1 I trust in the Lord for protection.
So why do you say to me,
“Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!
2 The wicked are stringing their bows
and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings.
They shoot from the shadows
at those whose hearts are right.
3 The foundations of law and order have collapsed.
What can the righteous do?”
4 But the Lord is in his holy Temple;
the Lord still rules from heaven.
He watches everyone closely,
examining every person on earth.
5 The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.
He hates those who love violence.
6 He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked,
punishing them with scorching winds.
7 For the righteous Lord loves justice.
The virtuous will see his face.
(Psalm 11)
Lord God in Heaven:
What can we do when foundations are destroyed?
What can we hold when everything is shaken?
Where can we go when our whole world is collapsing?
How do I know whether You would have me go or stay?
What can Your people do?
These are the thoughts that raged
within a younger David, from his days
on the run from Saul, Israel's anointed King,
who every day pursued the Beloved youth
with murderous intent and psychopathic remorse.
One time in particular did David's faith take flight,
became the darkest night of his young soul,
when holed up with his homeland's enemies,
he hears the news that those who aided his escape
had all been slaughtered at Saul's command. (I Sam. 21-22)
Eighty five priests of Yahweh,
butchered by the wicked Doeg,
bloodied body parts burned in a pit,
and the entire village of Nob,
women, children, and all the animals,
are made the mad King's holocaust.
The holy bread of presence from the altar
High Priest Ahimelech gives the fugitive;
there too behind the ephod, Goliath's sword;
but this bronze blade was not Your weapon,
sling and stones and faith were Your tools instead.
But David's on the run and famished,
lies to the High Priest to gain these gifts,
no longer trusting slings and stones,
takes the sword behind the altar,
flees to the mountains just like a bird.
faced with government persecution,
when foundations are are being undermined,
destroyed by faithless tyrants.
Should the righteous flee or die?
What can we do when foundations are destroyed?
What can we hold when everything is shaken?
Where can we go when our whole world is collapsing?
How do I know whether You would have me go or stay?
What can Your people do?
Lord, six million Jews met their death
when Nazis shook the world's foundations;
thirteen million murdered by Joseph Stalin,
and millions more make a silent scream
aborted from their mother's womb.
And in our age, we see the steady progress --
string to bow, arrow to string --
values, ethics, morality questioned,
by some new Messiah who would be King
and tyrant as soon as masses sleep.
What can we, Your people, do?
Collaborate or infiltrate? Flee or stay?
David's answer: Believers pray!
Then ready slings and stones of faith,
and fearing not the sword, obey!
Help us, Lord, should we face such times
as try men's souls and test our faith,
that we behold the more solid hope
of Heaven's Christ than Goliath's sword.
You are the ever-living Lord.
Help us pray for courage when worlds collide,
Keep us faithful to Your Son Who died,
and lives again, the graven forsaken,
that, when all our foundations are shaken,
we stand secure in His unshaken Love. (Hebrews 12:26-28)
Amen.
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