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13 April 2008
Word on the Web
Psalm 74 v 12-23
God, you have been our king for a long time. You bring salvation to the earth.
You split open the sea by your power and broke the heads of the sea monster.
You smashed the heads of the monster Leviathan and gave it to the desert creatures as food.
You opened up the springs and streams and made the flowing rivers run dry.
Both the day and the night are yours; you made the sun and the moon.
You set all the limits on the earth; you created summer and winter.
Lord, remember how the enemy insulted you. Remember how those foolish people made fun of you.
Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals. Never forget your poor people.
Remember the agreement you made with us, because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
Do not let your suffering people be disgraced. Let the poor and helpless praise you.
God, arise and defend yourself. Remember the insults that come from those foolish people all day long.
Don't forget what your enemies said; don't forget their roar as they rise against you always.
Some years ago, I used to visit the Taizé community in France, an ecumenical community of Brothers who invite young people from all over the world to share their life of prayer with them. On one occasion, news came through of a terrible disaster. One of the young people asked a Brother, 'how can the worship continue to be so beautiful, when there is such disaster?' The Brother replied that God is always worthy of praise.
In these verses we see praise in the context of what was an awful situation. This Psalm was written at a time when the Temple had been ransacked, leaving the faithful Israelites feeling that even God had abandoned them. What is more, is that the writer put these words down not knowing when this distress would end. There was no benefit of hindsight, as we now have about those events. This feeling of open endedness is consistently the reality of life. We know not how we will feel tomorrow or what will happen. We only know of now, this present moment. But tomorrow we will know that God is still worthy of our praise and tomorrow I will . . . . . . . . . . . .
O God, I know not when the ending will begin or the beginning will end but in the beginning the middle and the end I offer you my praise. Amen.
Written by Denis Tully
Word on the Web
Psalm 74 v 12-23
God, you have been our king for a long time. You bring salvation to the earth.
You split open the sea by your power and broke the heads of the sea monster.
You smashed the heads of the monster Leviathan and gave it to the desert creatures as food.
You opened up the springs and streams and made the flowing rivers run dry.
Both the day and the night are yours; you made the sun and the moon.
You set all the limits on the earth; you created summer and winter.
Lord, remember how the enemy insulted you. Remember how those foolish people made fun of you.
Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals. Never forget your poor people.
Remember the agreement you made with us, because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
Do not let your suffering people be disgraced. Let the poor and helpless praise you.
God, arise and defend yourself. Remember the insults that come from those foolish people all day long.
Don't forget what your enemies said; don't forget their roar as they rise against you always.
Some years ago, I used to visit the Taizé community in France, an ecumenical community of Brothers who invite young people from all over the world to share their life of prayer with them. On one occasion, news came through of a terrible disaster. One of the young people asked a Brother, 'how can the worship continue to be so beautiful, when there is such disaster?' The Brother replied that God is always worthy of praise.
In these verses we see praise in the context of what was an awful situation. This Psalm was written at a time when the Temple had been ransacked, leaving the faithful Israelites feeling that even God had abandoned them. What is more, is that the writer put these words down not knowing when this distress would end. There was no benefit of hindsight, as we now have about those events. This feeling of open endedness is consistently the reality of life. We know not how we will feel tomorrow or what will happen. We only know of now, this present moment. But tomorrow we will know that God is still worthy of our praise and tomorrow I will . . . . . . . . . . . .
O God, I know not when the ending will begin or the beginning will end but in the beginning the middle and the end I offer you my praise. Amen.
Written by Denis Tully
