“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
Restore our fortunes O Lord, like the water courses of the Negeb.”
Psalm 126:1 & 4
When Abraham Lincoln gave his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, the end of the Civil War was in sight. That bloody conflict was the event that set the stage for and occupied his thoughts and prayers for all of his first term. Toward the middle of the speech (which was really more of a sermon than a speech) he observed:
Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.
Lincoln’s words have comforted me in these days following a deeply conflicted and polarized election season, a rancorous and extended refusal to accept its results, a siege on the Capitol that vainly tried to overthrow it and finally, an inauguration of a new president who spent much of his speech asking for a new season of unity. Those words of the new president were music to some ears and for others inspired little more than eye rolling consternation at a perceived hypocrisy. And, as was true in Lincoln’s day, these opposing groups are, in part, comprised of people who read the same Bible and pray to the same God.
What I find comforting about Lincoln’s observations is not that his words give us direction to navigate these seemingly irreconcilable conflicts in which we find ourselves, but that they give witness to another time in our history when we were stuck in a rut of unending dispute. It calms me to remember that these dynamics have happened before, that they were never really “solved,” but we are still here and still have the opportunity to face and deal with them informed by the power of the grace of God. His words also calm me in that they admit that neither side can possess certainty that they have comprehended and therefore represent the mind of the Creator on the matters of what should characterize our national policy. “The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes.” And we don’t fully comprehend what those purposes are.
But what do we know? We know that Jesus is Lord and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We also know that we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and that we are invited to allow the love of God to teach us to love our enemies. If we think about it long enough, we know that the matter of determining whether or not God is on our side and not on the other side is a fruitless task. For while we may read the same Bible, we wear different lenses as we read it and our arguments about who has the right interpretation end up looking like a cartoon in which the characters take turns exchanging blows on each other that are inflicted by the same club. And this “same” Bible becomes merely a tool to prove our rightness rather than the word that directs our attention to God and gives light to our path.
So, if this is true, if this is what we do know, what should we do? If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion, I would say the first thing that all of us should do is take a step back and pause to remember that the God who we think we hold in our hearts actually holds all of us in his heart. We don’t just pray to the same God, this same God created all of us. This same God has more than enough space for all things to come together in his heart and is actually at work reconciling all things to himself.
Furthermore, as we pray to this same God, I would offer the suggestion that one of the prayers we pray be comprised of the words of the 126th Psalm. Psalm 126 gives voice to the passions of both sides in our current conflict and in so doing teaches us empathy for one another and roots us in the truth that God cannot be locked into the box of either side. There is a side which is rejoicing in a feeling of restoration. The Lord has restored our fortunes and we are “like those who dream.” Our mouths are filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy. Yet so also is there a side more drawn to the second half of the psalm. “Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the water courses of the Negeb.” Quench the dryness of our defeat with your rain. Replace our tears with joy. Give us a seed to plant that will help us live in hope of something better.
God has plenty of room for both prayers. God knows the hearts and minds of both sides. But we need to remember that neither the prayer of celebration nor the prayer of lament can capture the fulness of the truth. Yet both can express the heartfelt longings of humble people who must ultimately resign themselves to the mystery that “the Almighty has his own purposes.”
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been God’s counselor?
Or who has given a gift to him to receive a gift in return?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen
Romans 11:33-36
David Rohrer
02/06/2021