5 Hear my words, Lord!
Consider my groans!
2 Pay attention to the sound of my cries, my king and my God,
because I am praying to you!
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I lay it all out before you.
Then I wait expectantly.
4 Because you aren’t a God
who enjoys wickedness;
evil doesn’t live with you.
5 Arrogant people won’t last long
in your sight;
you hate all evildoers;
6 you destroy liars.
The Lord despises people who are violent and dishonest.
7 But me? I will enter your house
because of your abundant, faithful love;
I will bow down at your holy temple,
honoring you.
8 Lord, because of many enemies,
please lead me in your righteousness.
Make your way clear,
right in front of me.
Reflection
Who doesn’t love the original Indiana Jones movies?!?!? My ranking is #1: The Last Crusade, #2 Raiders of the Lost Ark, and from there it’s a toss up of all the ridiculousness. Shout out for the fourth one though, I was SO happy they brought back Marion Ravenwood. But let’s focus… why am I talking about Indiana Jones when we are supposed to be reflecting on scripture? Well, things never go quite right for Indy, and it sounds like our speaker for Psalm 5 is feeling the same way.
“It belongs in a museum!” Since boyhood Indiana Jones is just trying to be a responsible archaeologist. He rescues and preserves valued artifacts, but just when he does something right… a giant boulder chases him through a tunnel, or Dr. Brody gets kidnapped, or the supposed damsel in distress turns out to be a Nazi, or a circus train presents lions, and rhinos, and snakes, oh my! Indy has a rough go of it sometimes, when all he’s trying to do is the right thing.
That’s kind of how I imagine this person feels as they offer themself up to God. As if to say, “Look, I’ve been having a rough time out here. I’m trying to do the right thing here… Can You show me the way? You’ve gotta give me a break and show me the way, please!”
In the end it’s about having faith in your actions and trusting that good things will come. After all, it’s always Indy who prevails. The bad guy opens the ark or grabs the wrong chalice. The bad guy and his cronies always fail, and Indy gets to ride away into the sunset. You’re still here! I hope that means you’ve had some opportunities to ride off into the sunset too.
It’s all a bit corny and fantastical. You have to admit, Harrison Ford is a master at the grumbling-but-getting-it-done-anyway trope. No matter how terrible some of the franchise has been, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade will forever be one of my ultimate favorite movies.
by Ashley Bowler
For Pondering and Prayer
Have you ever felt like Indiana Jones in one of those less-than-glamorous moments when he realizes he’s in a real pickle? How did you process the struggle you were having? What relief did you find?
Dear God, Here we are doing our best to do the right thing. Sometimes we face enemies and evildoers, but we know that Your way is the right way. Help us maintain our strength of faith as we offer our struggles to You and lead us in Your righteousness to make the path before us clear. Amen.