Читать книгу The Psalms - Herbert O'Driscoll - Страница 14
ОглавлениеAwake, O my God, decree justice …
O Lord, judge the nations.
among the many gifts of parenthood—and also grandparent-hood—is to witness, and to receive the utter trust of, a small child. We know sadly that the level of trust declines as time goes by, never entirely disappearing but lessening as life inculcates some wariness in all of us.
We need this image of early years to comprehend the level of unwavering trust in God expressed by the psalmist. It is hardly possible to read the opening line, “O Lord my God, I take refuge in you,” without feeling a trust that is absolutely sure of itself and holds nothing back. If most of us are honest, we will admit to a twinge of envy.
But trouble is at hand. The psalmist is not specific. Whatever has happened, certain relationships have gone wrong. There are those who wish recompense of some sort, and they are prepared to be unpleasant in the pursuit of it. Rightly or wrongly the psalmist believes he is innocent: “O Lord my God, if I have done these things … then let my enemy pursue and overtake me.”
But if he is indeed innocent, then he requires not only protection. He insists on recompense. “Rise up against the fury of my enemies,” he demands of God. “Awake … decree justice … Give judgement for me … establish the righteous.”
We listen in something like awe to this self-assurance. But it goes even further. Having demanded that God be his protector, the psalmist now wants God to be his champion. “God will whet his sword; he will bend his bow and make it ready … he makes his arrows shafts of fire.”
The psalmist believes that he can expect justice because he is convinced that it is the nature of God to be just and to do justice. “God is a righteous judge; God sits in judgement every day.” Consequently, the psalmist believes that he has a right to expect justice in his own experience. He goes further and expects such justice to be the measure of God’s dealings with whole societies. “O my God, decree justice … Be seated on your lofty throne … O Lord, judge the nations.”
We need to note where, for the psalmist, this sense of self-justification comes from, because it bears a gift for us. We have come far, in our day, from such a deep faith in God, such a great trust in the constancy that gives foundation to human experience and in human affairs. Once again we are in debt to the psalmist.
Compare the qualities of justice that the world accepts, and the qualities of justice that Jesus lived and taught. Which qualities of justice obtain in your society? Ask God to inspire your prayers and guide your actions to bring the justice of Jesus into the world.
