Psalm 12 "Longing for Safety"

Psalm 12:1, 5 

Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man…

 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

Comments:

This psalm is an individual lament as we can see in verse one’s prayerful request, “Save, O Lord”. It also contains a bit of imprecatory (v. 3) and a pinch of wisdom (v.6).

The larger context of the psalm indicates that when David wrote this, he was frustrated by the lying and treacherous words of his generation. It seemed like everyone had become corrupt in their speech. It is not much different today…check the comment thread on any sports or political post you find on the internet. People still use their power and wealth to oppress and disrespect others based on race, class, religion, and culture covering their actions with lying words. And many who have no power would treat others just as oppressively if they did.

Yet here in v, 5 we have the answer to David’s cry for help (v.1). The Lord rises up to deliver and save the poor/needy who are groaning because of the plundering that they are suffering. In the Old Testament “the poor” is the godly person who trusts in the Lord instead of in himself and worldly power structures. These were the “have-nots” of society that what little they had was being taken by those with more. They were being terrorized in a very real way.

Is it satisfying to see the Lord’s answer? He will move and “place” the poor/needy one who is trusting in Him “in the safety for which he longs.” I think so.

This was a verse that I got to share with my son as he headed off for a military deployment as a combat medic. This verse instructs me that I need to have a tender heart towards the oppressed wherever I may find them. Why? Because this is the very heart of God! Our military men and women can be self-serving just like anyone else, but they can also do some very brave and sacrificial things in an effort to protect others. Our government may make decisions that are not in the best interest of the poor and needy, but there are many who lay down their lives in sacrificial service to bring them to “the safety for which he longs.”  When they do this for others, they reflect something of the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. 

Our calling as Christ followers, is to come alongside those in need, show kindness, build relationship, and walk with them. It may be that we can help them to safety, or that in our risking something for others that we can be helped by what we learn from them. Some in terrible danger long for true safety, others merely loiter in it risking nothing for others. 

In any event, Gods heart is compassionate and responsive to his people, and his words are always true and dependable. So, even when I risk an investment of trust in the Lord he is my Deliverer and I really have risked nothing for he is the one who died for me and even now gives the harvest!

[Note: This psalm marks a memorial stone of sorts. It was on this psalm in January 2010 that in response to requests from readers (like Janet Miller) I began adding short commentary to the verses that I posted on Facebook. Then about a year ago, those comments moved into a more developed blog.]

Psalm 8: "Humble Glory?"

Psalm 8:5-6

"Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet..."

Comments:

I have commented on v. 1 and v. 3-4 three times each, so here is something different. (Note: Although psalms should generally be taken as a whole unit, after reading the whole psalm I will generally just comment on a couple of verses.)

Man is the apex of God’s creation and has been “crowned him with glory and honor” but we too often think that glory is ours to seek and grasp, as I began my poem, Humble Glory,

Born to share glory, not seek it.

Yet sniffing, climbing, grasping, fighting, expecting,

We hunt along a different path

Twisted we claim it, kill it,

Poisoned by pride…

Just as the Bible speaks of the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3), I have found its fraternal twin, which I call anti-glory. After mankind turned away from a dependent relationship with the Glorious and fell into sin, he sought to replace that lost glory through his own efforts or images (Romans 1:23; Philippians 3:19). But this imitation glory—this vainglory—leaves a bitter aftertaste. Dr. Ron Frost uses Augustine’s relational metaphor to describe the tragic consequences of that first temptation to be like God,

"It is the adultery of the heart, the lust for human glory, the idolatry of greed, and the careless self-absorption of pride that Jesus condemns. The behavioral dimensions of sin are merely barometric indications of the hurricane of death that destroyed and destroys hearts through their desire to be like God."^[1]

The serpent lied. We are not God and never could be divine, except through humble participation in Christ’s love. As IBottom of Form later poetically described (again from Humble Glory),

Glory is given not grasped,

Belonging to God—Father, Son, Spirit—

Shared in his Trinitarian community of love.

Yet he invites us in as family, to eat once again

What we once lost by taking.

The psalmist here worships the Lord fully, recognizing that any humble glory he had, any dominion he exercised was what had been given him by God. I am no king nor psalmist, but I have a share in the glory of the King…because he died for me!

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[1] Paul L. Metzger, ed. Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (New York: T & T Clark, 2005), 105.