MSI Press Blog

  Morning Prayer says of God: You are girded with power. That line always makes me pause, because humans have such a complicated relationship with power—both sacred and secular. Why do people admire power? Why do they seek it, submit to it, fear it, or cling to it? Two perspectives help illuminate the tension. 1. Sacred Power: The Power That Holds Rather Than Controls Sacred power—God’s power—is not domination. It is steadfastness , presence , creative force , moral gravity . It is the kind of power that does not need subjects to prove itself. It simply is . Sacred power reassures. Sacred power steadies. Sacred power invites rather than coerces. When people turn toward God as King, they are often seeking: Order in chaos Meaning in suffering A moral center A relationship with a power that does not exploit Sacred kingship is not about hierarchy; it’s about anchoring. 2. Secular Power: The Power We Give to Other Humans Secular power is different. It is fragile, performative, and de...

  From Morning Prayer: “For the Lord is a great God, a great king above all gods.” (Psalm 95:3) Other gods??! 🕊️ 1. What Psalm 95 actually says This is typical biblical language. It appears all over the Psalms and the prophets. the “other gods” in Psalm 95 are not real gods. They are the so‑called gods of the nations—idols, spiritual powers, or rival claims to divinity—named only to declare that Israel’s God is sovereign over all of them . 🕊️ 2. Why the Bible talks this way: the ancient world was full of gods Israel lived in a world where every nation had its own pantheon: Egypt had Ra, Isis, Osiris Canaan had Baal, Asherah, Molech Mesopotamia had Marduk, Ishtar, Enlil When the Psalms say “gods,” they are referring to these —the deities the surrounding cultures worshipped. The biblical writers speak into that world using its vocabulary, but they do something bold: they dethrone every one of those gods. 🕊️ 3. Three layers of meaning in the Old Testament The Old Testament uses...