Today’s Scripture Reading (July 25, 2016): Psalm 72
(Warning - what follows is my personal opinion borne out of being tired of seeing news reports about gun violence. Take it as you will.)
In a recent news report, with regard to the frequent police shootings we have been experiencing lately, one expert laid the blame on the shoulders of the way that we train and do our policing. Long gone is the neighborhood cop, the one who lived in the community and got to know the people. Instead, our police officers are trained with a more “us vs. them” attitude. The police enter into their shifts like a combat squad in the danger zone, and then they go home to their own “safe” neighborhoods. The result would seem to be police violence. Changing the way we do policing is a must. Some situations are combat, I get that. But not every situation requires the same combat attitude.
But, on the other side of the coin, I also have a huge problem with our gun-crazed society. I am really tired of hearing that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. It just isn’t true. I can run from a knife or a baseball bat. At least I have a chance. A gun takes that chance away. The truth is that if you have a gun, you have the potential to kill. And, unfortunately, panic and fear are going to result in a “shoot first, keep yourself safe so you can go home after your shift and figure everything else out later” situation. Add a racially charged environment and all of this shifts upward exponentially. You have a gun, great. Lock it in your trunk when you are driving. If you have a concealed carry permit, only carry when you are actively engaged in the reason you obtained the concealed carry permit in the first place (carrying a gun to go grocery shopping only seems to be inviting trouble, whether you have a permit or not.) Under no circumstances give a scared out of his mind police officer with the wrong training an excuse to shoot you. You will win the court case in the end, but most likely you will still be dead. No court ruling is worth your life.
This prayer is written by the king, and this passage is for the king. In the ancient world, if there was anyone who had to “parachute in” to a neighborhood, it was the king. He lived a life that was separated from the daily life of the people. The king lived separately, he enjoyed privileges that no one else enjoyed. And he could essentially take a life without accountability (another problem we seem to have with police shootings). The truth is that there have been many kings and dictators who have done precisely that; taken a life on the basis of whim instead of need. If anyone needed wisdom and understanding, it was the king.
So Solomon asks God for wisdom. He wants to judge in righteousness, not just what is right for him as he lives in his protected and safe environment, but that he will do right for those people who do not live in his protected environment. He desires to react with justice toward those who have to go through life experiencing injustice that he will never know. All of this is important to him, and so he asks God for it.
Maybe this is the same prayer we need to pray for our police officers. Every day we place our lives in their hands. We need them to understand us – our problems and struggles, our concerns and fears – as they parachute from their safe neighborhoods into the places where we live. They need to do what is right and just for us so that we can prosper in the places where we live.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 132
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