For and Against
My eye grows dim from misery; I have called upon You every day, Lord; I have spread out my hands to You. Psalm 88:9 NASB
Called upon – Internal contradiction! Yes, Hebrew has a few words that mean exactly the opposite depending on the circumstances. When an author takes advantage of this, his choice can mean either one—or both. Perhaps that’s what we have here. Something odd needs to be expressed; something counterintuitive but phenomenologically real. God is good—and yet He seems to not care. In fact, sometimes it feels as if the good God is really toying with us by producing all kinds of evil in our lives. All of this is emotionally captured in the little word qārāʾ.
Here are the two opposing senses of this root:
- The root qrʾ denotes primarily the enunciation of a specific vocable or message. In the case of the latter usage it is customarily addressed to a specific recipient and is intended to elicit a specific response[1]
- This root denotes a planned encounter wherein the subject intentionally confronts the object . . . This word can represent friendly encounters like that of a host rushing out to meet a prospective guest (Gen 18:2; Jud 4:18), or going out to meet someone in order to recognize or gain (II Sam 19:15 [H 16]) him as an ally (cf. Josh 9:11; II Kgs 10:15; Ps 59:4 [H 5]). Such meetings are purposeful and intentional. In the cultic use the subject confronts the divine (Ex 5:3; 19:17; Num 23:3).
Hostile usages entail a formal confrontation of enemies martially (cf. II Kgs 23:29; Josh 8:5, 22) and non-martially (Ex 5:20; 7:15).[2]
Is the psalmist “calling upon” God as friend or enemy? Hard to say. He cries that he has been doing everything right—spreading out his hands in prayer and worship. He expects the response of the “good” God. But all he gets back is enemy actions. He “calls upon” the particular god of Israel, the One Who promises covenant protection and rescue. His address is quite specific (1. qārāʾ). This is the God who is supposed to show up. But, at the same time, his experience is more like 2. qārāʾ, hostility. How can we possibly explain this?
Well, maybe we can’t. Maybe we’re left with our emotional reality in the face of God’s interactive mystery. Maybe not everything makes sense. The experience is real. We know what it feels like. But that doesn’t mean it is rational, that is, subject to some external justification based on theological propositions. It just is—as it is. Hurting, traumatizing, inexplicable. The biblical authors reflect a great and deep truth. Life is messy. Are you asking for more?
Topical Index: qārāʾ, call upon, rational, Psalm 88:9
[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2063 קָרָא. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 810). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2064 קָרָא. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 811). Chicago: Moody Press.
Oh, how our Western minds have become so conditioned, craving to arrive at some logical/rational satisfaction. Yet in the Jewish way of thought, it is not typically either/or; rather, also/and is more befitting.
Distinctively different from Western thinking, Jewish thinking finds sound reason characteristic of the mind that prefers the life of wisdom, more so than that which attains merely rational/logical satisfaction. Wisdom, the knowledge of divine and human matters and their sources, is our instruction in Torah (and so, is manifest in human persons) by which we learn “divine matters reverently and human affairs to our advantage.” Rational judgment, justice, courage, and self-control represent some of the many qualities of wisdom.
Thinking formed in the mold of Western/Greek culture finds reason the guide of “the virtues,” whereas in Jewish thought wisdom is sovereign, ruling with rational judgement over the emotions and will by virtue of the restraining power of Godly character in the exercise of self-control.
“Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.” (Proverbs 4:5-7)