May the rightful King have mercy.

Psalm 110

Of David. A Psalm.

1 The Lord says to my lord,
    ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’

2 The Lord sends out from Zion your mighty sceptre.
    Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly
    on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains.
From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
    ‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.’

5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgement among the nations, filling them with corpses;
he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.

Advent has a double ring, the humble baby in the manger is the King of glory who will set all things right in the world. The gracious Jesus is also the righteous Judge. In Advent we get ready for the coming of this Jesus. The early church heard in this Psalm the promise of Jesus’s coming reign, and the promise that Jesus was the priest who would bring together human beings and God (vs. 4).

For God and human beings to be in whole, restored relationship; wrong-doing, destruction, injustice need to be dealt with. That is the forces of evil, sin, and destruction which prey on human beings, must be brought to account. The enemies of God and of good will be shattered as will those human beings who have aligned themselves with the forces of evil and destruction.

The early church, in fact the church up into the 18th century, heard in Advent a strong theme of Jesus as the righteous judge who was coming to set the world right. To accomplish that would mean the overthrow of those people and those systems that stood in the way. Such a statement not only invites thought about those who might be overthrown, it also causes us to reflect on the ways in which we personally might be called to account for what we have done, for those times when we have aligned ourselves with the forces of evil and destruction.

And so, we cry out, “Lord, have mercy.” We cry out “Lord, have mercy” that Jesus the judge would have mercy on us, and that Jesus the judge would have mercy on all those who are judged and found to have aligned themselves with the forces of sin and evil and destruction. That Jesus in bringing rightful judgment would show mercy. 

PRAYER:
O Lord, have mercy. Have mercy on us for we have wandered from your way and have aligned our actions, at times, with the forces of evil and destruction. Have mercy on us and all those who have also been rightly judged of having done wrong. Lord Jesus, righteous judge, have mercy we pray. Amen.