Slices
Prepare
Draw strength from Jesus’ promise: ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33).
Bible passage
A song of ascents.
1 I call on the Lord in my distress,
and he answers me.
2 Save me, Lord,
from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
3 What will he do to you,
and what more besides,
you deceitful tongue?
4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom bush.
5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.
Explore
In lamenting that he must ‘dwell in Meshek’ and ‘live among’ the people of ‘Kedar’ (v 5) – both far from the Promised Land – the psalmist is not giving us a precise location pin! Rather, he is expressing the troublesome tensions of being compelled to live away from his true home, among people who do not share his worldview: although he is committed to ‘peace’, they ‘hate peace’ and supported ‘war’ (vs 6,7).
Christians are ‘still in the world’ though ‘not of the world’ (John 17:11,14), and ‘God’s election to membership in his family set[s] them in a paradoxical situation – non-members in a world in which they must continue to live.’* The resulting tension not only produces a sense of alienation, it often provokes hostility – like the slander the psalmist faced (vs 1,2). Jesus declared, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Matthew 5:9). But peacemakers do not always feel very ’blessed’; sometimes, they feel more like crying, ‘Woe to me’ (v 5)! Nevertheless, despite his present ‘distress’ (vs 1,2), the psalmist remains confident of God’s ultimate deliverance (vs 3,4) and committed to ‘speak’ out ‘for peace’ (v 7).
*Ralph P Martin and Peter H Davids (eds), Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, IVP, 2000
Respond
Tomorrow, we will read about Noah, whose righteousness set him apart from the people of his time (Genesis 6:9). Amid trials and tensions, are you consciously and conscientiously striving to stand for righteousness and speak out for peace?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 14,15; Psalms 3,4
Pray for Scripture Union
Join SU South Africa in praising God for funding to appoint a deaf staff member who will focus on translating their resources into South African Sign Language. Please pray for this process and for open doors at the schools for deaf children.
