no city or country here

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, with Sarah’s involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-16; 12:18-24; 13:12-16; NRSVue

I never ceased to be amazed at the Christian devotion present for national causes. If we would humbly be just as much concerned about international causes, it would be better. But it seems like we’re not as well versed in what Scripture says, in good theology as we might think. I remember as a nine-year-old boy, mistakenly walking between two people conversing who were obviously foreigners, and being so embarrassed, wanting to return and apologize, but somehow didn’t. We have better instincts at times than the nationalistic, sectarian air we often breathe and imbibe.

The above passages from the book of Hebrews make it clear that our primary citizenship is not here, but in the new “heavenly Jerusalem.” Not in the present Jerusalem, Washington D.C., or any other city here on earth. It’s not like we’re to neglect to do good, to share what we have for the benefit of others. It’s not like we’re not to pray and hope for the good of the nation in which we live. It’s not like we’re to retreat and not advocate for a just peace, for justice in an all too often unjust, greedy world in which power all too often resides at the end of the barrel of a gun, in military might.

Our allegiance as followers of Christ is to one Lord, with one hope in a world which when it’s all said and done has another goal altogether. It might be dressed up in religious, even Christian terms. But the means for the supposedly good end are always a betrayal as to just what that end is. If you use violence and force of whatever kind to achieve the goal, then everyone can be assured that the goal is not of Christ, even if it is Christian in an historical (not biblical) sense.

This world is wonderful, and we can find good most anywhere, although there are political, national and organizational entities which are not at all good in themselves. Even when we think there’s much good in whatever entity we’re considering, we must remember that we’re looking for something better, much better. We challenge all the present entities not to mention even ourselves, our churches, remembering that we are not imagining that we’re the new Jerusalem ourselves, that we’ve arrived. We want to be challenged and to challenge others in the light of God’s good will. Showing that in our humble penitence, lives lived, good works, as well as advocacy for a better world now. But in faith we do so as those who don’t imagine that this old world could ever be the end all.

waiting in silence

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
according to their work.

Psalm 62; NRSVue

We live in a noisy, restless (see CEB) world. Humans act as if everything depends on them, as if they’re in the place of God. Lip service might be given to God, but at best only to help them achieve their lofty goal. When it comes right down to it, they function as their own god, with maybe some help from God on the side, when and if they need it.

Those of us who have faith would not imagine ourselves to be atheists. But what if when all is said and done, we largely function as practical atheists? We act as if all depends on us. This takes place on an individual level in our individualistic western mindset, and also on other levels. If we just have it together and do the right thing, if we just get the right people on city council, if we vote for the right candidates on the local, state and national levels, if we elect the right president. And if we don’t? Then all “goes to hell in a handbasket.”

Scripture, certainly the psalms takes seriously what we do. As the psalm ends, “For you repay to all according to their work.” But where does our confidence lie? In the US, we have money with the words, “In God we trust.” But actions can belie that, words blanketed out with the panicked thoughts that unless we get it right, unless we do it, unless we get the right people elected, unless we have the right ones on court, etc., then we’ll be lost. Nothing about God in that, even if they say it’s all about God. Force by laws or even physical force is not out of the equation. How much of God is really in this?

But what about the rest of us who despise such religious undertaking? Are we any better? After all, we might well imagine that we have to battle back, that we have to do all we can, get the right people elected, get the right laws in place, hopefully better laws and policies. And yet, for what good might be in such thoughts, we act as if it all depends on us and how the election turns out. For all practical purposes God is either out of the picture, or there just to help us succeed.

But what if for starters at the beginning we drop all of that? What if we commit to wait on God in silence ourselves and with others? What if we’re committed to not only letting God get a word in edgewise now and then, but have the floor at all times, the first and the last word, and everything in between?

For the psalmist here, as well as in many other psalms, it’s not like life isn’t challenging and even threatening at times. Even so, the call is to wait in silence, to wait, to do so in silence, our hope only in God. To pour out our hearts to God. Not wavering from the commitment to act in nothing more than God’s will and all God provides.

faith, in the real world

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.

When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the LORD.

There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!”
You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.

Psalm 4; NRSVue

The psalmist was hardly doing handstands. They were faced with all kinds of troubles. It’s basically all here. Life.

But in the face of that, there’s also faith. A faith which ultimately gives the confidence to carry on and even be glad. A faith that is ongoing, always needed in this life.

burial: a part of our faith

I am one who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath;
he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.

He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.

He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;
though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
he has blocked my ways with hewn stones;
he has made my paths crooked.

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!
My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24; NRSVue

Phil Yoder recently gave the most thought-provoking message I’ve ever heard on the issue of what it means to give up on one’s hopes and dreams maybe even in the midst of living them out, all of that “buried” so that by and by something better can emerge. That’s my own description of it, but if you do nothing more, stop and listen to this.

During Holy Week, Saturday is the day when Jesus is buried, and all the hopes and dreams of his followers buried with him. All hope was gone, or at least in their experience it certainly seemed so. Jesus had told them on at least three occasions that he would suffer, be killed, and on the third day rise again. But they simply didn’t understand what he was saying. It made no sense to them at all in their understanding of Scripture and the scheme of things.

A lot of Christians seem to look at Holy Week as Easter week, just skipping over everything prior to get to Jesus’s resurrection. Others will include the other days, especially Good Friday and maybe Maundy Thursday as well, but Holy Saturday is just a footnote. But carefully considering everything in that story as well as in the rest of Scripture like in the passage above from Lamentations, we do much better to stop on this Holy Saturday and dwell on and in this day.

Something mighty and most wonderful was going to happen, but it was hidden from the disciples. We do well to stay here. In the Christian faith death is always followed by burial and only then comes resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 6:4). And as noted above, a necessary metaphorical burial of sorts is a part of this life. All the hopes and dreams in us, every one of them important, but necessarily submerged into the darkness of death, with the promise that the full good and life of such will emerge and break forth.

the wish for Neverland

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and the accuser also came among them. The LORD said to the accuser, “Where have you come from?” The accuser answered the LORD, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.” The LORD said to the accuser, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” Then the accuser answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” The LORD said to the accuser, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So the accuser went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job 1:6-12; NRSVue

Neverland is that imaginary place in fiction where all one’s best imagination and dreams for goodness come true. It might be a nice fantasy, but though such ideals have been pursued on earth, it doesn’t take long to begin to understand its limitations and inevitable unforeseen problems which take place. And besides, it’s limited by what humans can see, perceive and imagine.

The story of Job is what I take to be a striking wisdom story which I personally doubt ever happened. Maybe there was an historical Job whose story falls somewhat along these lines, perhaps this being an exaggerated telling of it to make some points. Whether it’s true or not might be beside the point. But for God to let some character, “the accuser” do what it did against Job’s family and Job just seems more than a stretch even to make a point. That said, what kind of wisdom might we learn from the Job story, even from this part of it?

One thing is obvious just by living on earth and observing life: inexplicable life-changing things happen and to the best of people just as Job was in this story. Those living in the lap of luxury at the expense of others not only have it made, but also are safe and secure as far as humanly possible, and what trouble they do get into oftentimes is something they can easily get out of through their connections and wealth. The Bible talks about that in the psalms and in Ecclesiastes. In the Job story no such escape exists. He can’t get his children back, nor his health either. His wealth is gone. The accuser did its dirt right up to the boundary of what God permitted.

I have to admit that to me Job is not at all a satisfying story when you consider its beginning and end. At the same time, I do believe there’s some considerable wisdom to be gained from it just by steeping oneself in that book from time to time. For one thing, God seems to honor and even declare right Job’s faith demonstrated throughout the book, even if in doing so, Job speaks in ignorance. To question religious orthodoxy, the “Christian” answers like Romans 8:28 softly spoken to a mother after her two-year-old gets run over by a car, to question theology constructed that often seems for the privileged who live in relative ease and safety not to mention luxury compared to much of the rest of the world, all of that seems to be approved in God’s assessment of Job at the end of the story. Whatever that approval precisely meant, there’s no doubt that Job had been through the mill and then some. And though Job seemed to be at peace in that moment though circumstances had not changed, all again seemed to be good, even better than before.

All of that to get to this: We need to come to accept life as it is with all of the unanswered questions and conundrums it brings. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask the questions. It seems like there’s a certain give and take which God honors. Unlike Job’s friends who from their various traditions or experience of faith who had right and certain answers. And interestingly in the end, God did not really answer Job’s questions. And depending on how you interpret the Hebrew, Job was either not impressed with God’s answers from creation or was in awe and we might say content to remain in a space in which Job simply did not know. Certainly, while the story has a “happy ever after” ending, yet if real, Job could not have forgotten the first seven children who had died due to God’s wager with the accuser. It is what it is. Strange while not necessarily true, but somehow present to teach us wisdom in the tension in which we now live.

accept the topsy-turviness of life as one who is accepted

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Job said:

“Let the day perish in which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A male is conceived.’
Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it
or light shine on it.
Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds settle upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
That night—let thick darkness seize it!
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
Yes, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry be heard in it.
Let those curse it who curse the Sea,
those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.
Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but have none;
may it not see the eyelids of the morning—
because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb
and hide trouble from my eyes.

Job 3:1-10; NRSVue

In this passage after the bottom completely falls out of Job’s life, he not only curses the day of his birth, but seems to wish the undoing of creation (scholarly essay; compare with Genesis 1:1-2:4a). I doubt that many of us have been in the extremity in which Job found himself in. But the story told might help us when we’re experiencing inevitable regret, oftentimes too hard on ourselves, but not excluding the sins and mistakes we’ve made.

Life is uneven, and there is so much in the mix, little we can actually control, outcomes- certainly not. We do well to rather than curse the darkness or even long for darkness, look for the light. But admittedly when one is in the dark hole and vortex of the storm, it’s hard not only to see straight or at all, but even harder to get out of it. One is sucked into something of a nightmare. This certainly seemed to be the case with Job. He did not yet have the perspective which he seemed to have gathered by the time the book is done.

Such a realization can help us when we feel attacked or are shuddering or are simply faced with life as it really is, with all of its dangers and unsettling questions. We do or at least I tend to put too much of a burden on myself, much harder on myself than I believe God is. And yet the story of Job as told certainly does not lend itself to a cozy Bible bedtime story. But the good in that is it helps us see something of an answer of faith, indeed, even in our questions, but arriving to something of a settled state, not with all our questions or maybe any of them answered, but something of a settledness in an unsettling world. And in the vision and good news of God in Jesus, a desire and passion for a good, just, hopeful settledness for all.

is patriarchalism (men having authority over women) biblical? is it right?

There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28; NRSVue

It’s been brought to my attention, the fallout that seems (and to me, undoubtedly so) to have taken place through what was known in my younger years as the Institute of Basic Youth Conflicts, the Bill Gothard seminar. I remember in what was probably the late 1970’s driving to Chicago, to what to me was a huge and I think jam packed auditorium sitting from a distance, watching this short man teach, yes Bill Gothard live, not just on screen. No doubt very gifted. And this was the rage in many circles, not just Evangelical, but also mainstream Protestant and I think even Catholics, just about anyone and everyone from different traditions were attending and to some extent praising such. I was a relatively young Christian at the time and was influenced by my pastor who was very enthusiastic about the material. Connected to the fallout today is something about the Duggars, which I’ve been exposed to in the past, but never thought was either right or good, at least I wasn’t impressed. I’ve never got into reality TV programs myself, but I was at best skeptical of such and disinterested myself. As you can tell, I no longer am interested in any of that teaching for application.

It amounts to a heavy handed, nearly sledgehammer patriarchal approach and in the opinion of many, me included, this kind of thinking has contributed to a terrible fallout from male leaders of churches and denominations who have done nothing less than abuse women as a result (or whatever their sexual preference was). This has happened again and again, and the worst part about the immediate problem is that it often has been covered up or excused and/or they make the victim jump through all kinds of hoops to the point in which it seems like the victim is at fault for bringing it up, or has to do all she can to make sure the (usually young) man’s ministry is not damaged. And often in churches in which older men are in authority and often the rule, there has been little or no accountability. It is hard for me to write about this without contempt.

Very much connected to this is the (so-called) purity culture in which young women are pretty much given 100% of the responsibility to keep not only themselves pure, but all the young men around them as well. And wives are to always look hot and ready to jump in bed at a moment’s notice. Otherwise, the females haven’t been faithful. Men evidently have next to no responsibility themselves, nor is the woman to be taken into consideration. It is hard for me to write about this without the utmost contempt.

The fallout from this has not only been considerable, but catastrophic. In my own opinion there’s no truth at all from any of this. Yes, lust and immorality is something all followers of Christ are to guard themselves against and if necessary repent of (see Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, etc.). But no, it’s not the unpardonable sin or a sin beyond other sins. It most definitely won’t be overcome by religiously adhering to certain teaching or teachers which are out there.

Paul sometimes seems to be talking out of two sides of his mouth on a number of things, or so it seems to me, anyhow. I’m not getting into the question of contradicting himself. A good case can be made that Paul was helping churches and believers live faithfully in the culture in which they found themselves. That if one was a slave, they should be a good slave, etc. Even within that, the teaching was revolutionary for the time, that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church, a new thought for that time, at least clearly so in Roman culture. And remember how women were routinely denigrated and put down in Jewish tradition. Jesus brings an entirely new idea and approach to all of that, even while still living with the cultural framework of his time.

I consider the patriarchal view, male having authority over female as something not grounded in creation or in the story in Genesis 3. And in my view, I am not caring whether it contradicts or seems to contradict some Scripture. In my view, Paul, in the Galatian passage quoted above, gets it right. Yes, that has to do with baptism and salvation, but out of that comes God’s ideal: one new humanity with no divisions or hierarchies. In some traditional marriages, the couple might agree for the man to make the major decisions, in others, the female and probably a combination of both in most marriages. It turns out I think that in most marriages of those committed even to conservative, fundamentalist churches, that something like this occurs anyhow. Jokes might come with that, but the practical matter on the ground comports to reality.

I’m no expert or scholar but give my own view and even convictions on this. Yes, run as hard as you can from any approach like what has come (and I guess continues to come) from Bill Gothard and the like. Stay in Scripture, in prayer, in the community of faith. Always be suspicious of any group or teacher or teaching which claims to have the final answer on any given subject, especially the many difficult ones. They most certainly don’t. A simple faith, hope and love rooted in Christ is what we’re to fall back on with all our many questions.

how one’s condition affects one’s reading and understanding of Scripture

Let the brother or sister of humble means boast in having a high position and the rich in having been humbled, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

James 1:9-11; NRSVue

Brothers and sisters who are poor should find satisfaction in their high status. Those who are wealthy should find satisfaction in their low status, because they will die off like wildflowers. The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass so that its flowers fall and its beauty is lost. Just like that, in the midst of their daily lives, the wealthy will waste away.

James 1:9-11; CEB

I’m wondering what the difference was in the reading and understanding of Scripture and in theology, pre and post-Constantinian. Also, the difference between slaves and masters in the US south. For that matter, the difference everywhere between the haves and the have-nots, those in the lap of luxury or with no real economic concerns and those who are struggling to survive or perhaps out in the streets.

It seems to me that the Bible is written largely to peoples who are struggling: in exile, poor, marginalized, definitely not among the world’s elite or celebrated. Naturally when those read it who are well off on earth, they’ll think of heaven, and that’s it, maybe also thinking they’re among the blessed of God because of their status on earth. Of course, the Bible talks of heaven. Those who are not well off on earth will think about heaven, yes, but they’ll also think about earth in terms of justice, God’s care. They will see themes like the exodus and redemption not just in terms of the life to come, but of this life as well. It’s interesting that a good portion of the Bible, a large part of the Old Testament and carried on into the New Testament is written from the perspective of exile.

There are theologies which have either downplayed or all but ignored life in the present on earth. Everything is about heaven, a heavenly existence. Early dispensationalism is one example in which the church was considered heavenly but not earthly in any way that mattered. That kind of thinking would tell those in apartheid, or peoples like the Palestinians or any other oppressed people that God’s good news means nothing at all with reference to their present plight. Not directly, but by implication, since it would say next to nothing about it, except to give gifts so that such can hear the gospel, believe and go to heaven someday.

The point of this post is something of what James is getting at. Those who are struggling to make ends meet in this world will naturally read the Bible from that perspective, within that experience. And that’s largely the viewpoint of its writing. Jesus blesses the poor and warns the rich. Yes, there’s great comfort in the promise of a better, just, flourishing life to come. But if the Bible has nothing to say about the here and now, then it needs to be seen as a different book than what it actually is. Something perhaps more akin to a spirituality or mentality which brushes off reality and the material world for some kind of spirituality which actually is foreign to Scripture. Spirituality is concerned with materiality in Scripture.

A difference is that the poor, oppressed, marginalized, despised will see things in Scripture that those in power and privilege will not. Those on top need to learn to see the perspective of those on the bottom. And somehow learn to live more from that standpoint.

God wants all at Christ’s table: the poor along with the rich, the haves and the have-nots, the supposed power brokers and those who are denied such. But at that table an equity will be emerging, that of the life to come breaking into the present life.

Advent: being watchful

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Luke 12:35-40; NRSVue

the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event

Data from Oxford Languages

Advent is in part the awaiting of the celebration of Jesus’s first coming, but also carries with it the awaiting of his return, commonly known as the Second Coming. There is so much to look forward to in all of that as we learn especially from the prophets as well as the latter part of Revelation. The just and good judgment to come and final, complete salvation. All of that is good, and we do well to think through what that means both in the future and for our witness now, since the dawn of the new Day has already broken into the darkness.

What can get all but lost in all of this is just who we’re waiting for. It is not just for blessing and release from what really amounts to a cursed existence for so many on earth due largely to injustice. This is all meant to be personal. We’re not only waiting for something great, but for someone. In the words of Jesus: for our master and friend.

There are many things we have to deal with. If we question that, all we have to do is open our Bibles, begin to read and keep reading. Yes, it’s personal, about our relationship, fellowship, communion together and with God. But there are many details in the mix. And all of that is important.

But just so we don’t lose sight of the greatest point of all. We are to anticipate and wait for a person. Jesus himself, God in him. Having already come as a newborn baby. And to return as the triumphant Lamb. We await Jesus himself. What better way to do that, than to seek to cultivate the closeness with him now? Especially together, since he after all is present in us as his body on earth.

when you don’t want to get out bed in the morning

Listen to my words, O LORD;
attend to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.
The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house;
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.
Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouths;
their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open graves;
they flatter with their tongues.
Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions, cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover them with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5; NRSVue

There are mornings when it’s hard to get out of bed. That’s not saying much for some of us, but for others like myself, that’s saying something. But when there are so many cares and concerns, when life seems overwhelming, when life seems futile, yes- it can be easy to repeatedly put on snooze and at last shut the alarm off.

Psalm 5 encourages us to cry out to God. Tell God what we’re struggling with, what our fears are, and some imaginative maybe even outrageous expression of hope to God expressed in a request or aspiration.

God takes life seriously, all of it. But in this veil of tears, so much of it makes no sense. Or it can make all too much sense. We can be caught in a continual tension with little or no resolution. The God who is love at the core of God’s being is also sovereign and on the move, unless we don’t take all of Scripture seriously. God not only doesn’t condone evil; God won’t tolerate it. But this requires on our part, faith in God and in God’s justice that of course comes from God’s out and out love.

At the same time, yes- we can hold two seemingly contradictory thoughts in mind, we need to remember that God in Christ has shown God’s self to be completely committed to the restoration and reconciliation of all things, of all. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). But in Christ we forgive our enemies, even in their lowest acts, while we long for God’s justice and final salvation.

When I look at Psalm 5 again, I think that’s really all we need as we finally get up and get out of bed to have to face another day.