Post by Mark on Apr 7, 2008 4:42:16 GMT -8
Birkat HaDin
"Restore the courts of righteousness, as they were at the early times, and counselors as there were once. Remove our sorrows and troubles: we long for You, Adonai, to rule over us with kindness and compassion, to justify us in justice. Blessed are You, Adonai, the King who loves righteousness and justice."
This is an election year… and, wow! Have you heard quite so much of how things were so much better when…? This bantering goes back and forth every election cycle. Capitalizing on the knowledge that man’s memory is extremely short-term, it’s easy to reminisce about the "good ol’ days" when "our party" ran the government.
It’s easy to assume that this is the idea of the prayer of the Birkat Din: "Adonai, return us to the days that were good… which I remember so fondly." To think in such terms is to miss the point entirely. This prayer is Messianic by definition. It speaks and reminds us of a time when the people of Adonai were not ruled like other nations, the days before we demanded a king to rule over us, when Adonai, Himself, ruled us as His people.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
(1 Samuel 8:4-7)
When praying the Birkat Din, we must remember from whence we have come and the hope that we have within us. He is our King. When we ask for the restoration of the "courts of the righteous," we are asking that He resume His rightful place as King over all creation.
We also recognize His present sovereignty over all things.
Many seek the ruler's favor; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD.
(Proverbs 29:26)
We pray for the rulers of our people: that whomever they may be, that they are pliable instruments of His will. We pray for understanding, seeing His hand in the decisions that are passed through heads of state.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
(Proverbs 21:1)
"Restore the courts of righteousness, as they were at the early times, and counselors as there were once. Remove our sorrows and troubles: we long for You, Adonai, to rule over us with kindness and compassion, to justify us in justice. Blessed are You, Adonai, the King who loves righteousness and justice."
This is an election year… and, wow! Have you heard quite so much of how things were so much better when…? This bantering goes back and forth every election cycle. Capitalizing on the knowledge that man’s memory is extremely short-term, it’s easy to reminisce about the "good ol’ days" when "our party" ran the government.
It’s easy to assume that this is the idea of the prayer of the Birkat Din: "Adonai, return us to the days that were good… which I remember so fondly." To think in such terms is to miss the point entirely. This prayer is Messianic by definition. It speaks and reminds us of a time when the people of Adonai were not ruled like other nations, the days before we demanded a king to rule over us, when Adonai, Himself, ruled us as His people.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
(1 Samuel 8:4-7)
When praying the Birkat Din, we must remember from whence we have come and the hope that we have within us. He is our King. When we ask for the restoration of the "courts of the righteous," we are asking that He resume His rightful place as King over all creation.
We also recognize His present sovereignty over all things.
Many seek the ruler's favor; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD.
(Proverbs 29:26)
We pray for the rulers of our people: that whomever they may be, that they are pliable instruments of His will. We pray for understanding, seeing His hand in the decisions that are passed through heads of state.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
(Proverbs 21:1)
