Twice Turning

But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; they turned aside like a treacherous bow.  Psalm 78:57  NASB

Turned back – Don’t be mistaken.  This Hebrew word is not שׁוּב (šûb) (re)turn.  šûb is “turning back” to God.  Jeremiah uses this Hebrew verb in seventeen different ways, all connected to returning.  But Asaph doesn’t employ šûb.  He knows better.  When the people turn back, they aren’t behaving in any way like šûb.  They yis-so’gu, from the verb sûg, a verb which is almost always “employed in hostile contexts.”^[1]  If we had any doubts, we need only read the next word yibgedu, an action of faithless deception; someone who does not honor an agreement.  Asaph is extremely caustic here.  It isn’t simply the case that the people wished to return to Egypt.  It isn’t simply the result of anxiety, or fear, or concern about food and shelter.  These people turned around with malice aforethought.  They deliberately broke the promise.  What promise was that?  That YHVH would be their God.  They turned away from Egypt and bondage by embracing that promise, but Egypt went with them.  They weren’t children of the promise.  They were descendants of slavery.  Slavery called them back and they turned again, abandoning their part of the agreement.

This is a frightening text.  Imagine what it implies.  God rescues His own.  He takes charge of them, with everything that a divine leader is obligated to do.  He steps into their nightmare of existence and pulls them out, almost forcing them to get moving away from their captivity.  He destroys their enemies.  But they can’t make the transition.  Despite all the evidence (and there’s a lot of it), they don’t trust Him.  How is that possible?  They had more eyewitness confirmation of His sovereignty and care than any other people on earth, before or since.  What we realize is that trust is not about the facts.  It’s about the promise.  Trust is promise-keeping.  Yes, we expect to find some evidence.  In human relationships, we tend to be immediately skeptical when someone says, “Trust me.”  We’ve been burned before.  But this isn’t about trusting Moses, or Aaron, or any other human being.  This is God who makes the promise.  Is there any reason on earth why we should not trust Him?

Logically, of course, the answer is “No.”  There is no reason on earth not to trust God.  Except we’re ultimately not talking about reasons.  We’re talking about emotions, and emotions can override all our logic, and often do.  These people felt afraid.  They felt anxious.  They felt powerless.  It wasn’t a matter of the mind.  It was a matter of the heart.  Although I hate to admit it, even to myself, I think I would have acted the same way.  What I need is not more information about God, more stories of His victories, more traditions extolling His character.  What I need is emotional security, emotional trust.  My mind proclaims the same logical answer, i.e., there’s no good reason to doubt Him.  But I’m scared.  I project all my fears into a future where God is like me: undependable.  And so, sûg is a verb I understand intimately.  It’s the product of my fear of the future even if there’s no good reason on earth to be afraid.

Topical Index: sûg, turn back, fear, emotion, Psalm 78:57

^[1] Patterson, R. D. (1999). 1469 סוּג. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 619). Chicago: Moody Press.