Psalm 65
We've talked before about the idea that the gods were often seen as angry when things didn't work out for the people. While we have progressed by leaps and bounds since that time we can still easily fall into the same mindset of 'when things go good God is near and when things go bad God is silent." This Psalm is a Psalm of praise, which is altogether good, but I wonder what the psalmist would [or will when we get to a different psalm] when the harvest isn't plentiful, when the weather isn't warm clear and sunny.
I believe that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall but I do not believe that he causes today's rain to fall or today's sun to shine. By that I believe that God created the world and it is created in such wondrous detail that if but one detail was even a fraction different our world would be uninhabitable. I believe that God set up seasons and weather and plants and animals and even the insects that I hate. And within the systems that God set up there is the potential for sunny days and rainy days and hurricanes, there is a potential for a plentiful harvest and a wasted year, there is a potential for a good hunt or a gored hunter. God set up the system so you could blame God when things go bad but a lot of the bad things in this world are allowed for in the system but are caused by actions of those within the system [usually us] not the creator of the system [God].
I believe this because I believe that God gave us a ridiculous amount of freedom and we sometimes make good decisions with that freedom and we oftentimes make bad decisions with that freedom. We created cars and boats and trains and planes so when there is an accident we can't blame God, God didn't create us to fly or float across oceans or go 55 in a 35mph zone he just gave us the freedom to do it ourselves.
How do you view the interplay between God and the world around us?
How have you used your freedom in good or bad ways recently?
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