Thoughts for the Day

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise up to help me!
Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
‘I am your salvation.’

Let them be put to shame and dishonour
who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil against me.
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them on....

Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
exulting in his deliverance.
All my bones shall say,
‘O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
from those too strong for them,
the weak and needy from those who despoil them.’...

How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my life from the lions!
Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

In six and a half years of writing these 'Thoughts' I have never looked at Psalm 35! Well a lot of its 28 verses are a diatribe by David against his enemies - he wants God to "Let them be put to shame and dishonour ... and let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on." We don't know exactly what the threat was though he mentions that his life is sought and that his enemies work against him to discredit him. In his desperation David offers to make a bargain with God. If God will rescue him and keep him safe; if God will will rise up and "draw the shield and buckler" against his enemies; then he, David, will in return "rejoice in the Lord" and "will thank him in the great congregation." We may not think when we make desperate requests to God for help that we are on the verge of trying to bargain with God, but as soon as we promise to amend our life we are on the verge of doing so.

We hear a lot about young people unable to find work after leaving school, largely because they are in a 'Catch-22' situation - unable to get work because they have done no work. On one of my first interviews for a job, aged 15, I definitely tried bargaining with God. The job seemed ideal, some clerical work in a small engineering firm a mile or so from where we lived. I had shorthand and typing experience and this seemed a good starting place. After lots of pleas to God, and promises to "amend my behaviour", the interview went well, and I was duly offered the job. Well I lasted three days before deciding the job wasn't for me! They really wanted a book-keeper which definitely wasn't me!

The troubled is when we ask God for help, we have no way of looking at the bigger picture. It's only when we look back that we can see in the pattern of our life that the things we ask God for were often unwise or completely inappropriate. The little phrase "May Your will be done!" needs to be added after our requests, as well as the remembrance that Jesus said "If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it".(John 14.14).

Father-God,
help us to realise that as our Heavenly Father
You know us intimately.
You know our weaknesses and our strengths,
and always want the best for us.
When we make wrong choices
encourage us to try again,
this time following Your Son's words about
loving You and each other.
Amen.