“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness…Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me” (Ps. 69:13, 16, ESV).
The psalmist’s conviction of the fact that God will answer his prayer is based on God’s steadfast love—hesed. God’s hesed carries a lot of meanings, such as kindness, mercy, loyalty, faithfulness, duty, and obligation. It is always understood in the context of covenant in which God’s hesed is graciously revealed and experienced. On the one hand, God is free to act. On the other hand, he is bound himself within this relationship.[1] Paradoxically, the sovereign God is limited by His hesed towards Israel as well as to us in Christ.
The psalmist’s prayer is grounded in God’s hesed. His confidence is placed in God himself, not in his personal piety. His religious zeal does not guarantee that his prayer gets answered and that God will act in his timetable. Rather, at an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your hesed, answer me in your saving faithfulness. The psalmist acknowledges God’s sovereign will and trusts God’s self-bound, yet free hesed.
[1] Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), pp. 108-110.
No comments:
Post a Comment