Ps. 96.4-6 (Pt. 2; all the gods)

Yesterday’s reflection focused on how heaven is ‘catholic’ while the earth is seemingly fractured. When Yhwh’s ‘comes to earth’, however, the catholicity of heaven will then be imparted to earth and earth will, then, be able to fully enter into the heavenly sanctuary where “Might and Glory, and Honor and Majesty” are before him (vs. 6). Today, I want to focus on how this reality affects our understanding of the ‘gods of the people’ in verse 5, and why they are described as ‘mere idols’. In verse 4 we are told that Yhwh is ‘great and most worthy to be praised’; ‘he is to be feared above all gods’. Verse 5 then describes the gods as ‘mere idols’, but “Yhwh made the heavens”. There are several things we need to note here. The first is that, in verse 4, Yhwh is separated from “all the gods”; he is “above them”. What we see is that Yhwh’s, as the only named ‘god’, is contrasted with the many ‘gods’. There is a clear sense of his ‘individuality’ and one-ness. Then, in almost seeming contradiction, the ‘all the gods’ are not simply relegated beneath Yhw; they are ‘mere idols’. What I think we are seeing here is that, in heaven, it is Yhwh’s singularity, his utter uniqueness, that establishes the ‘catholicity’ and unity of heaven. In other words, in heaven, it is clear what the relationship is between Yhwh and “all the gods”. On earth, however, things become confused. Now they are not just “all gods” but the “all the gods of the peoples”. In other words, the multiplicity of the gods, which in heaven is simply a hierarchy, has now become a source of fractured division. The hierarchy, which is clear in heaven, has become confused. On earth, Yhwh now competes with “all gods” for “the people’s” devotion. Terribly, on earth, Yhwh, who is “most worthy of praise”, is eclipsed by these ‘mere idols’. “All the peoples” have transferred to the ‘gods’, a portion of Yhwh’s glory that is his alone. This is why in verse 4 “all the gods” are not a problem while in verse 5 they have become a source of tragic confusion. In other words, verse 5 is the ‘problem’. The ‘remedy’ is to return earth to the proper vision of heaven where it is clear that Yhwh is “above all gods”. That remedy though, will come ‘at a cost’. Again, the psalm is looking forward to the time when Yhwh will “come to earth” in judgment; at that time he will ‘establish equity’ and, importantly, he will establish proper worship on earth “as in heaven”. The ‘gods’ will, therefore, be a part of this judgment.  Here is the major point—the ‘peoples’ on earth do not exhibit the catholic unity of heaven because they are under the sway (or, have sold themselves over) to a false worship of ‘all the gods’ who are, within the perspective of heaven, ‘mere idols’ when they are worshipped by man. The ‘peoples’ and ‘nations’ then can’t be unified unless their worship reorganized according to the heavenly model. Their ‘gods’ will not have to be regarded as non-existent. Rather, they will need to be inserted into verse 4, where it is clear Yhwh is ‘to be feared above all gods’. Heaven reveals the earth’s worship to be idolatry. The final line slams this point home: “but Yhwh made the heavens”. Earth, it seems, has forgotten that. It has placed Yhwh within the realm of the heavens and, as such, in competition with “all the gods”. In heaven, though, it is absolutely clear. There is “most worthy of praise” and “above all gods”. It is Yhwh’s utter and absolute mastery that earth has denied and, with it, it is unable to worship properly because the force of his glory is obscured (it is shared). When Yhwh comes to earth, earth will ‘see heaven’ anew, as a creation of Yhwh and not as place wherein he competes with other divine beings.