May all kings bow down before him

Psalm 72: 11-14 (The Inclusive Psalms)
All other rulers will pay homage,
and all the nations will serve your anointed.
Your anointed will rescue the poor when they cry out,
and the oppressed when there is no one to help them.
Your chose one
will take pity on the lowly and the poor,
and will save their lives.
Your chosen one
will rescue them all from violence and oppression,
and will treat their blood as precious.*


By all accounts Americans are looking for a savior, someone to rescue us from the darkness we seem to be drowning in. I wonder if our savior comes in the form of a president... or from a hotly contended senator race in the state of Alabama. I wonder how long we will look to other humans for salvation. History has proven time and again that our hope cannot reside on the shoulders of a mere mortal. What or who then will save us from this time of turmoil?

Psalm 72 gives us a glimpse of who - a king, or a sovereign who lifts up the poor (I'm not a fan of the word pity that the Inclusive Psalms use) who saves them from violence and oppression. Can a single human do this? This psalm is one of anointing - a psalm that portrays an ideal king. Two thousand years ago a baby was born who would usher in an upside down realm where suffering and crying will be no more. He wasn't born into riches, but in a what we would of as a cave where animals slept.

A Bethlehem house with cave-like stable underneath.

As we wade through the thickness of the murky waters, my hope is in this baby boy. This baby boy that demonstrated that hope is born through relationships. My hope is that we will join together to help usher in this upside down realm (NOT a Stranger Things Upside Down, think the opposite of that!). It's up to us, and faith in a God that doesn't break promises, and God who will hold our heads above water when we think the waves will drown us out.

The light is alive in all of us - where is it in you?


* The Inclusive Psalms (Brentwood, Maryland: Priests for Equality, 1997), 92.
Stable photo can be found at http://revjcn.org/.