How should one react when the country is divided and everything seems a mess?
The UK parliament is due to ‘sit’ tomorrow morning, Saturday 19th October, to consider the ‘Brexit deal’ proposed by Boris Johnson. According to the BBC, it will be the first Saturday sitting of parliament for 37 years12. Apparently the last time it sat on a Saturday was in April 1982 when it discussed the invasion of the Falkland Islands.
The situation currently faced by the UK is not the first example of a divided country in a mess. People have had differences over how countries should be governed, families have been fatally divided by politics and/ or people caught on ‘the wrong side’ of the border for centuries. The recent past has
seen the division of Korea, slightly longer ago the division of Germany and in the 1800’s the American Civil war.
However, it is a much more ancient division of a nation and its land that I have in mind as I write this afternoon. Psalm 16 seems to be written by a man living in the wrong part of the country of Israel, potentially robbed of support for himself and his family but still able to articulate his clear faith and dependence on God.
It is my prayer that those of us in the UK and Europe will be able to learn from his example and say of the Lord “You show me the path of life.” Ps16:113
Psalm 16 is headed in my bible ‘A miktam of David’, but respected commentators4 understand the writer to be a ‘Levitical Priest’ living in the Northern Kingdom of Israel sometime after the rebellion against Rehoboam.
One of the first actions of the rebel leader of Israel was to establish a new focus of religion by setting up ‘Calf Idols’ to replace Jerusalem as the centre of worship for his people. He saw it as too risky to allow religious loyalty to continue to look to the base of his rival king, who was after all the grandson of King David. His actions were politically understandable, but his expediency undermined the structure of the faith of the nation and effectively made all of the traditional priesthood redundant.
Although we refer to the 12 tribes of Israel, there were actually thirteen because Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) each have a tribe named after them; and when it came to the division of the land between the tribes, the tribe of Levi is allowed to live in towns throughout the territory of the other tribes, but does not have an inhertitance of its own. They serve as religious teachers and judges, representing God throughout the whole nation as it was originally established.
When Jeroboam rebelled, some, but not all, of the priests and levites moved to Jerusalem or other places in Judah and Benjamin under the control of David’s grandson. It maybe that Psalm 16 was written by one who, for what ever reason, could not or did not move. He is a member of the wrong tribe, a priest of the wrong religion, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. It is my prayer that his response will help us, whatever our views on Brexit or the EU to live with help from God that goes beyond the immediate circumstances to the foundational source of our security.
Psalm 16
A miktam[a] of David.
1 Keep
me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I
say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
apart
from you I have no good thing.’
3 I
say of the holy people who are in the land,
‘They
are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’
4 Those
who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I
will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or
take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord,
you alone are my portion and my cup;
you
make my lot secure.
6 The
boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely
I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I
will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even
at night my heart instructs me.
8 I
keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With
him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore
my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my
body also will rest secure,
10 because
you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor
will you let your faithful[b] one
see decay.
11 You
make known to me the path of life;
you
will fill me with joy in your presence,
with
eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 16:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 16:10 Or holy
New International Version – UK (NIVUK)
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica
The first verse of the Psalm is to be seen as a ‘confession of faith’ rather than a plea for help. The writer knows that whatever the circumstances in which he and his family find themselves God is with them and He is trustworthy.
He uses v4 to contrast himself with those who are following ‘the new gods’ set up by the new regime – and declare clearly he is going to stay loyal to the God of Israel who ‘brought them out of Egypt’ under Moses.
The next two verses (5 and 6) are an extremely powerful testimony in the face of economic crisis. The income and support for the Levites and Priests was derived from a portion of the sacrifices and offerings made to God by the people during their worship. Westerners who have been, or who do go, to church are probably familiar with ‘collection plates’ being passed around during services but this is different. Worship was not about singing hymns, saying prayers and going home again. It was about bringing animals, flour, wine and bread and offering them to God as a sacrifice. A portion of these sacrifices belonged to the priests and levites and fed them and their families. The consequence of setting up a new religion, with new gods and new priests is clear. There will be no food or support for those who stay loyal to the old order.
The writer of the psalm is able to look beyond the system and say “Lord you are my portion and my cup, you make my way secure”. It’s not ‘the job’ that provides but God. Up to now God has provided in one way – that has changed but God has not.
As people of faith, whatever happens to the economy of the UK, to the job or the pension we have at the moment we need to look beyond the immediate circumstances and say “Lord, you are my portion and my cup”
The writer then follows on with another reference that is deeply rooted in the history of the allocation of land to the various tribes of Israel. ‘Boundary lines’ is a way of referring to the way in which the land was divided up between the tribes. The Israelites were told “And do not neglect the Levitesliving in your towns, for they have no land allotted to them or any inheritance of their own.”5but the structure through which this worked, the unified nation under God, has now been dismantled. But, looking beyond the immediate the writer can say “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” .
He is not going to spend his nights in sleepless worry because God ‘counsels him‘ even at night
A prayer
Thank you Lord that what ever the outcome of the Brexit debate (on the 19th Oct 2019) or any other circumstance in my life – you do not change. My security is in you and not the government, my job or any inheritance I might have.
Lord, other people have set up gods to replace you. For some it is money, for some power or other things. Please help me not to sacrifice my family, friends or anything else you give me on the altars of those things that steal the peace of your help and presence.
You are good and trust worthy. Please help me keep my eyes fixed on you.
In Jesus’ name
Amen
1https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50095368
2https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/section/4617/weekend-sittings/
3Translation Rolf A. Jacobson; NICOT the Book of Psalms, p178; pub Eerdmans
4NICOT the Book of Psalms, p176; pub Eerdmans
5Deuteronomy 14:27