January 9, 2017: Day 9 – Psalm 9
January 9, 2017The introduction to this Psalm is once again hazy in its meaning. The term Muth labben could mean “death of a son”, which in David’s life would not be unusual considering the history of Absalom and his death which we saw earlier in the Psalms. But if you look at Psalm 9 and notice its tone, that would seem to make much less sense. This Psalm is very much of a celebratory Psalm of praise and not in any way does it reflect a death of a child, but rather a conquest of a battle.
But what I want you to see which you could easily overlook is the hint of something that we have not seen so far and which Jesus seems to emphasize in a very deliberate way in the New Testament. Look at vs.18 and you see the writer, who if it is King David is wealthy and travels in the circles of the rich and famous, remind the readers that the needy shall have a voice and the poor will never lose hope. Jesus undoubtedly has a penchant for the poor. Jesus has preference for the downcast and the marginalized. Look at Luke 6 and you hear Jesus say: Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the hungry. He then follows that up with woe to you rich and woe to you who are full.
To say that Jesus emphasized his love for the poor and the weak is an understatement. He is consistently describing how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of heaven if you are rich and then turns around and states quite forcefully that the widow has given more because she gave all that she had. There should be no doubt that Jesus not only loved the rich but even favored the rich. I know, that is a statement that many find controversial, but I’m okay with that.
The main reason that I am okay with that is that if only a certain population group within our society is with hope or that a large swath of our population is forgotten, again back to vs.18, then I have a problem with that. Jesus came so that the entire world would be saved and would have an equal opportunity to live out their lives in fulness in a direct relationship with him. If anyone within our community has a limited opportunity, or less opportunity than I have, to achieve that, then I have a problem with it. It isn’t that the poor or the marginalized want something special. They just want to take for granted what someone like me takes for granted. David can rejoice because he is in a position to rejoice. My goal is that all people can find themselves in that same position where they can sing praises to the Lord whatever their lot in life.
What an incredible way to think about others and opportunities!! We have all heard that Jesus came to save the world, but to think that it is so everyone has an equal opportunity through a direct relationship to him in this life we live is a new thought to me. Really makes me look at my view points and interactions differently and challenges me. We do take a lot for granted and I will say that working in the field I work in, there have been many times that I have been reminded of just what I take for granted every day that means the entire world to someone else in a different place in life.
I agree that everyone should have the right and opportunity to learn about and know our Lord. Even if you are the poorest of poor, economically or spiritually, or possibly the opportunities in life just evade you and you feel like everything always goes wrong, you still have the opportunity to look for the goodness in what you do have. The Lord wants all of us to be a part of his family, but we are still responsible for our part in finding our way. God gave us the ability to say “yea or nay” to wanting to be in his word and for following in his ways. What if there are those who say they are poor and marginalized and communicate that they feel they “deserve” certain things just because of what they don’t have? We know the Lord’s opportunities are out there. We just need to pray that the Lord will guide their thoughts so that they can feel the hope that will drive them toward the Lord.
It is interesting that Jesus never delineates between those who are poor and those who merely say that they are poor. He tends to err on the side of giving people the benefit of the doubt, something that I hope we are able to do. Now, there are number of times when he heals that he uses phrases such as: “Do you want to be healed?”, or “don’t tell anyone”. But I think it is fair to say that I have more opportunities open to me because of the simple fact that I was born into the family in which I was born. I have never entered a store and had the security tail me just because of the way that I looked. I’ve never had the door locks on a car slam shut as I crossed the street on foot. I was never denied a job because of the person across the desk not trusting me. There are a whole variety of reasons why some people simply are born with less opportunities in this country than I am. Unfortunately, that also translates into people reaching out with the love of Christ. I tend to feel the most comfortable speaking about Jesus to people who look, live, and run in the same circles that I do. I also tend to take for granted so many things that I know many of my friends from high school could not take for granted. Sorry, a long answer to a topic which is stressed continuously in the Bible and we often forget in American Christianity.