I am amazed by the spirit and resolve of the Ukrainian people, especially in light of all they’ve suffered at the hands of the Russians over the decades, especially the Hododomor, or Terror Famine, inflicted on Ukraine by Joseph Stalin in the early 1930s ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor ). The Russians are just as brutal today as they’ve ever been, especially the Russian Wagner Group. The following photos are some of what I collected in the early days of the war. These images seem to have effected me the most, although anything coming out of Ukraine documenting the death and suffering of the Ukrainians always brings me to a moment of prayer for the heroic Ukrainian people.

1. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
2. for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me:
   they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred;
   and fought against me without a cause.
4. For my love they are my adversaries:
   but I give myself unto prayer.
5. And they have rewarded me evil for good,
   and hatred for my love.
6. Set thou a wicked man over him:
   and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned:
   and let his prayer become sin.
8. Let his days be few;
   and let another take his office.
9. Let his children be fatherless,
   and his wife a widow.
10. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg:
    let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
    and let the strangers spoil his labour.
12. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him:
    neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
13. Let his posterity be cut off;
    and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord;
    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15. Let them be before the Lord continually,
    that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy,
    but persecuted the poor and needy man,
    that he might even slay the broken in heart.
17. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him:
    as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment,
    so let it come into his bowels like water,
    and like oil into his bones.
19. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him,
    and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord,
    and of them that speak evil against my soul.
21. But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy name’s sake:
    because thy mercy is good,
    deliver thou me.
22. For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
23. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth:
    I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24. My knees are weak through fasting;
    and my flesh faileth of fatness.
25. I became also a reproach unto them:
    when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.
26. Help me, O Lord my God:
    O save me according to thy mercy:
27. that they may know that this is thy hand;
    that thou, Lord, hast done it.
28. Let them curse, but bless thou:
    when they arise, let them be ashamed;
    but let thy servant rejoice.
29. Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame,
    and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
30. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;
    yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
31. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
    to save him from those that condemn his soul.

Lauren Boebert, Republican US Representative for Colorado’s 3rd congressional district, who won by only 500 votes in a cherry-red Republican district against her Democratic opponent, has been cherry picking quotes from the Old Testament, specifically Psalms 109, verses 8 and 9, to stir up the pagan Christians in Texas against President Biden. As usual, the grossly ignorant Boebert understands nothing of the the scripture from which she quotes.

Psalm 109 is attributed to King David and noted for containing some of the most severe curses in the Bible, such as verses 12 and 13. It has traditionally been called the “Judas Psalm” because of an particular interpretation relating in verse 8 (above in Psalm 109) to Judas Iscariot’s punishment as noted in the New Testament.

The best interpretation I’ve read of this Psalm is from Enduring World ( https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-109/ ) starting with:

This is a Psalm of David, and is thought to be the strongest of what are known as the imprecatory psalms, David’s songs that call down curses upon his enemies. It is important to remember that these are prayers, committing vengeance unto God. With the greater revelation of grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ, we understand that we are to pray for the good of our enemies, and not for their ruin.

Yet, we remind ourselves that David refused to act upon these curses; he left vengeance up to God. This is especially relevant regarding David, who knew what it was to take life with the sword. When David withheld vengeance, it was because he chose to, not because he lacked the opportunity, skill, or courage.

My own interpretation has President Biden standing in for King David, and thus the verses in green ( 1-5 and 30-31) speak to the condition of leadership in the face of relentless lying critics, such as the Magat Republican’ts. I particular point out verse 31, and the scripture “For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor…” The Republican’ts will have nothing to do with the poor, and as a consequence will stand before God in judgement as is foretold in Matthew 25, verses 31 through 46.

Links

sheep and goats

Matthew Chapter 25
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

I am reminded of what we as Christians are called to do in this verse. Especially when I read of how the governors of Florida and Texas bus and fly migrants from their borders up to Martha’s Vineyard or the Vice Presidents residence in Washington D.C. These words become especially sharp when I see the rich white nationalist Christians preach their prosperity gospel to other rich white nationalist Christians.

I have lost my religion because of such corruption within American Protestantism, and have been unchurched as a result for over a decade now. But I still have my faith and belief.

I hope the Ukrainians fighting for their freedom send the warmongering godless Russian invaders straight to everlasting Hell.

The photo above seems to sum up my impression of the Ukrainian people against the Russians. Attempting to hold out against overwhelming forces in the middle of the destruction against many of their major cities, especially Kyiv. Putin is now committed to a course of action he won’t abandon until, and unless, he faces overwhelming defeat. And I strongly believe he’s barely gotten started in how much cruel and destructive force he can muster against Ukraine, and now anyone else daring to support Ukraine. Putin does not care. He is this era’s Stalin, who sent tens of millions into the golags, and who was responsible for the Holodomor, or Terror-Famine, from 1932 to 1933 that killed between 3.5 and 4 million Ukrainians. Some say that it was Stalin’s attempt to crush a Ukrainian independence movement at that time. Putin wants to repeat history, this time by force of arms.

If Putin can’t do it alone, it would appear that Putin’s running dog lackey and Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov is in Ukraine, near Kyiv, leading his fighters against Ukraines and other Chechen fighters fighting for Ukraine. Apocalyptic times ahead for sure.

I’ve been reading the news non-stop concerning Russia’s botched invasion of Ukraine. I have no doubt that Putin thought Ukraine was a soft target, so soft that all he had to do was just show up with his navy and his 150,000 plus troops and all his air forces and they’d all roll over the Ukrainians that that would be that. After all, that’s pretty much what he did with Belarus to Ukraine’s north. I’m sure Putin felt that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, former comedic actor and current president, would cut and run. Instead, he’s stayed behind along with his citizens and continues to resist the defend their homeland.

Then there’s the Snake Island story, in which 13 Ukrainian defenders told the Russian warship that showed up and demanded they surrender to go fuck themselves. At which point the Russian warship allegedly opened up on them and killed all 13 them all. Or perhaps not. It’s been reported, by the Russians, that no one was killed, and that they all surrendered (here’s The Guardian’s version of the story: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/ukraine-island-defenders-who-told-russian-officer-go-fuck-yourself-may-still-be-alive ). All 83. Ok. Except the numbers don’t add up, there was the recorded interaction between the warship and the Ukrainians, and to top it off, I don’t trust anything the Russians have to say on the matter, or any matter.

Finally, all the whataboutists can go fuck themselves. There is no deflection from, or protection of, in any way, shape, or form, for what Russia is doing. None whatsoever. And I’m looking straight at the morally corrupt GOP. How in God’s name can the party of Ronald Reagan, who in 1983 gave his evil empire speech, who with regards to Russia warned us not “to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire…” ( https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/reagan-evil-empire-speech-text/  ). His warning is as clear today as it was back in 1983.

We all need to stand with Ukraine against Russia and all of Russia’s apologists and supporters, both foreign and domestic.

Stand with Ukraine.