Prayer in the Apocrypha 3: Judith's Psalm of Praise

"Therefore this is a fine, good, holy, useful book, well worth reading by us Christians. For the words spoken by the persons in it should be understood as though they were uttered in the Holy Spirit by a spiritual, holy poet or prophet who, in presenting such persons in his play, preaches to us through them." (Martin Luther, "Preface to the Book of Judith," in Luther's Works, vol 35, pp. 338-339).

Judith of Bethulia, Most Blessed of All Women

Few biblical characters have fascinated Jews and Christians as much a Judith of Bethulia.  As early as the first century Christian, Clement considered the "blessed Judith" to be a model of God given virtue and piety (1 Clement 55). Prudentius' "massively influential" Psychomachia (written about AD 405) inculcated the traditional Christian virtues of chastity, temperance, justice, fortitude, wisdom and humility through iconography of Judith [1].  Psychomachia remained very influential throughout the medieval period.  The lore of Judith found its way into sermons, Passover haggadah, Purim liturgy, Christian liturgy, prayer, plays, poems and art of the period molding and shaping of Judeo-Christian values.  Judith was a feature of one of the greatest "silent" movies of all time, Judith of Bethulia by D.W. Griffith in 1913.  She was a revered woman until the age of then Enlightenment.

Judith falls into two basic parts.  The first part describes the war of the Assyrians against the Jews (chapters 1-7); the second relates the deliverance wrought by God through Judith (chapters 8-16). [2]

Hostilities had broken out between the Assyrians and the Medes.  Nebuchadnezzar, who is pictured as ruling the Assyrians, calls on the western nations to help him against his enemies, however, they refused (1.7-11).  Angry and vowing to take revenge on them – including the Jews.  After defeating the Medes (1. 12-16) Nebuchadnezzar decides to destroy those who wished his downfall in the west.  He sends out his General, Holofernes, with 120.000 men and a further 12,000 cavalry.  Soon the nations were frightened into submission.

Meanwhile in the city of Bethulia the citizens, fearful that the Assyrians would defile the holy Temple of God, decide they will not acquiesce to Nebuchadnezzar.  The store provisions in anticipation of siege.  They seek God’s favor through prayer and fasting in sackcloth (4.1-15).  After thirty four days of siege with supplies running low the inhabitants of Bethulia began to loose heart and call upon the city elders to surrender to the Assyrians.  A leader, Uzziah, plead with them to hold out five more days, “By that time the Lord our God will show us mercy, for he will not forsake us utterly” (7.30).  Nevertheless, he agreed to capitulate to the Assyrians should help not come (7.19-32).

At this crucial point we are introduced to the Unlikely Source of God’s salvation for the Jews: a woman named Judith.  Her name simply means “Jewess.”   She is what all of God’s children ought to be.  Having heard what Uzziah has decided she steps way out of her “traditional” bounds as a woman.  She summons him and the elders and upbraids them for their lack of faith – and for attempting to force the hand of God with the time limit on him.  She says,

“Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. Who are you to put God to the test today . . .You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his though?” (8.12-14).

Judith volunteers for a dangerous mission – to be used by God to defeat the mighty Assyrian army.  She prays.  She emphasizes her weakness and vulnerability but also expresses amazing confidence in the God who is “God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak” (9.11).  She concludes her prayer by bringing to expression the main issue, her (and the author) the manifestation of who truly is God in this world (9.14). 

Judith ends up using the weakness of Holofernes, his arrogance and his desire for her beauty, to bring him down.    In one of the most painted scenes in western art, Judith decapitates a drunken Holofernes. Judith frankly acknowledges, “It was my face that tricked him to his destruction, and yet he committed no act of sin with me, to defile or shame me” (13.16).  Thus God wrought a powerful victory through the most unlikely of place for his people.  It is a delightful book with a powerful message.  Craven's conclusion is worth quoting,

"She is a widow in the midst of arrogant, cowardly, and uncompromising people. Her strength is striking precisely because it opposes the weakness of those around her.  Her heroism in Part II is in counterpoint to the hubris of Assyrian pride and Israelite presumption and despair in Part I." [3]

You can read more on the story of Judith in this "Judith: Radical Woman of God."

Brief Look at "Modern" Critical Issues

In the "modern" period Judith has suffered considerably at the hands of enlightened Protestant critics.  Totally reversing even the opinion of Martin Luther himself, noted in the opening, Judith has been turned into a liar, a sexual predator, a murderer and simply a dangerous woman!  Protestant scholarship of the Enlightenment till prior to World War II reflects not only the prejudice of those times but frequently is blatantly anti-Semitic (see deSilva's kind, in my opinion, of E. C. Bissell's to frequently quoted Introduction) [4].  The "problems" with Judith are not unique to her and often are simply problems because we do not understand the cultural issues involved in an honor/shame society [5].  I need not dwell on these issues.

The fascinating character Achior should be mentioned briefly.  Achior is the leader of the Ammonites (5.5).  When Holofernes is seeking counsel on how to defeat the Israelites of Bethulia in the quickest possible manner Achior delivers an amazing speech.  Achior reviews this history of God with Israel from the call of Abraham down to the Exile. Sounding like summaries of God's faithfulness through Samuel's Farewell Speech (1 Sam 12), Nehemiah's Prayer of Repentance (Neh 9), and Stephen's speech (Acts 7) Achior testifies that as long as the Israelites are faithful to "the God of heaven" (5.8) the Assyrians can never win.  Ironically this pagan has more confidence in the God of heaven than the ready to surrender inhabitants of Bethulia! Achior is ridiculed by Holofernes men and they declare, "We are not afraid of the Israelites; they are a people with no strength or power for making war. Therefore let us go ahead, Lord Holofernes, and your vast army will swallow them up" (5.23-24).  Achior is expelled from the Assyrian camp and is captured by the Israelites.  Later in the in the book, after Judith has slain Holofernes he "converts" to Israel.  "When Achior saw all that the God of Israel had done, he believed firmly in God. So he was circumcised, and joined the house of Israel, remaining so to this day" (14.10).  The author makes a direct parallel with the Abraham story in Genesis 15.6.  The expression episteusen to theo occurs only in two places in the Greek Bible (LXX) that is in Judith 14.10 and Genesis 15.6. Thus as Roitman has correctly noted, "according to the book of Judith, the righteous pagan who converts to Judaism would also have, as the native Jew has, Abraham as his model or 'father.'" [6] Such a perspective would be important in the Jesus movement embracing Gentiles on the model of Abraham. 

Judith's Psalm

 Prayer is an integral part of the story of Judith just as we discovered of Tobit [7]. In the tradition of Moses, Miriam, and Deborah, Judith leads the children of Israel in praise and worship of God through a "new psalm." What else can be done when God has delivered us and through the most unexpected means, but praise him.  Judith continues the long line of piety in the Hebrew Bible especially in the Psalter.  As with other biblical literature there is the rich use of previous biblical literature to nourish the Spiritual well being of God's people in a new day and situation.

"And Judith said, 
Begin a song to my God with tambourines,
and sing to my Lord with cymbals.
Raise to him a new psalm;
exalt him, and call upon his name.
For the Lord is a God who crushes wars; 
he sets up his camp among his people; 
he delivered me from the hands of 
my pursuers.
(Judith 16. 1-2b)

Judith, like the Prophet Miriam (Ex 15.20) and the young ladies in procession in the temple (Ps 68.25) grabs a tambourine and assumes the role of worship leader.  In the Bible, God's fresh act of grace demanded fresh praise.  We do not just sing the old song but now in light of God's new act we sing our own song of worship and praise.

The call to a psalm of praise is grounded in what God has done and is doing.  God "crushes" war.  Those drunk on the liquor of combat will be disappointed because the Lord simply will put an end to all war.  The vision or dream of the prayer is for a world without any more Holoferneses. What a day that would be.

But not only does Judith call to praise because God destroys war but because "he sets up his camp among his people." Following the destruction of God's enemies (i.e. war, etc) Judith praises God for one of the great blessings attested to throughout the Hebrew Bible, God lives with his people.  It is a vivid image that God "camps" with us.  God himself is the desire of the redeemed.

After narrating magnitude of Israel's dire straits from the Assyrian threat in verses 3 and 4, Judith gives God glory for the unbelievable way in which salvation was granted.  Only God could have accomplished salvation through a woman!

"But the Lord Almighty has foiled them
by the hand of a woman.
For their mighty one did not fall by the
hands of the young men,
nor did the sons of the Titans strike
him down,
nor did tall giants set upon him;
but Judith daughter of Merari
with the beauty of her countenance
undid him." (vv. 5-6)

The Lord God is given total credit for the unusual means of deliverance from the tyrannical Assyrians.  Judith does not even give God's enemy, Holofernes, the honor of being named he is just the "mighty one" who suffers the unbelievable (in that culture) of being done in by a woman, a widow no less! The irony drips form this portion of the psalm.  God did not use the demi-gods known as the "sons of the Titans," nor the legendary "giants" of the land.  God used a weapon fit for the occasion that undid the arrogance of an insatiable oppressor.  The beauty of an old lady (what delicious irony).  Should God not be praised?

Judith continues to narrate in the psalm how the God inspired actions of a widow had cosmic consequences.  The Persians and the Medes "tremble" with the news of what God has accomplished through one regarded so helpless (v.10).  Kicking into high gear Judith continues her "new song" of praise to the Lord.

"I will sing to my god a new song;
O Lord, you are great and glorious,
wonderful in strength, invincible.
Let all your creatures serve you,
for you spoke and they were made.
You sent forth your Spirit, and it
formed them;
there is none that can resist your 
voice.
For the mountains shall be shaken to
their foundations with the waters;
before your glance the rocks shall 
melt like wax.
But to those who fear you
you show mercy.
For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering
is a small thing,
and the fat of all whole burnt
offerings to you is a very little thing;
but whoever fears the Lord is great forever.

Woe to the nations that rise up against 
my people!
The Lord Almighty will take 
vengeance on them in the day of 
judgement;
he will send fire and worms into their
flesh; 
they shall weep in pain forever."
(vv. 13-17).

Judith has unwavering faith in the majesty and uniqueness of our God.  He is the Creator of all things.  Through the instrumentality of the Spirit life is given and the world is made. God's all powerful word (voice) cannot be resisted by his creation. Those in rebellion against his lordship (like Holofernes) will find themselves missing their head but mercy is the lot of those who walk the dangerous road of faith.

Judith warns her listeners that simply going to church and performing perfunctory acts of religious service like sacrifices, the "five acts" of worship, etc have no manipulative power over God.  Far from being some legalism Judith sees that such acts of worship are "little things" when divorced from the heart that "fears the Lord" has standing (and mercy!).

What Jesus and the Early Church Heard

It is exceedingly unlikely that Jesus did not know the story of Judith.  The very epitaph of Uzziah for Judith was applied to his own mother, "O daughter you are blessed by the Most High God above all other women ..." (13.18; Lk 1.42).  It is irrelevant if he believed it was or was not Scripture, though obviously many people of the day did.  But the story was one of those things that "filled the air." Through the story of Judith, Jesus heard that God overcomes insurmountable obstacles through the most extraordinary means.  He heard that God can accomplish things even through scandalous means.  Jesus and the Jews of his day learned from the story of Judith that women were people in an unique relationship with God and not mere appendages. Jesus and the Jews around him knew of stories of how God used women to do what no man could do.  Jesus heard that women were incredible prayer warriors and were inspired to not only deliver by His power but to lead in the worship of fresh new praise to the King of Kings.  Jesus and Jews of his day learned in the story of Judith that crises, oppression and suffering may be a means of divine testing rather than punishment [8].  Jesus learned through such stories as Judith that trust in the Lord is foundational, fundamental, and primordial basis of life.

These are not things that Jesus alone heard.  The first century church did as well.  We do not know when or by whom but Christians in the city of Rome knew the story of Judith even as John was penning his Gospel.  They assumed the Christians in Corinth knew who Judith was as well.  It is difficult to believe that Clement learned this on his own.  He almost surely learned if from an earlier disciple ... I realize I cannot prove that but it is certainly a reasonable supposition. Clement was asked to respond to a letter from the same church Paul had had so many issues with, that letter is known as 1 Clement and it is contemporary with the writings of John.  He exhorts them to unity and many other things.  A model of selflessness, graceful courage, and prayer is held out to the Corinthians.  It is one they surely already know, Judith.  I close with Clement's words for this is what the early church heard, just as Jesus had.

"Many women being strengthened through the grace of God have performed many manly deeds. The blessed Judith, when the city was beleaguered, asked of the elders that she might be suffered to go to the camp of the aliens. So she exposed herself to peril and went forward out of love for her country and of her people which were oppressed; and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hand of a woman" (1 Clement 55)

Judith's daring act of faith, her willingness to sacrifice herself, her psalms of prayer and praise were among the things the Corinthians needed to appropriate to themselves.  Judith what a blessed woman she is.

Here is the movie, Judith of Bethulia, which was on of the most extravagant of films from the Golden Age of Silent Film.  Enjoy.

Notes:

1] See the richly textured study by Margarita Stocker, Judith Sexual Warrior: Women and Power in Western Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press 1998), quotes from pp. 24ff. 

2] Toni Craven has shown that Judith is an exquisite work of literary art.  The book falls into perfectly balanced halves where Judith emerges as the counterpart of the hubris of Assyrian pride and Israelite presumption.  See "Artistry and Faith in Judith," Semeia 8 (1977): 75-101.  

3] Craven, "Artistry and Faith in Judith," p. 95.

4] David A. deSilva, "Judith the Heroine? Lies, Seduction, and Murder in Cultural Perspective," Biblical Theological Bulletin 36 (Summer 2006), 55-61.  deSilva writes "Bissell was particularly disturbed about Judith's flirting with the ruing of her own sexual purity, going so far as to claim that she would have gone all the way with Holofernes if he didn't oblige her by passing out before consummating his desires ... Perhaps we should not be to surprised to find Bissell in a manner typical of late 19th century thinking about Judaism, condemning the religion of the author, which was able to stomach - indeed to bless - deception, teasing, and murder, but not the violation of the ceremonial law" (p. 56).  deSilva squashes this point of view for the make believe that it is. Luke certainly thought enough of Judith to use her as a model for Mary herself and probably Anna.  See the comparisons and contrasts in Brittany Wilson's excellent "Pugnacious Precursors and the Bearer of Peace: Jael, Judith, and Mary in Luke 1.42," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68 (2006): 436-456.

5] In addition to the case specific study by David A deSilva mentioned in note 4 I recommend the very user friendly intro to the issues of "honor and shame" in the Eastern cultures in Randolph Richards and Brandon O'Brien's Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible (Inter-Varsity Press, 2012), 113-136.

6] Adolfo D. Roitman, "Achior in the Book of Judith: His Role and Significance," in No One Spoke Ill of Her: Essays on Judith, (Scholars Press 1992), 40, See p. 45 note 54 on Judith 14.10 and Genesis 15.6 in the LXX.

7] Toni Craven, "From Where Will My Help Come?: Women and Prayer in the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books," in Worship and the Hebrew Bible: Essays in Honor of John. T. Willis, ed Patrick Graham, Rick Marrs and Steven McKenzie (Brill,    ), pp. 105-108.

8] Carey A. Moore, Judith: Anchor Bible (Doubleday 1985), 63. 

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Rocks, Martin & Psalm 62

Rocks & Martin

In February 1968, the prospect of death looming large in his life, Martin Luther King, Jr took a sabbath with Ralph Abernathy in Acapulco, Mexico. Around 3 am, Abernathy awoke to find that King was not in his bed. Frightened, he went into the living area of their hotel suite and discovered that King was on the balcony in his pajamas, staring into the darkness at the ocean.

Abernathy approached King, "Martin, what are you doing out here this time of the night? What is bothering you?" With his eyes still fixed on the ocean and his ears tuned to the roar of the waves, King whispered, "You see that rock out there?" "Oh, sure I see it," Abernathy replied.  "How long to you think its been there?" King asked. "I don't know. I guess centuries and centuries. I guess God put it there."

"Well, what I am thinking about?" King said softly while Abernathy remained silent. And King began to sing, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in thee." In his hour of trial and darkness and waves crashing in on him, King could only think about trusting in God. Only God could provide him with the peace he so desperately needed. So when he saw that rock it reminded him of the powerful words of the Psalms put to music by Augustus Toplady in 1776.  Singing the song brought a little shalom in the storm. 

A basic element in the Psalms is their expression of continual, total and exclusive trust in God alone. God is the problem. But God is the solution. The element of trust dominates our text for meditation, Psalm 62. This theme is present in many others too such as Pss 4, 16, 27 and 131.  Yet for me Ps 62 stands out.  It is expresses the firm hope in God's ability to enable his faithful ones to become "more than conquerors."

God ALONE is Trustworthy (62.1-7)

Psalm 62 is easily divided into two major parts: 1) the first eight verses are the psalmists expession of trust in God and 2) verses 9-12 are the psalmist's "homily" to the gathered people of God to trust in Yahweh as well.

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation 
comes from him.
He alone is my Rock and my Salvation; he is my Fortress, I will never be
shaken" (vv. 1-2)

In the midst of the turbulence of 1968, Dr. King found that the only way for him to find shalom was to imagine himself secure in the "Rock of Ages" so our psalmist does the same. God is the sources of all peace and security. These are not words that are spoken naively or rashly.  The psalmist has meditated on his well-being and realizes that all is evanescent except God. God alone is the ground of stability in his life - the Prophet of Justice learned this through real tribulation, just as the psalmist did.

Notice the metaphors the psalmist uses to talk of his God, "my Rock, my Salvation, my Fortress." All of these are images of confidence, strength and security. The ancient Hebrews, unlike the Greeks, did not talk about God in mere abstraction. They talked about God in concrete, observable and vivid ways. They also talked about God in highly personal terms. He is not someone way "out there" who may or may not know that we (and me) are around.  He is not just concerned with the corporate people of God. He is concerned with me.  He is MY rock! He is MY salvation! he is MY fortress! Therefore I shall not be moved. What Yahweh has done in the past for the whole of Israel by redeeming them from slavery he does in our own lives as members of the covenantal family.  

"How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down -- this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse." (vv. 3-4)

Here we finally get a window into the crises of the psalmist. It is a struggle we all face sooner or later.  People - family, friends, brothers and sisters - people are friendly to our face.  They pretend to be concerned with our well being.  They act the friend.  But they honestly would like nothing more than to see us fail! To see us stumble! And they would actively take part in our ruin! That kind of "persecution" is many times as painful as public ridicule precisely because these folks were imagined to be family or friends. Sometimes they are just simply our enemy.  The psalmist bemoans the fact that they assail him with their double tongued behavior.  They bless him verbally but curse him in their heart.  Sound familiar?? Sadly this takes place in God's Family even yet!

It is interesting to note that even though the Lord is his mighty fortress, physical and verbal attacks are nonetheless undeniable real and quite painful.  Being the Lord's servant does not makes us immune to suffering and injustice in this fallen age (cf. 2 Tim. 3.12).  We might even argue that it heightens it.  Look at Jesus, the purest of Servants of the Lord.  Did he not suffer the very things the people of God confess and lament in Psalm 62? God was His rock. God was His salvation. God was His fortress.  And he still died on that ignominious Tree for the likes of you and me.

"Find rest, O my soul, in GOD ALONE; my hope comes from him.
HE ALONE is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend upon God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge"
(vv. 5-7)

In these verses, our psalmist engages in what we call today "self-talk." There is no denying, and the Bible does not deny, that the fallen world is tough to live in. But God is with us. Our minstrel recalls fundamental concepts for our own peace and security.  Do not put trust in ourselves or others.  Real "manliness" does not come from bulging biceps, fearlessness in the face of enemy bullets, or perseverance, nor in our intellectual capacity or imagined doctrinal precision.  This is in stark contrast of the "world" which claims that a "real man" depends on no one and nothing except himself!  Yet this psalmist (David??) declares that his hope is in God ALONE. It is  not in himself.  It is not in his mighty men. It is not even in his ability to pray or worship correctly. It is in Yahweh. Here is the key to being hidden in the Rock of Ages.

The Singer's faith in God is moving and very challenging.  Because the Lord is our salvation, we can remain steadfast in our obedience.  We will not be shaken. Yet it some how all depends upon God. He alone can provide the way out of the dreadful situations we find ourselves entrapped in. 

The word "salvation" is a multifaceted word in the Scriptures. Sometimes it means deliverance from Sin, from enemies, or even death.  All of these are dimensions of the biblical doctrine and we need to not think one is more "Spiritual" than the other.  These dimensions are all embraced by Jesus and they should be by us.  But in Ps 62 "salvation" means deliverance from the situation that has ensnared the psalmist.  It is a real crises.  This understanding of "salvation" is important to us in our contemporary situation too.  Many folks have lost a conception of what "Sin" is (including Christians), but we all know what it means to have an aimless or miserable life! We know of lives that seem to be devoid of purpose and meaning.  When Christ died on the Cross it was not merely to save us from Sin, though he did do that. According to the apostle Peter, Christ redeemed us from "the EMPTY WAY OF LIFE handed down to you from your forefathers" (1 Pt 1.18).  This is incredibly Good News. Our God is a God of salvation.  Salvation that impacts and transforms the here and now of life and not just when we die.  Our God desires the fullest of lives possible.  Our psalmist embraces these truths with gusto.  So should we.

But the psalmist stresses that a good life is from God. It is his grace.  Without God life has no meaning or purpose. We are nothing without Him.  He testifies "my honor depends on God." My stature is nothing outside of the Lord.  I might as well have never existed, for human honor and worth derive form the Creator God.

Don't Trust in Humans (62.8-12)

"Trust in him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to him, for God is 
our refuge.
Lowborn men are but a breath [lit. 'vapor'], the highborn are but a lie; if 
weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a
breath [lit. 'vapor'].
Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches 
increase, do not set your heart on them" (vv. 8-10)

Our psalmist now becomes the teacher of the Gathered People of God.  He addresses them rather than himself.  He exhorts us to trust in, to have faith in, God at all times for he alone is our refuge. We should "pour out our hearts to him." This is a call to prayer! A call to dependence rather than independence! When we feel assailed we seek instinctively our "refuge."

What the psalmist wants, perhaps, more than all else is not to fall into the trap of trusting in fallen humans And that includes ourselves. The description of humanity in vv 9-10 is in stark contrast to the description of God in vv 5-7.  God is permanent and unshakable, he is a Rock.  He is reliable so he is my Salvation.  He is strong as a Fortress that cannot be breached.  Yet humanity whether a poor pauper or a rich bureaucrat is a wisp, a vapor, and "a lie."  Vivid imagery captures the human dilemma here. Our teacher says if you take both the rich and the poor and put them in one pan of a balance scale and nothing in the other pan they would fly up because "nothing" would weigh more than them combined.  We cannot trust in humanity for our security and stability or our peace.  We will find no rest there.  Those who have done so have learned, as the psalmist has, that humanity will always let us down.  God will never desert us.  He is faithful.  That is the Good News of Psalm 62.

The Bible is full of exhortations not to trust in humanity.  Paul in Romans 3.10-18 creates a collage of citations from the Hebrew Bible saying it is the gospel truth ...

"There is no one righteous, not even one there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of shalom they do not know there is no fear of God before their eyes."

Not a pretty picture of humanity painted by Paul. Humans are liars and untrustworthy.  Only God is faithful so put it all in him.  Our singing teacher reminds us that money and power are common sources of human trust for safety and security too.  But he warns that trusting in apparent might rather than in the right.

Two Things to Take to the Bank (62.11-12)

"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: that you, O God, are
strong and that you, O LORD are loving. 
Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done."

The psalm employs a Hebrew idiom, "One thing ... two things" which simply means "repeatedly," or "over and over and over and over." The psalmist closes his song to the church by sharing the testimony of all who have walked with God, he is Strong and he is Loving! These are two things that are certain as reality itself.  God is Strong!  God is Loving!! You can hang your life on these two truths.  You can live your life even in the darkness holding onto these fundamental truths.  They are more than "truths" they are simply reality.  "This I have heard, this I know ... "This is the basis of his faith in God delivering him from the straits he is in.  God has the power and God has the motivation to do it.

Because God has the power and the motivation to right the wrongs of this fallen world - he will do just that.  One day God will judge each man and woman.  He will measure our deeds. The very deeds of evil by you, me, everyone ... the whispers, the lies, the double-mindedness God will bring out.  This is in fact ground for praise in the psalm.  It is not the psalmist's place to exact vengence on his enemies.  God will take care of that on that Day. And he will do it perfectly.  This is why Christians look forward to the Day of Christ's appearing. All will be set right. The ones who have put their faith in his faithfulness will be rescued by the angels of God and will greet the King.  Trust in God. If we have shalom and peace in our lives we must give God control.

So I concluded these musings on this amazing text with a call to simply rest in God.  In Good times.  In Bad times.  We like Martin Luther King, Jesus, and the psalmist before them can lift our voices and sing, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in Thee!"

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Can the King be Trusted? The Vision of Psalm 73

“The book of Psalms contains not only the merry shouts of Israelites clapping their hands and making a joyful noise to the Lord. It contains also the groans and the pleas of the sick and the frightened and the dying. I had known that before. Now, I realized it for the first time.” (Stephen Broyles, The Wind that Destroys and Heals: Trusting the God of Sorrow and Joy, p. 21).

The Horizon of Psalm 73

Described as “the most remarkable and satisfying of all the psalms” [1], or a “microcosm of Old Testament theology,” [2] Psalm 73 is strategically placed within the canonical Psalter. Though hard to imagine in the face of the evidence, older scholarship virtually dismissed any notion of design to the book. Rather that scholarship focused on the origins and “setting in life” of individual psalms.  Some of that scholarship was, and is, very insightful but it dismissed the overwhelming evidence that the book of Psalms has been “put together” deliberately and purposefully. There is in fact a progression in the Psalter. When read carefully and attentively we even get the feeling that sometimes the various psalms are "talking to each other." 

The book articulates Israel’s worldview  (i.e. the biblical worldview) as powerfully, and brilliantly, as any book in Scripture. In short that worldview is 1) Yahweh is the Creator God who is the Redeeming King, 2) God has called Israel into a relationship with Yahweh as a graced kingdom of priests worshiping God on behalf of the world, and inviting the world to worship 3) that God’s kingdom is filled with justice, mercy and shalom - hesed is the law of the kingdom  4) and finally that God will defeat the challengers and usurpers of his reign (thus his law) in this world.  Israel’s worldview and faith is anything but simplistic as it is revealed in the canonical Psalter.

The journey getting to Psalm 73 through the Psalter is like a journey over the Alps and through Death Valley.  It is intense and calls for openness.  The introduction to the Psalter, Ps 1, declares a certain world confessed to be true.  I believe Psalm 1 was specifically, and intentionally, created to be the door through which the rest of the book was to be read, sung, and understood.  This means that Psalm 1 was created AFTER all the rest had been gathered and was confessed only after the storms have been weathered. Thus Ps 1 is not naïveté but a confession of faith refined in fire about how the world really is ... about what the Truth is. 

But the world God’s People live in does not correspond to Psalm 1, it is Fallen and Rebellious. We learn that as soon as we read Ps 3. There is no deception in the psalter thus there are two books of Psalms prayed through before we arrive at Ps 73.  Many do a lot of lamenting the dissonance between "out there" and "in here."  Psalm 73 shows a person, who I take to be representative of the entire people of God, who is serious about the values of Psalm 1 but had been the victim of injustice one to many times.  He/she questions whether God’s kingdom is real, whether God’s justice is real, whether having faith in Yahweh is worth the trouble.   But 73 stands at the head of Book III, almost literally the half way point in the book, and refocuses the people of God on what faith really means.  So Brueggemann is correct, I think, when he writes, “in the canonical structuring of the Psalter,  Psalm 73 stands at its center in a crucial role … I propose it is central theologically as well as canonically” [3]. It shows us how to integrate Psalm 1 in our theology.

The Psalm is structured in the following manner

I. Contested Claim (v.1)

II. The Protest and Evidence against the Claim (vv. 2-12)

III. Is it Useless to Follow the King (vv. 13-14)

IV. I Saw the Truth (vv. 15-20)

V.  Faith Refocused: Yes! God is Good and Worth Everything (vv. 21-28)

Verses 2 and 17 are the hinges of the Psalm.

The Contested Claim: The King is Good to Israel

“Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart” (v.1)

The RSV/NRSV repoint the Hebrew text to yield the reading “God is good to the upright” rather than “Israel.” Westermann argues this is necessary because the Psalm is about an individual but that is a mistaken understanding in my view [4].

But verse 1 is the thesis and conclusion of the Psalm.  It points back to Psalm 1 and affirms the truth of that worldview.  But it is a conclusion that that has been arrived at only through the valleys of the next several verses and the previous 70 psalms.  It is not naïve faith but tested and tried. The King is good to Israel.  Israel is not just an ethnicity here but is nuanced by “those who are pure in heart” likewise tying in to Psalm 1. Purity of heart means that the inner attitude actually coheres with the outward word or action. Jesus said his amen to this (cf. Mt 5.8).

The Protest and Evidence against the Claim

Israel’s faith has mettle. Israel’s is honest faith. The gathered people of God acknowledge that what they claim and what they experience is in profound tension.  No not tension, they are in conflict! In fact the next several verses are a full scale attack upon naive faith.  The world claims that God is not King, his will does not rule, and that he is irrelevant at best.  The experience of people “out there” does not cohere with the Faith confessed.  That is the crises! The verses, 2-12, recognize and confess the conflict and its power on the believing community.

“But as for me, my feet had almost stumble;

my steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious/jealous of the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (vv. 2-3)

Clearly echoing the language of Ps 1, and contrasting its claim, the wicked are so prosperous that those serving God are “jealous” or “envious.” To the point of even “slipping” away so as to join them. The disciple has nearly fallen away because (as we shall see) the wicked have it so well.   This is “protest” language. Our faith is shaken in the justice and, therefore, the reign of God. They have it made.

The “wicked” described here, it must be noted, differs markedly from laments regarding the ubiquitous “enemies.” There is nothing in the psalm to indicate that the original writer is being attacked.  The language of verses 2-12 is that of observation, experience and even meditation.  Almost like in Ecclesiastes ...

“They have no pain;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are …

People turn and praise them

and no fault is found in them.

And they say, ‘How can God know?’ …

Such are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches. (vv 4, 5, 10, 12)

These are the reasons for the confession and protest in v. 2.  We almost stumbled asking ourselves the real question: Is it useless to serve God with a clean heart? What is the point of “being on God’s side?” The counter story affirms that it is just not worth it.

These observations are so realistic. Any Christian that claims that walking by faith is either “self evident” or “easy” is a false teacher and a deceiver.  Biblical faith acknowledges the struggle and the challenges of living by faith.  The Holy Spirit honors that honesty by “canonizing” it!

Is it Useless to Follow the King?

The testimony of countless suffering disciples bears heavy upon Psalm 73.2-12.  The nature of the evidence to subvert the claims of v.1 seems “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Case closed.  God is unreliable. Or he is just not there.  When “we” (i.e. the people of pure heart, the people of God, those actually seeking to live what is claimed) see the “facts of the case” – none of which are in dispute – the temptation to throw in the towel is powerful indeed (v.2). Thus the community, through its representative, does in fact sing in guttural tones …

“All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

For all day long I have been plagued,

and am punished every morning.” (vv. 13-14)

What!? We thought the righteous were planted like a tree and the wicked were like “chaff!” To live a life in view of the Kingdom of God is an absolute waste of time. Contrary to Ps 1 it is in fact the wicked who are at peace and it is the righteous who are blown away like so much waste. 

Again I want to call attention the anguished honesty.  This is in fact lamentation. It is mourning. It is confession that the world is absolutely messed up and contrary to the torah of God.

If we do not embrace the honesty of the faith of Israel then the power of these Spirit words will be lost on us.  

"I" Saw the Truth

Beginning in verse 15 we have a turning point. The reason for the turning point is given in v.17.  Just when we see the people of God ready to renounce allegiance to the King, to walk away from faith and join the wicked, something amazing happens. The psalmist confesses the power of being identified with the church.  The power of belonging! Identity is found with the group and the beginning step of resistance to the Story of the World is being firmly rooted in the community of believers.

“If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way,’

I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.”

The sense of belonging is a powerful motive.  It is in, and among, the “circle of your children” that the dawn of just what Truth really means begins to set in.  The wicked really are chaff. They really are nothing but hot air. They really are destined for the garbage heap.  How did “I” come to see this truth?

The truth was seen and ascertained through the memory and the participation in worship with that circle. Worship confronts the false claims of the counter story.  Worship pulls the veneer off the face of wicked. Worship refocuses the eyes of God’s People in order to see “the rest of the story” [5].  The people of God confess clearly the ground for renewed faith. 

“it [thought of the wicked] seemed to me a wearisome task,

UNTIL I went into the sanctuary of God;

there I perceived their end.”

Sometimes we disciples have very narrow tunnel vision. Scripture is replete with exhortation to have “eyes to see” and “ears to hear.” The training for such seeing and hearing is before the throne of God in prayer and praise.  Worship, like the canonical Psalter, is functionally eschatological. Psalm 1 is true because we know the End! Psalm 73.1 is true because we know the End (by eschatology we do not mean just denying the claim of premillennialists!). The book of Psalms, as Walter Brueggemann observed, in its “final form” is “highly eschatological in nature. It looks forward to the future and passionately yearns for it.” In worship the circle of children experience the future in the present.  The Hebrews Preacher testifies to the eschatological nature of the assembly in 12.18-29.  Worship is not simply a matter of songs sung, instruments played or not played, or those mundane things we expend such great energy upon.  Rather worship is about what the community discovers in Psalm 73 – communion with the King.  In worship we have something that the wicked cannot dream of or imagine.  They are excluded from it by the very nature of things.  Only the “pure in heart” can “see God.” Verse 17 is the saving moment in the life this disciple.  He did not find the answer to the problem of the wicked rather he found fellowship with God among his people. Communion changes what we deem to be "the Truth."

Faith Refocused: Yes! God is Good and Worth Everything

The last section of the psalm the community confesses its dismay over almost falling for the “truth” of the false counter story. The psalm confesses that in our jealousy and bitterness that we had actually become a “monster with you” (v.22). Bitterness is devastatingly revealed in its ugliness. The believers had assumed a monstrous disposition toward the King. God the King is truly merciful. Some of the most powerful and poignant words in all the Bible flow from the person enmeshed with the communities worship …

“Nevertheless I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me with honor.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I

desire other than you,

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.” (vv 23-26)

These are among the “most powerful, daring and treasured” words in the whole “Old Testament” according to Brueggemann. So radically altered is this person’s (i.e. = church) worldview because of the encounter with God in worship that all the old problems of the wicked, the claims of the world, and his own weakness (his flesh is still weak unlike the wicked!) are judged to be nothing.  No riches. No health. No position. No prosperity. Nothing at all! All that is required is God himself.  He is the only necessity of life. The Truth, the real Truth, has been embraced.  This is the renewed faith of the psalm.

Just as in Job there is no solution offered. What is offered is Presence. What is offered is God himself. What the psalmist discovers in the assembly of the children before the throne of God is simply communion with God. Everything else is trivial in perspective. God is good because he gives Israel himself!God is good to the faithful because he brings them, through his grace, into fellowship with him. Reorientation and refocusing takes place through communion with God in worship. Here the truth that the world cannot fathom, appreciate, understand, or even “see” is given freely and graciously to Israel. Resolution consists not in answers but in Encounter, not in rationality, but in letting ourselves to unravel before him. 

As noted above these rich verses take on power precisely because they were not, and are not, arrived at without going through the heat of Death Valleys. This is the confession of the people of tried faith, of people who have faced the mocking, jeering crowd. It is the faith of those who have heard the evidence but have been with God.  It is the faith of those who have chosen to bear the scandal of the King. 

Taking It All In, the Scope of Ps 73

The placement of Ps 73 is hardly accidental. Opening up Book III it provides sort of a summary what the community has learned through the first 72 psalms. What is that lesson? Blessedness is not material prosperity (though that at times comes) but with the assurance of God’s gracious Presence in the midst of his community and in our lives. Israel shall not be moved precisely because it is rooted in the Presence of God. [6]

Psalm 73 affirms what Paul confesses in Romans 8.37-39

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors  through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In the light of the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah - who read, breathed and prayed the psalms, including Ps 73 - our faith is victory because of his faithfulness.  Psalm 73 calls us to have a faith oriented to the “End.” That is the goal of God’s creative and redemptive work.  Through our worship, celebrating the Lord’s Supper is but one example, we begin to live the “End” in the present.  Through this orientation we do indeed confess the truth of Psalm 73 and the whole Psalter ...

1) God does in fact Reign.

2) We do in fact belong to God.

3) No experience separates us from the reality of God’s Presence.

4) Blessedness means to live in dependence upon God and in community, not upon ourselves.

5) Renewed faith and correct “seeing” come through Encounter with God in Worship.

6) Yes! Got is Good to Israel!! He can Be Trusted!!

Notes:

1] Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary (Augsburg, 1984), 115

2] J. Clinton McCann, Jr, “Psalm 73: A Microcosm of Old Testament Theology,’ in The Listening Heart (ed. Kenneth Hoglund; JSOT 1987), 247-257.

3] Walter Brueggemann, “Bounded by Obedience and Praise: The Psalms as Canon,” JSOT 50 (1991), 81.

4] Claus Westermann, The Living Psalms (Eerdmans 1984), 134

5] Brueggemann, “Bounded by Obedience and Praise,” pp. 85-86.

6] John Goldingay, Psalms Volume 2: Psalms 42-89 (Baker Academic 2007), 417-419.

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Prayer in the Apocrypha 2: Tobias & Sarah's Wedding Prayer

"Tobit shows how things may go badly with a pious peasant or townsman, and there may be suffering in married life, yet God always graciously helps and finally crowns the outcome with joy, in order that married folk should learn to have patience and, in genuine fear of God and firm faith, put up gladly with all sorts of hardships because they have hope." (Martin Luther in his Preface to the Book of Tobit)

Setting the Scene

In our last, Prayer in the Apocrypha 1: Tobit and Sarah Cry in the Night, we suggested that the warm God-centered piety of this book is the kind that Jesus was reared in.  We suggested that Jesus the Jew heard, and probably said, the prayers in Tobit (or ones very like them).  The more we listen to Tobit and Sarah pray the more we are hearing the very prayers of all God's people - Jewish or Gentile.

When we left our last, Tobit and Sarah had both offered up prayers from the "deep" up to Merciful God of heaven in the faith that he, and he alone, would solve their woes. God heard those prayers and sent Raphael in disguise to answer both prayers by connecting these Israelites in Exile together.

Blind Tobit begins to set his affairs in order for he just prayed that he would be allowed to die. The Book of Tobit reveals deep respect for women through the character Tobit himself.  Just as Jesus takes care of his mother as he is dying (Jn 19.25-27), so Tobit who believes he will die makes sure Anna is provided for.

"My son, when I die, give me a proper burial. Honor your mother and do not abandon her all the days of her life. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her in anything. Remember her, my son, because she faced many dangers for you while you were in her womb. And when she dies, bury her beside me in the same grave" (Tobit 4.3-4)

This window into how Tobit honors his wife Anna is revealing and corrects, as does the whole book, prejudicial notions that Jews in Jesus day held women in disdain and divorced them right and left (a presupposition that is not uncommon).  But Jewish family values were one of the very attractive things about Judaism to pagans themselves.  These values drew many into the fold as "god-fearers" associated with the synagogue. But I digress.

Tobias is commissioned to go on a road trip to Ecbatana.  He finds a companion he believes to be Azariah, but is really "Raphael" who stands in the presence of God.  The journey is a grand adventure finally arriving at the destination.  Along the way Tobias learns of his relative Sarah from Raphael who encourages him to "take her to be your wife in accordance with the law and decree in the book of Moses" (7.12). Tobias is understandably nervous because "Azariah" had informed him that she had already been married seven times and all the husbands had been murdered.  Tobias chooses the route of faith over security and decides to obey the angel in disguise.

Sarah's Salvation

When Raphael and Tobias arrive, introductions are made. Raguel, Sarah's father, is rightly ecstatic at the news of a potential husband for her.  Volunteers are hard to come by!!  Without a background check he sends his beloved wife, Edna, to prepare the bridal suite and then announces to his daughter: "Don't worry, Sarah, I'm sure the Lord of heaven will make you happy this time and not sad. So cheer up, my daughter" (7.18, TEV).  The NJB captures the mood nicely too "the Lord grant you joy in place of your sorrow."

Tobias and Azariah sit for a meal with Raguel, Edna and Sarah showing the solidarity of the family.  Then the parents escort their new son-in-law, along with Sarah, to their honeymoon room. As the door is shut Tobias whips out the rotting fish's heart and liver on the fire (on the instructions of Raphael).  Asmodeus, the wicked demon, is driven out and Raphael binds him hand and foot (8.3).  Sarah is free from the demon.

Prayer is the Way to Begin a Marriage

The new couple is quite unaware of the supernatural "battle" that took place (and left pretty much unnarrated by the author) the newly weds are still nervous about a great many things.  Getting a marriage off on the right foot is important, especially when you are number 8!! Or you have widowed seven times!!

For some marriage is a completely "secular" enterprise.  No thought of God and his kingdom purposes are even on the radar screen.  Surprisingly even some Evangelicals, and Restorationists, have been nearly as guilty as secularists in "profaning" the covenant of marriage.  Whether we agree with the Catholic tradition that marriage is a "sacrament" is immaterial but it is certain that the Hebrew Bible and Tobit imagine marriage to be a moment filled with holiness.  Marriage thus does not begin in sexual celebration - though the Song of Songs makes it quite clear the Bible has no qualms with sexual celebration in marriage.  Rather marriage begins in worship! I find the vision of marriage to be breathtaking beautiful and one that Christians today really need to capture (I write that as a divorced person sadly!).  Tobias "got out of bed."  He addressed his bride, "Get up, my dear" (TEV) or as the NAB reads much closer to the emotion of the text "My love, get up." The Greek of the LXX reads "adelphe" which is used in the Song of Songs as a tender way to refer to one's beloved (cf. 4.9, 10, & 12) [1].  "[L]et us pray and implore our Lord that he grant us mercy and safety." Together, husband and wife, begin their marriage kneeling in prayer to the God of mercy seeking his blessing upon them.

"Blessed are you, O God of our ancestors,
and blessed is your name in all generations forever.
Let the heavens and the whole creation bless you forever.
You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve
as a helper and support.
From these two the human race has sprung.
You said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone;
let us make a helper for him like himself.'
I now take this wife of mine,
not because of lust,
but with sincerity {of heart}.
Grant that she and I find mercy
and that we may grow old together."

And they both said, "Amen, Amen." (8.5-7)

The narrator has beautifully subverted our expectations as we have read the book.  We may have thought that journey would end in a climatic battle between the Angel who stands in God's Presence and Asmodeus, the King of Demons.  But no battle dominates. The binding is less than a verse and the contest is not a contest. Rather prayer dominates the entirety of chapter 8 (see remainder of chapter).

The newly weds prayer begins in doxology.  God is to be praised. Creation is admonished to bless the God of mercy.  The original human couple, Adam and Eve, are seen understood to be the model for all future marriages thus the couple quotes the Bible in their prayer.  They confess to God to be entering into this holy covenant with pure motives.  Tobias is not simply seeking a sex object ("not because of lust") to selfishly gratify his own needs. Righteousness and integrity before the Lord are the foundation of this marriage.  Finally they request two blessings to be upon their marriage that are simply holy and beautiful.  God give us mercy.  Anyone who has been married for any length of time, or has gone through the trauma of divorce, knows that mercy is actually a foundational element of the covenant of marriage.  God grant us mercy. And second Tobias and Sarah are not seeking a throw away marriage.  They seek God's mercy as a necessary ingredient to a lifetime of marriage. The image of praying, on your wedding night, that God allow you and your spouse to weather the storms of life with mercy growing old together is holy and beautiful. How often do we, as Christians, pray with our spouse for the blessing of growing old together? My guess is not nearly enough.

Wrapping Up

The marriage of Tobias and Sarah and their prayer has spoken to God's people nearly since the time the book was written. This passage has been used in Christian weddings for centuries. It remains part of the Roman Catholic liturgy for marriage.  Even the Amish use this passage as a model for marriage. I have used it in every wedding I have done since the late 1990s and it was incorporated into my own wedding to Tifani.

From Tobit we learn of the deep and reverent prayer that filled the hearts of Jesus' people.  From Tobit we learn that prayer was directed to One who was believed to hear prayer simultaneously from vastly different geographical areas. That prayer was offered to One they believed cared deeply about their lives and was intimately involved in the world bringing about shalom for his people and creation. We also learn from Tobit the aspirations of Jews regarding family and marriage.  It was a serious and holy thing rooted in creation and invoking the Presence of God himself as he blesses a marriage with longevity.  The faith of the prayers of Tobit, Tobias and Sarah are in the words of Toni Craven, demonstrate the answer to the question "from where does my help come?" God runs to his people to help them when they call on him in prayer [2].

I love Tobit. It gives me a window into the world of Jesus. Whether we accept it as Scripture like millions of Christians around the world matters not.  It is rich and wholesome and brings us closer to the aspirations of God's people in all times and all places.  And it helps us see Jesus in his own Jewish world with greater clarity and therefore with greater integrity.  I encourage you to pray the prayer of Tobias and Sarah ... with your spouse. 

Notes:

1] Unfortunately the Hebrew and Aramaic fragments of Tobit from Cave 4, one that dates to at least 100 B.C., only partially preserve chapter 8.  For an English translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls Tobit see Martin Abegg, Jr, Peter Flint & Eugene Ulrich, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), 635-646.  Joseph A. Fitzmyer has published a thorough study of the Hebrew and Aramaic remains of Tobit from Qumran in "The Hebrew and Aramaic Fragments of Tobit from Qumran Cave 4," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 57 (1995): 655-675.  Fitzmyer believes the original language was Aramaic rather than Hebrew but then says that that is not certain by any means.  Fitzmyer has, since this article, published a full scale Commentary on Tobit that I have not been able to consult (out of my price range to buy :-(  )

2] Toni Craven, "From Where Will My Help Come?: Women and Prayer in the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books," in Worship and the Hebrew Bible: Essays in Honor of John T. Willis, ed. Patrick Graham, Rick Marrs, and Steven McKenzie, pp. 95-109.  Tobit is covered on pages 99f.

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Prayer in the Apcrypha 1: Tobit and Sarah Cry in the Dark Night

 “The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and it will not rest until it reaches its goal; it will not desist until the Most High responds and does justice for the righteous and executes judgment” (Sirach 35.21, NRSV)

Jesus, the son of Mary, was born to a faithful Jewish family.  The Gospel of Luke opens a window into the kind of piety that Jesus was immersed in as he grew in “wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (2.52). The vignette of the young Jesus in the temple is something that is presented as typical not extraordinary for his Jewish family (2.41). Jesus would continue as an adult to participate in the pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship the God of his ancestors (John 5-12). The Gospels are peppered with prayer from the lips of Jesus. 

But it was not just Jesus and his family that were devoted to prayer.  The Jewish people were serious about prayer. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11.1) they are not implying they were not, or that Jews were not, people of devoted prayer. In fact we often gravely distort, not only Jesus’ mission & message, but the entire NT when we take him and the NT church out of their Jewish context. Caricatures of Judaism’s faith and practice as legalistic, formalistic, harsh, etc, etc. has been a cottage industry among Western Christians for far to long [1]. Even though the evidence is blaring like neon lights in our face we still sometimes turn Jesus not only into a gentile but a European gentile! Thus it is important to remind ourselves of his immersion in Jewish faith and practice. But what was that “faith and practice?” We will look at a few select prayers in the Apocrypha (or Middle Testament) to learn of the “heart and soul” of the prayers Jesus heard and possibly even prayed himself. In the process we will be edified and come closer to the Lord who remains among his people leading us in prayer and singing praises to our Abba (cf. Heb 2.12f).

Prayer in the Apocrypha: Tobit & Sarah

Prayer in the Apocrypha covers every conceivable area of life from war, travel, food,

procreation, to safety, and much more [2]. I have dealt with Tobit rather broadly previously (Here: Tobit: Triumph of Faith in Adversity) and in relation to Jewish worship previously (Here: The Worship of God; Insight from the Apocrypha) so I am not going rehash that material. I offer this brief structural outline of the book for contextual purposes

I. Shame and Depression of Tobit and Sarah (ch's 1-3)

II. Raphael Sent by Grace to Journey with Tobias incognito  (ch's 4-6)

III. Deliverance of Sarah and her Marriage to tobias (ch's 7-10)

IV.  Raphael escorts the newly weds back and Delievers Tobit (ch's 11-12)

V. Tobit's Prayer of thanksgiving and Testament to Tobias (ch's 13-14

The book of Tobit is rich in prayer.  Indeed prayer is one of the most pervasive themes.  The prayers of Tobit and Sarah make up the bulk of chapter three. The prayer on the night of the wedding of Tobias and Sarah in chapter 8 and the prayer of praise by Tobit in chapter 13 are profound. 

Setting the Scene

Tobit, along with his wife Anna and son Tobias, are among the faithful Israelites that are hauled off with the rest of Israel by the Assyrians to Exile after the collapse of Samaria in 722 B.C. Unlike his fellows, he had journeyed to Jerusalem to worship the one true God according to the covenant of Moses. He delighted in temple worship (we easily hear him singing joyfully the Songs of Ascent). In Exile worship at the temple is no longer possible, so he finds other ways of being faithful to Yahweh.  He gave his food to the hungry and poor, clothed the naked and buried the dead (2.17).  Leaving the bodies exposed was an intended insult by the Assyrians, but Tobit in acts of “civil disobedience” buried them earning the wrath of the overlords. Tobit went into hiding but after the death of the tyrant he returns.  He resumes his ways of helping the poor by telling his Tobias (sounding much like a parable of Jesus btw) to go out and find any poor person he can find so he/she can enjoy the provisions of Pentecost too. He would not eat till the poor come sit and dine at his table. Tobias, however, finds a dead Israelite to whom Tobit immediately goes to bury.  Sleeping outside because of his ritual uncleaness Tobit becomes the victim of bird droppings in his eyes and looses his sight. Four years later his wife, Anna, is having to earn food for the family.  She brings home a goat that had been given her for her wages. The blind, and humiliated, Tobit lashes out (wrongfully) at his wife.  True to any genuine relationship, she, stung by his accusation, shouts “Now I see what you are really like! … Where is all that concern of yours for others?” (2.14, TEV). [3]. Crushed by his suffering, in Exile, blinded while doing kingdom work, alienated from his wife, and now even unable to do works for Yahweh he prays that God would take his life.

Meanwhile, Sarah's life is even worse (!) than Tobit’s.  She is the only child of Raguel, a Jew exiled to Ecbatana in Media (cf 2 Kings 17.5-6) hundreds of miles away. She is attacked by her father’s maid because she had been married seven times but “the worst of demons” Asmodeus (3.8, NJB) had killed each bridegroom before they could consummate the marriage.  We learn later in the story that each of these were killed in the bridal chamber itself (6.14). The maid accuses Sarah of actually murdering her own husbands bringing dishonor to her and her family. Now she believes that there is no hope and intends to commit suicide (3.10). But she realizes that doing so would further dishonor her father so she also prays that the Lord take her life or to do as he pleases.

The Prayers: Ad Dominum cum tribularer

The narrator brilliantly, and inspiringly, conveys how the lives of Tobit and Sarah are parallel and that the Lord, even though far from the “holy land,” cares and knows about what is happening to both. Both cry out to the Lord in the midst of their troubles. Quotations come from John Kohlenberger III’s The Parallel Apocrypha with Greek, KJV, Douay, Know, TEV, NRSV, NAB and NJB in parallel columns.  I follow the more literal NRSV here. Tobit prayed

“Then with much grief and anguish of heart I wept, and with groaning began to pray:

‘You are righteous, O Lord,

and all your deeds are just;

all your ways are mercy and truth;

you judge the world.

And now, O Lord, remember me

and look favorably upon me.

Do not punish me for my sins

and for my unwitting offenses

and those of my ancestors committed before you.

They sinned against you,

and disobeyed your commandments.

So you gave us over to plunder, exile, and death,

to become the talk, the byword, and an object of reproach

among all the nations among whom you have

dispersed us.

And now your judgments are true

in exacting penalty from me for my sins.

For we have not kept your commandments

and have not walked in accordance with truth before you.

So now deal with me as you will;

and command my spirit to be taken from me,

so that I may be released from the face of the earth

and become dust.

For it is better for me to die than to live,

because I have had to listen to understand insults,

and great is the sorrow within me.

Command, O Lord, that I be released from this distress;

release me to go to the eternal home,

and do not, O Lord, turn your face away from me.

For it is better for me to die

than to see so much distress in my life

and to listen to insults.” (Tobit 3.1-6, NRSV)

And Sarah prayed …

“At that same time, with hands outstretched toward the window, she prayed and said,

‘Blessed are you, merciful god!

Blessed is your name forever;

let all your works praise you forever.

And now, Lord, I turn my face to you,

and raise my eyes toward you.

Command that I be released from the earth

and not listen to such reproaches any more.

You know, O Master, that I am innocent

of any defilement with a man,

and that I have not disgrace my name

or the name of my father in the land of my exile.

I am my father’s only child {uses monogenes here just as in Jn 3.16}

he has no child to be his heir;

and he has no close relative or other kindred

for whom I should keep myself as wife.

Already seven husbands of mine have died.

Why should I still live?

But if it is not pleasing to you, O Lord, to take my life,

hear me in my disgrace” (Tobit 3.11-15, NRSV)

Praying Out on the Limb

Not only can I, but I do, identify with both Tobit and Sarah.  Twice in my life I have felt the world simply crashing in on me.  The first time was being fired for teaching that racism is absolute sin before God almighty – and this before Christmas! I thought I was going to get a pay raise but instead got two days to “get your books out of the office.” Did I ever feel wronged and confused. The other was when I was divorced by my wife of 17 years - left on a Sunday morning!! (No joke!) Oh how I felt like less than zero.

Many of us, just as Tobit had literally gone above and beyond the “letter of the law” in trying to show he was on the Lord’s side only to have a bird literally poop in his eyes.  In his “eyes” he was shamed, of no count. Less than Zero. And now he has wrongfully accused his wife. Shame upon shame! Sarah whose problem was not being barren like the ancient Matriarch, rather it was that her husbands keep dying before they can even have sexual intercourse.  She is the talk of the town and the maid voices what the whole town thinks – she is really murdering her men! Her father is shamed because of her and he has no heir because of her!  She, like Tobit, see no light at the end of the tunnel.  They are out on a limb that has just been cut off.

In the Scriptures that Jesus drank from childhood he encountered numerous prayers from the Pit. I believe the Gospels make it clear that Tobit is one story he knew.  At any rate the Psalms are littered with lamentations where the people are overwhelmed by the “odds.” “In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and he heard me. Lord, deliver my soul from liars and from deceitful people” (Ps 120). “Out of the depths I have cried to you, Lord” Lord, hear my voice.” (Ps 130).  Space does not allow quoting Psalm 88 in full but clearly Tobit and Sarah would feel at home in that psalm. When was the last time you took the time to read the book of Lamentations?

Other prayers in Scripture even reveal a desire for death.  Job clearly hates the day he was born and desires to be set free from his misery (Job 3).  Jonah twice tells Yahweh he would rather be dead than live in a world where he lets scum off like he did the Assyrians (Jonah 4).  But Jonah’s death wish is motivated out of anger at God.  Tobit’s and Sarah’s is motivated by anguish at the present and no hope for the future [4]. With such prayers being replayed in his head (like Ps 22), Jesus himself, like Tobit, released his spirit, to die (Tob 3.6)

Tobit’s prayer has three parts. First it has a doxology (3.2).  Second is Tobit’s recognition of his own sin and his identification with the failures of the entire people of God. He neither blames them nor denies his sharing in their guilt (3.3-5). Third his fervent petition to be released from his shame and blindness.

Sarah’s prayer is presented as just as important to God (and the narrative) as Tobit’s. She is in different circumstances but the same turmoil.  God cares for both men and women. He listens to both. He responds to both. He is Sovereign over all the world even the Assyrian Empire to bring about his will in the lives of his people.

Unlike Tobit, Sarah has no qualms about asserting her innocence before the Lord. She has been faithful and remains even a virgin despite being in an alien land where her virtue could easily have been compromised by slavers. She lives with the horrid memory of being wed only to literally watch seven husbands destroyed by Asmodeus. But who knew the truth but her?

Wrapping Up

Tobit and Sarah’s prayers reveal faith in a God who is not only powerful but who is merciful and full of truth (or “grace and truth” in NJB in 3.2 much like in John). They believe that God is the only one who can address their problem. Tobit seems to only see death as the only option but Sarah leaves open the door for “your will to be done” [5]. Both reveal an unshakable faith that God is to be praised regardless of the circumstances and that his justice is flawless even in their less than favorable circumstances.

Finally the author of Tobit reminds us that even though those seeking God’s favor are far from the Temple that “at that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God” (3.16). God sent his angel Raphael not to take the lives of Tobit and Sarah but to deliver him from his blindness so he could “see the glory of the Lord” and to save Sarah from her shame and set her free from the tormenting demon.  The rest of the story is God fulfilling the prayer of two very different people separated by many miles, with very different problems and yet God mysteriously linked them together.

Stories and prayers like these showed Jesus and the early church that God was every present and mysteriously and deeply involved in the world. Faith in him is the victory. These prayers are powerful and show us the kind of prayer Jesus and his followers heard and prayed ...

The Art Work ...

Tobit, like much of the Apocrypha, was treated as canonical Scripture by artists.  There are stunning works of art on themes from the Middle Testament.  The sculpture at the top is by Giovanni Baratta (1670-1747).  The illuminated page is the title page of Tobit in the Gutenberg Bible. And the tapestry is by Neri di Bicci dating to 1471. 

Notes

1] The sad sordid tale of Christian anti-Semitism is chronicled ad nauseum by Dan Cohn-Sherbok, The Crucified Jew: Twenty Centuries of Christian Anti-Semitism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1992).

2] See Norman B. Johnson’s, Prayer in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (Philadelphia: Society of Biblical Literature, 1948), 7-37. Johnson’s work is both valuable and frustrating. He arranges his brief study topically with little attention to the context in which the prayers occur. His study is also tainted with a not so subtle condescending attitude toward Second Temple Judaism that colors more than one of his interpretations. Nevertheless with that said it is still a good entre into the field of prayer in the Apocrypha.

3] Amy-Jill Levine, a wonderful Jewish scholar has called attention to the domestic relations   between Tobit and Anna in a very insightful article, “Tobit: Teaching Jews How to Live in the Diaspora,” Bible Review 8.4 (August 1992), 42-51, 64.  Where I disagree with her, is her conclusion that the Book of Tobit is concerned with keeping in Anna and Sarah “in their place.”  I really think this is a major imposition upon the text.

4] See the oh so brief discussion in Cary A Moore,Tobit, Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday 1996), 139-140.

5] David deSilva correctly, in my judgment, sees Sarah’s prayer as a “model” for praying, as James will direct, “according to God’s will.” See Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic 2002), 78.

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