April 1st

Psalm 141

Three ways to pray

This prayer is traditionally the evening prayer at many monasteries.  This prayer is an ‘evening sacrifice’ of the believer’s faith, concerns, and trust in God.

There three requests in this prayer:

• ³Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
     keep watch over the door of my lips.
  ⁴ Do not turn my heart to any evil,
     to busy myself with wicked deeds.

The psalmist does not want to give into the temptation to behave the way the ‘wicked do.’  Christians pray in a similar way when we ask, ‘Lead us not into temptation” in the Lord’s Prayer.

• ⁵Let the righteous strike me;
     let the faithful correct me.  (5a)

A more modern rendering might be, ”Let me accept meekly a rebuke that is meant kindly by a good person.’

Proverbs 27.6 advises:

Trustworthy are the bruises of a friend;
excessive are the kisses of an enemy.

A good friend can save us from many an error as well as point us in a faithful direction.

In college I had a friend, Marvin*, who had as his ambition to make a lot of money.  (During his college years he and his brothers ran a business that made more in four months than I would have made in a year at my summer jobs).  In his senior year, for an economics paper, he went to visit a man he admired for this person’s business acumen and success.  Al had a Harvard MBA and had turned a small family business into a Canada-wide company.

Marvin visited Al in his office, gushed with his admiration of Al’s accomplishments, and shared his own ambitions to be a successful (and wealthy?) businessman.

But Marvin didn’t know the whole story.  Al had also served with MCC in Asia for three years lending his entrepreneurial expertise to ongoing projects there.  He was also deeply committed to the Mennonite church and its programs of development and international witness.

After hearing out Marvin’s dreams, Al leaned back in his chair and said, ‘I have just the job for you.’  Marvin was ecstatic thinking he was going to be groomed by Al for a plum position in Al’s business.

Instead, Al said, ‘I know a non-profit organization which is looking for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, who is creative, and has lots of energy for hard work.  I’m going to give them your name.’

Marvin was a little stunned.  As he drove home, though, Al’s words found their way deep into his heart.  He couldn’t stop thinking about them.  Well . . . Marvin took the job and spent the next decade of his life working with non-profit development agencies that helped people on the margins become thriving communities.

Pope John XXlll famously counseled, ‘Overlook much, correct a little.’  With such care, a healthy faith community is nurtured and deepened in discipleship.

3)   Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
   for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.  (5a)

Here the psalmist prays for his enemies, as Jesus himself has asked us to do.  For the believer, prayer is the one weapon we are permitted to use against those who mean harm. 

The final verses should give us cause for sober reflection.  Though we are rightly alarmed by wicked deeds done by others in positions of authority and privilege, these verses remind us that evil always defeats itself.  ‘Those that set traps fall into them.’ 

Evil thought it had done its worst when it crucified Christ but all it did was cause an earthquake, wake the dead, and bring about the victory of God’s coming kingdom.  A good truth to remember in this Lenten season.

*The names have been changed to protect privacy.