Daily Devotional - 08/26/2008

Christ is in our Midst!

 

I may be totally wrong here (I am forced to confess it has happened once or twice before in my life) but I find in many of the psalms a real sense of irony that when I read or pray these ancient verses I need to grasp if I am really to understand the poem’s message---and more important, if I am to make that message my own.  Take Psalm 7 as an example:

 

[1] O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
[2] Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
[3] O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
[4] If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
[5] Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
[6] Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
[7] So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
[8] The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
[9] Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
[10] My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
[11] God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
[12] If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
[13] He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
[14] Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
[15] He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
[16] His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
[17] I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

 

How am I to pray this psalm?  My Orthodox Study Bible’s notes tell me that the psalm was a prayer of David in the midst of the rebellion of his own son Absalom.  But what, it might be asked, has this “family feud” to do with me about three millennia later?

 

In a general sense, I suppose, the psalm can be read as a plea for God to save us from our enemies.  But truth to tell, I don’t think I have that many enemies; there are people I’m sure who don’t like me---sadly there are darn sure people I can’t seem to like:  but enemies?  I really don’t know of any---people who are actively working to deal me woe.

 

So the first step in meditating on or praying this psalm, applying the Scripture to me and my own condition, requires me to think about who really are my enemies.  The Fathers speak about the “unseen warfare” between humans and the devil and his legions, and here I think is the place to center my considerations of this psalm.  I do have enemies, powerful spiritual enemies, who roam about the world, as St. Peter says, like a roaring lion.  Only God can defend me from these.(vv. 1-2)

 

But the psalm reminds me of my need to cooperate with God.  And here I find the irony.  David seems to be saying that if I have acted in the ways of the demons, I should suffer their punishment.  David even says that he should be judged according to “his righteousness” (v. 8).  In fairness to King David, he is probably referring here to the particular situation of his son’s rebellion:  David is indeed the legitimate king; his son is clearly in the wrong in trying to seize his father’s throne.  But can I, dare I, ask God to judge me in my righteousness?  If God should actually do this, am I not lost?  So as I read this psalm, one of the things I might reflect on is my own “unrighteousness,” my own inability to keep the commandments.  O f course God knows that I am a sinner.  But do I know?  Certainly God realizes that I will fail over and over again in trying to live the life He has ordained for me---but do I realize that?  Do I really understand how far I am from what God intended me to be?  Do I fully and unflinchingly confess my sins?  The very last thing I want or need is for the Lord to judge me in the light of my faithfulness.  Rather I ought to pray:  If You judge me according to my [lack of] righteousness, O Lord, I must perish.  Judge me according to Your mercy, O Lord, not according to my deeds.

 

David closes the psalm with words that predict the punishment of those who do evil.  They bring down misery and destruction on themselves.  God, David reminds, will ultimately triumph, and we should thank Him for victories over evil. 

 

Once again, the Psalmist reminds that God is indeed in charge; that in the midst of turmoils and terrors beyond number---sorrows and failures and partings and yes, my own death itself---God is there to sustain me.  But unless I repeatedly apply myself to keeping the commandments, beginning anew each time I fall, I should expect only “justice” for my “righteousness.” 

 

Gary

Feast of Ss. Natalie and Adrian, and 33 companions martyred in 

Nicomedia

 under the Emperor Maximian (AD 305-311)