I thought the psalms that were selected to discuss tied in well with the theme of justice and reconciliation. Psalms 13 when it states, “Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” This Psalms is a prayer and someone asking God for answers. There is pain and wanting guidance is something I think is natural through hardships in life. The apartheid obvious created pain and challenges for non-whites. Later on in the Psalms it describes wanting healing and finding salvation in God. In Psalms 35 says, “Fight against those who fight against me… Let ruin come on them unawares… Rescue me from their ravages.” In other words, the text is saying how a person is falsely accused. Then, the question of why God never replies or seems to answer a person’s prayer. Denise Ackermann’s article, “The Language of Lament,” ties in with well with what Psalms 13 and 35 are explaining. According to Ackermann, “It is a desire for vengeance, forgiveness, and healing that beats against the heart of God.” So, God is multifaceted like human beings, with mixed emotions and confusion, like in Psalms 13, which is looking for answers. Also when Ackermann says, “We do not need to use language that masks suffering because we imagine that God is too fragile to cope with our painful realities. Complaint and lament, assurance and praise can come from one mouth.” So, there are moments of pain and moments of joy in life and therefore, our moods change with each new moment. From a South African context the apartheid created a great deal of suffering. Now, in the post-apartheid the way people cope with the past, or present suffering is significant in their faith and how the society will turn into. Then, in the afternoon we took a long bus trip to the Cape of Good Hope. We
I thought the psalms that were selected to discuss tied in well with the theme of justice and reconciliation. Psalms 13 when it states, “Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” This Psalms is a prayer and someone asking God for answers. There is pain and wanting guidance is something I think is natural through hardships in life. The apartheid obvious created pain and challenges for non-whites. Later on in the Psalms it describes wanting healing and finding salvation in God. In Psalms 35 says, “Fight against those who fight against me… Let ruin come on them unawares… Rescue me from their ravages.” In other words, the text is saying how a person is falsely accused. Then, the question of why God never replies or seems to answer a person’s prayer. Denise Ackermann’s article, “The Language of Lament,” ties in with well with what Psalms 13 and 35 are explaining. According to Ackermann, “It is a desire for vengeance, forgiveness, and healing that beats against the heart of God.” So, God is multifaceted like human beings, with mixed emotions and confusion, like in Psalms 13, which is looking for answers. Also when Ackermann says, “We do not need to use language that masks suffering because we imagine that God is too fragile to cope with our painful realities. Complaint and lament, assurance and praise can come from one mouth.” So, there are moments of pain and moments of joy in life and therefore, our moods change with each new moment. From a South African context the apartheid created a great deal of suffering. Now, in the post-apartheid the way people cope with the past, or present suffering is significant in their faith and how the society will turn into. Then, in the afternoon we took a long bus trip to the Cape of Good Hope. We