Monday, March 13, 2023

One point against free will in psalm79

In Psalm79 we read:

1 O Elohim, the nations have invaded the land that belongs to you.

    They have dishonored your holy temple.

    They have left Jerusalem in ruins.

However the psalmist believes that the Lord is sovereign. He knows that the nations who destroy Jerusalem is under God's control. He understands that the Lord is angry with his people:

5 How long, O Yahweh?

    Will you remain angry forever?

    Will your fury continue to burn like fire?

He also understands that the enemies must be punished despite being controlled by the Lord. He asks:

12 Pay each one of our neighbors back

    with seven times the number of insults they used to insult you, O Adonay.

One argument for free will would be that the enemies of the Lord are responsible for their actions if they have free will, if the Lord doesn't control them. However, in Psalm 79, we understand that the Lord controls the enemies of his people, but they are responsible for their actions and must be punished. The Lord controls the enemies showing his angry to his people, but the enemies show their own angry to Israel.


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