Perspective: Reflecting on the Psalms (Part 2)

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Reflecting on the Psalms
(Part 2)

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Psalm 62:5-7 (NRSV)

This is my Father's world
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the Ruler yet

From "This Is My Father's World" by Maltbie D. Babcock

Previously, I mentioned that, during a recent discussion about the Psalms with my Sunday school class, I recommended praying the Psalms, because they cover a wide range of emotions and experiences.  For a number of years, I had not spent much time reflecting on the Psalms, though I did sometimes incorporate them into my morning prayer time.  After that Sunday school meeting, I decided to continue reflecting on the Psalms, as I did when preparing for the class discussion.  I've pondered what might have been happening in the psalmists' lives and considered how I can relate.


Psalm 86

One psalm I encountered recently is the eighty-sixth psalm, which is described as "a prayer of David."¹  David is the shepherd, musician, poet, and military leader who eventually becomes the most beloved king of Israel.  The psalm begins,

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all day long.²

It is not clear exactly what is going on that inspires David to compose this psalm, but what is clear is that his life is in danger.  He goes on to pray,

O God, the insolent rise up against me;
a band of ruffians seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them...
Show me a sign of your favor,
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.³

In the First and Second Books of Samuel, we read that David lives a dangerous life.  After David is anointed to be the next king of Israel,⁴ he defeats a giant named Goliath in battle.⁵  He is then made a military leader, and he leads the Israelite army to victory in numerous battles.⁶  Going into battle against one's people's enemies is a dangerous job, but the situations that seem to distress David the most involve people who should not be his mortal enemies.  As he grows in popularity with the people, the current king becomes paranoid and begins trying to kill him.⁷  As a result, he ends up spending a lot of time evading the king and his soldiers.⁸  Later on, after David becomes king, one of his own sons tries to overthrow him.⁹

As David begs God for help, he praises God.  He prays,

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.¹⁰

David goes on to pray,

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
and bow down before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.¹¹

David echoes words that are repeated throughout the Hebrew scriptures,¹² praying,

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.¹³

There are times when I've wondered, if God is indeed as loving, gracious, and merciful as David proclaims in this psalm, then why would one have to beg God to act in loving, gracious, and merciful ways, as David seems to do.  Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe David is reminding himself of God's goodness as he waits for God to act.

I have never experienced the kind of danger David experienced in his life, so I can only relate to this psalm to an extent.  Ever since the pandemic, life has seemed a lot more dangerous than it seemed previously, and there have been times when I prayed to God for protection.  There are people in this world who can relate to this psalm a lot more than I can relate to it.  For example, there are refugees who have fled extremely dangerous situations.  This psalm can be a reminder to pray for people who are facing mortal danger.


Psalm 62

Another psalm I encountered recently is the sixty-second psalm, which also attributed to David.¹⁴  Once again, it is not clear what is happening in his life that inspires him to write this psalm, but one can make some guesses based on his story and the subject matter of the psalm.  The psalm begins,

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.¹⁵

This proclamation is repeated almost word-for-word later in the psalm.¹⁶

David is evidently embroiled in conflict with the people around him.  Rhetorically, he asks,

How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.¹⁷

Once again, I can only relate to this psalm to an extent.  I don't have the kind of clout David has, so I haven't experienced the kind of opposition he is facing.  That said, I regularly witness people's cruelty when I scroll through the cesspool formerly known as Twitter.  Social media in general seems to be rife with people who are eager to bring people down, even if it means trafficking in falsehoods.

David takes refuge in God, and he urges others to do the same.  He proclaims,

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.¹⁸

It is all too clear to David that the only security to be found is in God, because the people around him are not trustworthy.

The psalm ends on a hopeful note.  David proclaims,

Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
according to their work.¹⁹

David has put his faith in God.  Though there is so much wrong with the world around him, he is confident that God is faithful and loving and that God will someday set all things right.


These two psalms of David have similar themes, because they were both inspired in times of danger or conflict.  They both invite us to take refuge in God.  The eighty-sixth psalm encourages us to turn to God for help and protection in times of trouble, and the sixty-second psalm encourages us not to despair when the state of the world brings us down but to trust in the God who sets all things right.  God is good, even when life is hard.


Notes:

1. From the superscription to Psalm 86 (NRSV)
2. Psalm 86:1-3 (NRSV)
3. Psalm 86:14, 17 (NRSV)
4. 1 Samuel 16:1-13
5. 1 Samuel 17
6. 1 Samuel 18:5
7. 1 Samuel 18:6-11
8. 1 Samuel 19-31
9. 2 Samuel 15-18
10. Psalm 86:5 (NRSV)
11. Psalm 86:8-10 (NRSV)
12. See Exodus 34:6, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2.
13. Psalm 86:15 (NRSV)
14. From the superscription to Psalm 62
15. Psalm 62:1-2 (NRSV)
16. Psalm 62:5-6
17. Psalm 62:3-4 (NRSV)
18. Psalm 62:8 (NRSV)
19. Psalm 62:11-12 (NRSV)

Re David was painted by Valentin de Boulogne around 1626.

Perspective: Do Not Engage

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Do Not Engage

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?  Or what will they give in return for their life?"

Matthew 16:24-26 (NRSV)

Father, father

We don't need to escalate

You see, war is not the answer

For only love can conquer hate

You know we've got to find a way

To bring some lovin' here today

From "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye

A few days before Jesus is crucified, the Disciples make a comment about the impressive buildings in Jerusalem.  Jesus tells them that, in the near future, "not one stone will be left here upon another."  The Disciples, who are naturally alarmed by His words, ask Him when the disaster He has predicted will happen.¹  Jesus warns them that, when they see what He calls the "desolating sacrilege" in the temple, they need to literally run for the hills, because a time of great suffering is immanent.  He warns them to not listen to the "false messiahs and false prophets" who will emerge and deceive many people.²

Jesus' prophecy is often used in conjunction with other parts of Scripture - most prominently Revelation - to formulate an elaborate timeline of events that will supposedly happen at some indeterminate point in the future.  Many believe that there will be a seven-year period of hell on earth they call the Great Tribulation.  During this time, the world will fall under the control of an evil ruler called the Antichrist, who will be empowered by Satan to persecute and martyr followers of Christ.  This time of suffering will end with the Battle of Armageddon, after which Christ will return to reign on earth and judge all people.

It is important that we have some knowledge of ancient history when engaging certain parts of the Bible, like Jesus' troubling prophecy.  Otherwise, we might waste our time obsessing over future events that probably won't happen.  Jesus' prophecy actually addresses a particular chain of events that came to pass nearly two thousand years ago.

The "desolating sacrilege" of which Jesus speaks is basically something that does not belong in the temple of the Lord.  Jesus is predicting that the Roman Empire, which is occupying the region in His day, will at some point defile the temple, perhaps with pagan images.  The Jewish people, who will be rightfully enraged by this act of desecration, will respond by rebelling against Rome.  Rome will, in turn, respond to the rebellion by destroying Jerusalem.  Jesus warns the Disciples to flee for the hills when they see the "desolating sacrilige" the temple because He does not want them to get caught up in the conflict that follows and lose their lives in a battle He doesn't want them to fight.³

It is important to remember that the Jewish people of Jesus' day expect a militant messiah who will drive out the Romans and return Israel to its glory days.  Some of them even aspire to be that militant messiah.  The "false messiahs and false prophets" of whom Jesus speaks are not the so-called Antichrist and his acolytes.  They are the people who will incite the people to rebel against Rome.  He warns the Disciples not to follow them because they will not bring salvation to the land as they intend but will instead invite destruction.⁴

Some time before Jesus makes His prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem, He asks the Disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"  Simon, one of the most vocal, brash, and hotheaded of the Disciples, replies, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."⁵  Jesus instructs the Disciples not to tell anyone that He is the Messiah.  At this point, because at least one of the Disciples believes He is the Messiah, He has to start warning them that, once He reaches Jerusalem, He will have to suffer, die, and be resurrected from the dead.⁶  Jesus wants them to understand that He is not the kind of messiah they have been expecting.

The people are expecting a conquering king, but Jesus has come as a suffering servant.  The people are expecting a savior who will bear arms, but Jesus is a Savior who will bear a cross.  What people believe about their Savior will naturally have implications for how they choose to follow their Savior.  When Simon objects to the revelation that Jesus will have to suffer and die, Jesus tells the Disciples that to follow Him is to deny oneself and to take up a cross as opposed to a sword.  To conquer through violence is to lose one's very soul.  Following Jesus means self-denial and self-sacrifice and not self-aggrandizement.

After Jesus warns the Disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem, He goes on to tell them about His return.  He tells them that they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds to gather His people.⁷  After Jesus ascends to Heaven, his earliest followers will believe that His return to Earth will be very soon.  Maybe Jesus is merely saying that, when He returns, He will not be among the people who are plotting against Rome and that His return will leave no doubt about His identity.⁸

In AD 66, a few decades after Jesus' Ascension, the Roman governor Gessius Florus plunders the temple treasury in response to protests against taxation and unpaid taxes.  The people riot, killing a number of Roman soldiers, and Florus arrests and crucifies a number of city leaders.⁹  Jewish militants then revolt against the Roman Empire, driving non-Jewish people from the region of Judea and setting up a provisional government.  A seven-year war between the Jews and the Romans ensues.  In AD 70, after a siege lasting several months, the Romans penetrate the city walls and destroy the temple.¹⁰

During the war between the Jews and the Romans, many people chose not to follow Jesus' advice to flee but instead stood their ground in Jerusalem.  Many died of starvation during the siege, and some reportedly resorted to cannibalism.¹¹  This is the great suffering Jesus did not want His people to endure.  War is hell.

I think that one lesson we can glean from Jesus' grim prophecy and the warning He gives the Disciples is that Christ does not want us to throw away our lives engaging in conflicts that have nothing to do with what He has called us to do.  I think about the costly culture wars waged by certain segments of Christianity in conjunction with certain political interest groups.  Any gains they made in supposedly taking back the culture for Christ came at the cost of alienating people who might have been drawn to Christ were they not repelled by people's politics.  Christ never called us to take back the culture; Christ calls us to be a refuge for all who have been oppressed by the culture.

May you, dear reader, learn to recognize an unholy war when you see it, and may you choose not to engage.  Remember that to follow Jesus is not to take up a sword, whatever form that takes, but to take up a cross.  Remember that, as Revelation shows us, the Lion who emerged from battle victorious is the Lamb who was slain.¹²


Notes:

1. Matthew 24:1-3 (NRSV)
2. Matthew 24:15-28 (NRSV)
3. N.T Wright.  Matthew for Everyone, Part 2.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  pp. 118-119
4. ibid.
5. Matthew 16:15-16 (NRSV)
6. Matthew 16:20-21
7. Matthew 24:29-31
8. Wright, p. 117
9. Wikipedia: "Jerusalem riots of 66"
10. Wikipedia: "First Jewish-Roman War"
11. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume Two.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  Barclay pp. 358-359
12. Revelation 5:5-6

Flevit super illam was painted by Enrique Simonet in 1892.

Introspection: This Winding Path (2019)

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

This Winding Path (2019)

Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:13 (NRSV)

But where will you go

With no one left to save you from yourself?

You can't escape

The truth

I realize you're afraid

But you can't abandon everyone

You can't escape

You don't want to escape

From "Where Will You Go?" by Evanescence

I was first introduced to a prayer labyrinth during my junior year of college, while I was on a retreat at Lake Junaluska with the Wesley Fellowship.  I think that, when I first heard about a prayer labyrinth, I expected some kind of hedge maze, but, when I actually saw one, I learned that it consisted of a single winding path that leads to a center area.  Walking a labyrinth is a form of contemplative prayer.  The journey to the center is a time of letting go of things and turning them over to God.  Time spent in the center is time spent in the presence of God.  The journey from the center outward is a time of being open to God and receiving what God offers.

One labyrinth I've visited several times in the past is behind the chapel at Furman University, my Alma Mater.

To be honest, I've never really gotten much out of walking a prayer labyrinth.  A lesson I've gleaned in the past is that, in the same way I don't really know what I'm doing in a prayer labyrinth, I don't really know what I'm doing in life in general and that, despite my lack of understanding, I have to trust that God is somehow at work in it all.  Truth be told, I struggle with contemplative prayer practices in general because I have trouble quieting my mind.  I'd rather take a long reflective walk, on which I am not trying to quiet my mind and listen but rather trying to sort through my thoughts.

Earlier this month, the women's group at my church hosted a prayer drop-in and invited the whole congregation to join them.  A portable prayer labyrinth had been set up in the gym, and, when I dropped by that Saturday morning, I decided to give it a try again.  Once, when I walked the labyrinth at my college, I chose to remove my shoes out of reverence, but, because the labyrinth in the gym was made of fabric, I had to remove them.  New socks were available for people who were not wearing any, and I availed myself of a pair since mine were a bit holey.

Since I've never really gotten the hang of walking a prayer labyrinth, I ended up focusing less on what was going on within me and focusing moreso on what was going on around me.  Still, I believe that the external aspect of my experience offered a lesson of its own.

Before I stepped into the labyrinth, I lingered for a while at the chair where I removed my shoes and put on my socks, reading the instructions for walking the labyrinth.  Intentionally or not, I waited until the woman who was walking the labyrinth ahead of me finished before I entered.  While I worked my way to the center of the labyrinth, I was alone, but, while I was in the center, other people arrived and started working their way inward.  Four times on my way out, I came face to face with other people, and, because of the narrow pathways, we had to negotiate our way around each other.  One woman unnecessarily whispered, "I'm sorry," as we passed each other.

I was able to control whether or not I was alone as I worked my way to the center of the labyrinth, but I had no control over whether or not I was alone as I worked my way outward.  The journey inward is supposed to be a time of letting go, and the journey outward is supposed to be a time of receiving.  I wonder if maybe the thing of which I need to let go is my tendency to avoid people, and I wonder if maybe the thing I need to receive is the willingness to face people, even though we might bump into each other and step on each other's toes, figuratively speaking.

I've always kept to myself, but, because of things that happened over the last few years, I've become even more reluctant to open myself up to people.  I tend to opt for isolation because I don't want hurt someone, disappoint someone, or get myself into a situation in which more is expected of me than I am willing to give.  I also tend to avoid people I think I've disappointed.  There are currently more than seven and one half billion people in this world, so it is inevitable that we will collide with each other from time to time.  To use an expression from the world of computer programming, perhaps the possibility of conflict in life is not a bug but rather a feature.

I wonder if maybe God is calling me to give up my avoidance of people and to risk conflict with others.  Inevitably I'll get in someone else's way or step on someone else's toes, but all I can do is to say, "Excuse me," and move on.  In the end, everything will be alright.


The photograph of the prayer labyrinth was taken by me in 2011 at Furman University.