Psalm 21

 

Psalm 21 is a prayer for the leaders of the world.  It is a prayer that those who govern us and to whom we give/grant power act with justice, kindness, humility, gentleness, and compassion.  Of course, that doesn’t always happen.  And it didn’t happen in the Hebrew Scriptures either.  If you read 1 and 2 Kings (or you can just take my word for it), time and time and time again a king comes to power over God’s people and the king isn’t just or kind or humble.  In fact, in the book of Judges, the people keep asking for a king and God says, “Um, I don’t think that is such a good idea.”  God gives judges, who are leaders like Moses, Miriam, and Aaron, to help the people navigate the troubles of the world, relationships, and when two people are arguing over where the property line is at so they can build a fence (see sermon from July 23rd).  From the beginning humans have organized ourselves to appoint leaders and then been disappointed when the leaders act out of self-interest rather than self-lessness.  Right now, in the news this is a story as old as time and listening to a song as old as rhyme.  When people cling to power, yup that is in the book of Kings.  When leaders build large homes to impress others, yup that is in the book of Kings.  When leaders are more like Scrooge and no matter how many ghosts visit them, they keep doubling down and claiming to be the victim.  Yup, all there from the earliest stories in Scripture.  As Katie Bower says, “There is no cure for being human.”  There is something in our condition that clings to power, prestige, and privilege.  So, when Psalm 21 prays for the leaders to do justice, show loving kindness and be humble (or human size rather than thinking they are gods), it is a prayer we pray today.  I encourage you to pray for our leaders today, all of them.  I pray for the light of God’s love to transform their hearts and set a new song in their hearts.  While I am not saying this will magically happen, I know that grumbling and mumbling isn’t exactly changing the system either.  And perhaps the prayer is for us, you and me, in our world to step up and step forward to embrace and embody a different way of living and caring and leading others around us.  May you and I find our way through the wilderness today. Amen.