John Mark Hicks

Psalm 35 is a passionate lament that contains a strong contrast between human injustice and divine righteousness. Though the Psalmist empathetically prayed and fasted for those who seek to do the Psalmist harm when they were weak and needy, now they devise evil and hate him without cause. The Psalmist prays for justice according to […]

Do you feel the need to pray against evil and violence? How do you pray? What do you say? What commitments are entailed in such prayers? Psalm 140, which is quoted in the New Testament, offers a way of praying against evil and violence. Be careful, however. These words cannot be prayed unless our hearts […]

Dr. James Nesmith, Jr. joins Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks to discuss the meaning and significance of Psalm 58. This is an imprecatory lament against injustice on the part of rulers (whether “gods” as NRSV has it, or “rulers” as the NIV [2011] has it). How might we pray this prayer today as disciples […]

Occasioned by the injustices of the ruling class, the community petitions God to judge their unjust judges. A worshipper speaks for the community in a kind of “cultic prophetic lament.”[1] One might imagine a Jeremiah or some priestly leader voicing this complaint at the temple as Israel’s judges gathered to worship. Jeremiah may have appeared at […]