Psalm 140

Sorry it has been a week, but blogger/blogspot (the host of this site) has been acting funny the past seven days. But now we are back and on our trip through the psalms, today looking at Psalm 140.

And what a psalm to come back to! Burning coals, being thrown into a fire, and other delightful imagery designed to get us into the summer spirit. This is a truly hard psalm to hear, especially when I get to the bottom. The last couple verses repeat David's trust in the God who secures justice for the poor. And now I have to look at my own life, and I recognize that the system is arranged in my favor- I have no business repeating this psalm. I am not poor.

I am comfortably drinking coffee and typing on my new laptop. My greatest inconvenience this morning is that I forgot to plug my laptop in and the batteries were almost dead. I am watching the bugs fly outside, but I am safe from malaria or any other disease bugs carry. I chose what clothes to wear this morning. I am not poor.

But I'm spiritually poor, my mind fights back. And certainly, I am. But that is my internal voice justifying myself- the Bible, however, is not always on my side. The poor in the Bible are sometimes, frankly, the poor. And so in this psalm, the mirror gets held up to me and I have to ask who I am in the psalm. So, who am I?

I am one who only pays lip service to societal transformation because right now, society favors me. My pastoral profession is respected in society. My car, while not beautiful, is admirable. You won't find too many churches who would deny my services because I am a Caucasian male. My taxes are uncomfortable but reasonable. Therefore, why would I want anything to change? Yet, for many people, my story is as fictional as Jack and the Beanstalk. The system we call society is arrayed against them like a subtle and yet monolithic army. And I will sit and sip my coffee, waiting for the day someone will come and help them without inconveniencing me. The Bible, it would seem, is not impressed with my attitude.

How long will it take before the suffering of the world will reach our ears? How long will it take before suffering becomes uncomfortable enough for us to change? If I believe this psalm, I hope it's soon.