Johann Quisumbing

Spiritual Lessons for those who Listens by JQuisumbing

In the opening of the finale episode of season 3, the show started by going back in time, during the reign of King David. Standing before him was Asaph, a writer of Psalms, who was there to present a new song for the king’s consideration. It was a song that depicted troubled and angered hearts; hearts devoid of peace. It was a Psalm meant to bring comfort back to God’s people (especially when they stray) for generations to come. It is the 77th Psalm of the Bible. Usually, whenever The Chosen used Old Testament scenes in the beginning, it was to set the overall theme of the entire episode. However, for their show’s purposes, they opted to express only the key elements of the psalm. For here though, I’m going to use the entire psalm but lay it out in segments as a guiding template to reveal some incredible spiritual gems for your consideration. By the way, if you don’t mind, I will use another Bible translation than what The Chosen used. They used the English Standard Version (ESV). We will use the New American Standard Bible (NASB) which I felt is closer to the original text. I’ll explain my reason when we get to verse 10 of the psalm.

Ps 77 vs1-6 

1 My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will listen to me.

2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out and did not grow weary; My soul refused to be comforted.

3 When I remember God, then I am restless; When I sigh, then my spirit feels weak. (Selah)¹

4 You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I have considered the days of old, The years of long ago.

6 I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders:

If there was a central point for these 6 verses, it would be ‘My soul refused to be comforted.’ We already covered much of this at Don’t Let Go (part 1), mostly through the storylines of the episode’s two central characters. If you recollect that the character of Eden, Simon Peter’s wife, suffered a miscarriage and that she also had to cope with what she perceived was an uncaring husband. Her pain was quiet and focused more inward. As to Simon Peter, his pain was quite obvious through his show of seething anger and even outright belligerence. Both looked at Jesus questionably. One felt that the miscarriage should have been divinely preventable by the Messiah. The other desired understanding of why she was overlooked by the Messiah as he healed others left and right. She wanted an escape from what she felt deep down in her heart. 

But these verses can apply to the life turmoil of others in the show. Jesus’ other disciples, for instance, were greatly distressed that their rabbi whom they wanted to protect would place him and themselves in the very midst of a volatile situation; that is, being in the middle of a high strung crowd who could riot at any moment. Let us also not disregard the hurts and pains in those amongst the crowd, the displaced citizens of the Decapolis. 

Though this psalm may seem pertinent to only the Jews amongst them, I (as well as the producer of this show, I think) believe that it is applicable amongst the Gentile world. 

Look at verses 1 & 2, which speaks out about ‘crying aloud to God’; reaching out to Him when trouble comes.  Would pagans reach out to the God of the Bible? The funny thing is ‘Yeah, they do!’ Of course, they’re probably not aware of it. How?

Whatever people want to believe, the biblical fact is that all humans were created in His image. That means God placed, at the very least, something of Himself in our DNA, so to speak, that when life gets hard we instinctively reach out to Him (one way or another). I have friends who are professed atheists and when something really extreme happens to them, I have observed, many times, them using His name in their expletives. For a group who don’t believe that He exists they sure call out to Him a lot.

Ps 77 vs7-9

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

7 “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?

8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (Selah)¹

In these next three verses, we see a clear sign when life turmoils reach its lowest of lows. For where is HOPE when you are spurned (not loved) by God FOREVER? For where is HOPE when you are NEVER to be given grace? For where is HOPE when His promises are at an end for ALL TIME? For where is HOPE when you are experiencing ETERNAL disfavor and indifference? There is only one place where this can and will happen. The Bible calls it the Second Death.² HELL! But that is the question for the distant future.

How about today? Will God do this at this present age? Well, the Bible up to the book of Revelation says otherwise. Compare the 3 verses above with the following below.

One other thought about these three verses. When I read them, the first thing that came to mind was that this line of questioning sounds familiar. I mean who would ask such questions that would put God in such a bad light? I can think of only one being and he was in the Garden of Eden deceiving Eve and Adam about God. So, what are these types of words doing in this Psalm? I believe it is so that we will always keep guard and stay alert.

Ps 77 vs10

So, now we have come to verse 10 which is the turning point of the Psalm. All verses above this spoke of the turmoil. This is the start of God’s answer. But first, I said earlier I would explain my reasoning for using the New American Standard Bible (NASB) over the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible used by the writers of The Chosen. Let us look at the ESV.

ESV: Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

When it comes to studying God’s Word, I tend to compare verses with other translations to double check for the original wording. And in this case, I was glad I did. Take a look at the NASB translation.

NASB: Then I said, “It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

Clearly, there is a distinct difference. By the way, based on the accepted scholarly research, the NASB is closer in translation to the original Hebrew text. (Now, I don’t want to start a debate on the difference between the two. That I leave among the scholars.) 

Now, how do we interpret verse 10? If I was to loosely spell it out, it would be this – Nothing can change our pain but God and only God. Oh, by the way, there also is one other point that needs saying, He is willing.

The producers of The Chosen agree. Let us get back to episode 8 season 3. There are two separate scenes where the character of Jesus, again played by Jonathan Roumie, portrayed this. At about 32 minutes into the video, we find Jesus preaching to a multitude of people, Jews and Gentiles. He was addressing what was stirring in their hearts, in the middle of such division and unrest and that was God the Father being revealed to them by him, God’s chosen Messiah. Then Jesus powerfully sent out this invitation, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”³

Now, jump to about one hour 7 minutes to a violently rocking boat in the midst of a stormy sea. Jesus was standing on the water some 20 feet away, while Simon Peter (in the boat) angrily yelled his frustration at him, demanding why did he allow Eden and him especially to suffer so. The answer that Jesus gave was the same “Come to me” invitation.

You know, I’m going to confess that both scenes affected me almost to tears. Combine the biblical words, Jonathan Roumie’s performance (his posture, vocal tone and his facial expression) and let’s not forget the cinematography, music background and directions, I swear that I was right there, especially on that boat wanting to step out into Jesus’ waiting embrace. I may not be experiencing the pain and turmoil in my life but my reality is still to live the rest of my earthly life as a quadriplegic, bedridden and totally dependent on others 24/7. How do I cope? I actively believe Jesus and that promise of ‘rest’… well… He is keeping it! (Notice, I didn’t say ‘kept’.)

There is more to talk about, but I’ll leave that for ‘Don’t Let Go! (part 3)’.

SHALOM, SHALOM!

Footnotes: [1] Selah – a musical pause; [2] Revelation 20:14; [3] Matthew 11:28-30

<Go to Part 1              Go to Part 3>

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