Psalm 68: "We Long for the day when God will take over our land"

Leslie F. Brandt. Psalms Now. Concordia Publishing House, 1974, pp.112-113.

We long for the day when God will take over our land,
      when wickedness will be suppressed
         and selfishness subdued,
      when people will begin to care for one another.

There will be clean air to breathe
      and pure water to drink.
There will be better schools for the young,
      hospitals for all who are ill,
      and jobs for those who seek them.
Everyone will feel needed and loved—;
      the child, the laborer,
      the executive, the senior citizen.
There will be dignity and freedom and equal rights
      no matter our ethnic or economic background.
There will be homes to live in
      and parks to play in.
There will be libraries and theaters
      and halls of learning
There will be a place for everyone to live
      and work and rest and play.
And people will have time for one another

O how we will praise God in such a land!
Our voices will join a great chorus of celebration.
Daily we will offer thanksgiving to our God
      who rules over our land.
And everyone will have time for one another

But God does not rule over our land.
Our streets are pregnant with crime.
The poor and dispossessed gather at
      shelters and food banks.
Our schools are overcrowded and inadequate.
We choke on the air we breathe.
We stumble on our own litter and waste.
We neglect the old and ignore the young.
We rush pell-mell from appointment to appointment.
And no one cares for one another.

You seek, O Lord, to rule over our land.
You have given us pure air and green hills
      and great forests and clean rivers.
You have showered us with Your abundant gifts—
      all that we need to make our land splendid.
And You have given us Your love
      and the command to care for one another.

We have failed you, O God.
      We have sucked to our individual bosoms
         the gifts of your love,
      but we never really learned
         how to care for one another.

You have rebuked us for our selfishness. O Lord.
We are smothering in the waste
      of our self-centered living.
Deliver us, O God.
      Restore to us a land worthy of Your habitation.
      And teach us, O loving God,
         how to care for one another. 

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