A Theological Crisis

In quietness, the psalmist allowed himself to make a diligent search (Ps. 77:6). When he started to search within himself honestly, the Spirit of God encountered his spirit. He asked a few questions in his spiritual search:

Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?

Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his promises at and end for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion? (77: 7-9, ESV)

In the day of trouble, the psalmist questioned his belief. More specifically, he doubted his God. This is a theological crisis for the psalmist. His faith did not jump from quietness (77:6) to conviction—“Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.’” (77:10) Rather, from doubt to solid faith, he welcomed such a crisis by questioning what he truly believed and scrutinizing his own theological conviction. God is still God after being “investigated.” As Augustine said, “God longs to be longed after.” In this sense, I believe that God is ok with our rebellious search because God knows that we are in the journey: The Promised Land is ahead of the wilderness. With his promise “search and we will find,” we will move from disorder (doubt) to order (faith).

The psalmist confronted himself with these questions about God. He always articulated his faith in this language (e.g. his promises, his grace, compassion, etc…). How much did he truly believe and embrace? It’s necessary to revisit our religious jargons. We use it so often that we don’t usually mean it most of the time. We use it as if it were part of our system. We may be surprised how much we don’t believe and embrace when we search. But the good news is that when we start to search, we get to know God from where we actually are. We don’t start with where we think we are. God only meets us in reality. The doctrine of the incarnation confirms it.