Bible TimePsalm 103: Rescue Operations Begin in Indonesia
A 7.6 Magnitude quake struck Indonesia, thousands were expected killed. At the date of this Psalm the world began sending relief.
Psalm 103
Theoretical Time:
- 13000-09-13 18:7:17 AA
- 2009-10-01 11:56:00 TMMT
- 2009-10-01 09:35:06 GMT
- 2009-10-01 05:35:06 EDT
26 Psalms 103
1Bless Yahvah, my soul; and all that is in me, bless his holy name.
2Bless Yahvah, my soul, and do not forget all his benefits,
3who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases,
4who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6Yahvah executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.
8Yahvah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plentiful in mercy.
9He will not always chide; nor will he retain his anger forever.
10He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11For as the skies are high above the land, so great is his mercy toward those who revere him.
12As far as the east is from the west, that far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13As a father pities his children, so Yahvah pities those who worship him.
14For he knows of what we are made; he remembers that we are dust.
15As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16For when the wind passes over it, it is gone; and its place is not known any longer.
17But the mercy of Yahvah is from everlasting to everlasting on those who reverence him, and his righteousness to children's children,
18to such as keep his contract, and to those who remember his commandments, to do them.
19Yahvah has prepared his throne in the skies, and his kingdom rules over all.
20Bless Yahvah, his angels, that surpass others in strength, that do his commandments, listening to the voice of his word.
21Bless Yahvah, all his hosts; you ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22Bless Yahvah, all his works, in all places of his dominion; bless Yahvah, my soul.
Indonesian Quake
The quake struck 85 KM north west of Padang, Indonesia, at 10:16 GMT on September 30, 2009. This was about 24 hours ahead of the theoretical time for this Psalm. The BBC reported that the city of about 900,000 had seen widespread destruction.
There has been a history of destruction in Indonesia that corresponds to Muslim attacks on Christians. The Psalm deals with various issues related to judgement and mercy.
The Psalm deals with the rescue efforts which took a day to organize and in may cases fly to the impacted areas. These relief flights are closely timed to the theoretical time for this Psalm.
Matches
The Psalm opens on the theme of destruction, being mentioned in verse 3.
It mentions being fed like (or with) eagles. Massive C-17 cargo planes were leaving the US West Coast at about the time of this Psalm in order to deliver supplies to the people of the region. A match to verse 6.
Verse 11 conditions his mercy on those who revere him, and from that point of reference the rest of the Psalm suggests those who do NOT revere him risk disasters. Verse 13 continues the thought, and says that God pities those who worship him. Again, those who do not, risk national disasters. Verse 17 and 18 are on similar themes, conditioning protection from this sort of disaster on reverence and keeping his contract.
The sudden permanent nature of these sorts of disasters is seen in several places. In verse 14 an echo back to the creation of Adam from dust is seen, and how we return to dust when we die. In verses 15 and 16 life is likened to grass and that life, like grass, is eventually gone.
Much of the rest of the Psalm speaks in positive voice what has happened in Indonesia in a negative sense. They have failed to worship, failed to keep His law, failed to keep his commandments.
The ending verses, 20 through 22, call out the blessings that come from listening to his voice, doing his pleasure.
Notes
This plague aligns with an Exodus Plague Date.
This date is a distant echo of Noah's flood which also echoed in the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the December 2004 quake and Tsunami that was located in this same region.
Noah's Flood echos often have the US army on the move and the relief efforts are a match to that general pattern.