentric perspective is simply believing that God reveals, and people understand. It rejects that people understand and reveal to themselves, God.
My Old Community
Somewhere, a father and mother were dishonored. I lived in that community. I watched as people with free will and choice dishonored them. Some say it’s not a big deal. I live in a place now where the people in my town commit adultery. The statistics suggest it’s normal and many say it’s not a big deal, it’s simply decisions between consenting adults. I went to a friend’s house and so greatly desired their things; I hate that they make more money than I do to acquire them. I should have the things they have. But it’s my problem, it doesn’t really hurt anyone and not a big deal.
I live in a city where big deal things happen a lot. I read about murders, theft, and those who go to court are often convicted by people falsely or prejudicially biased against them. Sometimes lying, just so someone is punished. The crimes before were people on people crimes, but these people-on-people crimes do some serious damage.
Even the innocent are buried in graves and going bankrupt. I hear about overcrowding in the prison community because there are too many law breakers. People want to pass laws to lower the standards so there won’t be as many people in prison. It has nothing to do with the breaking of the law, it’s the logistics of not knowing what to do with all these people who commit crime.
I am part of this community; I live and work in this society. Many now say that religion is the underlying problem of crime. It is better to acknowledge a universal god who satisfies all beliefs or believe there is no god at all. If you don’t bow to an image, bow to the media, or politics, or money. Make God’s name universal and take the power of the zealots out of the equation. God is the people, and the people are god. Any day for the rest of man is holy, but we must stop considering a special day for a special god. That day can be transformed to bring society together in the power of a universal god, or media, or politics, or money.
Hypocrisy?
For many this simple way of society sounds reasonable and good. At the same time, for this same many, there is somehow a disconnect for universal living for the self, denying God, and the continual, even increase, in people-on-people crime. There is even a bold saying to support denying God that says a good God could not exist if these things exist. A good God would not allow people on people crime and if He did, He would never allow justice to sentence people an eternity away from a good God. This is all kinds of twisted logic that illogically dictates reality to assigning blame to the creator rather than the created who actually commit the crimes.
Here is how God preserved the story in the Bible.
[ Genesis 2: 7-9, 15-17 ]
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
What Happened
Adam and Eve, the first people, the ‘man’, did eat it and they surely died. But not without a promise and hope of salvation. God did not execute the fullness of the sentence immediately so that they would have opportunity to repent and even birth the entire human race with that same opportunity and receive salvation from the God who made them. To keep this going, God demonstrated His faithfulness and loving kindness in providing and caring for people to keep them alive and prospering.
Do we despise the riches of God’s goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads us to repentance? Listen to what Paul writes.
[ Romans 2: 1-16, Romans 3: 21-26, Romans 5: 9-10 ]
Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:” to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
No Partiality
But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance; to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
Justified
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
Hopefully that gives some perspective and things to consider while preparing to hear or read this Psalm. They are by no means the only perspectives or considerations, just the ones right now. Psalm 117 is in VerseArrow form and is highlighted in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization. A verse is one idea that still has a breakdown of pattern, but those patterns are contained in one idea. In this form, the motif rises and falls from a center point, or center idea all inside a verse. Look for it.
[ Psalm 117 ]
Praise Yahweh, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
For his loving kindness is great toward us.
Yahweh’s faithfulness endures forever.
Praise Yah!
(AMEN)
Before Jesus came, the law was given, commands through Moses. Those commands told people how to love, but more importantly, reminded them that if they were God’s people, if they were saved people, this law told them what kind of community, society, and even they themselves, they were saved from.
[ Deuteronomy 6: 20-23 ]
When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?” then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders in Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.
Where I Came From
I used to be in a community that dishonored fathers and mothers, killed others, committed adultery, stole, testified falsely, and coveted. This community had no god’s or multiple gods, they worshiped made things, took God’s name in vain, and had no respect for any kind of Sabbath. I was living in it and participating in it. God saved me from this community and saved me from enduring His wrath for all eternity, separated from Him. Extol God for His loving kindness is great towards us, and His faithfulness never ends. It endures forever.
Decisions In My New Community
Each of us has at minimum a daily decision to make when living our lives. Most of us have multiple moments throughout the day. We must decide how we will live and obey in love with the God who is faithful to us when we are not faithful to Him. We must decide how we will live and obey in love towards other people God has made when they are not faithful or loving to us. Wide is the road to destruction and if anyone were to condense the road of human beings, it certainly would suggest a road towards destruction. Narrow is the gate that leads to life, to freedom, to God. Enter by the narrow gate, forsaking the nature of man and surrendering to the Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Truth Basics for Christian Living with Strategic Options.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.