Psalm Meditation 631
Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
, 2012

Psalm 140
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers; protect me from those who are violent,
2 who plan evil things in their minds and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a snake's, and under their lips is the venom of vipers. (Selah)
4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent who have planned my downfall.
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net, along the road they have set snares for me. (Selah)
6 I say to the Lord, "You are my God; give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications."
7 O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer, you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot. (Selah)
9 Those who surround me lift up their heads; let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!
11 Do not let the slanderer be established in the land; let evil speedily hunt down the violent!
12 I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall live in your presence.
(NRSV)

There may be those who are intentionally evil, usually caught up in some group mentality, the rest of us are accidentally evil, pursuing a goal with such single-mindedness that we fail to see the damage it does to others. We want to be delivered from evil and we want that evil destroyed no matter the source. We want to end the evil and in some cases we also want to destroy the evil doer in some form.

The temptation is always to call down the utter destruction of anything and anyone involved in bringing evil to our lives. We want the people, any weapons they used and the land from which they came all destroyed in a single stroke of violent vengeance. In some cases this thought never changes. The more personal the evil, the more likely we are to hold our ground on the desire for total destruction of the person responsible. In other cases we may soften our stance and our hope is only for the end of the evil itself while we wish for the redemption of those who brought the evil on us.

In all times and places God is with us. God is there to comfort us when we are victims, to convict us when we are the source of the evil and to bring us to relationships of wholeness that move us away from the evil in our lives. It is important to stay focused on the relationships with God and with people to keep ourselves from getting caught up in the downward spiral of justifying our evil deeds in any way. When our goal in life is to receive blessings from God we will find a way to get those blessings at any cost to others. When our goal is to form whole relationships we will focus on the people more than the stuff around us.

July 16, 2012