Thursday, March 18, 2010

Psalm 104--Foundations


As I was reading this Psalm, the sense of God's overarching power to direct everything and care for everything came through loud and clear. in this section of scripture, God is referred to by the tetragammaton, YHWH. Since the Jewish people considered this name too holy to be spoken, they would call him Adonai (Lord) instead. The foundation in the image is the Aramaic spelling of YHWH and the foundation pillars contain the letterforms from Adonai. I will simply quote the passage in the psalm where this image is pulled from.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth. (Psalm 104:5-9, NIV)

No comments: