Coram Deo 코람 데오

Psalm 88:1-18

O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. 2 Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, 5 like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. 6 You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah 8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror[b] to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?  Why do you hide your face from me? 15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. 16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. 17 They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. 18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.

Coram Deo is a Latin phrase for “in the presence of God” or simply “before God.” It is one of well-known Latin phrases throughout the church history. I would like to borrow it for my message today in a way of wrapping up my sermon series of this summer.

We remember how God calls us friends. When Abraham was justified (Gen. 15:6), he became a friend to God (James 2:23). If we obey the commandments of Jesus, we are his friends (John 15:14) as well. When we normally say we are friends, we are equals with each other. That is how God wants to see us and, for that, He created us in His image just a little less than Himself (Ps. 8:5).  

We remember the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Luther was a leading figure in his combatant spirit against the Roman Catholic church. He is well known according to tradition for his statement “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God help me,” when he was tried to recant his own books and his position on them at the Diet of Worms 1521. The coram Deo spirit emboldened Luther at the trial. Luther’s priesthood of all believers and Christian freedom against papacy served as the central tenets that propelled the Reformation, and we have the Protestant churches ever since. 

That we stand alone before God is a very important point in Christian faith that distinguishes itself from all other religions of nature including Shamanism. For some Christians coram Deo works as a watchword that they should behave well because God is watching. That is not too far off but not entirely correct either. One of the best illustrations of coram Deo is prayer. Christians pray alone before God because of the relationship God has established and restored for them, whereas other prayers do not presuppose any relationships other than a shamanistic begging. Their prayers become, therefore very naturally, merit-based, that is, you have to pray long and hard to expect to receive what you pray for. The prayer of coram Deo means a standing alone before God, while it does not forget our creatureliness that we depend on God for our own existence. In other words, we pray before God because we are created in God’s image; we stand alone before God because we are created in God’s image. The Christian prayers presuppose the relationship of coram Deo.

I find Psalm 88 as an illustration that supports our understanding of coram Deo. The Psalm 88 is the gloomiest and darkest of all psalms. Most psalms end with a positive note; even if they had begun with such a low spirit, the psalmists remember God’s goodness and praise God at the end. However, the 88th psalm is known for darkness throughout and literally ends with “mahshak” darkness. The psalmist did not seem to have recovered in his spirit and still ends with more like a complaint and a plea against God. How could he do that to God? It seems very rebellious and dishonoring to God. Then, why does the Bible include a psalm like it? What is God’s will for us that such a seemingly dishonoring and even blasphemous psalm is included in the Bible as God’s word? There must be, I admit, something to learn for us. What is sure about such a psalm is that you don’t pray like that if you had been coming from shamanistic religions. There must be an essential difference from all other religions of the world. That fundamental difference is the spirit of coram Deo that you a free person created by God standalone before Him.

I would like to illustrate with what we read from the 88th psalm. The verses 3 through 8 and 15 through 18 are nothing but complaints and pleas addressed to God. “For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol” (v. 3). Sheol in the Old Testament means either grave, death, or hell. No other word is more indicative of the psalmist’s state of mind at the moment than Sheol. “I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength” (v. 4). The pit is an equivalent to Sheol and signifies the utter despair that he has no recourse left for him. “like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand” (v. 5). The psalmist feels that he is no better than the dead in the grave and no longer remembered. Very depressing and even sarcastic! “You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep” (v. 6). He challenges that it is “you” God who placed me in this dark place of my life. Indeed he is without apology complaining to God. “Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves” (v. 7). It is “your wrath” that is too heavy upon me and “all your waves” mock me. It sounds like he is very puzzled like, “Where is my God?” “You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape” (v. 8). The psalmist feels unjustly cut off from his own friends because of God. What good is the sovereignty of God for the psalmist, if it only continues to shun him away from the fellowship and love with his friends?

The psalm continues from v. 15. “Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless” (v. 15). His situation does not get better, even though the psalmist continues to pray. He is as afflicted and helpless as death. “Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me” (v. 16). He feels bombarded with the wrath and assaults from God rather than the warm cuddling of God. He seems to be embarrassed by his own situations. “They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together” (v. 17). The psalmist feels swallowed up in his forgottenness as if there is no one who hears him. “You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness” (v. 18). He feels completely lost and only sees darkness that not even his friends search for him. There is nothing good coming out of the psalmist’s mouth other than the complaints and pleas of despair and pains. 

The verses 10 through 12 play a role of a literary device in this psalm. It, anchored at the center, escalates the psalmist’s complaints even to a higher degree from the first part (3 through 8) to the second (15 through 18). They are rhetorical questions that anticipate no answers in return. Apparently, the answer is “no” for all of them. “Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you?” (v. 10). No! It is too late that the dead do not need your wonders anymore and that the departed do not rise up to praise you. No good! “Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?” (v. 11). Would God’s love and faithfulness be good for the dead in the grave anymore? Sarcasm! “Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (v. 12). Even the wonderous works of God is no longer wondrous once I am forgotten forever. No good! No good! No good! 

The psalmist gets as cynical and cold as he can get with God. What is wrong with him? Can he really do that unless he lost his faith? What is this psalm about? What is God telling us in this psalm?

This psalm is not the verses of mockers. It is undeniable that the psalmist is in an unbearably painful situation for whatever the reasons might be. The psalmist does not provide any information about his situation at all. I guess that it is not the point for him. Darkness is perhaps the most modest way to describe it for the psalmist himself. However, the psalm does not fail to remind us that he was indeed a man of God rather than an unbelieving sarcastic mocker of the world. The psalm begins with a plea upon the name of God; “O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!” (vs. 1-2). We see the faith of the psalmist manifested through his cry that he knows exactly who his God is. Thus, he prays to God. We are once again reminded in the middle of the psalm that the psalmist took a stance before God. “my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you” (v. 9). He seems to be a man who stays in touch with God every day. Once more the psalm reveals how he perseveres to commune with God. “But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me?” (vs. 13-14). His prayer is more than an prayer; it is rather a plea and a complaint to God. 

The plea and complaint of the psalmist was an expression of his faith that he has before God. He stood before God because he has faith in God. He made a plea because he knows that he has an undeniable relationship with God. His complaints simply reveal his faith in God. We may apply the psalmist’s faith to ourselves; you may bring your complaints and pleas to prayer because you know that God knows you and, therefore, you stand alone before God coram Deo.

At this point I recall a movie that I watched long ago when I was a college student. It was Fiddler on the Roof (1971). Tevye is a Jewish milkman who lived at the outskirt of modern-day Kiev, Ukraine. There is one scene that impacted me and even shocked me who was a college student back then on how he was able to complain and argue with God. He complains that he was blessed with five daughters and poverty. On a particular day his horse was injured so that he had to pull the wagon himself. He complains why his life is only getting more difficult. He sings his wishes; what if he was a rich man. He lays out his humble wishes as his pleas to God. What stayed with me a college student was how he could, being so bold and frank, talk straight with God as if he faces with God. I had no doubt that he did complain and argue with God because he had faith in God. Perhaps one of the things that last long with people from Fiddler on the Roof is Tevye’s loneliness as a husband and father who endures numerous surprises and setbacks. Despite many disappointments Tevye was strong as a father and a head of a household because he always talked straight to God even in his murmurs. He seems to always find himself coram Deo. 

Jacob was another figure in the Bible who had wrestled with God (Gen. 32). Jacob wrestled with a man until the breaking of the day. He was so persistent that the man could not prevail Jacob. This incident signifies that Jacob encountered God face to face. In a word Jacob wrestled with God. It was Jacob’ version of coram Deo. Jacob surely knew what he was doing as he had to see his brother Esau. He was not so perfect. He came up with a brilliant idea to somehow ease Esau to at least save himself. But from the author’s point of view this account gives us a hint of Jacob’s faith in the midst of his cowardness. So as a way of manifesting his fear and desperation Jacob wrestled with the man; simply, he fought against God figuratively speaking. Here we witness a hint of Jacob’s faith. He did not know what to expect as he had to see his brother Esau probably a few moments later. He is cornered all the way but single-handedly takes on God. Coram Deo! He did not back off; he wrestled because he knew that he had no one to turn to. We see a faith of Jacob as the story informs us how he before God stood as a man who had failed and fallen in desperation.

We all have our own issues, pains, and sometimes despairs. Fortunately, we have God; you can confide in Him; you can wrestle with Him. Nevertheless, you never hide from God. Sometimes, to stand before Him is an only thing you should do. Faith is to stand alone before God. You turn to something else; it is not faith.

Our prayers are an act of coram Deo. It is a way to report to God our limitations; it is a form of pleas and complaints. When you pray, however, you do not come to God as if you have to impress God, as if you have some reasons that God might have to answer you. If God is to find any reasons from us, we are mistaken. Our prayers are not the prayers of Shamanism; our prayers are not the prayers of merit. You do not always have to move Him to change His plans for you; you do not have to pray so long or hard to impress Him. God might say, “Why should I listen to you?” “Who are you to pray to me?” It is simply His covenant that we may hold onto. No other reasons but God’s faithfulness that He fulfills His own promises with us. 

We pray because God established the relationship with us first. We are created in His image and friends to Him. He loved us first so that we may not only love God but also love our neighbors as well. God placed us in the relationship with Him so that we may turn to Him, confide in Him, and even wrestle with Him. You make pleas and complaints to God because you have faith in Him. Coram Deo encourages us to stand before God. The truth of the matter is that we all stand alone before God not only at His throne but at all times. “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19). We have faith in Christ. May you come out and stand before God through the faith in Jesus Christ whose blood opened the way wide through the curtain.  Soli Deo Gloria!