Psalm 7

Psalm 7 (NRSV)
1 O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O my God;a you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
and over it take your seatb on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.
10 God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If one does not repent, Godc will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow;
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 See how they conceive evil,
and are pregnant with mischief,
and bring forth lies.
15 They make a pit, digging it out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
[1]

Lord,
“If one does not repent, God will whet his sword….”
I sometimes forget your hatred for evil. It is just that there is so much of it, it is so common, that it is hard to remember the hard edge of your opposition to it. It is so easy to take it for granted.

So, the evil that you hate, how does it look? How will I know it when I see it?
Wait…. Is it really such a silly question?

How about the reality of millions of Americans without access to health care and countless more around the world without resources for health, is that evil?
Little children caught in the cross-fires of war, that seems evil enough to me!
Millions of women trapped in the sex-trade, many barely into their teens,
Education systems that don’t work,
Parents who refuse to demand education for their children that is adequate to the twenty-first century,
Laziness and sloth – not caring enough about the not-so-far-away neighbor,
Greed and the abuse of workers in the name of sound business practice,
Employees who steal time and material from their employers,
Adultery and everything other thing that damages the families of our world,
Churches that don’t know the difference between nationalism and faithfulness to your Kingdom,
Government that protects the interest of the powerful, who need no protection, rather than the vulnerable; that gleefully advocates the growing gap between rich and poor,
And perhaps people like me who are often too timid to speak up,
Lord, how am I doing?

Am I close to describing the evil that you hate, the evil against which you have taken aim with the weapons of your spirit?

Lord, help me to see, help us all to see.

A slight change of subject: I’m on my way to visit my 18 day old granddaughter. If you would Lord, I pray that you will make this world better for her, for each of my grandchildren, and, even with a tinge of timidity, I ask you to show me my role in the advancement of your Kingdom on Earth.

PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God to help you to distinguish between that which is right and wrong in your own world and to show you your personal responsibility in God’s struggle with evil.
Pray for those who need God’s special help.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say, “thank you” to God.

In Christ’s name,
Amen.


a Or awake for me

b Cn: Heb return

c Heb he

[1] The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989