Theological Reflections on the Pandemic

Abstract

As a response to communities of faith that are trying to make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic, this essay explores biblical traditions about “chaos” represented by primordial waters and monsters that disturb the created order. The essay begins with a summary of three biblical portrayals of chaos: chaos as integral to the created world, chaos as mystery, and chaos intensified by human rebellion. The discussion then weighs divine sovereignty and human responsibility and accepts that chaos is a part of life that challenges humans to work to make this world a better place. Among many possible responses to the chaos presented by the pandemic, this article will focus on lament, fear and trust, and repentance.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the world as we knew it. People everywhere were overwhelmed by sickness, death, social isolation, loneliness, economic losses, and political divisions. These experiences affected every human being but had a greater impact on impoverished communities. The pandemic demonstrated more clearly that access to healthcare is influenced by economic stratification and racism, so that marginalized people are more susceptible to complications of illness and death.

The human response to the pandemic ranged from fear, to lament, to greed, to selfishness, to compassion, to gratitude for scientists and the courageous but weary health care providers. The pandemic has also shown that human beings are capable of remarkable compassion, generosity, and care for one another. It revealed that people can be physically distant but remain socially connected.

The response of religious communities has been complex. Even though people of faith understand the science behind the spread of COVID-19, many communities longed to making theological sense of the crisis. For those who read the Bible as sacred text, one of the possible ways to think about it is through the lens of what the biblical traditions speak of in terms of chaos represented by primordial, mighty waters, or monsters that disturb the created order. In this essay I will offer a theological framework to understand the pandemic disruption through an exploration of biblical perspectives on chaos. I will begin with a brief summary of three theological claims about chaos in the Bible: chaos as integral to the created world, chaos as mystery, and chaos unleashed and intensified by human rebellion. ¹ This discussion seeks to create a paradox between divine sovereignty and human responsibility on the one hand, and acceptance of chaos as part of life that is not antithetical to working to make this world a better place, on the other hand. Therefore, the discussion about chaos will be followed with reflections on a sample of the wide range of possible responses to the pandemic. The responses discussed here include lament, fear and trust, and repentance.

Chaos as a Theological Category

In the Priestly creation account in Genesis 1, God creates by reordering chaos. In the beginning when God begins to shape the world, there is darkness over the face of primordial waters (Gen 1:1–2). There is a formless void, un-fashioned chaos. This is a common worldview found elsewhere in ancient Near Eastern creation theologies. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian creation stories are not so concerned with the origins of the universe as they are in how the deities bring order to chaos, usually by annihilating chaotic forces. In Genesis 1, God does not destroy anything but creates order out of chaos. God creates boundaries for the water; thus,God tames chaos but does not get rid of it. Jon Levenson writes, “Gen[esis] 1:1–2:3, the Priestly creation story, is not about the banishment of evil, but about its control.” ²

This belief that creation is about ordering chaos and that chaos is not obliterated explains why chaos returns and how it continues to threaten the created world. Genesis 1, therefore, does not claim that God created a perfect world; it claims that God created a good world. ³ And at the periphery of this good world lies the tamed primordial water that continues to haunt the beautifully ordered world that God has created.

Within this ordered world remain monsters or dragons (tannînim). These tannînim are referred to in other biblical traditions (e.g., Psalm 74; Isaiah 51) as representations of chaos that continue to threaten the created world. Sjoerd Bonting explains, “The separations in the initial creation in Genesis 1 do not suggest that chaos was abolished, but rather that God pushed back chaos. The ordering in continuing creation implies a decrease but not necessarily a complete abolition of chaos.” ⁴ This theological insight helped the Israelites make sense of many crises that they experienced. Social, political, economic, and religious disorder that led to their marginalization and oppression are manifestations of the chaos that was tamed at the time of creation.

The divine speech in the book of Job, according to Carol Newsom’s interpretation, ⁵ seems to be making a similar point, namely, that chaos is part of the created order (Job 38–41). After long and heated debates and exchanges between Job and his friends, God finally appears to Job in a whirlwind and accepts Job’s challenge to speak to him. Yet God does not provide an answer to Job’s questions. God does not give an explanation to Job’s unbearable economic and familial losses, physical illness, social abandonment, theological perplexity, and immense emotional suffering. Instead, God asks questions. In addition to the many questions that God poses to Job, God gives long speeches about Leviathan and Behemoth. The sequence of questions and the mention of these two mythological monsters have stirred many scholarly explanations of the mystery behind the divine words to the innocent sufferer Job.

Equally perplexing is Job’s response to the divine speech (Job 42:1–6). The space here does not permit a survey of the diverse interpretations that scholars have proposed to make sense of the divine speech and Job’s response to it. Essentially, Job declares that he has learned something new about the design of the cosmos. One possibility is that Job has come to terms with the reality that chaos, represented here by Leviathan and Behemoth, are part of the divine design of the cosmos. In other words, suffering and pain are part of living on earth. Chaos has been tamed, but it is not completely obliterated. Individuals and communities experience chaos in the social, political, economic, and health spheres. This realization that chaos is an intrinsic part of the design of the cosmos does not mitigate human suffering, nor does it put an end to the mystery of excruciating pain. Job does not know what the reader knows from the narrative’s epilogue. The mystery of intolerable suffering remains, as do the monsters of chaos. Humans have a courageous model in the character of Job who wrestled with his friends and with God through prayers of lament, theological dialogue, and words of protest. Job models ways in which humans can restore some of their agency in the face of chaos.

Human Responsibility for Chaos

According to the Hebrew Bible, the chaos that is part of the created world is quite often unleashed because of human actions, and this chaos is experienced in the natural, political, economic, social, and bodily spheres. The ones who pay the heftiest price for chaos are the vulnerable and the marginalized. An example of human-caused chaos in the biblical traditions is found in the book of Exodus. In the narratives of the plagues in Exodus 7–11, Egypt’s world, both the human and the non-human creation experience natural disasters and physical suffering. The story tells us that these disasters were forms of chaos unleashed by God because of human arrogance and abuse of power. Because Pharaoh persisted in oppressing the Israelites, chaos was unleashed on Egypt. Terence Fretheim has argued that the chaos of the plagues has to do with the fact that Pharaoh’s sins against the Israelites were essentially rebellious policies against God’s intentions for creation. ⁶ God’s intention was to give humans freedom and dominion, but Pharaoh subjugated the Israelites to an oppressive regime of forced labor. God’s intention was for creation to be fruitful and multiply, but Pharaoh decreed the murder of Hebrew children. According to this reading, the disasters that Egypt experienced were the divine response to the violence, tyranny, and oppression that Pharaoh perpetuated against the Israelites. Chaos may very well be part of the created world, but sometimes it is unleashed or intensified by human actions. Human violence, oppression, and greed set loose chaos and intensify its impact on both human and non-human worlds.

Responses to Chaos

Thinking about the pandemic theologically through the lens of chaos may lend some hope for humans as they try to make sense of their lives and as they imagine a new normal. Knowing that chaos is part of the created world can offer a sense of relief: sometimes disorder is beyond their control. Humans may then express their agony and their longing for liberation from this chaos. Humans realize that hope lies beyond their individual power. They need God, and they need other humans, some of whom may be different from them.

At the same time, humans need to be aware that their actions, economic practices, political decisions, and social relations are sometimes responsible for chaos, and that this chaos often affects the impoverished to a greater degree. Owning our responsibility for causing chaos calls humans to repent and change their ways. Thus, humans are held accountable when they abuse their power.

The language of chaos in the biblical tradition is a helpful lens to think about faith and public health, because it underlines the tension between chaos that is out of human control and chaos that is caused by humans or perpetuated by humans. When humans are weary and incapable of dealing with disorder around them, the Hebrew Bible affords the language of lament and prayers of trust in God, who brings order out of chaos. When humans realize that chaos is quite often caused by their own actions, the Hebrew Bible provides the prophetic voice that calls on humans who abuse their power to put on their sackcloth, repent, and seek reparation.

Repentance

In the opening discussion of this essay, I suggested that the varied understandings of chaos in the Bible are a helpful way to think about the pandemic, faith, and public health. I have noted that chaos, according to some biblical traditions, was only tamed, and thus it remains an integral part of the created order. When we experience chaos in our world, as we have with COVID-19, one could think of the pandemic as chaos still lurking to threaten the created world. Responding to such a power that exceeds human control may entail lament, a form of expression in which humans boldly articulate their protest before God. Another response is healthy fear that guides humans to stay away from menaces that threaten their wellbeing. And finally, there are prayers of trust in which humans lean into God’s protective promises.

In some cases, chaos is unleashed or intensified by human actions, as in the case of the plagues that Egypt suffered in the book of Exodus. In this sort of situation, the language of prophetic judgment and call to repentance need to be pronounced and declared. We have seen that economic practices, political agendas, and social relations intensified the spread of COVID-19, and how these human failings negatively impacted the availability of healthcare in impoverished communities. As in the Exodus story, human behavior worsened the disorder of the pandemic.

The prophetic literature draws strong connections between human rebellion against God and the chaos that God’s creation endures. Jeremiah, for instance, speaks of the trilogy of sword, famine, and pestilence (deber) as a divine judgment over the people who have broken their covenant with God when they worshiped other gods, and when they oppressed the widow, the orphan, and the resident alien (Jeremiah 22; cf. Jer 14:12). The language of judgment connects human abuse of power to the crises of the exile in which the people of Judah experienced violence by the sword, famine, and diseases. When the prophet speaks words of salvation, the prophet appeals to images and metaphors that center on healing the wounded body of the people. The body that has suffered from wounds and diseases is now being prepared to heal and mend. Sickness, in the form of pestilence, also is used by the prophet as a metaphor for human sinfulness (Jer 6:14; 8:11). Therefore, healing is a gift from God to those who repent and change their ways. They receive the gift of the renewed covenant with God. In the economy of the new covenant, God promises, “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the LORD” (Jer 30:17; see also Jer 33:6). The prophetic word confronts those who abuse their power and causes them to recognize the impact of their actions and policies on the wellbeing of the creation. This confrontation calls people to change their ways.

The language of sickness and healing appears also in the book of Hosea. “Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up” (Hos 6:1). The people give voice to retribution theology in which divine judgment comes as a result of human sin. Here the language of wounds and sickness underlines the fractures in their relationship to God. The other side of this coin is that when the people return and change their ways, God will heal and transform them.

The connection between returning to God and experiencing healing is also expressed by the prophet Isaiah concerning the Egyptians, who were the object of the divine judgment in Isa 19:1–17. Now they experience God’s healing power when they return to the LORD. “The LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them” (Isa 19:22). This oracle of healing concerning Egypt underlines the connection between changing one’s ways and receiving God’s healing power. Isaiah’s account of Egypt’s repentance and healing reverses the Exodus narrative in at least two ways. First, unlike Pharaoh’s ingenuine repentance (in Exodus), these Egyptians in Isaiah are genuinely repenting, and therefore, they encounter God as a healer. In various places in the plague narrative, Pharaoh tells Moses that he is in the wrong and that YHWH is in the right. But Pharaoh’s words are not accompanied by a different attitude towards the Israelites. Sometimes Pharaoh’s resistance is caused by God, who hardens his heart, and in other times he hardens his own heart. Ironically, the prophetic word that promises healing for the Egyptians who return to YHWH contrasts with the way Isaiah speaks about the Israelites in his call narrative (Isa 6:10). The Egyptians who have suffered the plagues because of Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites go now experience God’s gift of healing and restoration.

Two caveats are in order here. The language of sickness and healing in the prophetic texts as well as in other genres of the Bible are sometimes used in a literal sense, and in other times, they are used in a metaphorical sense to capture the state of the people in their relation to God. The interplay between the literal and the metaphorical language of sickness captures the actual experiences of bodily illnesses that individuals experience, as well as the systemic and structural brokenness and woundedness of the creation manifest in social, economic, and political ways. The second caveat is that linking chaos with human actions does not mean that COVID-19 is also manufactured by humans. Similarly, the transactional aspect of sin/pestilence and repentance/healing is not meant to ignore the natural aspects of sickness and healing that can be explained by science. The discussion intends to point to the reality that abuse of power and economic and political marginalization affect how people experience sickness and how they receive healthcare. Thus, people are called to change their ways and repent from the abuse of power, the obsession with consumerism, selfishness, and greed that perpetuates sickness and blocks people’s access to cures.

Lament/Protest

In the Psalm 6, the petitioner utters a prayer of lament, ⁷ in which the psalmist speaks of physical and emotional illness. The psalmist is languishing, feeble, and weak (ʾūmlal). The root ’aml is used to describe withering, drooping, and failing plants (Joel 1:10–12). The psalmist feels this weakness in their bones, that is, their totality, and their body is shaken with terror (Ps 6:2). The pain and suffering is not only physical but also emotional. Their soul (nepeš) also is stricken with terror (6:3). The physical suffering and the emotional stress speak of the intensity of the experience. Indeed, the psalmist is convinced that their life is on the line. Their weakness and their inability to fight draw them closer to death (6:6). The psalmist labors in lament. They become weary, tired, and exhausted from speaking to God (cf. Ps 69:3). They continuously flood their bed and their couch with tears and weeping (6:6–7). As the psalmist weeps, their eyes are wasted away because of grief and because there seems no consolation. What makes this experience of illness terrifying is that the psalmist does not know how long it will last: “How long, O Lord?” (6:3).

In the midst of the physical pain and the emotional terror, the psalmist appeals to God to be gracious and to heal them. God is their only hope. “Be gracious to me O Lord . . . O Lord heal me” (6:2;). The pair “be gracious” and “heal me” also appear in Psalm 41:4.

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. (Ps 6:2)

As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;

heal me, for I have sinned against you.” (Ps 41:4)

Unlike the appeal in Ps 41:4, Psalm 6 does not connect God’s wrath and the psalmist’s sickness with sin. Thus, when the psalmist dares to ask God not to rebuke or discipline them in God’s anger and wrath (6:1–2), the psalmist is not saying that illness is a result of sin or God’s wrath. It seems to me that the psalmist does not want God to abandon them in their suffering. “It may be that the psalmist prays not to be rebuked or chastised for bringing this problem to God in prayer; whatever the reason for his sickness, it must either have been sent or permitted by God, and it might seem presumptuous of a mere mortal, albeit a suffering mortal, to complain of the experience which God has permitted to fall upon him.” ⁸

The psalmist does not claim that illness results from sin; rather, the psalmist is acknowledging that they cannot take this suffering anymore. Given that the psalmist asks God to “return” (šûb; 6:4), it seems plausible that the wrath and anger of God are a concern for the psalmist as signs of abandonment (6:1). The psalmist bargains with God, affirming that healing or rescuing them is also beneficial to God, “for in death there is no remembrance of you, in Sheol who can give you praise?” (6:5). As Ellen Davis puts it, “If only the living can praise God, then my life is more than incidental to God’s wellbeing. The divine reputation depends on my staying above ground.” ⁹ Because God is a gracious God, and because God is a faithful God, human petitioners can be bold in their prayers, laments, and outcries. The psalmist calls to God because God is gracious (ḥānan). The psalmist calls to God to “save” and “deliver,” and the basis for their prayer is that God is loyal (ḥesed). It is God’s graciousness and God’s loyalty that give courage and boldness to the psalmist to confront those who might have thought that their illness is a result of God’s judgment (cf. Job’s friends). In this psalm, healing is a response to human prayer embedded in a lament. ¹⁰ In the midst of this physical pain and emotional horror, the psalmist surrenders to God. The psalmist reports that God has heard their supplications (6:9). Did God heal or rescue the psalmist? Did God transform the psalmist’s perception of the reality?

It is crucial to note that not all psalms of lament have a happy ending that expresses trust and praise. Psalm 88, for instance captures the continuity of human agony, pain, and suffering. ¹¹ The petitioner in Psalm 88 speaks boldly about how God has made them lose their loved ones. The pain and suffering are intensified by feelings of isolation from the ones who would offer help and support. The petitioner captures their state of despair by repeatedly saying that they are close to death, and they are counted among the dead (vv. 3–7). What makes things too horrific to bear is being isolated from the social network that would provide faithfulness and companionship at times of trouble. The psalmist declares this horror of isolation in the middle of the psalm and repeats at the end of the psalm as the final word of the prayer: “You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness” (vv. 8, 18).

It is important to note that these are not words of someone who has lost their faith. Rather, the petitioner frequently names God as their only hope: “But I, O LORD, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you” (Ps 88:13). Yet this psalm highlights the theological claim that lament and protest is a faithful language to use with God. It is not a sign of loss of faith, but rather it is a sign of deep, authentic, and genuine faith. It is because of that faith that the psalmist approaches God and does not try to pretend that everything is all right when it is not. It is faithful to remain in lament. What matters is authenticity.

Even though lament psalms can help worshipers capture the various forms of chaos that they experience, whether personal or communal, these psalms have been marginalized in Christian worship for various reasons. For some, complaint is usually confused with “murmuring,” such as the “murmuring” of the people against God and Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 16–17). Complaint for them reflects an ungrateful posture towards God. For others, complaint and lament is a sign of a weak faith and a lack of trust in God. For others, worship and spirituality are about joy, and one can gain that state of joy only if they focus on God and ignore their suffering. For others, God’s sovereignty means that one should not question what God is doing. Still others have been deprived of their agency as a result of being subjugated to different forms of oppression and find it hard to speak back to God as an authority figure. For those who have lost all possibility of help, God is their final resort in the midst of suffering. They do not believe that complaint is going to change their reality. Finally, for others, the spirituality of giving thanks and praise in the midst of suffering and chaos is considered a stronger sign of faith than the spirituality that allows for words of complaint and protest.

One of the contributions made by Walter Brueggemann is the recovery of the validity of the language of lament in the psalms as faithful discourse that is grounded in a covenantal relationship with God. Two losses, argues Brueggemann, occur when the language of lament is marginalized in the theology and practice of faith communities. ¹² The first loss influences the genuineness of the covenantal relationship, in which the human party is taken seriously by God. If humans are only allowed the language of praise, and they are not permitted to cry out in the midst of injustice, not only does this create a bad faith that is built on fear, guilt, or false-self-righteousness, it also means that humans are not partners with God. The second loss is that the absence of the language of lament stifles the question of theodicy, which essentially has to do with God’s justice in the world. By recovering the language of lament and protest as a language of faith, the oppressed become a partner with God in the work of justice.

Healthy Fear and Prayers of Trust

Fear is a natural emotion that emerges out of anticipating a danger that threatens our wellbeing, whether that threat is real or imagined. Martha Nussbaum notes that “the removal of fear would produce social disaster: obtuseness about real dangers to life and limb, failures to protect both self and other.” ¹³ The question that lies before us, then, is how to handle our fears in a way that negotiates and distinguishes between real fears and unwarranted fears. Having the right amount of this emotion helps us be safe and secure. Having no fear makes us fall prey to real menaces and threats around us. Having too much fear, on the other hand, consumes us, distorts our relationships, and causes us to act in hostile ways. Equally important is the fact that fear enables us to offer help to others when their wellbeing is jeopardized.

Fear and anxiety do not indicate lack of faith. Fear is natural. Fear is necessary. It enables us to live responsibly. Putting one’s trust in God transforms fear into a positive power that allows us to be partners with God in bringing about safety and security to others and to ourselves. When we think that God is calling us to have a fearless life, we become unaccountable. We expect God to do everything. We slack off and do not do our part. We expect God to intervene and fix things. However, we cannot jump off the cliff and expect God to send God’s angels to protect us (see Matt 4:5–11). Fear is not lack of faith; fear is living responsibly. The emotion of fear helps us to look after the wellbeing of ourselves and others.

This does not mean that we we allow fear to rule us. Untamed fear, writes Nussbaum, “can produce unreliable and unpredictable conduct,” ¹⁴ and can manipulate us to act in aggression towards that which we think is a threat. Fear usually begins with some sort of real danger and threat. If this fear is not processed in a safe, yet critical environment, it will grow in an unhealthy manner and produce insecurity and possibly violence. What is more challenging is that because of the shock of change, sometimes people become self-centered, lose sight, and become unable to distinguish between real fears and exaggerated and fantasized fear.

Fear is what saves some of Pharaoh’s servants along with their slaves and their cattle. The extended account of the plague of hail that the LORD brings upon Egypt (Exodus 9) contains a unique feature that does not appear in the flow of the other plagues, namely, a warning to Pharaoh, his officials, and his people with a description of what they can do to avert the disaster. The LORD tells Pharaoh that God could bring a deadly pestilence and wipe away Pharaoh and his people. But the LORD lets Pharaoh live so that God’s power can be manifest. Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites go is a symptom of hubris and arrogance that brings disasters and crises on himself and on his own people. It is crucial to note, though, that the LORD gives Pharaoh a warning of the damage that this upcoming plague will cause and a way to change its course.

Tomorrow at this time I will cause the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Send, therefore, and have your livestock and everything that you have in the open field brought to a secure place; every human or animal that is in the open field and is not brought under shelter will die when the hail comes down upon them. (Exod 9:18–19)

Taking shelter is the way to save human and non-human lives. Indeed, the text goes on to note that those who feared the word of the LORD were saved along with their cattle, but those who did not regard the word of the LORD suffered tremendously. “Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried their slaves and livestock off to a secure place. Those who did not regard the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the open field” (vv. 20–21).

Fear in a time of pandemic saves lives. And yet, if fear is not processed in a healthy way, it may turn into panic, and that would lead to selfishness and concern for the wellbeing of the self at the expense of the other. Therefore, it is crucial to tame extreme experiences of fear through prayers of faith and trust. These prayers are not a sign of obliviousness to danger but an acknowledgement that one’s wellbeing hinges on a trust in God and, that faith and trust call us to be generous towards others who might be in dire need.

Prayers of Trust

The testimony of the psalmist in Psalm 91 has become a source of hope for many during the time of the pandemic. The psalmist speaks confidently of the divine protection from various dangers that befall the world, yet those who put their trust in God, those who take refuge in God are delivered and saved from these threats. What makes this psalm unique is that it is one of the few psalms in which God speaks. In the liturgical exchange between the psalmist and those who trust in God, the confident word of God’s deliverance is not just a human testimony, but it is also a divine promise (vv. 14–16). Indeed, this seems to be intended by the redactors of the book of Psalms since Psalms 88–90 utter words of despair and lament, while Psalm 91 offers a solution to the human plight as it speaks of God as a refuge who protects those who put their trust in God. This solution is immediately followed by Psalm 92, a song of thanksgiving to the God who saves and sustains. ¹⁵

Psalm 91 opens with what appears to be an introduction of the main protagonist on the stage of a liturgical theater. This figure is someone who dwells (yōšēb) and spends the night (yitlônān) in the shelter of the Most High and in the shadow of the Almighty (91:1). This is an image of someone who is wandering about in a dangerous space. Yet they are safe because God is their place of hiding and their safe space. Once standing on the stage, the asylee who is wandering about in the frightening world declares that the LORD is their refuge and fortress (v. 2). Apparently, the protagonist here portrays their circumstances as if they were fleeing a war zone; they need to find a place in which they feel safe, and that place is not a place but a person. Thus, this person declares that YHWH, the LORD, is their God, in whom they put all their trust. Faith centers on choosing to put one’s trust in God. Thus, hiding and taking refuge are not a sign of lack of faith. Putting one’s trust in God does not lead to reckless behavior. That one believes in a God who is almighty and higher than all other powers is not antithetical to taking cover and seeking shelter.

A shift occurs in the psalm from naming God as the sole refuge in times of trouble to words of assurance of the blessings that follow this daring decision of taking shelter in God. The psalmist now addresses the person who hides in God’s house directly (vv. 3–13). The image of seeking protection in God is affirmed and expanded in vv. 3–4. God is not portrayed as a physical home; instead, God is portrayed as a mother bird who protects her fledgling (v. 4). The vulnerable baby bird is protected from the net or the trap of the fowler by way of taking refuge and hiding under God’s wings and in the folds of God’s pinions. The wings of the bird are likened to a shield and a buckler; thus, this is a warrior bird that is similar to the fortress in v. 2 and offers protection in times of danger. Thus vv. 2 and 4 are connected by the repetition of the verb (ḥsh) “to take refuge”; in the former it was a declaration uttered by the worshiper that they take refuge in God; in the latter, the psalmist offers it as an actualization of God’s protection. The word deber that the psalmist uses could be a general reference to “anything deadly.” Yet the word is used frequently to refer to some sort of a pestilence. It is often used in the prophetic texts in connection to disasters that result from famine and killing by the sword. Hunger and dead bodies at times of war may create an environment in which diseases spread. It is possible that word here describes some sort of sickness or disease that is deadly.

The divine protection is all encompassing, even in the face of grave dangers. It surpasses the boundaries of time. But during the bright hours and the dark hours God’s faithfulness not only protects, but it also gives courage for one to carry on in the face of these dangers. God does not take away the dangers. The psalmist declares God as their refuge; and God, in faithfulness and truth, offers safety. The worshiper will not harbor fear that freezes them from living their life. They obviously realize the dangers. They do not deny the danger of the experiences of phenomena that go on day and night, in the middle of the night and in the middle of the day. The “fear” (paḥad v. 5), “arrow” (ḥēṣ v. 5), “pestilence” (deber, v. 4, 6), and “destruction” (qeṭeb, v. 6) are real threats that seek to destroy human life. ¹⁶ These are powers that attempt to harm and destroy God’s beloved and ordered creation. In their ancient Near Eastern context, these words possibly refer to demonic powers that were believed to spread diseases and sickness. Even though we today are able to explain things scientifically, having this reminder that there are dangers that exceed our human abilities makes us turn both to scientists and to God for help. The nominal sentences in v. 5 and imperfect verbs used in v. 6 show that these terrors are ongoing dangers that threaten the wellbeing of these human communities. They are not a hoax. Yet because of trust in God, one does not panic or lose hope and live a despairing life. One finds safety in God, and this safety gives the believer control of their fear. Confidence and trust in God does not turn into denial of the dangers and the threats that surround the worshipper.

Faith in God gives a balanced sense of reality. One is able to name the dangers, but one does not fall prey to despair. One puts their faith in God, and that faith does not become a reckless way of living one’s life at a time of pandemic and roaming viruses. The psalm goes on to distinguish between the worshipper who again and again declares their trust in God, and the wicked, who by definition is the one who does not put their trust in God. The worshiper is not bragging at their exceptionalism. They receive protection as a gift because they have put their trust in God (v. 9). That trust once more is followed by blessings of protection from dangers that one faces inside the tent or in the wilderness (vv. 10–13).

These words in Ps 91:11–12 are familiar to Christians because they appear in the Gospels of Matthew (4:1–11) and Luke (4:1–13) in the story of the temptation of Jesus. Standing on the highest point of the temple, Satan tempts Jesus by using these very words in Psalm 91: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone” (vv. 11–12). The context of the psalm does not talk about divine protection if one jumps off a very high place. Jesus knows what Satan is up to here. The temptation that Jesus faced is the temptation of a bad faith. But Jesus models the kind of trust that does not abuse divine promises of protection. Jesus refuses to do the foolish thing and then expects God to fix the consequences of his reckless behavior. Jesus teaches us that the words of Psalm 91 call for a faith that engenders human responsibility.

Indeed, the faith that Psalm 91 calls for is the kind of faith that does not expect dangers to disappear. Deadly threats will continue to endanger human lives and people’s wellbeing. But what makes a difference is that humans are not alone in facing these dangers. God promises to deliver and to pay heed when people cry out and call on God’s name. But what is even more comforting is that God promises to be with those who put their trust in God. God will accompany them in the midst of trouble and distress.

The final words in Psalm 91 is God’s: “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation” (vv. 14–16). The fowler, the enemy, demonic powers, diseases, wild animals, and all sorts of danger inhabit the world that the worshiper lives in. But the worshiper who chooses to declare God as their refuge will become the subject of God’s own words that promise salvation and long and satisfying life.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world as we know it. As we all try to make sense of the losses that we have experienced, the biblical perceptions of chaos offer helpful insights into this process. The biblical traditions speak of chaos as an integral part of the created world. Chaos was not annihilated when God created the world; it was ordered and put in check. Quite often chaos breaks through the order and causes us to question what we have taken for granted as a normal or ordered world.

Systemic sins of oppression and injustice may lead to chaos plagues, as we see in the book of Exodus. Gazing at the chaos monsters in the book of Job reminds us that we are not in control of our world. Thus, the diversity with which the biblical traditions speak about chaos holds in tension human responsibility for unleashing disorder while at the same time acknowledging that various experiences of chaos are not measurable by human cause and effect.

Faith communities should not remain passive in the face of chaos. Human communities are called to repent when they participate in systems that unleash chaos on those who are marginalized. The language of lament provides people who suffer the most because of their socioeconomic status with a means of expressing protest, claiming their agency, and becoming more resilient as they confront their experiences of chaos.

Trying to make sense of the chaos of COVID-19 and the appropriate ways to respond to it calls for a healthy balance between fear and trust. Trust should not lead to reckless ways of living that endanger others, and fear should not turn into panic that make us lose hope. We need to maintain the ability to express gratitude in the midst of chaos. Integrating these spiritualities of repentance, lament, fear, and trust empower faith communities to be responsible towards the world around them, while trusting that God is at work healing and repairing the world that has been damaged by the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.