Psalm 11 -- The Message
A David Psalm
1-3I've already run for dear life straight to the arms of GOD.
So why would I run away now
when you say,
"Run to the mountains; the evil
bows are bent, the wicked arrows
Aimed to shoot under cover of darkness
at every heart open to God.
The bottom's dropped out of the country;
good people don't have a chance"?
4-6 But GOD hasn't moved to the mountains;
his holy address hasn't changed.
He's in charge, as always, his eyes
taking everything in, his eyelids
Unblinking, examining Adam's unruly brood
inside and out, not missing a thing.
He tests the good and the bad alike;
if anyone cheats, God's outraged.
Fail the test and you're out,
out in a hail of firestones,
Drinking from a canteen
filled with hot desert wind.
7 GOD's business is putting things right;
he loves getting the lines straight,
Setting us straight. Once we're standing tall,
we can look him straight in the eye.
I admit it. I read the first 2 verses of the Psalm and could not decide who the ‘you’ meant. I am not an English teacher but it really gets me when there is no clear antecedent. I flew straight to my new favorite website:
http://www.biblegateway.com/
and asked for The Message version. Isn’t it fabulous?
But the real reason why this Psalm spoke to me is because the ‘sky is falling, the sky is falling’ mantra that I hear nearly every day from someone. Yesterday, it was a possible roofer. Yes, we have to have a new roof. But the real story is – when he was up on my roof, looking over my backyard that looks pretty bad right now due to winter and chickens, he said, ‘well, when the world as we know it ends, you’ll be able to feed your boys the chickens.' Nothing about hail damage. Only the end of life as we know it.
If you listen to the Democrats, it will be the end if a Republican is elected. To a Republican, if Obama is reelected. To a lot of elderly folks, if they cut out or increase the Medicare medicine Part A,B,C, or D again, it will end all life. Don’t extend the jobless benefits, do extend the jobless benefits. Fix the food system, don’t do away with cheap food. You name it, people are out there ranting and raving about what will end the world. Buy gold, stockpile food and fuel. The Preppers. The Fear mongers.
Even in Bible times, this was happening. Look at Psalm 11 verse 3. In the NIV, it says the foundations are being destroyed. And in Jesus’ time: the harvest is plentiful, what we need is for God to send more workers! (The harvest being the ill, maimed, broken, and oppressed that were following him.)
Most of the Psalms are arranged strangely, at least to our Western way of thinking about poetry. If you ever had to write anything in English class you will recognize the importance of staying on topic. Pick what you are going to write about and stick to it. Hebrew poetry is not that way. It is more compare and contrast. Bible researchers call this Parallelism. The Hebrew poets loved to deal in couplets – with opposing viewpoints. To our Western way, we see this as abrupt shifts. The ancient Hebrews just saw them as answers. If we were reading in Hebrew, we would notice the meter and the constant alliteration but that is lost in translation. Except, of course, if you read it in the King James! http://www.bible-researcher.com/hebrew-poetry.html
And the answer to the destruction of the foundations is this: “God is in charge”. Will there be wicked people ruining others? Oh YES. But will they triumph in the end. No. The Lord loves justice. The wicked people will suck burning sulfur.
Blessings on your readings and meditations.
Somehow, someway, God takes the sordid mess of our lives, ancient and present and makes them work. And not only work, but exceed all expectation.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the time of this post, you will see that I broke Rule 1. Friday was just on e fo those days where I woke really early for a breakfast meeting, then went from thing to thing all day long until I finally nade it hone at 11:15 so tired that I never even thought about the reading. Today, though, I have one fo those mornings with a littel time so I broke Rule 1 and read yesterday's reading.
ReplyDeleteThe way that I remember the story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah being taught to me in Sunday School is different than it actually was. Laban and Jacob make a deal that Jacob will work 7 years and then get Rachel as his wife. After 7 years, Laban tricks Jacob and gives him Leah instead. Then Jacob and Laban make another deal so that Jacob gets Rachel for another 7 years worth of work. Here is where the difference is, I always thought that Jacob did not get Rachel until after another 7 years but the real version is that he got Rachel at end of "marriage week". And then he worked the 7 years after. Laban has negotiated quite a deal; in a one week time period, he marries off both daughters for 14 years worth of work. Laban should have stuck to the original deal because I believe that Jacob justifies his own trickery over the sheep and goats in today's reading because of it.