Ps 114 (Rock to Water)

At the coming / of the Lord / tremble / O land

At the coming / of the God of Jacob

Who turned the rock / into a pool of water

Flintstone / into a spring of water

In the previous section water was a barrier to Israel—the Red Sea kept them from leaving Egypt and the Jordan kept them from entering the Land. And yet, when Israel is indwelt by Yhwh, both become passageways, they “turn back” instead of preventing them from moving forward. They are transformed. The same thing with the mountains—they would also have been barriers to crossing. When the exiles return from Babylon, the prophet declares that the mountains will be ‘made low’. Something similar happens here. The mountains and hills “jump” like rams, presumably away from Israel to “make their paths straight through the dessert.”

Here, in this passage water and rock are again made to transform themselves in order to make Yhwh-in-Israel’s passage to the Land easier. Whereas before water was a barrier, here it becomes sustenance. Whereas before the mountain rock was a hindrance, here it becomes a source of blessing. It is a deeply significant point—the cosmos is made subservient to Yhwh-in-Israel during this time of their pilgrimage to the Land. During their pilgrimage the “coming of the Lord-in-Israel” will bend the cosmos to Israel’s needs, and this ‘bending’ and ‘transformation’ makes the cosmos stand in dread of the Yhwh who so loves his people that he will mold the cosmos for their needs.

Recall what we said earlier too, about how the reaction to Yhwh itself reveals Yhwh—here, the reaction of the cosmos to the coming of Yhwh-in-Israel shows us a depth to Yhwh’s heart and concern for Israel that would otherwise remain hidden from us. And that is this—that the Cosmos itself stands in reverence to Yhwh-in-Israel and Yhwh’s single-minded devotion and concern for Israel. More to the point—the Cosmos understands Israel to be above the Cosmos because Yhwh will bend it in order to provide for Israel. And even deeper still—while Israel might be created like the Cosmos, Israel cannot be fully understood as simply part of the Cosmos. Israel can only be fully understood, ultimately, in Yhwh’s light and glory. And this is so precisely because the Cosmos itself “trembles” at Israel’s presence.

A final reflection calls for us to ponder what the Land’s reaction to Israel would be. This psalm considers the cosmos’ reaction to Israel as it is in pilgrimage. As such, it is the Cosmos in pilgrimage as well. It is the Cosmos in anticipation of the Land. And, with this in mind, what about the Land? Perhaps we are to see here a cosmos that does not need to be ‘transformed’ in order to provide for Yhwh-in-Israel because it would, of itself, provide the bounty necessary for Israel? Perhaps we are to envision the Land as putting up no barriers to Yhwh-in-Israel as the Red Sea and the Jordan did?

The book of Revelation may provide an answer. Throughout Revelation the cosmos functions in a somewhat analogous way to the psalm—Yhwh will bend it towards his people’s protection. At the end, however, when the earth has been cleansed of death and the reign of Satan, a new heaven descends upon the earth. We see here the cosmos becoming Land, of the cosmos being a place that can now be a realm of perpetuity and safety and, more importantly, it can become, itself, a vessel for Yhwh and his Bride. There, we see a Cosmos that shimmers with Yhwh’s Presence, a Cosmos transformed, but no longer bent for the sake of provision but rather transformed into a liturgical cosmos, filled without remainder with the Presence.