Such wisdom, power, and love!

Cynics sneer at God’s having made humans the center of so fantastic a universe. But however reasonable such cynicism seems, the biblical writers have always insisted on a counter-intuitive story.

 For the music director, on the gittith. A David psalm.

¹ YHWH, our Lord
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Your glory outshines suns
and stars beyond counting!
² By the mouths of little children—
mere babes at the breast—
you’ve founded a stronghold
to bring your vengeful foes to a dead stop.
³ When I look up at the glittering night sky
it’s your handiwork I see—
the moon and stars you made.
⁴ So, what on earth are we
that you care for us?
Why give us mortals a second thought? 

⁵ Yet you made us
the pinnacle of your creation
with only you above
and crowned us with glory and honor—
⁶ lords of the earth—
putting everything under our feet:
⁷ sheep and cattle on the hillside
lions and wolves in the wild
⁸ every bird that flies the skies above
every fish that swims the seven seas. 

⁹ YHWH, our Lord
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

David praises YHWH, whose majesty surpasses that of the starry skies he created. God’s building a stronghold may seem odd here, but regional creation myths had the god follow his victory over the forces of chaos with building a stronghold to keep those forces at bay. YHWH does the same, but his stronghold is built of mere words uttered by little kids. This connects with a theme running right through scripture and central to this psalm: God chooses the weak to defeat the strong.

The poem’s main point—humankind’s glorious partnership with God in ruling the earth—is made unmistakably clear through the poem’s structure.[1] In verse 4, David asks two questions virtually synonymous in the Hebrew, bringing the poem to a dramatic standstill against the movement on either side of them. We thus pivot from seeing humans as insignificant amidst the glory of the cosmos, to seeing them as breathtakingly glorious, positioned just below God in authority, representing him on earth (Gen. 1).

The psalm’s unspoken question is: Why would so wise and so powerful a God share responsibility for ruling his creation with the likes of Adam and Eve—with the likes of us? What would keep him from washing his hands of us when we turned our stewardship into twisted self-seeking, as he knew we would? Only one thing: his unrelenting love, a radical idea in the ancient world, where fickle gods cared nothing for their puny mortal subjects.

Thus, besides pointing back to creation, the psalmist implicitly points forward to redemption. Colossians 1:15-19 says all God’s purposes in creation are ultimately realized in Jesus, the perfect human, as he fully revealed God’s love and decisively restored the hope of glory to our race. Recognizing both God’s infinite greatness and his inexhaustible grace, David ends as he began, praising God for his incomparable majesty, so evident in his wise ordering of creation.

Prayer:

Your wisdom, power, and love are amazing, Lord. You have mere kids silence your foes! Give me simple, childlike faith to believe your love is unstoppable. Fill me with that love, and fit me to rule as your faithful servant over whatever part of your world you put under my care. Amen.

In your free moments today, pray these words:

YHWH, our Lord
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

[1] The psalm’s chiastic structure is as follows: A: YHWH’s magnificence in creation (v. 1), B: God’s cosmic glory and strength (vv. 2-3), C: WHAT ARE MERE HUMANS THAT YOU NOTICE THEM? (v. 4), B: Humanity’s earthly glory (vv. 5-8); A: YHWH’s magnificence in creation (v. 9).

God of Justice, God of Truth

As society’s ground of morality shifts to whatever feels good, relationships are increasingly blighted by injustice and false accusation. This psalm invites victims to take refuge in the God who judges justly.

A David psalm, which he sang to YHWH about Cush the Benjaminite.

¹ YHWH my God
I’ve taken refuge in you.
Rescue me from this mob stalking me.
Save me ² lest, like a lion
they maul me and tear me limb from limb
with no one to rescue or help me.
³ If their charges are true, YHWH my God
if I’ve stained my hands with extortion
⁴ repaid my ally evil for good
or attacked my enemy for no reason
⁵ then let them hunt me down
trample me to the ground
and stomp my honor into the dirt.

⁶ Do something, God!
Burst onto the scene, YHWH!
Meet my foes’ fury
with the inferno of your anger
as your just sentence is carried out.
⁷ Summon my accusers
and let all rise as you take your seat
high above all earthly courts—
⁸ for you judge everyone everywhere.
Then, YHWH
declare me honorable
and in the right.
⁹ Ring down the curtain on evil
and set those who please you on their feet.
Since you probe us, heart and mind
be the righteous that God you are.

¹⁰ God is my shield
saving the pure in heart
¹¹ a just judge
whose anger against evil burns constant.
¹² When a person refuses to repent
God sharpens his sword
pulls back his bow, takes aim
¹³ and shoots his flaming arrows
with deadly accuracy.

¹⁴ Look at the wicked:
they conceive evil plans
become pregnant with mischief
and give birth to falsehood.
¹⁵ The deeper they make their trap
the farther they fall
when they then stumble into it.
¹⁶ All their mischief backfires
landing on their own skulls.

¹⁷ I will thank YHWH
for being just and true.
I will sing praise to him
for being God Most High.

Cush, a member of King Saul’s tribe, is in hot pursuit of David. Furious with David, he and his band falsely accuse him of injustice, mistreating friends, and picking fights with enemies. In a culture prizing loyalty and honor, Cush makes David out to be an absolute jerk.

David’s framework here is legal. Saul has denied him his day in court. So, he asks God to take his case and defend him since God is just, knows everything, and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of those who keep his covenant. Having run to him for shelter, David declares that he’s willing to pay with his life if it turns out he’s the villain his enemies claim he is. That’s how sure he is of his innocence. As his stalkers close in on him, he urges God to stop them in their tracks and entrusts himself to the one judge he can count on to judge him justly.

God’s character is implicitly in sharp contrast to that of the nations’ gods, whose own worshippers saw them as capricious narcissists. Recalling how perfect God’s justice is, how implacable his hatred of evil, David imagines God in position, ready to judge his foes. While they’ve devoted themselves to evil, their efforts are futile. For in setting a trap for the innocent, they only set themselves up. Though still not out of the woods, David promises to praise God for being the God he is, voicing his assurance that God will act on his behalf.

Prayer:

Jesus, you know all about blame shifting and false accusation. And you aren’t fooled by it: no thought or motive escapes you. You’re in complete control, ready to act when the time is right. Deliver me from evil. Trusting that you’ll enact perfect justice, I praise you for your goodness. Amen.

In your free moments today, meditate on these words:

I will thank YHWH for being just and true.
I’ll sing praise to him for being God Most High.

A cry in the dark

We live amid the stark daily realities of sickness, grief and death, which often put peace and security beyond our control. But what if God is behind such problems? Then he’s also the solution. Our only hope.

A David psalm.

¹ Don’t rebuke me in your anger, YHWH
or punish me in your wrath.
² Pity this poor weakling and heal me
because even my bones shudder
³ as anguish shakes me to my core.
And you, YHWH—how long?

⁴ Let up, YHWH
for the sake of your unfailing love!
Look down and rescue me
before it’s too late!
⁵ What good am I to you dead?
Will I sing to you from my coffin?

⁶ I’ve exhausted myself crying—
my pillow awash with me
on the salt sea of my tears.
⁷ Anger darkens my vision
aging me under the outrages of my foes.

⁸ Back off, all you evildoers!
Because YHWH has heard my crying.
⁹ YHWH has heard my plea for mercy.
YHWH will answer my prayer.
¹⁰ That’s right:
my enemies will suddenly convulse
and run for their lives
like shamefaced fools!

David is ill. Interestingly, the psalm concludes focusing on his enemies’ defeat and leaves his healing only implicit. This may suggest that his illness isn’t primary, but is rather caused by the stress of enemy attacks that threaten his life. Alternatively, his enemies may be attacking him because his illness has made him vulnerable. And before the advent of modern medicine, illness was often fatal. Either way, his enemies’ threats—devastating, scandalous, ongoing—leave him furious, anguished, shaken to the core, exhausted, asking God, “How long?”

But to David it’s not just mortal enemies against him. He clearly views his many challenges as God’s rebuke, making God David’s real problem. So, he begs God—who clearly has his full attention—to stop angrily rebuking him and rescue, heal, and restore him before it’s too late.

God’s anger isn’t random or inscrutable. It always directly relates to wrongs that inflict harm, but David doesn’t mention his sins or express contrition as we might expect. He simply begs God to let up for the sake of his unyielding love. Then in humble dependence on God, he voices his conviction that YHWH has heard his cry for mercy and will assuredly rescue him. That’s why, though he’s still at risk, David orders his enemies to back off, confident that God will turn the tables on them very soon.

Prayer:

In a world riddled with sickness, violence and death, I cry, How long, O God? Yet I’m comforted to know that none of these things can separate me from your unfailing love—my certain hope in the dark of night. Deliver me from evil so I can glorify you with my every breath. Amen.

In your free moments today, pray these words:

Let up, YHWH
for the sake of your unfailing love!
Look down and rescue me
before it’s too late!

Seeking refuge in God

Pleasing God often prompts those around us who despise God to attack us verbally or physically. But God still reigns supreme, and his hatred of evil means we can count on his protection.

A David psalm. 

¹ Listen to my prayer, YHWH
and consider my groaning.
² Hear my cry for help
as I pray to you
my king and my God.
³ In the morning you hear my voice, YHWH
as I begin each day anew
laying my case out before you
waiting for your response.

⁴ You’re not a god who delights in evil
or accommodates wickedness.
⁵ The debauched can’t stand in your presence—
you hate all wrongdoers
⁶ and destroy those who tell lies.
YHWH loathes the bloodthirsty and treacherous.

⁷ But I
through the overflow of your unyielding love
will enter your house
there to fall in awe of you
before your holy temple.
⁸ Keep me on the path of righteousness, YHWH
Make your way plain to me
surrounded as I am by watchful foes.

⁹ For not a single thing they say is true—
their hearts are utterly malignant
their throats an open grave
their tongues greased with flattery.
¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God.
Let them be misled by their own counsel.
Banish them for their many crimes
since they’ve rebelled against you.

¹¹ But may all who take refuge in you
rejoice and sing for joy forever.
Spread your protection over them
so that all who love your name may revel in you.
¹² For you bless those who seek you, YHWH
and surround them with your favor like a shield.

Even though God reigns supreme, David is targeted by enemies who treacherously attack him, thus making themselves God’s enemies. David is writing in exile, unable to enter God’s house in Jerusalem, but he’s confident God will restore him to his rightful place there, where David will worship him joyfully.

All he says of YHWH stands against the backdrop of the pagan gods. More messed up than their worshippers, the gods were believed to nurse over-inflated egos and care nothing for the weak and afflicted. By contrast, YHWH cares for the oppressed, which is why David pours out his heart to him each morning. Since God is holy and just, David knows God will inexorably oppose words and deeds aimed at violating and destroying him.

While the pagans had to merit their gods’ attention, David doesn’t recommend himself to God. Rather, YHWH’s merciful love flings the door wide open to the undeserving. Knowing his gracious God will welcome him, he pictures himself returning to God’s house and falling awestruck before his holy sanctuary. He asks God to banish his enemies by making them their own undoing. He asks him to guide him through the minefield of their treachery without letting him slip into their evil ways. That is, David refuses to fight evil with evil. Instead, he asks for and affirms his faith in God’s protection and blessing on all who take shelter in him. And he imagines their subsequent joy and revelry in so awesome a God as this.

Prayer:

Jesus, I bow before you in a world bent on dethroning you. Thank you that you welcome and protect all who seek refuge in you. Keep me on the true path—looking to you, listening to you, honoring you—till the day you reign in glory over all and earth’s joy can’t be contained. Amen.

In your free moments today, pray these words:

May all who take refuge in you
rejoice and sing for joy forever.
Spread your protection over them
so that all who love your name may revel in you.