Vindicate Me, O Lord

Psalm 7

O Lord my God, in thee have I put my trust; save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me, lest he devour my soul like a lion and tear it in pieces while there is none to help.

O Lord my God, if I have done any such thing, or if there be any wickedness in my hands, if I have rewarded evil unto him that dealt friendly with me (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy), then let mine enemy persecute my soul, and take me; yea, let him tread my life down upon the earth and lay mine honour in the dust.

Stand up, O Lord, in thy wrath, and lift up thyself because of the indignation of mine enemies; arise up for me in the judgement thou has commanded.  And so shall the congregation of the people come about for thee; for their sakes therefore lift up thyself again. 

 

The Lord shall judge the people; give sentence with me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the innocency that is in me.  O let the wickedness of the ungodly come to an end; but guide thou the just.  For the righteous God trieth the very hearts and reins. My help cometh of God, who preserveth them that are true of heart.  God is a righteous Judge, strong and patient; and God is provoked every day. 

 

If a man will not turn, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready.  He hath prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.  Behold, he travaileth with iniquity; he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth ungodliness.  He hath graven and dug up a pit and is fallen himself into the destruction that he made for others.  For his travail shall come upon his own head and his wickedness shall fall on his own skull.

I will give thanks unto the Lord, according to his righteousness; and I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

The Heavens

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. 

Psalm 19 poetically describes the heavens and their purpose, but in our day and age we are blessed with the good fortune of hearing and seeing Psalm 19 through the poetical lense of advanced technology. 

Is that an incredible image or what?!

NASA's Picture of the Day site is one of my absolute favorites and leaves me astounded every single time I visit it.  Check it out. 

A Lament & A Promise

Lamentations 1

The Prophet Speaks:

Alas! The city once full of people

now sits all alone!

The prominent lady among the nations

has become a widow!

The princess who once ruled the provinces

has become a forced laborer!

She weeps bitterly at night;

tears stream down her cheeks.

She has no one to comfort her

among all her lovers.

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

Judah has departed into exile

under affliction and harsh oppression.

She lives among the nations;

she has found no resting place.

All who pursued her overtook her

in narrow straits.

The roads to Zion mourn

because no one travels to the festivals.

All her city gates are deserted;

her priests groan.

Her virgins grieve;

she is in bitter anguish!

Her foes subjugated her;

her enemies are at ease.

For the Lord afflicted her

because of her many acts of rebellion.

Her children went away

captive before the enemy.

All of Daughter Zion’s splendor

has departed.

Her leaders became like deer;

they found no pasture,

so they were too exhausted to escape

from the hunter.

Jerusalem remembers,

when she became a poor homeless person,

all her treasures

that she owned in days of old.

When her people fell into an enemy’s grip,

none of her allies came to her rescue.

Her enemies gloated over her;

they sneered at her downfall.

Jerusalem committed terrible sin;

therefore she became an object of scorn.

All who admired her have despised her

because they have seen her nakedness.

She groans aloud

and turns away in shame.

Her menstrual flow has soiled her clothing;

she did not consider the consequences of her sin.

Her demise was astonishing,

and there was no one to comfort her.

She cried, “Look, O Lord, on my affliction

because my enemy boasts!”

An enemy grabbed

all her valuables.

Indeed she watched in horror as Gentiles

invaded her holy temple –

those whom you had commanded:

“They must not enter your assembly place.”

All her people groaned

as they searched for a morsel of bread.

They exchanged their valuables

for just enough food

to stay alive.

Jerusalem Speaks:

“Look, O Lord! Consider

that I have become worthless!”

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road?

Look and see!

Is there any pain like mine?

The Lord has afflicted me,

he has inflicted it on me

when he burned with anger.

He sent down fire

into my bones, and it overcame them.

He spread out a trapper’s net for my feet;

he made me turn back.

He has made me desolate;

I am faint all day long.

My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke;

they are fastened together by his hand.

He has placed his yoke on my neck;

he has sapped my strength.

The Lord has handed me over

to those whom I cannot resist.

He rounded up all my mighty ones;

The Lord did this in my midst.

He summoned an assembly against me

to shatter my young men.

The Lord has stomped like grapes

the virgin daughter, Judah.

I weep because of these things;

my eyes flow with tears.

For there is no one in sight who can comfort me

or encourage me.

My children are desolated

because an enemy has prevailed.

The Prophet Speaks:

Zion spread out her hands,

but there is no one to comfort her.

The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob;

his neighbors have become his enemies.

Jerusalem has become

like filthy garbage in their midst.

Jerusalem Speaks:

The Lord is right to judge me!

Yes, I rebelled against his commands.

Please listen, all you nations,

and look at my suffering!

My young women and men

have gone into exile.

I called for my lovers,

but they had deceived me.

My priests and my elders

perished in the city.

Truly they had searched for food

to keep themselves alive.

Look, O Lord! I am distressed;

my stomach is in knots!

My heart is pounding inside me.

Yes, I was terribly rebellious!

Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children;

Inside the house death is present.

They have heard that I groan,

yet there is no one to comfort me.

All my enemies have heard of my trouble;

they are glad that you have brought it about.

Bring about the day of judgment that you promised

so that they may end up like me!

Let all their wickedness come before you;

afflict them

just as you have afflicted me

because of all my acts of rebellion.

For my groans are many,

and my heart is sick with sorrow.

Jerusalem is in anguish as she mourns her sin, her wandering and the grave consequences which God has dealt her.  But this is not the end of the story!  Her cry, "Save me, O God, for the waters are coming even unto my soul!" is not left unanswered.   She has been given a gracious promise that one day all the shame and trouble will be removed from her and she will be made new!  

Psalm 62

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of Yhwh will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yhwh,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

but you shall be called My Delight is in Her,

and your land Married,

for Yhwh delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you.

They shall be called The Holy People,

The Redeemed of Yhwh;

and you shall be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken.

This is a beautiful promise indeed!  May we, as individuals, and more importantly, as The People of God, believe that this promise will be fulfilled in a profound and thorough-going way because of Christ!  May we wait in patient faith and look forward with expectant hope to that day.

Nov 2 - Election & All Souls Day

Somehow it seems appropriate that Election Day and All Souls Day coincide...death, purgatory and politics make splendid bedfellows.  Yesterday, November 1, All Saints Day, we commemorated those faithful saints who have gone before us...who have fought the good fight and finished the course and whose spirits dwell with Christ until the Final Resurrection. 

In the Roman Catholic calendar, this day is followed by All Souls Day, wherein we are to pray for those who didn't quite make it all the way into heaven and are awaiting redemption in Purgatory.  If there were such a place, I would expect it to be heavily populated with politicians.

Since I don't believe the doctrine of purgatory, there are no celebratory rituals I can commend to you.  However, one of the traditional prayers offered on behalf of the dead by those who DO believe the doctrine, is from the Psalms and is therefore a perfectly valid prayer to offer...on behalf of myself and others yet living:

Psalm 130

A Song of Ascents

Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice!

O, let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint.

If Thou, Lord wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss,

O, Lord, who may abide it?

For there is mercy with Thee

Therefore shalt Thou be feared.

I look for the Lord, my soul doth wait for Him;

In His Word is my trust.

My soul fleeth unto the Lord before the morning watch;

I say before the morning watch.

O, Israel, trust in the Lord,

For with the Lord there is mercy

And with Him is plenteous redemption.

And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.

Once again...let me commend to you the work of Gloria Dei Cantores.  Here is a sound byte of Psalm 130 from the album, Thou Art My Refuge.

Happy All Souls Day.  Now go celebrate Election Day by sending some of those crooked politicians to their own personal purgatory!

Psalm 139

Psalm 139

O Lord, Thou hast searched me out and known me

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising

Thou understandest my thoughts long before;

Thou art about my path and about my bed,

And art acquainted with all my ways.

For lo, there is not a word in my tongue

But Thou, O Lord, knowest it altogether;

Thou hast beset me behind and before

And laid Thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge it too wonderful and excellent for me,

I cannot attain unto it.

Wither shall I go then from Thy Spirit?

Or whither shall I go then from Thy presence?

If I climb up into heaven Thou art there;

If I go down to hell, Thou art there also.

If I take the wings of the morning

And remain in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there also shall Thy hand lead me,

And Thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say peradventure, "The darkness shall cover me,"

Then shall my night be turned to day.

Yea, the darkness is no darkness with Thee,

But the night is as clear as the day!

The darkness and light to Thee are both alike.

For my reins are Thine;

Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

I will give thanks unto Thee

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Thy works

And that my soul knoweth right well.

My bones are not hid from Thee

Though I be made secretly and fashioned beneath in the earth;

Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect,

And in Thy book were all my members written.

Which day by day were fashioned

When as yet there was none of them.

How dear are Thy counsels unto me, O God;

O how great is the sum of them!

If I tell them they are more in number than the sand

When I wake up I am present with Thee.

Wilt Thou not slay the wicked, O God?

Depart from me, ye bloodthirsty men!

For they speak unrighteously against me,

And Thine enemies take Thy name in vain.

Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee?

And am not I grieved with those that rise up against me?

Yea, I hate them right sore

Even as though they were mine enemies.

Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart;

Prove me and excel in Thy thoughts.

Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me

And lead me in the way everlasting.