This morning, I have been reflecting on this verse. Increasingly, I see how our ability to read and understand the Bible is both enhanced and curtailed by the parameters of the culture and context we find ourselves embedded in. Now, given that God’s Word has the power to speak into each and every situation, this should not unduly alarm us. At the same time, however, we need to be aware how our own presuppositions can limit our appreciation of the revelation that comes in and through the Word of God.
I am increasingly discomforted by popular, contemporary interpretation of faith in God in our western context. Too individualistic, too voluntaristic. Here, the reality of God evokes a response that is here rendered ‘and put their trust in him’. This interpretation is based on the LXX rendering, but the Hebrew reminds us of another, deeper sense: one which carries the connotation of a relationship characterised by an acknowledgement of God’s sovereign power and the need for our submission to and seeking of Him.
I think a deeper understanding of this submission is what is needed in our culture. It would transform, for one thing, the nature of prayer. Submission brings a culture of faith that looks for the fulfilment of God’s covenant desires, not our covetous ones.
