Ukraine Dispatch 27 | Deus, in Nomine ~ Боже, в ім'я ~ G-D, in the Name

The Flag of Ukraine flies at full Mast before the Winds, the very essence of our Freedom and Belief in Democracy.

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Боже, в ім'я

I often find scripture difficult to read, because I refuse to go back to the mindset of four thousand years ago when, despite being able to observe the Moon and the Sun, there was little comprehension beyond a flattened earth and a flat sea.

But when I read scripture through 21st Century eyes, then it has a timelessness. Human nature was as splendid then as it is now. Human nature was as rotten then as it is now.

As the writer in Ecclesiastes pondered … There is Nothing New Under the Sun. [I]

This week is not good for any of us. It is made even worse because it is at the hand of a tyrant living in a parallel universe.

When a nation’s politicians and soldiers tell the person at the top only what he, she, or they want to hear, then surely, as a city whose walls are broken down, will calamity rush headlong into the collapsed defences.

Боже, в ім'я
is Psalm 54. [ii]

I read it last night before I put the light out. I did not like it. But then I read it again in this century. This time it captures the collective voice of the Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine.

It then became very clear.

This is the only reason I write this rendition of Psalm 54 here.

For what it is worth, reader, I have just lost my commander-in-chief of 48 years. My country’s armed forces have a new commander-in-chief.

I’m very aware of the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and sailors being trained here in the United Kingdom to return straight to the battlefield.

For the first time, I sense how my uncle’s instructors in the USA felt when training him and thousands more to become pilots, knowing full well what they were returning them to, upon graduating, in 1940-1941.

We will all get through this.

There may yet be hope that the Russian People will realize what has been done. So my prayer is not only for the People of Ukraine but for the Russians who are now being arrested in protests in Moscow, St Petersberg, and many other Russian cities.

At the service of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II five days ago, the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury will surely have left several people in the congregation feeling decidedly uncomfortable.

People of loving service are rare in any walk of life.
Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
But in all cases,
those who serve will be loved and remembered
when those who cling to power and privileges
are forgotten.

Right Reverend Justin Welby, MA, Hon FCT, Archbishop of Canterbury

Psalm 54, a 21st-Century Rendition

SAVE US, the Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine, O God, that Your Name might be uplifted, and avenge us in your strength.

Hear our prayer O God, and take great note of the words we speak with you.

Because strangers have risen up against us: tyrants, and who have no vision or concept of God, and yet who seek to steal our souls.

To the World, take note that we, the People of Ukraine, know that God is our helper. The Lord is with every one of us, and our souls are uplifted by the Lord.

This is our confidence. That the Lord will bring calamity upon all those who seek to destroy us. Truth destroys.

In our humility and quiet resolve, our offering to you God is our collective free hearts.

We will praise your Name, O Lord. Because to do so brings us comfort beyond measure.

We know that God will deliver us out of these present troubles; our eyes have seen his eyes, his desire.

And we, the Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine most surely testify:

That it is a terrible thing

to fall into the hands

of the Living GOD.

[iii]

22 September 2022
All Rights Reserved

© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2022

Footnotes

[I] Ecclesiastes 1 v 9
[ii] Psalm 54
[iii] Hebrews 10: 31

The banner Image is from a BBC News Report in March 2022 reporting on the War in Ukraine, and the defiance of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The BBC image is captioned Defiant Ukrainian troops tell Russians; go home while you are still alive.

By courtesy of BBC News 24 to whom copyright belongs.