The following are some expanded thoughts relative to a sermon I will be preaching this Sunday looking at the logic of David’s prayers in Ps 6:5, 30:9, and 115:17 on the idea of the end of the saint’s life being, in some (limited) way, a loss to God. As part of the answer I will be referencing the greater context of Ps 115:16-18.
“The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!” (Ps 115:16–18)
There is a significant emphasis here on the earth-orientedness of mankind. “The heavens are the LORD’s heavens,” whereas, “the earth he has given to the children of man.” The earth is, in a particular way, the arena of the display of the glory of God. Now someone may object to this and reference Psalm 8 the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork, they pour out speech they reveal knowledge. Or remark that in Revelation we are told that there are twenty-four elders and four living creatures whose sole purpose in heavens seems to be to give God continual praise and glory. Nevertheless, we are told in scripture that concerning the things on earth, even angels long to look (1 Peter 1). And that man alone is said to be made in the image of God, not the angels, though there are in some important senses higher than we. And yet, Hebrews 1 says “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Heb 1:14) Even the heavenly beings are directed, in a sense, towards the earth.
Moreover when we look at creation through our senses and the investigations of the natural sciences, we find out that although the earth revolves around the sun physically, it is as if the entire universe revolves around the earth teleologically. Everything in the cosmos seems precisely tuned for the sake of the life of man and the display of God’s goodness upon the earth.
But I want to remark upon how a Triadic view of Scripture and the universe helps us to understand this earth-mindedness. On one hand we may simply say “the Bible is a human-oriented book.” This is true so far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Consider that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day rule the new earth from the Heavenly Jerusalem which has come down (Rev 21). Given the fact that the heavens are both said to the particular abode of God, and the first thing created within creation (Gen 1), and thus have a certain primacy and priority, how are we to understand an earthly orientation to the manifestation of God’s glory. Triadic thinking to the rescue!
In the scriptures there is a triadic pattern I call the “mediatory” pattern and, helpfully, it follows the same basic structure of the Father-Son-Holy Spirit processional triad with which everyone will be familiar. What distinguishes the “mediatory” pattern is that within creation there is a particular focus on the middle of the pattern in which the middle term harmonizes, or brings together the outer terms. And Heavens-Earth-Under the Earth/Seas is one of the most obvious versions of this patterns. In Genesis 1 you will note that the earth is created not second, but last, in the “three-story house” (Heavens-Earth-Under the Earth/Seas). And yet, when the scriptures themselves rehearse this triad it is always not in the creational order but in the well-recognized hierarchy that follows above-middle-below. Interesting. Note too the creation of man. This is slightly more controversial as I believe there are three perspectives on man’s wholeness (not three components): spirit, soul, body. Even if you are not convinced of this triad and maintain a strict duality (soul/spirit, body), it is still worth noting that the soul in scripture seems to play an interesting role in being the “I” of the person. “O my soul” is a familiar refrain in the Psalms. Some theologians have stated this distinction in terms of, “I have a body, I have a spirit, I am a soul.” I think, at least in terms of emphasis, this is correct, and reflects the balance we see in scripture. If this is correct, we again have a mediatory triad in which the spirit is from above, the body is from below, and the soul is the mediatory principle between the two ways of looking at the whole man.
Another mediatory triad is God-man-earth/creatures. In fact, this follows the same, perhaps seemingly strange, pattern found in the “three-story house” triad. In the beginning there is God. He then creates the world and all the creatures. Lastly he creates man. And yet, man is to rule and mediate between God and the creatures. When man falls, so does the natural world.
Another obvious mediatory triad is the work of The Mediator, Christ Jesus. Now of course, he does not proceed last, the Holy Spirit does. Nonetheless, interestingly, in the Genesis account His “appearance” (in the Word uttered) comes after the mention of the Holy Spirit. But it is the Son who become man to put all things (subjected to man, Ps 8, Heb 1) to rights. It is the Son who comes from heaven to earth and then goes under the earth so that the earth may be renewed and become the dwelling place of God.
In my thinking this mediatory triad is third in a series of (F-S-HS) triads (that actually have a triadic pattern themselves)
- Processional Pattern (F)
- Incomplete Pattern (S)
- Mediatory Pattern (HS)
So there is a very deep, Trinitarianly-grounded reason why, in spite of the primacy of the heavens, that God has chosen to manifest His glory particularly upon the earth. It is connected to Christology and to Eschatology. Without being pulled apart, we can uphold both a primacy emphasis on the heavens, and a preminency emphasis on the earth.
For continued thinking, another good candidate for a mediatory triad is: Man, Wife, Children, especially when viewed in relation to the dominion mandate, and the pivotal roles of Eve, Mary, and the Church (which might just be its own triad!)
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