Lifted horns - Psalm 75

"Monday, Monday," sang the Mamas & the Papas, "so good to me...Monday mornin', it was all I hoped it would be." But by Monday evening, the singer has been deserted and no longer trusts Mondays. Now "whenever Monday comes...you can find" her "cryin' all of the time."

Modern society views Mondays just as negatively. It sees Monday as the inconvenient end of the weekend, which is party time, and the dreaded beginning of the work week, which is drudgery.

That view comes from a warped perception of work. Work is a calling from God. We ought to view the work week as a new opportunity to fulfill our calling in the work place. And our weekend is an opportunity to spend extended time with family, but primarily an opportunity to spend extended time with God in worship.

Yet even the Christian with the proper view of work as calling experiences times when it is tough to go back to work on Monday. Perhaps looming deadlines seem impossible. Perhaps the work situation is constantly high stress. Perhaps the environment is extremely negative. Perhaps tools are not adequate for the task. Perhaps persistent breakdowns create continual tension. Perhaps health problems make it difficult to endure the work's physical demands. Perahps a mother feels overwhelmed and isolated by the nagging demands of her children. Perhaps financial constraints force a mom to leave her dear little children.

If I think about all the struggles that others face, I realize how easy it is for me to return to work. Since I work in a home office, I don't even have to leave the house! But after a weekend of talking, eating, and playing with our children and grandchildren who camped in our yard, it is difficult to switch my mind from family mode into work mode.

Meditating on scripture helps me order my thinking early in the mornings. This morning's reading from Psalm 75 reminds me that God judges the wicked and lifts up the righteous.

When the Psalmist thinks about God's "wondrous deeds," he thanks God because His "name is near" (verse 1).

Verses 2-6 directly quote God. He assures readers that at His appointed time He "will judge with equity." He will keep the people and "pillars" of the earth steady when it "totters." God warns the boastful and the wicked not to boast or "lift up" their "horn on high" or "speak with a haughty neck."

Verses 6-8 explain why the wicked ought not boast or be haughty. Lifting up does not come from the east or west or from the wilderness; "it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another." The Lord holds a cup of "well mixed" and "foaming wine," which He pours out "and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs."

Because God will execute judgment, the Psalmist concludes:
But I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up (verses 9-10).

When we return to work on Monday mornings, wherever or whatever our work situation, we can work with the confidence that comes from knowing that God will judge the proud who set themselves above the righteous. The wicked may seem to have control over your work situation, but that is only temporary. Their power will not last. God will cut off the horns of the wicked, but He will lift up the horns of the righteous.

God's promise to lift up the horns of the righteous enables us to go forward in our God-appointed tasks on Monday and every morning.