Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? – Psalm 80:12

Today's Scripture Reading (August 11, 2022): Psalm 80

I usually like to try to spend a couple of weeks every summer in "fruit country." The place where I usually go, to be honest, it has been a few years since I have had the chance to visit, is filled with orchards; they seem to be everywhere. What amazes me is that some orchards have fences around them. These barriers secure the fruit from those who might want to take advantage of a vulnerable fruit crop, but other orchards appear to be naked and unprotected. I can imagine that these orchards could be easily looted by those who just want to cause a disturbance and damage, or even by those who are simply hungry and in need of something to eat. Maybe the unprotected orchards are protected by electronic devices that I can't see. Still, it would seem that some protection is needed to protect the valuable crops growing within their borders.

In ancient times, it was often a thorny hedge that protected crops from animals and unwanted human interference. It is this thorny hedge that Asaph is speaking of as a wall. Whether you want to call it a wall or a hedge, it is a barrier that keeps the fruit safe. Without the hedge, by-passers could reach over to the vines and take some fruit for themselves, and animals of the field could come in during the night and destroy the orchard.

But Asaph isn't talking about an actual orchard. He is comparing himself to the orchard. Once, Asaph believed that there was a hedge around his life, but now there were holes in the wall, and his enemies seemed to be streaming through the gaps. And there is nothing Asaph wanted more than for God to repair the hedge and fill in the gaps in the wall before his enemies overwhelm him and destroy his life.

The idea that God places a hedge around our lives wasn't an unheard-of concept. In the story of Job, God presents Job as an upstanding example of humanity. Satan's reply is, "does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land" (Job 1:9-10). It is still a prayer that we pray today as we ask God to place a "hedge of protection" around us. Like Asaph, we want to feel that a wall of protection surrounds us and keeps us safe.

The problem with hedges is that the protection runs two ways. We are protected from the horrors of this world, but the world is also protected from our influence, which it desperately needs. But, as was true in the story of Job and likely in the story of Asaph, I am not convinced that God wants to treat us like a crop of grapes.

Some years ago, I changed how I prayed for myself, the church, and my friends. I stopped asking God to place a hedge of protection around me and those who are important to me. Instead of a hedge of protection, I began to ask God to make us dangerous. Rather than pleading for God to insulate us from the world with a barrier, I am asking God to make us dangerous to every source of evil in this world. Allow us to live dangerously, loving a world that has given up on love and has learned not to trust. This is the way that I want to live my life.

My prayer today remains, "God, take away the hedge of protection from around our lives. It is time that made your church dangerous.

Today's Scripture Reading: Psalms 81 & 82