"You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday."
This is a small portion of a beautiful Psalm that I've been wrestling with all day in my mind. The whole Psalm speaks of God's protection. But the above verses of the Psalm most likely would not be very powerful to many North Americans today unless they were seen in a different light.
What if you were reading this Psalm in 1994 in Rwanda during the genocide? It was this very Psalm that led one woman to maintain hope and find safety amidst the slaughtering of nearly one million people over the course of 3 months in this small African country. Especially verse 7! "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." Click here to read story at end of article.
Or what does this Psalm speak to a Malaria stricken nation where a mother is fearful that the next bug bite could take the life of her child?
Or a Dalit girl in India who fears she may be taken from her family only to find herself deep in an industry of sex trafficking?
What does this Psalm mean to a Filipino who knows the storms are coming and the threat of tsunami is ever present?
How would you have read this Psalm were you a farmer in Darfur in 2004 when the Janjaweed swept through villages massacring the people?
What does this Psalm mean to an Afghan teenage girl who is in a pre-arranged marriage with a man 20 years older than her who desires her only for her cleaning, cooking, and child bearing? click here.
I challenge you to read this Psalm tonight with a global perspective. What does this prayer of protection mean for believers other than just you and I? We live in a world that is not void of danger. But somehow most of those who read this blog have escaped the realities of "terror at night", "pestilence that stalks", "arrows that fly", or "plague that destroys". Our comfortable living has largely removed us from what are global realities today. Many of our brothers and sisters around the world hold this Psalm near to their heart and tight to their chest. Because every word of this Psalm speaks directly towards a present danger.
To read more on gleaning global perspectives on different scripture, I encourage you to pick up Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South. It was this book that helped me see a new angle on Psalm 91.
Comments