IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON June 21, 2010 Issue

SAFE IN GOD'S HAND

MADELON MAUPIN

THE GOLDEN TEXT that launches this week's Bible Lesson, titled "Christian Science," includes one of the Bible's most comforting metaphors, "the hand of God." Long synonymous with authority, power, and guardianship, this hand offers unfailing protection, whether it's to a child crossing a street or an adult facing unemployment.

Those who are righteous and wise recognize the hand of God. Psalm 19, the source of the Responsive Reading, shows how the wise follow God's law. The Israelites placed divine law at the heart of their faith, and had a lot to share about it. Representing far more than today's word for the basis of a judicial system, law is often translated as Torah, meaning "teaching." In Psalm 19, it is nothing less than God's teaching, showing the law's tie to the revelation inherent in God's Word. The psalm even spells out why one would want to follow God's law or teaching: Its blessings revive us, bring joy, illumine thought, alert us to danger, and provide much reward.

Solomon, in Section I, provides the Lesson's first illustration of the rewards of listening to God. Solomon's name is synonymous with wisdom. What philosopher, from Socrates to Kant, hasn't searched for wisdom? Here the Bible tells us plainly what Solomon understood: Wisdom is found in God.