Psalm 12
I am not a Bible scholar. I am not a Latin scholar. The “subtitle” for Psalm 12, the psalm for today, is Salvum me fac. I had to look it up. It translates into “Save me”.
Then you read the psalm itself and you want to open your window and shout “Save me” into the night air, a la the scene from the movie Network.
Had to look that up too. Found a lot of forgotten quotes from this iconic mid-1970’s film that are eerily reflective of the current state of affairs. Then I re-read the psalm … and I felt a tiny bit better.
We are not the first people to live in “interesting times”. By a long shot.
Verse 7 says: “O Lord, watch over us and save us from this generation for ever.” We are not alone.
The majority of this psalm seems very “end of days”. A bit out of character for the standard prayer, reflection and preparation for the birth of Christ focus of the season of Advent.
I am not an Advent scholar either. From what I can tell, this first week of Advent (and the first candle in the wreath) is about Hope. Hope is what we need and hope is what we have:
Verse 5: “Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery, I will rise up,” says the Lord, “and give them the help they long for.”
Cry out Salvum me fac into the night air.
We are not in this alone.
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