March 4: Sin is Abhorrent to God
♫ Music:
Day 3 - Friday, March 4
Title: SIN IS ABHORRENT TO GOD
Scripture: Psalm 5:4-6, 9-12
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Poetry:
Song
by Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Listen: there was a goat's head hanging by ropes in a tree.
All night it hung there and sang. And those who heard it
Felt a hurt in their hearts and thought they were hearing
The song of a night bird. They sat up in their beds, and then
They lay back down again. In the night wind, the goat's head
Swayed back and forth, and from far off it shone faintly
The way the moonlight shone on the train track miles away
Beside which the goat's headless body lay. Some boys
Had hacked its head off. It was harder work than they had imagined.
The goat cried like a man and struggled hard. But they
Finished the job. They hung the bleeding head by the school
And then ran off into the darkness that seems to hide everything.
The head hung in the tree. The body lay by the tracks.
The head called to the body. The body to the head.
They missed each other. The missing grew large between them,
Until it pulled the heart right out of the body, until
The drawn heart flew toward the head, flew as a bird flies
Back to its cage and the familiar perch from which it trills.
Then the heart sang in the head, softly at first and then louder,
Sang long and low until the morning light came up over
The school and over the tree, and then the singing stopped....
The goat had belonged to a small girl. She named
The goat Broken Thorn Sweet Blackberry, named it after
The night's bush of stars, because the goat's silky hair
Was dark as well water, because it had eyes like wild fruit.
The girl lived near a high railroad track. At night
She heard the trains passing, the sweet sound of the train's horn
Pouring softly over her bed, and each morning she woke
To give the bleating goat his pail of warm milk. She sang
Him songs about girls with ropes and cooks in boats.
She brushed him with a stiff brush. She dreamed daily
That he grew bigger, and he did. She thought her dreaming
Made it so. But one night the girl didn't hear the train's horn,
And the next morning she woke to an empty yard. The goat
Was gone. Everything looked strange. It was as if a storm
Had passed through while she slept, wind and stones, rain
Stripping the branches of fruit. She knew that someone
Had stolen the goat and that he had come to harm. She called
To him. All morning and into the afternoon, she called
And called. She walked and walked. In her chest a bad feeling
Like the feeling of the stones gouging the soft undersides
Of her bare feet. Then somebody found the goat's body
By the high tracks, the flies already filling their soft bottles
At the goat's torn neck. Then somebody found the head
Hanging in a tree by the school. They hurried to take
These things away so that the girl would not see them.
They hurried to raise money to buy the girl another goat.
They hurried to find the boys who had done this, to hear
Them say it was a joke, a joke, it was nothing but a joke....
But listen: here is the point. The boys thought to have
Their fun and be done with it. It was harder work than they
Had imagined, this silly sacrifice, but they finished the job,
Whistling as they washed their large hands in the dark.
What they didn't know was that the goat's head was already
Singing behind them in the tree. What they didn't know
Was that the goat's head would go on singing, just for them,
Long after the ropes were down, and that they would learn to listen,
Pail after pail, stroke after patient stroke. They would
Wake in the night thinking they heard the wind in the trees
Or a night bird, but their hearts beating harder. There
Would be a whistle, a hum, a high murmur, and, at last, a song,
The low song a lost boy sings remembering his mother's call.
Not a cruel song, no, no, not cruel at all. This song
Is sweet. It is sweet. The heart dies of this sweetness.
SIN IS ABHORRENT TO GOD
In Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, he tells the story of a man, Raskolnikov, who thinks that crime is nothing but a human invention—something weak people have put into place because they don’t want to get hurt. Raskolnikov believes that if he is strong enough or smart enough, the rules won’t apply to him. He can take whatever he wants without facing any consequences. However, just as David discovered when he tried to get away with his sin, Raskolnikov discovers that humans are not the ones who are upholding the moral law. That law belongs to God, and long before any human discovers what he has done, the punishment for his crime finds him.
Both Prud’hon’s painting and Kelly's poem reflect the reality that God upholds his own law. In Prud’hon’s work, inspired by Horace’s adage that “retribution rarely fails to pursue the evil man,” we see Divine Vengeance lighting the way as Justice pursues the murderer with his sword drawn. For all that the robber in the painting can see, he has gotten away with his crime––no human power is pursuing him. But what he cannot see is the reality of God’s own action against the wicked and on behalf of the innocent. God shall destroy those who speak falsehood, David writes, and defend those who put their trust in him. Kelly’s haunting poem tells the same story, this time with some boys who think their small cruelty, in the name of having some fun, will bring no consequences. But, just like the robber, just like Raskolnikov, they find that their crime has been seen, and that they are being pursued.
These stories, working out the claims of David’s Psalm, might speak to us in two ways. As human beings, we are always deceived (and deceiving ourselves) into the belief that we’ve gotten away with our sin. Just like Prud’hon’s robber, Kelly’s boys, and Dostoevsky’s hero, I so often steal away from a convenient lie, or a word in anger, an evil thought, hopeful that no one will find out what I’ve done. I convince myself again and again that if there are no visible, human consequences to my sin, that I’m in the clear. I do not want to believe in the God who sees my sins, and who acts to avenge them. The season of Lent is an opportunity for me to reckon with the reality that I have gotten away with nothing. The God who loves me is also the God who hates workers of iniquity (also me), and it is only by putting myself at his mercy that I can hope to be freed from my sin and its punishment.
Conversely, when evil is done to me, and there seems to be no human recourse, it is so easy to assume that God is powerless to bring justice, or inattentive to my cries. We can fall into the lie that prayer is a poor substitute for “real” action, and that if justice is going to come, it must come from us. This doesn’t mean, of course, that as a Christian I am not called to seek justice. However, these works can remind me that bringing justice to this earth does not ultimately depend on me, or on any human work. Bringing justice about is ultimately God’s business, and God is about his business all the time, even when I can’t see it.
Prayer:
Lord, teach me to trust your justice, and to submit myself to it. Keep me free from the temptation to cover over my sin, and keep me from the fear that you will not act.
Amen.
Dr. Janelle Aijian
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
1808
Oil on canvas
33 × 41 cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, California
A dead man lies sprawled across the foreground while blood seeps into the ground from a wound in his neck as his murderer flees with the victim's belongings in his arms. Above, Divine Vengeance, illuminating the way with a torch, and Justice, armed with sword and scales, pursue the criminal. Artist Pierre-Paul Prud'hon made this study for a monumental painting destined to hang behind the judges' bench in the criminal courtroom of the Palace of Justice in Paris. Strong contrasts of light and dark accentuate the drama of the situation. Light from the moon illuminates the faces of the avenging personifications and highlights the torso of the dead man, while the face of the murderer is cast in darkness. Inspired by the Roman poet Horace's adage that "retribution rarely fails to pursue the evil man," Prud'hon conveyed the message that the course of justice is relentless if sometimes slow.
https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/753/pierre-paul-prud'hon-justice-and-divine-vengeance-pursuing-crime-french-about-1805-1806/
About the Artist:
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758–1823) was a French artist. He began studying painting at age sixteen. He lived in Paris, but his experience in Italy from 1784 to 1787, when he absorbed the softness and sensuality of artist Correggio's works and Leonardo da Vinci's sfumato, gave his art its distinctive style. Upon his return to Paris, Prud'hon enthusiastically supported the French Revolution. In 1801 Napoleon favored him with commissions for portraits, ceiling decorations, and allegorical paintings. "Prud'hon's true genius lay in allegory; this is his empire and his true domain," artist Eugène Delacroix later wrote. In 1816 he gained membership in the Institut de France. The suicide in his studio of Constance Mayer (1775–1821), his sometime pupil, collaborator, and lover, led to Prud'hon's own depression and subsequent death. Prud'hon's artistic style contrasted starkly with the dominant version of neoclassicism under artist Jacques-Louis David. Prud'hon's paintings were based on classical texts and ancient prototypes, but his dreaminess and melancholy were more akin to Romanticism. His drawings, often black chalk on blue paper, were widely admired and collected.
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/578/pierre-paul-prud'hon-french-1758-1823/
About the Music:
“Listen to My Words (Psalm 5)” from the album Songs for the Journey, Volume 1
Lyrics:
Listen to my words Lord
Consider my lament
Listen to my words Lord
Hear my cry for help
You are my King
You are my God
That’s why all my prayers are yours
Listen to my words
Listen to my words Lord
Starting each new day
Bringing my requests once more
Expectantly I wait
You are my King
You are my God
That’s why all my prayers are yours
Listen to my words
You are never pleased
When wickedness succeeds
The arrogant can’t stand
In the presence of your majesty
But I, through your great kindness
Will come into your house
In reverent fear I bow down
Filled with holy love
Lead me in your righteousness
Lead me on your level way
Listen to my words
Listen to their words Lord
Every one a lie
Listen to their words Lord
Contaminated pride
Remove them O God
Don’t let them stay
Banish all who despise your way
Listen to their words
[Instrumental]
But all who come for refuge
Find it in your house
You spread peaceful protection
Our songs respond with love
Surely you will bless your own
Surely you surround us with a shield of favor
Listen to our words
About the Performers/Composers:
The SHIYR Poets - Brian Doerksen, Calum Rees, Teresa Trask, and Brian Thiessen
The years 2010–2012 were like a long dark hallway for Brian Doerksen, writer of the modern worship classics “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship” and “Refiner’s Fire.” He was going through a dark night of the soul––a crisis of faith and belief. The words of the ancient Psalms were waiting––as they have for millennia–––and Brian, along with close friends Brian Thiessen, Teresa Trask, and Calum Rees, decided to let the words of the Psalms be their words. The songs of The SHIYR Poets are the result. The sound of The SHIYR Poets is pure modern folk-rock which, when paired with the Psalms, create layered music with deep passion and rich vocal harmonies and rhythms.
https://theshiyrpoets.com/#
Brian Doerksen (b. 1965) is a Canadian Christian singer/songwriter, conference speaker, and worship leader from Abbotsford, British Columbia. Doerksen graduated from the Mennonite Educational Institute in 1983. In his early twenties, he joined the staff of the Langley Vineyard Christian Fellowship and spent several years there as the worship pastor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For many years Doerksen was part of the Vineyard Churches as well as Vineyard Music Group. In that context he was extremely influential in the area of contemporary Christian worship music. He was a featured worship leader on many Vineyard worship CDs and has also taught extensively on worship leading and songwriting. Notable songs written by Doerksen include "Refiner's Fire" (1990), "Light the Fire Again" (1994), "Come Now Is the Time to Worship" (1998), "Faithful One" (2002), "Hope of the Nations," (2003), and "Today (As For Me and My House)" (2008). More recently, Doerksen has been producing worship music through Integrity's Hosanna Music, including his albums You Shine (2002), Today (2004), Live in Europe (2005), Holy God (2006), and It's Time (2008). Doerksen received a Gospel Music Association Dove Award in 2003, only the second Canadian to be so honored. https://www.briandoerksen.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Doerksen
Calum Rees is a Welsh drummer and percussionist. His professional career in music began after his high school graduation in 1987, when he joined the prestigious Virgin Studios group as a sound engineer. Rees gained an abundance of knowledge from working with the who’s who of leading worldwide producers and artists during his time there. Eager to take his knowledge even further, Rees enrolled at the University of Westminster, London, England, to attain a B.A. degree in commercial music. He successfully graduated in 1996 and shortly thereafter began working as a freelance drummer and percussionist. Rees’ first big recording sessions as a professional drummer were for the groundbreaking 1997 contemporary-worship project Come, Now Is The Time and Hungry (1999), one of the most loved contemporary worship CDs of the modern era. Since then he has collaborated on more than 170 studio and live albums from a great variety of artists including Brian Doerksen, Steve Mitchinson, Kathryn Scott, and Doug Towle.
https://seerees.wordpress.com/about/
Teresa Trask is a Canadian singer/songwriter and the executive director at Lifehaven Women's Support Society, a resource for women in need of housing, adult education, job skills and training, counseling, mentoring, and spiritual support in Vancouver, British Columbia.
https://www.lifehaven.ca/
Brian Thiessen is a Canadian singer/songwriter and a worship leader serving in the Langley Vineyard in British Columbia.
https://www.last.fm/music/Brian+Thiessen/+wiki
About the Poet:
Brigit Pegeen Kelly (1951–2016) was an American poet and teacher. Born in Palo Alto, California, Kelly grew up in southern Indiana and lived much of her adult life in central Illinois. An intensely private woman, little is known about her life. Kelly was the winner of numerous awards and citations for her poetry, including the Yale Younger Poets award, a Whiting award, and, in 1997, was named the Lamont Poet at the Phillips Exeter Academy. Kelly was a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and served as senior poetry editor of Ninth Letter. She also taught, during different periods, at the University of California at Irvine, Purdue University, and Warren Wilson College.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigit_Pegeen_Kelly#cite_note-auto-2
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Janelle Aijian
Associate Director of Torrey Honors College
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Janelle Aijian is an associate professor of philosophy teaching in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University. She studies religious epistemology and early Christian ethics, and lives with her husband and their two children in La Mirada, California.