{"id":18902,"date":"2022-03-20T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/ukraine-through-the-eyes-of-psalm-94"},"modified":"2022-04-06T22:55:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T21:55:51","slug":"ukraine-through-the-eyes-of-psalm-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/ukraine-through-the-eyes-of-psalm-94\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine through the eyes of Psalm 94"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine through the eyes of Psalm 94<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n

Whilst preparing a reflection on Psalm 94 I was struck by how John Bell’s version is hauntingly evocative of the situation of Ukraine.
\nYou can hear it here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The opening stanza evokes images of women and children being bombed in Ukraine, babies and elderly killed, and the memorial to Jews murdered by the Nazis being desecrated by Putin\u2019s forces.\u00a0 Bell hauntingly brings out the cry of the Psalmist urging God to act as those whom God loves are being harmed.\u00a0 Bell keeps up the punch with the second stanza showing how those who crush God\u2019s people delight and think Heaven is blind to their crimes.\u00a0 Despite the anger and rawness of the Psalm we still have hope – hope that God will act, hope that even if the courts don\u2019t intervene, even if the guilty smile at their scheming, hope that God will cherish, keep and protect the faithful.<\/p>\n

The tune was written as part of a 1970s mass setting written at the request of St Oscar Romero when he was Archbishop of San Salvador.\u00a0 Romero, appointed as a conservative force in the Church, was moved by the sufferings of his people at the hands of an evil, corrupt, and Western supported government.\u00a0 He soon became a radical supporter of liberation.\u00a0 He was, for his pains, shot whilst celebrating mass in his cathedral.\u00a0 The simple tune works well with Bell\u2019s rendering of the Psalm.<\/p>\n

\n

O great God and Lord of all the earth,
\nrouse yourself and demonstrate justice;
\ngive the arrogant what they deserve,
\nsilence all malevolent boasting.
\nSee how some you love are broken,
\nfor they know the weight of oppression;
\neven widows and orphans are murdered,
\nand poor strangers are innocent victims.<\/p>\n

Those who crush your people delight,
\nclaiming God above takes no notice;
\nthey proclaim that heaven is blind,
\nthat the God of Jacob is silent.
\nStupid fools, when will you listen?
\nNow take heed, you ignorant people.
\nGod who gave us sight and hearing
\nhas observed and noted what happened.<\/p>\n

God the Lord will not stay away
\nnor forsake his well beloved people;
\nheaven\u2019s justice soon will appear
\nand the pure in heart will embrace it.
\nYes, the ones whom God instructed,
\nwho revere and study God’s Word
\nwill be saved from all that harms them
\nwhile a pit is dug for the wicked.<\/p>\n

Should the wrong change places with right
\nand the courts play host to corruption;
\nshould the innocent fear for their lives
\nwhile the guilty smile at their scheming;
\nstill the Lord will be your refuge,
\nbe your strength and courage and tower.
\nThrough your foot should verse on slipping,
\nGod will cherish, keep and protect you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

paraphrased and arranged by John Bell (b1949)
\n\u00a9 2002 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland<\/em><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rise up O God,
\nforget not your suffering people,
\nbowed down with murderous rage,
\ncrying out for liberation from invasion.
\nRise up your people O God,
\ninspire us by your Spirit,
\nthat we may not be silent
\nbut rage for your Kingdom to come.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

with every good wish<\/p>\n

Andy<\/p>\n

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
\nMinister for Digital Worship<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine through the eyes of Psalm 94 Dear Friends, Whilst preparing a reflection on Psalm 94 I was struck by how John Bell’s version is hauntingly evocative of the situation of Ukraine. You can hear it here. The opening stanza evokes images of women and children being bombed in Ukraine, babies and elderly killed, and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Ukraine through the eyes of Psalm 94”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[203,162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions-worship","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18920,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18902\/revisions\/18920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}