"He that is steadfast in righteousness shall attain unto
life."
"To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to Yahweh than
sacrifice."[93:9]
But in time it is evident to the believer that his experience does not
bear out this expectation. Neither as a Jew nor as a righteous man does
he prosper more than his neighbor. He comes, therefore, to distrust the
virtue of his wisdom.
"Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light
excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, and
the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one
event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it
happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why
was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also
was vanity. For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is
no remembrance forever; seeing that in the days to come all
will have been already forgotten. And how doth the wise man
die even as the fool! So I hated life; because the work that
is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me: for all is
vanity and a striving after wind."[93:10]
It is evident that he who expects the favor of fortune in return for
his observance of precept is mistaken. The "work that is wrought under
the sun" makes no special provision for him during his lifetime. Unless
the cry of vanity is to be the last word there must be a
reinterpretation of the promise of God. This appears in the new ideal of
patient submission, and the chastened faith that expects only the love
of God. And those whom God loves He will not forsake. They will come to
their own, if not here, then beyond, according to His inscrutable but
unswerving plan.
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy
place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of
the contrite ones."[94:11]
In this faith Judaism merges into Christianity.[94:12] In the whole
course of this evolution God is regarded as the friend of his people,
but his people learn to find a new significance in his friendship. That
which is altered is the conduct which that friendship requires and the
expectation which it determines. The practical ideal which the
relationship sanctions, changes gradually from that of prudence to that
of goodness for its own sake. God, once an instrument relevant to human
temporal welfare, has come to be an object of disinterested service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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