Marketplace Monastics

¹ Why are the nations so angry?
    Why do they waste their time with futile plans?

We know, Lord God, that unless we are “in Christ,” we are “the nations,” the sands that you measure on scales as dust.  In Him, we belong to another realm, with a different hope. Even so, if we aren’t careful, we too become enraged, boiling over, fit to be tied when others won’t take heed. Oh help us, Father, to gain an eternal perspective!  Help those we love not to waste their time or their strength with futile plans, mental gyrations that lead nowhere!   Help us to do the one thing that can make a difference; we will care deeply when those we love do and perpetrate and defend the things we abhor.  We do care, Father!

² The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
    the rulers plot together
against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.

Battles and skirmishes everywhere, in politics, at the lunch counter in diners.  Kings and cashiers, preparing for battle against one another, and they don’t know, they do not see that they are shaking their fists at You.  There is a battle for righteousness and truth, and we fight for those who think a pie in the face … or a rocket launch … is effective warfare when in truth, the Son of Man is risen with healing in His wings.

³ “Let us break their chains,” they cry,
    “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

Your anointed one does bind us … to His heart.  You have bound us with cords of love, and that’s the only “slavery” we want for anyone.  We know what it is to be slaves to truth, where we cannot lie for convenience or power, where we must tell ourselves the truth at any cost, and such slavery we want for all we know.

⁴ But the one who rules in heaven laughs.
    The Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ Then in anger he rebukes them,
    terrifying them with his fierce fury.

We know this about You, You have a warrior name, but You are a Man of Peace, Lord Jesus.  The Prince of Peace.  “My peace I leave with You …” … almost Your last words to us.  When the battle is enjoined, You prevail, but against whom do You scoff?  Soldiers? Warriors?  Generals?  First, most assuredly, You scoff at those who lie to us, telling us and others that frenzy and panic and fury will win the day.  You will rebuke evil, and You do so through our prayers and peace.

There is a fierce fury, a terrifying, but forgive us when we fail to identify our real enemies, those who plot evil for the souls of men.  You confound those who set souls and nations ablaze through fear and hubris.  Indeed, satan will be crushed beneath our feet (Romans 16:20) if we will walk in the truth, praying for those we love.

Wikipedia, Public Domain

The photograph shows children preparing for evacuation from Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, some giving the Republican salute. It is donated to Wikipedia Commons by the estate of Olga Brocca Smith, and is dedicated to all innocent victims of war.