“Gather together, gather,
O shameless nation,
2before you are driven away
like the drifting chaff,
before there comes upon you
the fierce anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the Lord’s wrath.
3Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
who do his commands;
seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
4For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.”
(Zephaniah 2:1-4)
This devotional was written precisely one week before the 2020 Presidential election. I think it is important to time stamp this devotion because undoubtedly whatever happened (or didn’t) last night will impact the lens through which you read today’s devotion. It’s a curious thing about American politics, the way it can suck the air out of the room and even threaten to become a prism through which sacred scripture is read. If Christians are to be careful with politics it is, undoubtedly, in part because of the seeming totalitarian claim politics threatens to make on all of life. And so, this devotion was composed clear of Tuesday’s results (or lack of results because, who knows?) and I hope that it can be read in a similar manner, as best each is able.
Of course, this is a heckuva passage to choose for the day after an election, especially with all its “shameless nation” talk. But let’s take that as a challenge to read beyond the tyranny of the moment and to seek an eternal truth in the midst of temporal discord. And when we do, what do we read? We read of a God who loves justice, thirsts for justice, demands justice – and unlike all of us (and even our politics) can insist upon justice. For that is, in the end, what God’s threats of “driven away” and “fierce anger” and “wrath” are always, actually about – God’s insistence on justice. This insistence persists (the persistence of insistence, if you will) regardless of the events of any given day, even a “big day” like an election. Whatever does or doesn’t happen does not change God’s persistent insistence of justice for all.
It is telling that the psalmist addresses two distinct groups in this psalm. On the one hand, we have direct address to the “humble of the land,” who are then described by their faithfulness. On the other hand, we have direct address to specific places – Gaza to Ekron. The implication here is that where we are is less significant than who we are. If we are the “humble of the land” who “seek righteousness, seek humility,” then whatever may happen in Gaza, Ekron, Ohio, Marysville, or anywhere else will not be a threat of God’s wrath.
I suspect over the coming days (maybe weeks), various faith leaders will step up and proclaim – based solely on the results of a single election – that God’s blessing or God’s wrath is now upon this country. They will speak in a manner that commends or condemns everyone based upon where they are. I hope when you hear such talk, you return to this psalm, which reminds you, urges you, exhorts you to focus more on who you are in the Lord than where you are on a map.
To be sure, politics are inevitably important (even if I have to plug my nose just to write that sentence), but in the hierarchy of importance, faithfulness to God – as a community (note: the “humble of the land” is written in the plural, implying a community of faithful, and is not addressed to individuals because, well, almost nothing in scripture is individualistic) – this faithfulness is far more paramount than today’s politicking. Let us – we humble of this land – keep our heads about ourselves, even if no one else does and let us pursue that justice that our God so persistently insists upon. Amen.
