Council of the Holy Ones

Psalm 89:1-18
Psalm 97:1-12

From yesterday, Psalm 89

⁶For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?

Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,

⁷a God feared in the council of the holy ones,

great and awesome above all that are around him?

From today, Psalm 97

¹The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;

let the many coastlands be glad!

²Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

³Fire goes before him,

and consumes his adversaries on every side.

⁴His lightnings light up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

⁵The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,

before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness;

and all the peoples behold his glory.

⁷All worshipers of images are put to shame,

those who make their boast in worthless idols;

all gods bow down before him.

OK, here’s a question or two: who are the “heavenly beings?” What about this council of the holy ones. Angels? I suppose. But really, Christianity doesn’t have a pantheon of deities. 3 in 1. That’s the deal. There are these messengers, but they don’t have a role in creating or ruling the world. What does this council rule on? Maybe they just hang out and nod their heads. More like a choir.

You also run across references like this one in Psalm 97. Gods bow down. Who are these Gods if there is one God? If other Gods are just delusions of those in darkness, then they aren’t out there bowing down before God. They don’t exist.

One fascinating thing about the Bible is watching God’s position consolidate. In the Old Testament there are hints that God has competitors. That there are other Gods floating around vying for human fealty. The Bible makes the case, through songs and stories, that God is greater than these. But not always that God is the only one. God is clearly the one creator, and it’s not clear what is the status of these others. In some cases you can assume they are presented as delusions of the local people. But at times actions and qualities are attributed to these other entities.

As the Bible progresses, and certainly by the time of the New Testament, the other gods fade away, and God has the stage alone. It is a question of accepting God or not. Little (maybe none) credence or attention is given to Zeus or Jupiter by Jesus and the Apostles. The battle is completely over the souls of people.

In an ecumenical world, where one honors the religious practices of other people, the question of multiple Gods comes back. The Middle Eastern religions are easy enough to resolve—Jehovah, God, Allah, all ways of engaging with the same singular creator God. But what about all those Hindu deities? Or the Goddess in Wicca. The traditional approach is to say only one way to salvation, believe in the triune God, or fall into damnation. But I know I don’t believe that. People of good conscience who are devotees of Siva or Ganesha, I don’t think they will suffer for it. I have to think that as Allah is a way of addressing the God revealed to the Jews, these other deities are ways of getting at the same thing that we pursue through devotion to Jesus. Christianity might be better or a more direct path, but a truly ecumenical view (not a hypocritical, fingers crossed behind the back ecumenicalism) says it’s OK, we’re pulling in the same direction.

If you go back to the Old Testament, where there are all those other gods, and it is clear they are entities beyond people’s creations, and God is the creator of all things, then God is their creator. They serve some purpose in God’s world. Maybe they are foils or tests. “Let’s see if they fall for this.” But maybe they are alternate methods.

Today is Solstice. In Wicca and many other religions, this is an important day. For people of European descent, most of our ancestors marked the points in the solar calendar. There is real benefit to celebrating Solstice and the other points. It makes you aware of the physical world, the interdependencies of people, animals, plants, and things. It demands humility. You’re just part of it. Don’t get too much in the way of attitudes. I’ve long felt that if we have to have a civic religion – we don’t, but some people are working on getting us one – we would be a lot better off promoting Wicca. It can focus people on good, concrete stuff. Dirt, plants, light, rain, heat. Christianity seems to lead people astray very easily. “I’ve got an idea—let’s have a Crusade.” That kind of thing. Of course the idea of putting religion (or set of practices if you will) in such a place of authority is radioactive to Wiccans. They would have no part in it. Good for them.

Final unrelated thought. The description of God in Psalm 97 sounds foreboding. Mountains melting, lightning, earthquakes. Why should Earth rejoice, the coastlands be glad. The bridge for me is in the middle: clouds and thick darkness are all around him. On the one hand that sounds like special effects from Raiders of the Lost Ark. But I think of the way clouds envelope the landscape in Seattle and Vancouver in the Fall and Winter. That’s lovely and calming for me. Somewhere there’s a bridge between the power to destroy and the power to sustain. The Psalms are poetry, and poetry works by jamming things together, forming more meaning by the associations of proximity, not necessarily relying on linear explanation.