Our Lord, I will sing
of your love forever.
Everyone yet to be born
will hear me praise
your faithfulness.
I will tell them,
“God’s love
can always be trusted,
and his faithfulness lasts
as long as the heavens.”
You said, “David, my servant,
is my chosen one,
and this is the agreement
I made with him:
David, one of your descendants
will always be king….”
In a vision, you once said
to your faithful followers:
“I have helped a mighty hero.
I chose him from my people
and made him famous.
David, my servant, is the one
I chose to be king,
and I will always be there
to help and strengthen him.
No enemy will outsmart David,
and he won’t be defeated
by any hateful people.
I will strike down and crush
his troublesome enemies.
He will always be able
to depend on my love,
and I will make him strong
with my own power.
I will let him rule the lands
across the rivers and seas.
He will say to me,
‘You are my Father
and my God,
as well as the mighty rock
where I am safe.’” (CEV)
I wonder where the world places its confidence. I also sometimes wonder where the church places her confidence. Poverty, injustice, starvation, human rights violations, and war have existed throughout time. We all recognize these and the awful problems they are for so many people. It is, however, quite another thing when it comes to our confidence in addressing them and how they will ever be eradicated.
If we view these great humanitarian issues as a matter of ignorance, we will pursue education as the means of tackling them. If we discern them as political issues, we will seek to elect officials who will take them on, and we will lobby to make things different. If we understand them as moral issues, we will agitate for change and speak prophetically into what we believe to be the sources of the problems. In truth, each of these approaches have merit and are necessary components to a full orbed attention of their multifaceted and complicated nature.
For the pious and devout, the ultimate confidence comes in basic faith and trust of the Divine. God’s faithfulness and steadfast love are the solid foundation from which the believer constructs her hope and confidence.
The psalmist is not one bit bashful in reminding God of divine promises. God swore to King David that his descendants would rule forever. At the time the psalmist crafted these words, it was not looking much like those promises were having any attention from the Lord.
The David spoken of in the psalm is interpreted in the Christian tradition as Jesus. King David of old was certainly no perfect man, and the psalmist presents an idealized version, looking ahead to messianic qualities of a coming Ruler. Those qualities include a concern for the common good of all persons without striving for personal power or being aloof; and an ability to be victorious over foes.
Advent, much like today’s Psalm, calls on people to rely upon and have confidence in divine promises – even when those promises seem far from being realized. It is the trust and hope of the faithful which perseveres in prayer for a coming redemption and a day when wars shall cease, the rights of people are thoroughly met, starvation eradicated, injustice turned to justice, and poverty done away with once for all. In other words, a sinless world free from the machinations of evil.
It is no small thing holding on to our confidence as believers when circumstances all around us are askew and askance. The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews had this to say to a struggling church who had a hard time seeing future promises fulfilled:
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
And,
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. (Hebrews 10:32-39, NIV)
We keep going by remembering God’s faithfulness and steadfast love, and our past joy of committed faith. Then, like psalmist, we allow a song to bubble up and be sung about divine goodness. Never underestimate the power of memory and music to keep us on track toward living each day in faith and confidence.
May you be able to sing of God’s love forever.
May you give voice to God’s faithfulness.
May you express daily affirmations of faith in God.
May you bank on the promises of God.
May your faith be strengthened for the rigors of this life.
May your hope overflow.
May the love of God work in and through you to the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 