I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 52-59.
I have really been struggling with what to write about these psalms. I wanted to connect Psalm 52’s “great warrior” boasting about his crimes to things we see going on in the world around us, because I do indeed see many situations where people are boasting about wrongs they have committed. And I wanted to talk about Psalm 53 telling us that only the fool says in his heart that there is no God, because I see how much that happens in the world around us. But I could not get those to connect with each other, let alone with the rest of the psalms in today’s reading. So, I read through the psalms again and again, trying to find something to say which tied that all together. Each time I read through I got nothing that worked.
But each time I read through I hit Psalm 54 verse 2 and it stopped me.
“Listen to my prayer, O God.”
I would resume reading, only to be stopped by the same phrase in verse 1 of Psalm 55. Nevertheless, I could not see what the point was until I noticed a different, but similar phrase in Psalm 56 and Psalm 57.
“O God, have mercy on me.”
“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy.”
These two phrases are A prayer. In the context of what is going on in the world, they are the prayer I want God to listen to above all else. The rulers of this world have forgotten the meaning of the word “justice”. They have lost all sense of the idea that justice is not an arbitrary concept. And so, we need to pray to God for His mercy, or we too will get caught up in the idea that justice is getting what we want, rather than something we should want to get. Justice is not relative and it is not just for some people. But it is only through God’s intervention that we will understand and receive justice. It is only by God’s intervention in response to our prayers that we will truly desire justice, not just for ourselves, but for everyone. If we do not seek justice for everyone, we will not receive justice either.