In Fiddler on the Roof, Motel the tailor purchases a used sewing machine and it is a cause for celebration as the town gathers to admire the new arrival. Motel asks the aged rabbi, “Is there a blessing for a sewing machine?” The rabbi replies, “There is a blessing for everything.”
Indeed. There is a blessing for everything, and I would add, there is a psalm for everything.
Take the biggest news story of the last few weeks – the spread of the coronavirus. As of this writing no one knows for sure whether this will be a “once a century” global pandemic like the Spanish Flu or something less dramatic, but it is already creating major disruptions: entire nations closed to travel, events cancelled and rescheduled, and governments scrambling to calm fears and mitigate its spread. Here in the US, citizens are emptying shelves of everything from soup to toilet paper. Community, business, and education leaders are drawing up contingency plans and a volatile stock market has everyone on edge.
In light of this, how should we pray, and how should our praying form our attitudes and actions? My first thought was to turn to Psalm 91 where the writer declares,
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (91:1,2)
The psalmist goes on to describe quite specifically the things that Yahweh will protect us from, including:
the fowler’s snare
the deadly pestilence
the terror of night
the arrow that flies by day
the pestilence that stalks in the darkness
the plague that destroys at midday
Some commentators have suggested that this psalm was a prayer of soldiers before battle – a thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you…No harm will overtake you. No disaster will come near your tent (91:7,10) – designed to inspire courage to run into the fray.
Pestilence and plague were cause for very real fear in the ancient world. Lack of medical knowledge and basic care ensured that infections spread and devastated populations in ways unimaginable today. Two pandemics in the Roman Empire (165 and 251 AD) killed up to a third of the population each time. In his book The Rise of Christianity, sociologist Rodney Stark notes that during these plagues, Christians did not flee the cities as the pagans did, but rather stayed and cared for the sick. Their close-knit Christian communities enabled them to support one another while their theology of redemptive suffering and their belief in eternal life gave them hope to deal with crushing loss. The result was even more conversions to the faith as the pagan population saw how they handled the crisis.
I suspect that those early Christians were familiar with the 91st psalm and prayed it often as they tended to the sick and dying, confident that whether they lived or died, they would always be in God’s protective presence.
Remarkably, Elizabeth Elliot titled her book about the life of her husband Jim Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty, based on this psalm. Elliot and four other men were slain with spears and arrows while taking the gospel to an unreached tribe. They were convinced that God’s promised protection in this psalm was not from suffering and death, but from ultimate and final defeat. In fact, the psalm contains this promise as well, “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” (91:13) Jesus echoed this truth when he told his disciples, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. (Luke 10:19).
Knowing that Jesus has crushed the head of the Serpent and stomped on the Lion should inspire us to live without fear of death and run into the fray with words of hope and acts of compassion during these days of fear of uncertainty. Just as this psalm was a prayer before battle, may it be our prayer for courage as we face uncertain days ahead. Rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
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