O Lord, we are between hope and despair, between horror and apathy, between weeping and being too tired to weep.

Prince of Peace, we hear of talks and hopeful words spoken of ways forward that would at least bring a ceasefire. And we hear of more violence, more bloodshed, more graves. O Lord, act to make peace – at least a ceasefire – a possibility.

Compassionate God, we are shocked by the violence, the destruction, the death, the agony in people’s voices. We are bombarded by the images; our hearts are weighed down by the burden of what we have seen and heard. For seven months we have seen images of death and destruction, and we confess that we are growing immune to what we have seen. Feeling unable to change we grow apathetic. O Lord, break our hearts anew, that we might participate with you in praying for, living towards peace.

Mighty God, we have wept until we have no more tears. We have come to a place where we are so emotionally exhausted that we are without tears, without words, in the face of this violence, hate and vengeance (violence, hate and vengeance wreaked by all sides in the conflict). All we know is that we want the hostages to be freed, the violence to stop, for food and water and medical supplies to get to those who need them, so that adults and children can walk the streets of Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine in peace and safety.

For this we pray, O Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Psalm 101

Of David. A Psalm.

1 I will sing of loyalty and of justice;
    to you, O Lord, I will sing.
2 I will study the way that is blameless.
    When shall I attain it?

I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is base.

I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
4 Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.

5 One who secretly slanders a neighbour I will destroy.
A haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not tolerate.

6 I will look with favour on the faithful in the land,
    so that they may live with me;
whoever walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minister to me.

7 No one who practises deceit shall remain in my house;
no one who utters lies shall continue in my presence.

8 Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

David here is making a vow to God about the way he wanted to live his life. The language is dramatic – destroying the slanderer (vs. 5); throwing out of their house anyone who practices deceit (vs. 7). And the dramatic language makes us uncomfortable.

David understands that secret slander and “an arrogant heart” (vs. 5) along with deceit and lies (vs. 7) are destructive. That these patterns of life destroy relationships, destroy people, drive wedges between neighbours, and cause all manner of evil acts in the world. David is making a commitment to stand against such actions and patterns of life – slander, arrogance, deceit, lies – will not be countenanced in their house in their presence because of the evil such things cause.

Living life in opposition to a pattern or life or a way of being is very difficult if we don’t know what we are in favour of. Vs. 1, 2, 6 give the framework for what kind of life David is committing himself to live towards, to live in favour of. Vs. 1 – loyalty and justice and vs. 2 integrity – this is the life he will study to be his example (vs.2) – as he sings praise to God (vs. 1).  God must be at the center of such a way of integrity and just living. But we do not do this alone and in vs. 6 David recognizes there are other people who have been faithful to God, others who are striving to live blameless lives. And these people “minister” to David – that is, help him, by their simple presence, to remain faithful.  

Living by God’s pattern means both living away from slander, arrogance, deceit and living towards integrity and God and the community of the faithful. This is what David commits himself to do.

PRAYER:

Lord God, we want to be people who live just lives of integrity, loyal to you and you alone. Keep us from arrogance and deceit, keep us from slander and lying. Teach us to center our lives on you and give to us companions who might walk this pattern of life with us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.