Psalm 144

Reading for September 22, 2012          Psalm 144

“You can believe what you want to, but what is, is.” This was the favorite saying of my old friend, Fred. I thought about his rustic wisdom this morning as I read Psalm 144. Sitting on my desk is an olive wood carving of the Good Shepherd. That vision of God’s Kingdom is the one I prefer. My favorite psalm is the 23^rd. My favorite NT text is Romans 8:1-2. I love to plumb the depths of Paul’s assertion in Romans 8:35-39 that there is no power that can separate me from the love of Christ.  However, as much as I prefer the surety and gentleness of God’s love, there is also another reality at work in our world. As much as I may want to deny that reality, what is, is. The Bible lifts that other reality front and center, so that the wonder of God’s grace may be measured in the face of a reality that is so hostile to God’s love. Even Psalm 23 recognizes there is a valley of death, and that it is God’s presence, protection and comfort in the face of my enemies that delivers me from the fear of evil. The power of Romans 8:1-2 is that I have been delivered from the forces of evil that held me in slavery to sin and death. Paul’s great soliloquy concluding Romans 8 draws its eloquence from the litany of forces and dangers that have been defeated by the love of Christ.

My spirit is troubled by all of the violence and wars that is the subject of so many of the psalms. As much as I want the world reflected in the psalms to be a bygone era, what is, is. Our world is just as violent. In Paul’s thirteen epistles, he uses the language of wars, battles, fighting and conflict more than fifty times. Paul’s focus is the battle between good and evil, the fight “against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Psalm 144 is a companion to Psalm 18, which the writers of the New Testament believed was fulfilled when God’s Kingdom was inaugurated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I noted in my meditation on Psalm 18 that we long for the day when the rule of the evil one, who has devastated God’s creation, will be put to an end, and God’s love, mercy and justice will flow like rivers of living water. Both Psalm 18 and 144 give us a glimpse of what it will be like to live in God’s Kingdom, when evil has been vanquished and the people of God are fully vindicated. As we look forward to that glorious, day we affirm our hope and faith,

“May there be no enemy breaking through our walls,
    no going into captivity,
    no cries of alarm in our town squares.
Yes, joyful are those who live like this!
    Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.”

Psalm 144:14-15

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at 

 Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Reading for September 23, 2012          Psalm 145