Revoicing the Psalms: Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire?
Why do the peoples plot in vain?

 

Do they not know that their power is gift?
Do they not understand that their importance is only one piece of the puzzle?

 

Finger on the button
prepared to launch the Monster of All Bombs,
tanks and drones and armies at your command
and suddenly you think:

You’ve got it all.
You’ve made it.
You are in control.
They all must bow to you.

 

Bullshit.

 

The kings of the earth,
Presidents and Prime Ministers,
Pastors and Priests
leaders of civic and religious life alike
take counsel together.

 

They take counsel against
the Lord
the Creator
the Lion of Judah

 

They take counsel against the
lamb who was slain
from the foundations of the world.

 

They take counsel, seeking to marginalize and kill
the one in whom all things hold together.

 

The God who has died a thousand deaths
but continues to break free like
a shoot breaking forth from
her earthbound tomb after
this long winter of our discontent.

 

The God who has died a thousand deaths
will die a thousand more
each time embracing the grave
as one more chance to love.

 

Unmitigated freedom is their goal:
Freedom from the bonds of our common humanity,
Freedom from the bonds of our interwoven existence,
Freedom from responsibility for one another.

 

All the while they spit into the wind:
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

 

But the one who sits in heaven laughs,
jumps around.
dances with mirth and glee
at the absurdity of their delusion.

The one who holds court in the heavenlies
will not be mocked
by those who think they are in control.

 

The Creator of all things
the giver of all good gifts
the gentle mother
and mighty Lord
holds these in derision

 

And speaks to them in wrath,
as they cower, shitting their pants
soiling their royal robes,
leaving dark stains on another bright red power tie.

 

Unaware of all they don’t know
caught off guard
and anxious for their very lives
when they discover

 

That God has set his king on Zion,
The holy hill.

 

I will prophesy to the decree of the Lord
who said to me, “You are my child;
today I have begotten you.”

 

“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage
and the ends of the earth your possession.”

 

You shall break the enemies of humanity with a rod of iron,
Dashing them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

 

Their time is up.
Theirs is a power that never was.
Rise up, O people,
Rise up!

 

Rise up, and declare the word of God.
Proclaim the healing of the nations.
Render unto God what is God’s.
The one who was, and is, and is to come,
is the very one who rises quietly and audaciously

To confront you,
gardening tools in hand.

 

Cultivating a new humanity,
tending to a new world.
And in so doing, taking the power back,
A power that was God’s all along.

 

Now therefore, O kings, be wise.
Be forewarned, you so-called rulers of the earth.

 

Get it into your heads
who is in charge.
Because it isn’t you.
Never has been.
Never will be.

 

Serve the Creator with boldness.
Exercise whatever power you’ve received
in service of God and God’s good creation.

 

The earth is God’s footstool
so pour out your costliest perfume
kiss the creator’s feet

 

Let your tears of confession
wash destruction away
and find comfort once more
in the service of the one
who serves us all
in offering life
as boundless gift.

Andrew Stephens-Rennie on FacebookAndrew Stephens-Rennie on Twitter
Andrew Stephens-Rennie
Andrew is a writer, dreamer and organizer with a keen interest in developing leaders in faith, compassion and justice.

He currently serves as the Director of Missional Renewal for the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay on the unceded territories of the Sinixt, Syilx, and Ktunaxa nations. He previously served as the Director of Ministry Innovation at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, BC.

Andrew is cofounder and contributing editor at www.empireremixed.com, and co-editor of "A Sort of Homecoming: Essays Honoring the Academic and Community Work of Brian Walsh" with Marcia Boniferro and Amanda Jagt.
Tags

Leave a Reply