14:1 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt,
they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.
14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there
are any who are wise, who seek after God.
14:3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there
is no one who does good, no, not one.
14:4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people
as they eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD?
14:5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the
company of the righteous.
14:6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their
refuge.
14:7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the
LORD restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel
will be glad.
Comments:
I can just imagine that King David, while with Bathsheba, had more
than a few moments of saying (privately to himself) "there is no
God". Sarah from Canada
Dear Sarah, I guess we are the only two considering the Psalm. When
I read it (in the Peterson translation) suddenly I had a flash of
inspiration(?). What a commentary on the political system! Not just
David (although he is a perfect illustration), but all politicians
must in the end disappoint us. Why? Because they are all evil? No.
But because the political process is flawed from the beginning. The
fundamental engine that drives politics is the hunger of the people,
hunger for food, hunger for justice, hunger for health care, hunger
for all sorts of things. This universal, grassroots hunger rises up
like something alive, powerful, eventually becoming winds and
currents we call "public opinion." Politicians necessarily use and
abuse this groundswell of forces, listening to it, manipulating it,
learning to ride it into positions of power. They say "I feel your
pain." Christianity is a radical alternative to the political
process. Jesus doesn't say "I feel your pain." He takes our pain
away. He feeds the hungry (the John text this week) heals our
sickness, etc. But then he demands that we take up our cross, which
leads to a whole new level of hunger and pain. Boyd in NC
Verse 5 and 6 say that the Lord is with the company of the
righteous, that God is the refuge of the poor.
Two problems with this:
1) Who is righteous? After reading verse three, it seems that no one
is. So, who is God with?
2) If God is a refuge to the poor, then why in our 2 Samuel passage
did Uriah die? Sure, God brought justice, but is God proactive or
reactive?
DSS
If you read between the lines, just a little, you can see that the
"they" the psalmist refers to is a specific bunch of "fools" and
"evildoers", that "they"doesen't include "us". "Us" is the poor,
Jacob, Israel,"my people", who wait upon the Lord to bring justice
from Zion. "They" are the controlling powers-that-be running
roughshod over the righteous, the "Right-e-o Us!". They do
abominable deeds, no one (of them) does good. They eat up my people,
but God will restore the fortunes of HIS PEOPLE, we will be glad.
Amen. tom in TN(USA)
Thank you, Tom in TN When this psalm is coupled with the Old
Testament reading, we get a horrible shock since it is the Hittite
that is righteous and the Jew sitting near Zion who is not.
OOH!. I hadn't made that connection. Thanx back to you , that just
might preach. We were discussing David and Goliath earlier this week
in VBS. The adult curriculum asked what were the giant sized
problems facing us today. Then asked when the Church had been the
giant, such as agressive Westernizing evangelization of indigenous
peoples everywhere. Pogo's words are ever fresh-"We have met the
enemy and he is us." Is it in becoming king that giant killers
become wolves in shepherds clothing? tom, pondering in TN(USA)
Do you remember just a few years ago many were asking "where was
God" (during 9/11)? i love our country and for the most part we are
still a God fearing nation. The Lord is our refuge John Rodriguez
This psalm proclaims God's care for the poor and for those
mistreated by the powerful. Those who are evil see the poor as
expendable and as worthless as bread. However, God does not forget
them. Sin does not have the final word. The psalmist is sure that
whatever happens, God will restore God's people.
This Psalm (and Jeremiah) describe those who are lost (including us
in some ways), and the gospel lesson describes how God finds us.
DGinNYC
This is strange, if it is true that "The LORD looks down from heaven
on HUMANKIND to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after
God. They have ALL gone astray, they are ALL alike perverse; there
is NO ONE who does good, no, NOT ONE..."
Then, how would it be possible that "all the evildoers who eat up MY
PEOPLE as they eat bread", and that "God is with the COMPANY OF THE
RIGHTEOUS"?
Who would be left to be God's people then?
The answer for this would be "Yes, there is absolutely nothing good
can come from the evil root of HUMANKIND, for anything good to come
out at all, it would have to be from GODKIND."
It's not a paradox after all.
Coho, Midway City.
