Reflections on the Psalms. Steven Croft
When we do not know how to pray for them, the psalmist’s prayer can be ours too: ‘let not mortals have the upper hand’ (v.19). Despite all evidence to the contrary, God is indeed the one who will rule the world with righteousness and govern the peoples with equity. In the final contest between God and mortals, there can be only one winner.
Reflection by Gillian Cooper
Refrain:
You, Lord, have never failed those who seek you.
Prayer:
Remember, Lord, all who cry to you
from death’s dark gates;
do not forget those whom the world forgets,
but raise your faithful ones to Zion’s gate,
with your all-conquering Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 10
Why stand so far off, O Lord?Why hide yourself in time of trouble?
‘… forget not the poor’ (v.12)
There are two questions posed in this psalm. We know the answer to one; we don’t know the answer to the other.
The question to which we have an answer is: how do people get away with exploiting those who are poor? (v.2). It happens because the rules for trade between rich countries and poor countries have largely been set by the rich ones, who have most of the power. It’s sobering to realize that the psalmist describes us who benefit from the unjust ways of the world’s economics as ‘wicked’. But it only requires one glance at the adverts that drive our media to confirm that we are people inclined to ‘boast of [our] heart’s desire’ (v.3).
The question to which we don’t have an answer is: why doesn’t God intervene to stop injustice? (v.1). The writers of the Bible wrestled with this as much as we do. The psalm doesn’t give an explanation, but it does show us how to pray on behalf of the world’s poorest people. We start by acknowledging that we need God, because he is able to do things we cannot (‘Arise O Lord God’, v.12). We ask God to take the world’s ‘trouble and misery’ into his hands, knowing that this is something he longs to do (v.14). And we pray in confidence that the final destiny of creation is for God to take control and restore justice ‘for ever and ever’ (v.17).
Reflection by Peter Graystone
Refrain:
You, Lord, have never failed those who seek you.
Prayer:
When wickedness triumphs
and the poor are betrayed,
come to your kingdom, strong and holy God,
destroy the masks of evil
and reign in our broken hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 11
In the Lord have I taken refuge;how then can you say to me‘Flee like a bird to the hills…’
‘The Lord tries the righteous as well as the wicked’ (v.6)
What a mess the world is in! Day after day brings news of violence. We live among people whose morals are appalling. People commit crimes and get away with it. How on earth can those of us who want to follow the Lord survive it? This psalm hints at three possibilities.
We could create a pure Christian community. We would cut ourselves off from encountering anyone who doesn’t share our faith. We would read nothing but the Bible, watch nothing but Songs of Praise, and abandon the godless internet altogether. It is the equivalent of attempting to ‘flee like a bird to the hills’ (v.1).
Or we could confront power with power. It would mean arming ourselves for war. We would take on tyrants and vanquish them in the name of the God we worship, getting rid of the evil they inflict once and for all. It is our equivalent of bending the bows and fitting the arrows (v.2). Both of these approaches have been tried over the course of Christian history.
Alternatively, we can take refuge in God. It would involve trusting that the Lord knows what he is doing, and is ultimately God of ‘the righteous as well as the wicked’ (v.6). It means we would need to engage fully with the mess of the world, but seek to do the ‘righteous deeds’ that God loves (v.8). This is the one the psalmist urges us to choose.
Reflection by Peter Graystone
Refrain:
The Lord’s throne is in heaven.
Prayer:
God of heaven,
when the foundations are shaken
and there is no escape,
test us, but not to destruction,
look on the face of your anointed
and heal us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Psalm 12
Help me, Lord, for no one godly is left;the faithful have vanished from the whole human race.
‘Like silver refined in the furnace’ (v.6)
The mood of this psalm is one of intense isolation and alienation. The way of God is seen to be the way of truth; the light of God shows things up for what they are. Yet this truth is so often distorted or masked, especially by persuasive rhetoric, or telling people what they want to hear (vv.2,4).
Again and again in the Old Testament the true prophets are presented as people who name things that nobody wants to acknowledge (see, for example, 1 Kings 22). In a similar way, the New Testament writers warn repeatedly against the power of empty rhetoric (Matthew 6.7; 1 Corinthians 2.1-5) and slanderous words (2 Corinthians 12.20; Ephesians 4.31; Colossians 3.8; James 3.1-8).
Yet, says the psalmist, God’s words are precious, purified in the fire (v.6) so that they illuminate with truth. In this he is prescient, for ultimately the eternal Word would come into the world as the light that shines in the darkness (John 1.1,5).
And what is the nature of its illumination? It throws things into a different sort of relief, and reveals what is wrong. This turns out to be the oppression and exploitation of those at the bottom of the pile (v.5), whose groans and calls for help are in danger of being drowned out by more comfortable cultural narratives. If we are to live in this light, we must trust God to watch over us (v.7) and then we must speak out in his name.
Reflection by Joanna Collicutt
Refrain:
You, O Lord, will watch over us.
Prayer:
Lord, when faith is faint
and speech veils our intentions,
restore us by your word of power and purity,
both now and for ever.