Psalm 68:5-6 "Prosperity or a Parched Land"

Psalm for Today = 68:5-6 

"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows 

     is God in his holy habitation. 

        God settles the solitary in a home; 

      he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, 

                    but the rebellious dwell in a parched land." (ESV)

Comment: There are several verses from Psalm 68 that I could have picked to focus on today, such as...

Verse 2, which sounds a bit like the conclusion of the classic movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) when the Nazi treasure hunter melts upon opening the Ark.

As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
    as wax melts before fire,
    so the wicked shall perish before God!

If you have seen that movie, you know what I am referring to and are glad I didn't post the GIF!

Golan Heights (2007) by Greg K. Dueker

Or, I could have focused on verses 15-16 that poetically capture some of the envy and angst found in the Golan Heights (Bashan) before they were occupied by Israeli forces in 1967.

    O            mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;

    O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!

Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

    at the mount that God desired for his abode,

    yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

But I always appreciate the tender and relational approach to doing justice that we see as the mission of God in verses 5-6 above. What a wonderful statement about the Lord that is almost a descriptive name. 

If I could paraphrase verse five, it might be something like this, “What is God like at home? He is the Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.” 

What makes this even more important as we seek to understand the Lord is that this was very counter-cultural. "Orphans [the fatherless] and widows" are representative of the powerless and poor who have been marginalized throughout history. God humbles himself to consider them family, even though the world may have rejected them. Come to think of it, the world rejected Jesus Christ as well! Family protects family and widows need a champion to fight on their behalf. God speaks protectively of them repeatedly whether in the law or the prophets. There are at least 31 references to these powerless people in the Old Testament alone! We should also note that God’s righteous anger at social injustice is consistently tied to his defense of widows and orphans. 

Later, in the New Testament, Jesus’ half-brother would write,

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this:

        to visit orphans and widows in their affliction,

 and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

[Note: "to visit" in this passage does not mean to show up as inspectors who judge others as "less than" but to lovingly come alongside in relational mercy as one who looks out for those who are most vulnerable.] 

Today, people in the West long for authentic community and seek to find it through as many connections as possible. However, despite some amazing technology, we are more lonely and anxious than ever. Our isolation and extreme individualism are not healthy in any area of life. Amazingly, God's great mission includes "setting the solitary in a home" or grafting the lonely into a family! In his steadfast love, the Lord doesn't leave any of us lost sheep to our own devices! Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

Israeli Wilderness Photo: Greg K. Dueker 

Deuteronomy has a profoundly affective-relational command as Moses repeated the law for the new generation that was about to enter the Promised Land. 

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. (Deut. 15:7-8)

Many centuries later, St. John said it like this, "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:17-18)

God wants us to be both tenderhearted and openhanded in how we engage the poor and the powerless... because they are precious in his sight! 

The question we have to answer is, will we join God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in their unified mission of mercy and reconciliation, or will we turn away with rebellious and closed hearts that insist on living alone in a parched land?