Psalm 94 (NRSV)
O LORD, you God of vengeance,
you God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
give to the proud what they deserve!
O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O LORD,
and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the stranger,
they murder the orphan,
and they say, "The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive."
Understand, O dullest of the people;
fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
does he not chastise?
The LORD knows our thoughts,
that they are but an empty breath.
Happy are those whom you discipline, O LORD,
and whom you teach out of your law,
giving them respite from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the LORD will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
If the LORD had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, "My foot is slipping,"
your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who contrive mischief by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous,
and condemn the innocent to death.
But the LORD has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
He will repay them for their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the LORD our God will wipe them out.
ELCA's daily Bible readings are chosen from "Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings," prepared by Consultation on the Common Texts, © 2005.
All text is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches USA, and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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A thing about the Psalms is that they are pieces of worship full to bursting with emotions and ideas than need some translation for us, who live a mere 2.5 to 3 millenia after they were set down.
ReplyDeleteIn a time before Twitter, iPhones, the 6:00 news, radio, or newspaper, it was easy for crimes to be concealed. This provoked a deep fierce anger in the writer of this psalm - a righteous anger for God to bring about justice - after all, how could they when all they had to go on was suspicion?
I read this psalm, and I am struck by that fierce righteous anger at injustice. I feel frustrated at myself for how casually I can receive news about bombed planes in Egypt or other tragedies.
Today I ask for God to help rekindle my heart that it may burn for justice like God's does - with patience, but with determination to make things right.