A History of Hope (rewind)

They who sow in tears in glad song will reap.  Psalm 126:5  Robert Alter

In tears – Since we’re thinking about the difference between Job and John, we should review our examination of David’s idea of hope.  We looked at this verse more than a year ago.  Remember?

Don’t take this verse out of context.  Read the whole psalm.  David clearly writes about the historical circumstances of Israel.  The nation has suffered.  For centuries it has been afflicted by others.  Now he summarizes Israel’s perspective. Suffering today brings joy tomorrow.  In fact, were it not for hope in the Lord, Israel would expire.

This psalm is about 3000 years old.  Look back over the history of Israel and ask yourself, “When did the nation sing that glad song?”  They’ve sown plenty of tears.  Centuries of rivers from the eyes.  But when did they experience the promised prosperity, the joy of the Lord, the acknowledgement of other nations that these are God’s chosen people?  Can I be bold enough to answer, “Never”?  Israel’s entire history is overwhelmingly a history of sorrow, of affliction, and of persecution.  Yet even today the people of God read this psalm with hopeful breath.  Frankly, it seems impossible.  After thirty centuries of sowing tears, you would think the myth of prosperity would unravel.  Who could possibly pretend that the promise is real after so many generations have been piled in the graveyards?

Scholars have asked how the Qumran community managed to maintain its apocalyptic outlook for nearly three hundred years.  If you preach the end of the age, people expect the end of the age.  You can’t keep delaying and delaying, generation after generation, and expect the message to maintain its appeal.  Three hundred years of “the end is near” seems to be evidence that the end isn’t near.  But rather than query Qumran about this particular phenomenon, perhaps we should ask how Israel itself could continue to validate David’s hope after 3000 years.  Or for that matter, how can the Christian Church maintain its claim of the return of the Messiah after 2000 years?  “Hope springs eternal” isn’t very comforting.  The world sinks into misery.  Evil raises its head unchallenged.  We all want it to be over.  And yet . . .

I wish I could provide an answer but even in my short lifetime I’ve heard multiple predictions of the end—all failures.  I wish I could read David’s words and proclaim their truth.  “Yes, God showed up and we lived in His grace.”  How I wish I could say things like that!  But the reality is much harsher—and terrifying.  Solomon followed David and Israel knew international peace (but not so much internally).  From that point on the nation’s history seems to be one of conflict and suffering.  Whose fault it is isn’t the point.  The point is that thirty centuries later Israel still hopes.  And so do we.  What is it about humanity that recognizes the nightmare of history and still clings to a promise from Heaven?  Is it the occasional personal validation of God’s gracefulness?  Is it the infrequent victory of the righteous?  Or is it something else, some paradigm commitment that can’t be altered because if it were the whole house would fall?  If I look inside myself, I discover this truth: should I let go of the promise, life would have little purpose.  Perhaps that’s it.  Perhaps we hope because it’s impossible not to, no matter how long we’ve waited.  And maybe that’s what’s missing in Job but present in John.

Topical Index: hope, sow, reap, sorrow, history, Psalm 126:5