May 5, 2013

Murphy on the Presence of God

  
Here is another quote from the articles that I have been scanning. This one is from Roland Murphy in an article on the Psalms.

“While it seems platitudinous to underscore the sense of the Lord’s presence to the psalmist, the generation that has lived through the ‘God is dead’ movement needs to come to terms with Israel’s understanding of the divine presence. The prayer of Solomon (I Kings 8:27) recognized that Yahweh’s presence was a mystery, whether it be in the heavens which cannot contain him, much less in an earthly temple. But this did not prevent Israel from acknowledging his presence to them. This is a very basic fact; they were not talking to themselves, nor did they speak ‘as if’ the Lord were present. His reality is simply taken for granted by them.”

Roland E. Murphy, "The Faith of the Psalmist," Interpretation 24 (1980):231.

  

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