Ps. 137
I remember from reading in Jeremiah recently that God told His exiled people to settle in Babylon. They were to live their best lives and work and pray for the welfare of their temporary home. But they were to remain true to their God and who they were as His people, and they were to multiply there. Even so, they knew that the situation, though long, was temporary. We see in this Psalm that they also knew that Babylon was destined to be destroyed and that they longed for their true home. They longed to be back in the presence of God in Jerusalem. I believe all of this is representative of how we, as God’s people, are to be in this present world. We should do everything we can to seek the welfare of this place without getting too attached to it.
Ez. 1-2
Ezekiel received a clear calling. From his awesome vision he heard, “I send you to the people of Israel…And whether they hear or refuse to hear…they will know that a prophet has been among them” (Ez 2:3a, 5). I’m no Ezekiel, and I’m no prophet. But as a follower of Christ, I take on His mission. He has sent me into the world to show them Christ in whatever way I can. Maybe they listen, maybe they don’t – that part is not my problem. But either way, they should know that they have been in the presence of a Child of God. I’m not sure if that can be said of me or not, but I’m working on it.
God also told Ezekiel not to be afraid of the people. “Though…you sit on scorpions,” he was told. He was to be obedient to God and not worry about the rest. I can’t imagine what Ezekiel was feeling, standing there before this awesome vision and hearing the voice of God. I think I would have been paralyzed, too scared to even shake in my boots. But, boy, if one could hold on to that feeling and realize the immensity of the grace and the mercy that come along with it, maybe, just maybe one could be single-mindedly obedient to God without fear of anything else.
1 Tim. 2
Paul said that prayers should be made “for all people” (1 Tim 2:1). Obviously we can’t pray for each of the billions of people on this planet. But I do think this says that there is nobody that we should NOT pray for. No matter how evil they seem or how they mistreat you or others, we should still pray for them.
Paul specifies rulers in verse 2, then follows with his oft quoted statement, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim 2:2b). The general thought with this verse is that we should pray for our leaders so that it will go well with us (presumably due to resulting good leadership, I suppose). But in light of my first comment, I am looking at Paul’s statement from a slightly different angle this morning.
While I agree that we should pray for good leadership, I think perhaps Paul’s statement concerning the results is directed toward us, not toward our leaders. It is hard to be belligerent toward someone for whom you are earnestly praying. It is hard to hate someone you truly desire to see saved. And if God desires to see them saved, shouldn’t we? I believe Paul is saying that praying for others, especially those to whom you are subject, is how we keep a Godly attitude so that we can live out our lives as He would have us to.