“In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains; for look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates the lover of violence. On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.” Psalm 11

“The 11th psalm is a psalm of prayer. It laments over the heretics and false interpreters of the Scriptures who lead the people away from the true ground of faith and bring them to their mountains, that is, their great high holiness of works. To that end, the heretics and false interpreters of the Scriptures mock the true Teacher and say, “What shall the righteous do?” But the psalm ends with the comfort that God will certainly see this. The false teachers will be condemned and the righteous will remain. This prayer can thus be an example for us. This psalm belongs in the Second Commandment and the First Petition, as all psalms of prayer.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

Remember the fringe warnings about the Mayan Calendar and the year 2012? There were certain “experts” who predicted dire consequences including the end of the world because it indicated the end of the Mayan Calendar. Many people gathered at Mayan sites throughout South America expecting to experience the end of all things. Yet, here we are today — staring straight into the Lenten season for the year 2020.

There are many examples in recent times as well as in Biblical times where people have decided to “flee to the mountains”: Adam and Eve, Saul, Jonah, Israel and Judah, Peter — as well as Y2K and the end of the Mayan Calendar. How should the church respond to threatening circumstances? The Bible gives us two basic choices: we can either flee to the hills, or we can take refuge in G-d.

In many and various Psalms, the writer will sing the praises of G-d in a response of praise, like in Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the Hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord.” Even if we decide to flee to the Hills, we flee knowing that G-d is every where — G-d is in the heavens, G-d is on the hill tops, and G-d is in the very place where we are hoping to take refuge. So, instead of fleeing, we take refuge knowing that G-d is not hiding from us — G-d is simply waiting for us to notice that he never left.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You came into this world to reveal to us the will of Your Father and to teach us the way everlasting. Behold how Your sacred Word is denied and corrupted in these perilous days. Have mercy upon us, save us from the snares of unbelief and the seductive teachings of the world, and grant us to abide in Your Word that, made free from error and sin, we be found Your disciples indeed. Amen.

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—let them be caught in the schemes they have devised. For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart, those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord. In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”;all their thoughts are, “There is no God.” Their ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of their sight; as for their foes, they scoff at them. They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved; throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.” Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongues are mischief and iniquity. They sit in ambush in the villages; in hiding places they murder the innocent. Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net. They stoop, they crouch, and the helpless fall by their might. They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.” Psalm 10:1-12

“Psalm 10 is a psalm of prayer. It laments over the enemies of the kingdom of Christ who terrify Christendom with force and cunning. These enemies direct the sword of worldly tyranny over the body and the net of false teaching over the soul. However, as it says in verse 7 (“His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression”), the enemies of the kingdom of Christ can do no more than curse, that is, excommunicate and condemn; lie, that is, bring about false doctrine and false worship; and deceive, that is, delude and make a fool of the world concerning its good, honor, power, body, and soul. But in the end, the psalm shows our comfort, that such abomination shall perish with the end of the world. The psalm belongs in the Second Commandment and in the First Petition, as do all psalms of prayer.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

“Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.” Do not forget the oppressed. We often ask the question “Why does G-d seem to disappear to allow people to be hurt, oppressed, or even destroyed? We can say this has been the cry that echoes down from the ages. It is the eternal question — G-d, where are you? It is easy to become overwhelmed and bewildered when we do not see G-d at work.

I was just sitting and talking with a mother who was just recently dropped off her daughter at a drug rehab facility. The daughter stated something to her mother to the effect of “How can I see the hand of G-d in my life when things are just so wrong?” The mother answered her, “We were able to get you into this rehab facility in just 6 hours — how can you not see the hand of G-d in your life?” We expect G-d to take care of things, keep us safe, deal with those who seek to do harm to others — yet when G-d is at work, but we cannot see his presence, then G-d seems to be completely detached. The struggle comes in the distance between the trouble we are experiencing and the time in which G-d acts. In other words, we expect G-d to act immediately for problems we have been bringing onto ourselves, or others may have been waging against us for years and years. Wanting G-d to move according to our agenda and then being perplexed and even put out when G-d sticks to G-d’s timeframe is a sign of our lack of trust. We cannot tell G-d how or when to act, all we can do is pray and trust that G-d does love us and will act on our behalf.

Prayer

O Lord, our faithful and jealous God, restrain the craftiness and the power, the oppression and the deceit of Your enemies. Save the souls of the innocent from the snares of falsehood, and lead them to the knowledge of Your salvation in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Keep us in the true and saving faith, and grant us to walk worthy of Your name for the sake of Your Son, our Savior. Amen.