Have Mercy!

yImev lon the vum vo' lIj ghaj ghopmey
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands Psalm 138:8c

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With these words we draw to the end of Psalm 138 - and are given a prayer - one that echoes the cry of believers throughout the centuries. It may sound desperate - prayer often is - but at heart it is a cry for help, and a pledge of faith - we are indeed the work of God's hands, and it is because of that we can come with confidence to ask his help.

Across the years, the language of prayer unites believers - for believers cannot help but pray. It is their duty, their privilege and their lifeline - an intimate connection to God. This, the mystery of prayer, is at the core of the life of faith. It is a mystery, because we can find wonderful promises, interwoven through the testimony of scripture which has great examples of prayers - answered and not. Believers know - from personal experience and the lives of saints through the ages - that we cannot treat prayer as magic, or mechanical. Yet we still pray.

I've noted before how Biblical language has transcended time and culture - the words Amen and Hallelujah, of Hebrew origin, are examples of words that have become part of languages and cultures far from their origin - words that are integral to the faith of believers. In addition to those words, we can find others. This cry from David "Don’t forsake the works of your own hands" brings to mind the cry of the blind men who called out to Jesus: ghaj pung Daq maH, puqloD vo' David! - Son of David, have mercy on us. (Matthew 9:27)

That cry mercy - eleison in Greek - is the heart of the Kyrie Eleison - Lord have mercy, a simple prayer in which again we have Biblical words - the Greek for Lord have Mercy - that have moved out and been included transliterated into more languages, beginning with the Latin liturgy (so much so that many think they are Latin words). And that cry for mercy, that tiny kernel of prayer, give us a wonderful starting place to join in prayer.

For many, this simple prayer has crystalized in the devotion called "The Jesus Prayer", as Wikipedia notes:

The Jesus Prayer, also called the Prayer of the Heart by some Church Fathers, is a short, formulaic prayer often uttered repeatedly. It has been widely used, taught and discussed throughout the history of Eastern Christianity. The exact words of the prayer have varied from the most simple possible involving the name "Jesus," such as "Lord have mercy," to the more common extended form: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Prayer

Another writer adds:

The history of the Jesus Prayer goes back, as far as we know, to the early sixth century, with Diadochos, who taught that repetition of the prayer leads to inner stillness. Even earlier John Cassian recommended this type of prayer. In the fourth century Egypt, in Nitria, short "arrow" prayers were practiced.
Abba Macarius of Egypt said there is no need to waste time with words. It is enough to hold out your hands and say, "Lord, according to your desire and your wisdom, have mercy." If pressed in the struggle, say, "Lord, save me!" or say, "Lord." He knows what is best for us, and will have mercy upon us.

http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Albert-Rossi/Articles/Saying-the-Jesus-Prayer.html/

At this time of year Christians are in a season called Lent. The name comes from the same root as lengthen - for at this time the days are lengthening. In this time we join together to contemplate Jesus and his death on the cross. Many seek to reinvigorate their life of prayer - calling to mind Paul's command to "pray without ceasing!" IF you're looking for a way to do that, I'd commend this practice - the simple beginning "Lord have mercy," and encourage you to mine the rich treasures of scripture for your vocabulary - I can't count the number of times that I've come back again and again to the words of the Bible for my prayer language. I encourage you to give it a try!

yImev lon the vum vo' lIj ghaj ghopmey
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands Psalm 138:8c

Kyrie eleison,
Lord, have mercy.

reH - room to play!

lIj muSHa'taH pung, joH'a', SIQtaH reH.

Your loving kindness, O LORD, endures forever.

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There is a joyful collision in languages - the sort of puns that - by accident or not - give us a pause to think about meaning. One I've noted before is worth thinking of again here - two Klingon words - the adverbial "reH", and the verb "reH."

Both are spelled exactly the same - and we don't know of any connection between their meanings, but... it is worth thinking about what kind of intersection they might have. reH means either "always" (and I've used it as such to mean "forever" in the KLV, as in this passage) OR it means "play," as in "to play a game."

While it's hard to defend this as meaningful overlap, it is worth considering - for the joy we find in "play," that delight that lets us forget the pressures of our day to day concerns is an echo of eternity, the joy that God intends for his people.

I like to think of the confidence that David expresses in this verse "the LORD will fulfill that which concerns me" - despite fears or worries, David looks forward to God's care, and then he goes on to say on what he bases that confidence

lIj muSHa'taH pung, joH'a', SIQtaH reH.

Your loving kindness, O LORD, endures forever.

Spurgeon comments on this portion of the verse:

Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever. ... The first clause of the verse is the assurance of faith, and this second one reaches to the full assurance of understanding. God's work in us will abide unto perfection because God's mercy towards us thus abideth.

So many of our resources -whether personal, or national or global, are limited. Yet God's resources have NO limit. And the greatest of these is his hesed - his loving kindness - his faithfulness. It means that God will see our needs through to the end. The Hebrew term "olam" that is here translated forever, or reH, means something like "the vanishing point" - that distance that is beyond all distance - beyond the farthest horizon.

My family plays an odd game called Kubb - hard to describe, it consists of throwing batons of wood at blocks of wood to knock them down. (It's Swedish - though you could picture it as a sort of Klingon enterprise). As you might imagine you can't play it just anywhere - you need enough room, enough space. When you want to play, you are happy to find a park or field with enough room.

I rejoice with David in God's loving kindness - which unlike our human love it has no boundaries - it lasts FOREVER. In such a roomy love, a love that can take me in, even at my most unlovable - there is space to play, to live, to love in God's company - forever!

lIj muSHa'taH pung, joH'a', SIQtaH reH.

Your loving kindness, O LORD, endures forever.

Horizons!

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joH'a' DichDaq rIn vetlh nuq SaHta' jIH
The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me Psalm 138:a

Have you ever experienced "pre-nostalgia?" That's what I call it when you longingly remember a future... that never happened. It's summed up in the forthcoming book "Where's My Jetpack?" 'A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived.'

I think such wistful thoughts when I remember the (now-demolished) exhibit at Disney's Epcot, Horizons - that took you on a tour of the future, replete with space colonies, desert farming and under-sea cities. You can experience this feeling too - choose the right SF book from the fifties, and you'll be disappointed that you didn't graduate from a high school on the moon or Mars.

Yet - if you look at things again, you have plenty of things in this world - routine images (near live) from Mars and the outer planets - not to mention satellite communications - things that would have astounded and delighted space cadets of yesterday. We haven't got robots everywhere, but we have computers embedded in just about every kind of appliance possible. Home access to massive libraries of text and video. Our disappointment over lost tomorrows ought not to dilute our gratitude for the today we have.

joH'a' DichDaq rIn vetlh nuq SaHta' jIH
The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me Psalm 138:a

This verse brings us back to our future with confidence. Not a confidence in fictional tomorrows that may or may not come to pass, but a confidence in the future God will faithfully bring us to.

The LORD will fulfill....

The word "fulfill" here is rare - it only occurs about 5 times in the Bible. "gamar" is a primitive root meaning to end (in the sense of completion or failure): and is translated in the KJV as cease, come to an end, fail, perfect, perform. The sense understood here is "to perfect," to complete. I've used the Klingon word "rIn" be accomplished, finished.

There are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic. In a world wracked with war, disease, poverty or any number of problems, it is difficult to look forward with confidence. But this isn't new. David too, struggled with problems, with war, with family strife - but he could still have confidence in the outcome, that "The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me." This is a faith in the future, not of false optimism, but knowledge that God can be trusted. This is the kind of faith that made Job - in the midst of crushing loss -cry out

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth. (Job 19:25)

It's a mistake to bank on the glossy optimism of dated science fiction stories, but it is equally a mistake to let pessimism take over - to despair, to give up. We can still plan, we can still hope - not depending on our success, but committing ourselves to continue on with the work we've been given.

There is a story ascribed to different people, from ancient Rabbis to Martin Luther. I found a version on the jcdisciples.org website that goes something like this:

When asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow, Martin Luther replied, "I would plant a tree." What kind of an answer is that? Why plant a tree when the world is ending tomorrow? It sounds so futile, a total waste of time and energy. Isn't there something more important he could find to do? ... But with his answer, Luther demonstrates a better understanding of the words of Jesus and of Paul than many of us have today. Our knowledge of Christ's promised return ought not spur us to play waiting or guessing games with times and dates. Our job is not to look for signs; our job is to be about the work of the kingdom. Luther's answer, "I'd plant a tree", is in effect "I would continue on with my business just as I do today." (http://www.jcdisciples.org/sermons/trudytannen2.html)

No - I won't hold my breath waiting for the jet pack - or a vacation on Mars. On the other hand, it doesn't mean I won't work with the tools and gifts I have at hand to - if not accomplish those goals, to help find ways where the future can be a brighter place. I may not succeed - but that isn't my job - after all,

joH'a' DichDaq rIn vetlh nuq SaHta' jIH
The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me Psalm 138:a

In Hand!

SoH DichDaq stretch vo' lIj ghop Daq the QeHpu' vo' wIj jaghpu'. lIj nIH ghop DichDaq toD jIH.

You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7b

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It is fortunate that Klingons are so good looking. That is, the remarkable similarities between humans and Klingons help a great deal in translating from human idioms to Klingon. At least, although we are ignorant of much of Klingon culture, we can assume that at least some of our idioms can be mapped across cultures.

In particular, thanks to the similarity between human and Klingon forms, we can hope that a passage like this one - that depends on idioms regarding "the hand" are not too difficult to render in tlhIngan Hol. It seems reasonable that Klingons would understand how "the hand" carries a variety of ideas: for example "in good hands," "right hand man," "laying on of hands," "short handed," or "even-handed."

Imagine instead a non-corporeal energy creature, or a changeling with malleable shape and features - what would they make of this confident assertion about God's care?

SoH DichDaq stretch vo' lIj ghop Daq the QeHpu' vo' wIj jaghpu'. lIj nIH ghop DichDaq toD jIH.

You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7b

ghop - hand, is a word that can very directly, and literally translate the Hebrew "yad," what Webster calls: the extremity of the arm, consisting of the palm and fingers, connected with the arm at the wrist; the part with which we hold and use any instrument.

Now the word used in the beginning of this clause, "yad," occurs over 1400 times in the Bible (and is translated as hand over a 1000) is not the only noun used. The second part of the verse translates as "right hand" "yamiyn" - and means the right hand or side of a person or other object (as the stronger and more dexterous). The idea is to strengthen the promised power of God's hand - not just his hand, but his RIGHT hand, the strongest one.

We don't have details on the Klingons regarding right versus left - the strength and preference of one over another, so an emphasis on strength makes more sense in explaining this - in fact, I think a Klingon would like how the NLT version does just that:

you will preserve me against the anger of my enemies.
You will clench your fist against my angry enemies!
Your power will save me. Psalm 138:7b NLT

While the hand suggests power and ability - it also holds the promise of care, of connection, of intimacy. If you've ever joined a prayer circle - holding hands with other believers, you may have experienced that intimacy, the way fellowship unites believers. Not every hand is strong - but linked together we can, as the writer of Hebrews said:

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. Heb 10:24,25 NLT

And God's hand reaches out to hold us, and strengthen us, and it's a hand that is permanently linked to us. I treasure the promise from Isaiah, to the those in Jerusalem who faced exile and were afraid of being forgotten:

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on my hand. Isaiah 49:16 NLT

If you're like me, that strikes a chord. I can't count the number of times I've used my ghop, my hand as an impromptu notepad. Jotting a quick word or letter to jog my memory in the one memo pad that will always be "at hand." God's like that too. Except it isn't picking up a gallon of milk on the way home that he is recording - it's YOU. The word for "written" is more like "carve" - think of a tattoo - a mark that won't EVER wash off. God has no intention of abandoning or forgetting his people.

SoH DichDaq stretch vo' lIj ghop Daq the QeHpu' vo' wIj jaghpu'. lIj nIH ghop DichDaq toD jIH.

You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7b

Rejoice - you are in good hands.