ADVENT 2025 – DAY SIXTEEN

You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness
against the godly all day long?

You plot ruin;
your tongue is like a sharpened razor,
O worker of deception.

You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth.

You love all words that hurt,
O you deceitful tongue.

[PSALM 52:1-4]

ADVENT DAILY OFFICE READINGS
AM Psalm 41, 52; PM Psalm 44 Zech. 1:7-17; Rev. 3:7-13; Matt. 24:15-31

I am making wild assumptions at this moment as to where your mind went when you read the focus verses above from Psalm 52. (I confess that the feature image also may have influenced your thinking.)

So again allow me to remind you that the psalm was written thousands of years ago.

But it’s never difficult to find similarities in scripture with situations that are taking place in the present day.

Because the Bible is a compilation of stories of human people, with all the flaws and imperfections that we possess.

And if you want to read the basis for the verses we’ve cited above, go to 1 Samuel, chapters 21 and 22.

David is writing about Doeg the Edomite, who told Saul of David’s whereabouts. The insecure King Saul was in pursuit of David, whom he considered a threat. As a result of Doeg’s information, Abimelech, the priest who helped David escape, paid the ultimate price. He and all the other priests who lived in the city of Nob, were killed.

Every generation has a tyrant or two who sees the world differently and, out of paranoia or simply out of plain cruelty, loves to inflict pain and suffering on other people.

A few days ago I came across an excerpt from an address given by Pope John XXIII at the opening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962. Again, the words of Psalm 52 resonated with his remarks:

In the daily exercise of our pastoral office, we sometimes have to listen, much to our regret, to voices of persons who, though burning with zeal, are not endowed with too much sense of discretion or measure. In these modern times they can see nothing but prevarication and ruin. They say that our era, in comparison with past eras, is getting worse, and they behave as though they had learned nothing from history, which is, none the less, the teacher of life. They behave as though at the time of former Councils everything was a full triumph for the Christian idea and life and for proper religious liberty.

We feel we must disagree with those prophets of gloom, who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand.

A little further on he added, “The world of today…is so busy with politics and controversies in the economic order that it does not find time to attend to the care of spiritual reality…”

This was 1962. Over half a century ago!

The bottom line is, we will always be confronted with evil, whether by people in power, systems that oppress, and even by those whom we might consider acquaintances or even friends.

We will always be faced with actions that are contrary to what God asks of us.

The challenge for us is our reaction to it.

We are reminded often in Scripture, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.” (Romans 12:17)

That does not mean to remain passive, but to strive for justice in ways that can bring about change. There is a wealth of examples – protest demonstrations and marches, working for political candidates who are aligned with justice issues, voting. I could go on and on but how you address the issues of injustice is up to your level of comfort.

However, it all begins with prayer. God must be the ground of our being.

That, to me, is why this time of Advent marks not only the beginning of our liturgical year, but also a time to discern what our role is in making the Kingdom of God a more visible reality on earth.

Let us pray:
Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy Name, and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 832)

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