A prayerful reflection after reading Athanasius' letter to Marcellinus on reading the Psalms, particularly this quote: "… the reader takes all its (the Psalter) words upon his lips as though they were his own…"
First, Psalm 2:
Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast their cords from us.”
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord has them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son;
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 them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear;
with trembling kiss his feet,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.
As I begin praying through the Psalms, I come to Psalm 2. In my prayer journal, I write:
"OOF, Jesus … Psalm 2 has much need of parsing/deconstructing … I ask You for a natural voice to pray this that honors You and experiences the revelation You desire me to know! I am starting to see how You halt me to point me to You – to Your Cross, where derision, fury, laughter, wrath, terror, anger, dashing, breaking are all taken up into You on the Cross – NOT as punishment but as knowingly & willingly able to end the power all of that wields in the world! I take refuge in You, NOT from Your wrath, but from the power to use wrath and all its 'offspring' …"