Timely, I Guess

Psalm 138
Of David.
1I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
3On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.
4All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
8The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

I try to stay out of the fray of the political circus we live in here in the U.S. My puny opinions matter not at all in the mix. But when I read Psalm 138, which is just the next one in line as far as these meditations are concerned, I couldn’t help but smile at the timing of God. This Psalm is pointed, by King David, at the earthly rulers of his day. Would that those who lead our nation (or any other) take a moment and give thought to the God of the Universe who has placed them into those leadership roles. Perhaps things would be different – better.

We know that this psalm speaks to those rulers from verse 1 where “gods” are mentioned. This word most likely refers to earthly rulers when you look at the context of the entire prayer. David is proudly standing before any world leader and praising the God of Creation. He sings God’s praise without shame, bowing down before God’s Holy Temple. From other psalms, we know that David’s position as king was never an easy one. He faced monumental struggles from those who opposed his leadership and even from his own family members. But he persevered and led with God always in sight. (Well, most of the time.) We find David’s early life harassed by King Saul and his time as king made difficult by in-fighting and family threats. Thus we see his lament in verse 7. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. Perhaps this verse more than any other drew my attention back to the three-ring circus we saw on the news yesterday as two people were put through the ringer for political purposes, with no thought to their personal lives whatsoever. I pray the Lord’s right hand delivers them both. It was difficult to watch.

As I said, I don’t like to get political here. There are other bloggers you can read for those purposes. But I am struck by the fact that God’s Word still addresses real life and the events that are happening to us today. With that in mind, we embrace verse 8 with both hands.

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more