The Lord is your guardian; He is at your right, guarding your life from all evil (Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8). God secures the rights of His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night; pray to Him always without becoming weary (Luke 18:1-8).
Whence shall help come?
Psalm 121 is a psalm of confidence as one ascends in pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Mountains were seen as inspiring confidence, places of refuge and safety. Reaching up to the heavens, they were thought to be places where the gods dwell. Israel was familiar with this sort of thinking, since their history was filled with momentous events occurring on mountains, and Solomon built the temple on one. So, looking to the mountains for help, the psalmist’s answer to his own question “Whence shall help come?” specifically proclaims his belief that help is “from the Lord” who dwells in Jerusalem—the mighty God of Israel “who made heaven and earth.”
God, described reassuringly as “the guardian of Israel”, is a solicitous protector who will not let His people stumble and who watches day and night (“who does not slumber”); everyone can sleep securely, because the Lord watches. He is said to be at their right hand, the support that is always there on-call, the assistance in time of distress that people will automatically reach out for. He is their “shade” by day from the heat (Isaiah 25:4), and underneath it “they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine” (Hosea 14:7). By night, the shade shall guard them from the moon’s perceived harmful effects, from lunar disturbances that cause fever and other ailments. The Lord will guard over you and every moment of your life, without any limitation of time and space.
God answers those who call out to Him
The unjust judge in the gospel is described as fearing neither God nor other human beings. By his own admission, he is not a righteous person or a pious believer who holds in regard the greatest law of love of God and love of neighbor. He is unjust because he does not care to ensure that justice is served to all; he violates by omission his very duty as judge to uphold justice for all, especially for the defenseless and most vulnerable in society. Such is the widow, who is apparently all alone in the world, since there is no one else to push for her case; she is the voiceless one whose only power is faith in justice and persistence.
The widow is a bold woman; she will not give up against her adversary and in the face of the indifferent judge. She is persistent in her demand for her right and for a just decision. The standoff must have been long enough to wear down the judge. He relents, saying with realism that he better give her justice before she herself becomes violent with him. Jesus argues a fortiori: If such a judge can finally vindicate the poor widow, how much more will God vindicate His chosen ones who pray persistently and cry to Him day and night? God will surely answer His faithful ones in His own time. We do not know when, therefore, we need to persevere in praying. Final vindication is assured in the coming of the Son of Man.
Alálaong bagá, God is never disinterested or uncaring. It is a matter of timing—God’s speedy time is the opportune time for us, when we are open for the divine grace and ready to benefit from it. Our help is certainly from the Lord. Jesus’ concluding and sobering question is with its own eschatological note that when He comes as the Son of Man to give justice to all, will there be those who have remained in faith, praying persistently for divine compassion?
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