A New Year?

 

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:10-12 ESV).

 

It is always interesting to explore the world of art. While browsing some topics recently I found the work of Samuel Nygard (pictured here). He is an artist, published poet, spoken word performer and father, whose greatest passion is to create. A former graffiti artist, he combines elements of urban/hip-hop culture, with the Nouveau philosophy to make art a part of everyday life. With a family of war veterans, activists and artists as his backbone, he contends that he uses word and image as his weapon, as well as a bandage. That would be my hope for today’s devotional. I would that it be a bandage, a salve, a healing balm in our nation so divided and torn by political hate speech.

 

Our reading today is taken from a wonderful psalm. It turns our attention to the global sweep of nations and governments. It pushes us into politics. This often makes me hesitate. I recoil at the thought of combining religion and politics. And, to quote Scripture… isn’t the purpose of the Bible to teach us to worship, praise, and pray? Why taint these worthy spiritual exercises by adding politics? I am the first to admit that mixing politics and religion has brought some nasty results: crusades, inquisitions, witch hunts, genocide, and more. But this prayer book called Psalms tells us that prayer and politics have to mix. If we don’t mix faith and politics, we live our life in separate compartments, eventually becoming hypocrites. A life of integrity requires that we combine politics and faith without letting one corrupt the other. The only safe way to combine them is through prayer.

 

Most of us keep our spirituality private. We pray to boost our inner peace. We ask God to watch over our family. But Psalm 2 uses kingdom language, calling us to pray for nations and rulers. No wonder. The Psalter’s central image is that God is King! The psalms urge us to get this straight: the center of gravity for all people, for all hope and justice, is God the King. Psalm prayers are just as concerned with rough and tumble politics as with our inner spiritual development. God’s eye is on the sparrow and on politicians’ smoke–filled rooms. My prayer for this New Year is that we will see the end of the back-room deals and personal advancement of “politics as usual” in favor of a genuine concern and action to heal our nation and advance our help for those less fortunate. Will you join me in that prayer for our leaders? Let’s make this truly a “new” year!