The Un-reason
Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; for You have lifted me up and thrown me away. Psalm 102:10 NASB
Indignation – I’m guessing that if I asked you for a definition of indignation, you’d stumble a bit. It’s not a commonly used word. We have some inkling of its meaning, but not precisely. If we knew (see the footnote[1]), we might question the translation. After all, it hardly seems likely that God thinks things are unfair. Maybe that’s why we should stick with the Hebrew here. What we immediately discover is that the psalm uses the Hebrew synonyms zāʿam and qāṣap.
First, a comment about zāʿam (our translation “indignation”). “The basic idea is experiencing or expressing intense anger. The word is parallel to qāṣap, except that its expression takes a more specific form, especially of denunciation.”[2] The author isn’t saying that God is upset because of unfair treatment. He’s saying that God’s intense anger has been inflicted on him. He does not explain why. He only relates the experience of being lifted up and then thrown away.
Now notice the syntax. “Because” is the opening word. Does this mean that the following phrase (“You have lifted me up . . .) is the object of this preposition, or does it mean that what came before this statement is now explained? Is it “You lifted me up and threw me down because of your intense anger” or is it “I have eaten ashes and drunk with weeping because of your intense anger”? Forget the verse numbers. They were added thousands of years later. Get the flow of the lyrics. Now, which is it?
Here’s a clue. The next part of the sentence begins with kî, the particle that means “as though, as, because that, but, certainly, except, for, surely, since, that, then, when, etc. A particle expressing a temporal, causal, or objective relationship among clauses expressed or unexpressed.”[3] Notice that the translation offers “for” simply because it’s not proper English style to use “because” twice. But once we recognize that there are two causal words here (min and kî), we must consider that the first phrase really belongs with the previous verse.
So much for the grammar. Now look at the sense of this statement. The psalmist does not offer reasonable causes. He doesn’t admit guilt, acknowledge some sinful act, or confess disobedience. Quite the contrary. His complaint is that he has done nothing to deserve this treatment. He is ashes and weeping because God is angry, but he doesn’t tell us why. He is lifted up and then thrown away, but he offers no justification. This is phenomenological poetry. In other words, it describes his emotional state. He does not provide reasons for it. Thus far this poem is a word picture of undeserved despair. God left the building and punished all those who remained behind. No explanation given.
Are we dissatisfied with this result? Don’t we demand explanation? Why do these things happen? The fact that the psalmist offers us no resolution is precisely his point. We don’t know why! God has His reasons, but they aren’t clear to us. We refuse the explanation that He doesn’t care. That’s impossible! We reject that explanation that some other force (or god) has overcome YHVH. May it never be! There is only one God, only one Sovereign. But . . . then we are left with “Why?” It takes centuries for the Bible to suggest any kind of answer. And perhaps that’s exactly where we are today—waiting centuries for our answer. Life does toss us about. It brings us up and throws us down. We claim God is the benevolent Sovereign, but so often our experiences seem to deny this. And yet—and yet we desperately seek an answer. An answer from Him! Not some philosophical rationalization. Not some patronizing comfort. We want Him to speak, even if it’s the harsh truth.
And so the poem continues.
Topical Index: min, kî, because, zāʿam, qāṣap, anger, Psalm 102:9
[1] The exact English meaning is “anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment.”
[2] Wood, L. J. (1999). 568 זָעַם. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 247). Chicago: Moody Press.
[3] Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 976 כִי. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 437). Chicago: Moody Press.
