From the Word
I ' m looking up to You
GENERAL COLUMN
From the Word
Its havest time !
Rev Willie Botha Lees : Psalm 123
Harvest time - the time when everything comes together .
Scenario visited the Eastern Cape , where the term Harvest Time is not only used when you want to buy a packet of peas .
We are mostly Afrikaans in the central parts and with Senwes along with other companies , becoming part of a global world , we also learn new words . In the Northwest the Tswana word for harvest time is puno , which is fairly well known . During our visit to East London , marketer Roy Moorcroft taught us the Xhosa term , namely vuna umbona . Other words for harvest time are oogsten in Dutch , einernten in German , høste in Danish , recolectar in Spanish and ceifar in Portuguese .
It makes me think of an Afrikaans poem published at the end of 2017 by Gerhard de Bruyn from Caledon , which talks about the farming processes : Oestyd is weer hier . Ons hoop mos maar net dit bring plesier . Baie dinge kan gebeur . En die boere moet maar net daardeur . Die graan is ryp en wag vir die oes . Daarom gaan dit nou op die lande woes . Een van die dae is die silo ’ s vol . Dan weet ons die wiele het nie verniet gerol . Oes maar boere met goeie hoop .
Die graan sal dalk nog baie dik loop . Voorspoed boere .
It is harvest time at Senwes Scenario as well - after many months of hard work , we are pleased to introduce the new Scenario , for your enjoyment . It doesn ' t matter which language you speak - harvest time is definitely here .
I ' m looking up to You
“ I LIFT UP my eyes to You , to You who sit enthroned in heaven .” These are the words of Psalm 123 . Perhaps one would expect the person to " look up " to God . The words are beautiful since it brings a total new nuance . In the Old Testament a slave looked up to his owner in much the same way . Slaves didn ' t have any rights and were totally dependent upon their owners . This Psalm forms part of the Pilgrim Psalms between Psalms 120 and 134 . During the pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacles , Feast of the Weeks and the Passover , these Psalms played a very special role . The pilgrimages to Jerusalem were very dangerous and they looked up to God with everything .
My thoughts dwell from this beautiful Psalm to Matthew 27 and the crucifixion of Jesus . People look up to the Son of God here as well . However , there is a radical difference . The image in Psalm 123 is one of dependence , humility , gratitude and respect , while in Matthew 27 it is totally the opposite . A large variety of people are involved with the crucifixion : The Roman soldiers , high priests and scribes , ordinary people and other condemned prisoners next to Jesus . We read that the people who walked past the cross , shook their heads . A sign of contempt , or even more so , scorn . There is no sign of respect , admiration or dependence . On the contrary , Jesus has to prove his Godliness - He will only be regarded as God if He manages to free Himself from the cross . It is so ironic - the fact that He does not free Himself from the cross is what proves His Godliness . It also emphasises the typical humanity of the people . We are unable to recognise the Godliness of God in His most humble moment . The moment when humanity should have looked up at Him in amazement , they looked up with contempt and scorn .
The crucifixion reflects Godly revelation and human arrogance at the same time , as well as Godly understanding and insight and human manipulability . Above all the crucifixion goes about time . On the cross Jesus reveals eternity , and why it is Godly . At the cross we discover ourselves , our human nature and mortality .
In retrospect we look up to the Cross and Psalm 123 and realise that we can look up to God , so much more ! Amen .
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SENWES SCENARIO | AUTUMN 2018