When alternate realities collide
By ignoring God, we give in to evil, which wreaks havoc in both our lives and the lives of others. David chooses rather to submit to God and experience the love that holds the cosmos together.
A psalm of David, YHWH’s servant.
1 Deep in evildoers’ hearts
rebellion calls to them
and with no fear of God
they’ve got nothing to restrain them.
2 In their blind conceit
they think their sin
won’t ever be caught and condemned.
3 The words flowing from their mouths
are evil distortions
because they’ve deserted wisdom and goodness.
4 They lie awake in bed
plotting tomorrow’s dark schemes
commit to walking the wrong path
and make no effort to resist evil.
5 But your love, YHWH
reaches to the heavens
your faithfulness stretches to the clouds.
6 Your justice is like the mighty mountains
your judgments like the ocean deep.
You sustain people and animals alike, YHWH.
7 How precious your love, O God
that Adam’s sons and Eve’s daughters
should find shelter in the shadow of your wings!
8 They feast on the abundance of your house
and drink freely from your Eden-fresh river.
9 For you are the source of life
and in your light we see light.
10 Keep on showing mercy to all who know you
and faithfulness to those who love you.
11 Don’t let arrogant feet crush me
or wicked hands exclude me.
12 Behold!
Those who made evil their trade
lie face down, overthrown
never to rise again.
David’s world was just as full of hatred and violence as ours today. Both pagan and sometimes Israelite armies wanted David dead. Here he clearly contrasts the evildoers’ character with that of God, before weaving the two themes together in his closing prayer. And bracingly honest though the psalm is, it’s also brimful of hope.
Considering God’s purposes irrelevant, self-seekers are constantly drawn to evil. With no fear of God, they assure themselves they’ll never be caught and punished. So they don’t resist evil. They thus become fools, as evil takes shape in thoughts, words, and deeds that distort reality and wreak destruction in their lives and the lives of others.
But, says David, YHWH’s boundless love holds the universe together. His faithfulness dwarfs all the evildoers’ treachery. His determination and ability to set our world to rights are indomitable, his judgments unfathomable. Though self-seekers assert their self-sufficiency, God in fact sustains all life—their lives included.
Biblically, the temple is God’s earthly residence, from which he provides lavishly for his people. But in another sense, the whole world was created to be his temple, and he provides for all in it. He gives life and light to all humanity. He provides shelter, provision, and life to all in his household, and the light of his face lights up their faces especially.
With Eden in mind throughout, David knows evil will either crush him or be crushed. So he asks God to continue to show his people mercy and faithfulness and protect him from his enemies’ attempts to crush and disenfranchise him. And so sure is he that God will act on his behalf that he can already picture his enemies’ downfall.
Prayer:
Whenever I think evil has the upper hand, I reduce you to my size, Lord. But you have the whole world in your hands. Help me to love freely, boldly—as you do—and to live wisely. Deliver me from evil and shelter me always in the shadow of your wings. Amen.
In your free moments, meditate on these words:
Your love, YHWH
reaches to the heavens
your faithfulness stretches to the clouds.
