A REFLECTION ON PSALM 2 (FROM MORNING PRAYER on January 5, 2026)

On Monday January 5th, I flew to an undisclosed location because two women I knew were being detained by ICE and were being held in an ICE prison. (I'm tired of euphemism - its official name is a "Transitional Center." I did prison ministry when I served in New Hampshire, so I know that what I entered was a prison and not a "center.") These women are in the US legally. They have a pending asylum case. They were recently issued work permits valid through 2030. There is no reason for them to be held. And yet, they've been imprisoned since December 1, far from their home, their family, the jobs, and their church community. 

Sitting in the airport and waiting to fly, I read Psalm 2:

1 Why are the nations in an uproar? *
        Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?
 2 Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, *
         against the LORD and against his Anointed?
3 "Let us break their yoke," they say; *
         "let us cast off their bonds from us."
4 He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; *
        the Lord has them in derision.
5 Then he speaks to them in his wrath, *
        and his rage fills them with terror.
6 "I myself have set my king *
        upon my holy hill of Zion."
7 Let me announce the decree of the LORD: *
         he said to me, "You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance *
         and the ends of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall crush them with an iron rod *
        and shatter them like a piece of pottery."
10 And now, you kings, be wise; *
        be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Submit to the LORD with fear, *
         and with trembling bow before him;
12 Lest he be angry and you perish; *
        for his wrath is quickly kindled.
13 Happy are they all *
         who take refuge in him!

Reading the Old Testament, particularly Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, you can see the story of the people of Israel develop. They move from being a nomadic tribe to a more settled nation. And they plead with God to give them a king like the other nations around them. They are sure that if they have kings, they will be more powerful. You can sense that they feel that they system of judges, with God as their true king, just doesn't have the weight, the heft, of an actual KING. 

Eventually, God gives them what they ask for. But before long, the kings are a disaster, ruling with their own interest at heart, rather than the good of the nation. Quite a bit of ink is spilled, in the psalms and in the prophetic writings, lamenting the selfishness of kings. We read about kings who fail to look after their nations. Kings who put their own interests above those they are supposed to serve. Kings who fail to do right. Kings prone to violence and tyrannical behavior.

It wasn't lost on me that as I traveled to visit women being detained for no apparent reason other than their country of origin, that I was reading a psalmist's lament about the bad behavior of kings, of political leaders.  The psalmist's words rang true. They serve as a reminder that leaders have a responsibility to act with justice and mercy.