Psalms for Ukraine

 Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness;
let your right hand display awesome deeds.
Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies;
let the nations fall beneath your feet (Ps. 45:3-5)

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God is our refuge and our strength,

an ever-present help in distress.....

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

He lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the Lord,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

he burns the shields with fire.

Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress (Ps. 46, sections).

St. Augustine wrote The City of God, contrasting the place where "the Most High dwells" to the kingdoms of this earth.  In his masterpiece, the City of God dwells in the midst of, and alongside of, Rome, representing all the kingdoms of this natural world.  Jesus said to Pilate, representing Rome, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would fight to prevent my arrest...."(Jn. 18).  

The "kingdoms of this world" are characterized by the lust to dominate, in the words of Augustine, a characteristic of the natural man, the man without God.  Even in personal relationships, the lust to dominate, "my way or the highway," can be observed.  In America today, we see a clear divide between those whose power and philosophy seek to "cancel" those who disagree with their viewpoint, and those who acknowledge, "my kingdom is not of this world." 

Writing the first philosophy of history, Augustine exhibits evidence that from the beginning, the community of God's people has lived alongside the kingdoms of this world, and he traces the antagonism of these two kingdoms, going back as far as the fall of the angels, and looking forward to the last judgment and the eternal destination of good and evil.

From the beginning of his election, David encountered the opposition of Saul's "lust to dominate," to control, to come out on top.  He fled for his life into the desert, but his forced reliance on "the Most High" to preserve his life was just the training-field for what was yet to come, as David went on the defeat the Philistines and the surrounding nations in order to establish Jerusalem and the United Kingdom for the first time in history.  His psalms of victory and praise reflect his dependence not on his natural powers but on God's taking up the fight on his behalf.  

As we read the Psalms today, may they be our prayer for Ukraine, the latest victim of the lust to dominate so evident in the kingdoms of this world.