SUMMARY
This is a call for a confession of faith that focuses on God–a God of steadfast loveThe steadfast love (hesed) of God is the assurance of God's loving kindness, faithfulness, and mercy. This assurance rings throughout the Old Testament, and is affirmed more than 120 times in the Psalms. In some hymns of praise the response of the people was likely... More, justice, and righteousness–and not on one’s self or one’s own virtues and possessions.
ANALYSIS
The focus of the text is on divine action. God’s activity takes place “in the earth,” and not in arbitrariness and vindictiveness, but in love, justice, and righteousness. This is the case even though the divine acts of judgment may appear to be contrary to such characteristics. Even in the midst of judgment, God is just, God’s love remains steadfast, and God remains faithful to commitments with Israel (the basic sense of “righteousness”). Notably, God takes pleasure (!) in acting in these ways for these are ways in which God’s will is being done, even in the worst of situations.
The people are to boast in their knowledge and understanding of this kind of God; boasting is, in effect, a kind of confession of faith. The great judgments through which the people pass (and have passed) are not to be ascribed fundamentally to human wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... More, strength, or wealth, however much human beings have been the agents of God’s action. Importantly, the text does not call for a divestment of these “gifts” or a negative assessment of them, but rather a proper assessment of their place
