A few weeks ago in class we were discussing Psalm 9-10. This is actually one psalm in the Hebrew and it is based on the Hebrew alphabet -- each verse beginning with a successive letter. I asked my students to write an acrostic about the justice of God. I wrote one as well.
After the most recent school shooting in Parkland, FL where again another fatherless shooter brought havoc and horror, I was reminded of the importance of fathers. God is father to the fatherless. This is good news in a culture where the sexual revolution has steadily eroded the foundations of the family and made fatherlessness rampant. I wrote this prayer in the weeks before the shooting, but it seemed appropriate to share it now. This is a prayer for justice for the fatherless, innocent casualties of the sexual revolution. It's also a call for the church to unashamedly preach the truth about marriage and family -- this is part of what it means to preach the gospel, the good news to the poor. Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13:4)
Answer me when I call, O LORD
Bring relief to the poor and oppressed
Consider my prayer and my pain
Don't abandon me or turn away your ear
Everywhere I look I see brokenness
Families are severed by divorce
Generations of broken homes pass down a legacy of loneliness
How many children grow up without knowing father or mother?
In your mercy, hear their cry and be their Father
Jesus welcomes the children in his arms
Keeping them in his care and love
Let wholeness and healing come to the family
May marriage be honored by all
No one should grow up without knowing God
O LORD, equip your servants to share good news
Place your hand of protection on the innocent
Quickly come to their aid
Rise to bring justice to those that have been wronged
Safety and security are found in God
Trust in the LORD for He is our stronghold
Understand the He is just
Violent men will have violence done to them
When will justice come?
Exactly when, no one knows
Yet I will trust in Him
Zero-tolerance for sin, this is our holy God.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Monday, January 26, 2015
Hyperbole has become reality
In the second Psalm, the son of the king is promised "the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession." It seems a lofty promise coming from a guy who was king of a relatively small piece of land. (Israel in the late 10th century BC at its greatest extent would have stretched about as far as it is from my house to St. Louis). The promise seems ridiculous actually, and so we say that in poetic terms, it was hyperbole, exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.
Yet, here we are over 3,000 years later, and Jesus (the son of David, the one who is greater than Solomon) reigns in every corner of the globe. Distant shores and the islands rejoice at his presence in their midst. He reigns through his church, his citizens who have sworn allegiance to him above all others. He reigns because men and women have courageously taken the good news of Jesus to the darkest corners of the globe. Thanks to the faithful service of missionaries and the prayers of those sending them, hyperbole has become reality. Through sacrifice great and small, advancing by acts of kindness and mercy, accompanied with the bold proclamation of the truth that sets men free, "the kingdom of this world, is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." (Handel's Messiah)
Lead on, O King eternal
till sin's fierce war shall cease
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords loud clashing,
nor roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.
Yet, here we are over 3,000 years later, and Jesus (the son of David, the one who is greater than Solomon) reigns in every corner of the globe. Distant shores and the islands rejoice at his presence in their midst. He reigns through his church, his citizens who have sworn allegiance to him above all others. He reigns because men and women have courageously taken the good news of Jesus to the darkest corners of the globe. Thanks to the faithful service of missionaries and the prayers of those sending them, hyperbole has become reality. Through sacrifice great and small, advancing by acts of kindness and mercy, accompanied with the bold proclamation of the truth that sets men free, "the kingdom of this world, is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." (Handel's Messiah)
Lead on, O King eternal
till sin's fierce war shall cease
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords loud clashing,
nor roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
A Hagah Aha
Today while teaching I had one of those "aha" moments. I don't know how many times I've read, quoted, or sung the first Psalm, but as I was thinking about the word "meditate" in verse 2, for the first time it dawned on me that "meditation" is a very physical activity. The Hebrew word hagah literally means "to murmur" or to "mumble". It is used elsewhere of animals making noises (doves cooing and lions growling) and of the people grumbling and conspiring -- all of which are very physical, audible activities. Meditation isn't simply thinking deeply about something. It is actively speaking it, and in the process of speaking it, the thinking about it occurs.
Over the holiday break I was listening to Handel's Messiah, and the lyric led me to Isaiah 40. I memorized the entire chapter over the course of a couple days, and in those moments when no one was around, while I was driving, or waiting for my son to get out of school, I simply recited it. And the act of reciting the text aloud caused to me to think about the passage in all kinds of ways. Questions came to mind. Connections to other texts were made. The beauty of the poetry captivated me. I gained deeper appreciation for the humility, supremacy, and wisdom of God as I lingered on the images in the text -- a tender voice, a highway for our God, a shepherd carrying his lamb close to his heart, marking off the heavens with the breadth of a hand. As I spoke the text I was struck by the beauty, wonder, and the glory of the Lord. I worshiped. And it all began with hagah.
Over the holiday break I was listening to Handel's Messiah, and the lyric led me to Isaiah 40. I memorized the entire chapter over the course of a couple days, and in those moments when no one was around, while I was driving, or waiting for my son to get out of school, I simply recited it. And the act of reciting the text aloud caused to me to think about the passage in all kinds of ways. Questions came to mind. Connections to other texts were made. The beauty of the poetry captivated me. I gained deeper appreciation for the humility, supremacy, and wisdom of God as I lingered on the images in the text -- a tender voice, a highway for our God, a shepherd carrying his lamb close to his heart, marking off the heavens with the breadth of a hand. As I spoke the text I was struck by the beauty, wonder, and the glory of the Lord. I worshiped. And it all began with hagah.
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