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שָׁלוֹם・平和・Peace
(Psalm 120)
Andy Nagahara
In the Japanese Bible, these 15 psalms, from today’s 120 to 134, are titled “A song of ascents” The original word simply means “to go up,” as the English Bible translates it, and so the word has been interpreted in various ways: for example, to go to Jerusalem, the city of the temple; to go up to the temple; to go up the 15 steps in the temple, and so on. But it is not possible to say for sure which one it is.
However, all the theories agree that going up means getting closer to God. It is a sincere desire for those who believe in God to stand before Him even in the midst of painful reality, whether in the age of the psalmist or in the present day.
What I would like to pay particular attention to today is the word “peace” that appears in verses 6 and 7. Both the psalmist and we know that even when we draw near to God, the suffering of reality does not simply go away. Even so, we can continue to hope and wait for the peace and justice that only God can bring to reality, as we draw closer to God, and work as His hands and feet to achieve it.
From this psalm today, let’s think about the true peace that only God can give.
0 A song of ascents.
1 I call on the LORD in my distress,
and he answers me.
2 Save me, O LORD, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
3 What will he do to you,
and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
7 I am a man of peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.
1. The Bible Shows the Essence of Peace
Last week we had the anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. So far this month, TV programs and newspapers have reported not only on the atomic bombing, but also on the various sufferings of the people brought about by that war. For Japanese people, it is the season when they think about peace the most.
“Peace” is a word that is often used in contrast to war, but the original word “shalom” for “peace” that appears here is not just a word that expresses a state where there is no war. Its true meaning is “the state of being full of God’s blessings.” Only then can the world, the country, and the family achieve true peace.
Since the word「平和」for “peace” in Japanese is often spoken of especially in contrast to a state of war, the Japanese Bible often uses the word 「平安」for “peace” to describe the peace of mind that God gives us.
The original language for both is Shalom. 7 of them are concentrated in the 15 poems “A song of ascents” from 120 to 134, which we started reading today. This shows that peace is deeply connected with “going up”, that is, getting closer to God.
The essence of loving peace is loving God more than hating war. Also, if you want to get peace, you have no choice but to approach God. It is because humans have the sinfulness to refuse peace.
2. Human sinfulness that breaks the peace
War takes the lives of not only soldiers, but also innocent people. I believe that the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki can never be justified. But that doesn’t mean that America or the Americans who did it are guilty. If Japan had developed the atomic bomb first, I think it would have done the same thing.
Wartime atrocities are the same for all races and nations. War drives anyone crazy. If even an ordinary gentleman is conscripted and given a gun with a sword attached, he will be able to do cruel things that would never be done in peacetime. Violence, which anyone would hesitate in a peaceful society, is justified in wartime.
International law has provisions for war. Attacks on civilians and civilian facilities, as well as weapons that inflict severe suffering on victims, are also prohibited. However, it has been ignored as seen in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and modern Ukraine.
The “justice” that God demands of us has been distorted by humans, and “our justice” has been called out everywhere. Until the end of the Pacific War, the emperor was the sovereign of this country. Until just before the end of the war, teachers taught that people should give up their lives for the sake of the emperor, that war is the right thing to do, and that it is a sin to dislike war and seek peace. And from the next day, the exact opposite began to be taught.
But it’s not the teacher’s fault either. Teachers, too, were ordered from above to protect themselves by deceiving their consciences and playing exemplary subjects. Of course, it is also wrong to ask the emperor alone to take responsibility. The emperor and the imperial family were also used to power. Japan never had a dictator like Hitler or Mussolini. It was a group of people at the top of the military and powerful. The structure is very similar to the rule of the powerful religious leaders of Jesus’ time. A few Christians were imprisoned for professing that the emperor was not God and that God did not enjoy war, but many churches used various theories to accept the Japanese war as a holy war. . Just as they all abandoned the crucified Jesus, many churches blamed the pastors and their churches who were imprisoned for following Jesus, not the government.
Unfortunately, that is human nature.
The weak abandon justice because of fear. When they are strong, or in large groups, they think they are right, dominate the weak through fear and short-term gain, and use people as a stepping stone to get more.
3. Existence of those who perjure others
The cause of the psalmist’s affliction here is “from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.” He was in the pain of being discredited, driven from his position, and blamed for his false words. Have you ever been put in such a situation?
Rumors were made that didn’t exist. I got a bad reputation because of someone’s lies. Such things often happen in organizations such as companies and in human relationships at school. It’s painful to lose a good relationship even though it’s not my fault. The psalmist could not bear the pain and called out to God. And he says that God has answered him.
The greatest victim of such afflictions would be Jesus Christ. The religious leaders and political rulers of the time had Jesus crucified, making the people believe that he was “a disrespectful man and a rebel.”
So we have to admit that if we really want to follow Jesus, we may be attacked by people who don’t like it. For example, those who followed Jesus, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa, have worked with variously discriminated people to end discrimination, just as Jesus stood by the weak and little ones. As a result, they were adored by those who did not know Jesus, but were even accused by some who called themselves Christians that their faith was not real and that they were not saved.
4. Living in a society that hates peace
Verse 5 and following describe the psalmist’s anger at the current situation. Here, two characters in the Old Testament, Genesis, Meshech (10:2) and Kedar (25:13), appear as people who hate peace. Meshech was a descendant of Japheth, the youngest of Noah’s three sons who built the ark. Kedar is a descendant of Ishmael with Hagar, the concubine of Abraham (who himself is a descendant of Shem, Noah’s eldest son in relation to Noah). Of course, neither of them are contemporaries of the psalmist, so they are used as analogies.
What he was trying to say was, “I am a peace-loving person, but I live among peace-hating people, and I suffer from constant attacks from them.” We too live in a society that hates peace. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that as Christians we live in a non-Christian country. It is the same even in countries where Christianity as a religion is dominant.
As you can see from what I have told so far, the question is not whether or not we belong to a Christian church, but whether or not we live according to Jesus.
To live after Jesus is to live as a peacemaker in a society that seems to hate peace.
5. Be a peacemaker
Pastor Ikeda told us last week that it is a misconception that Christians should be concerned only with matters of the soul and not with the real world. If we look at this from the point of view of peace, it is a misunderstanding that “activities that pursue social peace are political activities and are not appropriate for Christians. Christians should bring peace of mind solely through prayer and evangelism.”
There is a reason why such a concept emerged. It was a reaction to the situation in which the church had once been so focused on social activity that it had failed to give due consideration to the affairs of the individual soul. The church, which responded to this request, has come to neglect the role of the church in society, based on the idea that the individual soul is more important than anything else. That’s what’s actually happening in the U.S.
Decades ago, people left churches that were socially concerned with their activities because they cared about the vulnerable in society, but not enough about the inner peace of the individual. More and more people flocked to churches where personal soul care was more important. Recently, however, young people who have been brought up in such churches are starting to leave because they see them as closed places that refuse to connect with society. It is that the church tends to go to one extreme or the other.
But as I have told, social peace and inner peace are inseparable. Those who have achieved social peace, like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., have had inner peace with God. The Bible even says that faith that does not bring peace to society is dead (James 2:14-26).
Jesus seeks justice that brings peace to those who follow him. The peace that Jesus brings is peace of mind, body and soul. Neither of them can be underestimated.
Mahatma Gandhi, who was greatly influenced by the words of Jesus and led India to independence through nonviolent resistance, and who also greatly influenced Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the American Civil Rights Movement, said something that he meant, “I respect Jesus, but I cannot respect Christians, because they do not live like Jesus. How should we respond to his words?
This is what Jesus is telling us.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. （Matthew 5:13-16)
Even if each of us has little power, we can combine our small strengths to meet the expectations of Jesus. To that end, here’s what we have to do now. It is for each one of us to go up right in front of the Lord Jesus and begin the week with heartfelt worship.
(Prayer) God, please fill our hearts with your peace.
Fill our families, this church, our schools, our workplaces, this country, this world with your peace.
We know that you leave us to bring peace in the midst of deceivers and liars, but sometimes we can hardly bear it.
I have realized many times that you are by my side and support me at such times.
Please reach out to each person who needs that kind of realization right now.
Use us to reach out to those who are sick, to those who are suffering in relationships, to those who are hungry.
Fill us with your spirit so that we may be carriers of your peace.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Summary
Peace is a state of good relations with one another. If it is not maintained between people, between peoples and between nations, there will be suffering. And peace is fragile and easily damaged. The premise of all peace is “peace between one person and God.” God came to this world as one person, Jesus, to restore this relationship between God and people. To believe in Jesus and become his disciple is to be a peacemaker.
For Discussion
- What is the peace that Jesus teaches us to seek?
- What should you do for peace?