Psalm 17

Let my vindication come from you;
may your eyes see what is right.

Nothing feels better than vindication.

The underdog winning a hard fought game. Being proven right when you were the only one standing for something. Having accusations be proven false.

I like winning, and I like being proven right. Maybe a little too much. But there are many times when we follow God that we do things that may seem a bit...off. To other people, at least. A lot of times its that we do something like avoid taking the easy way around something, or we choose honor when it's harder than the other option, or tell the truth when it hurts. It's these times when we want- no, we need- to be vindicated. That our choice to follow God was right.

But the need for this vindication needs to not be for our own glory. We should desire vindication not for our stance, but for our God.

Still, there are times when we just need to know that we are doing the right thing, and the best way to get that knowledge is by getting God's approval. Sometimes things around are falling apart, and we are holding firm to God's will, and we just need a victory.

Vindication. I echo this psalm's plea.

Psalm 16

Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

God protects. That is the theme here. But I notice something else in this psalm- David seems to indicate his love and adoration for God is because God keeps him safe.

I kinda struggle with that, if that's the case. It seems to me that the act of making our devotion to God contingent on God propping us up in safety and luxury is a bit phony. Now, I realize that this psalm taken in context of David's other psalms makes more sense- David clearly loves God in the good and the bad, and this is probably just an emotional, thankful declaration.

But don't we do this, anyway? Don't we say we love God when things are good, we are safe, and the bank account is full? But tough times come, and we start to doubt, start to question- sometimes get angry with God for 'coming through?

I'm guilty.

What about you- what do you think of this psalm? Do you catch yourself offering your love to God on the contingent He take care of you?

Psalm 15

It's really easy to read this as a formula for how to live. "Check this off and you are 10% there!" And these are good things to seek- blameless, honest, not slamming others, honoring God.

But this is not a formula. This is not the "How to be a good Christian" equation. What it is is the hopes God has for what we can be. So then, what does it look like for us?

Blameless/Righteous: Doing nothing we should feel guilty for. There is a confidence that comes from this, knowing we are in the good will of God, because we haven't done something He detests. I know for me, a lot of stress comes when I know I did something wrong, and I'm waiting for the punishment. I'd love to be free of that.

Speaks the Truth: Honesty. Not just telling the truth when we have to, but not shielding others from the truth. Being honest with someone can hurt, but lying is always going to eventually hurt worse. Tell someone what you really feel. And the flip side- tell yourself the truth. Own your problems, don't deny they exist.

No Slander/No Wrong/No Slur: It seems the 'it' thing is to tear others down. We feel better when we feel we "are better" than someone. Our words to others can kill their spirit. I get we tell jokes about one another, but we need to be very careful to read the person's feelings. They usually aren't too hard to see. Know when it crosses the line from "good, clean fun" to you being a jerk.

Despise the Vile/Honor God: We know that God doesn't want us to hate people, but we also need to know that God doesn't want us to want their lifestyle. I see this verse as a compare and contrast: There is not enough room in your life to honor God and adore vile people. This DOES NOT mean we are not to love people, it means we cannot become dependent on them and have the type of friendships where we need them more than they need us. We need to befriend and love them, but if it ever keeps us from honoring God, we must walk away.

Keeps an Oath: This is why I don't trust people. Too often, I am told something will be done, or will be taken care of- then it isn't. I know I can be guilty of it myself, but we seem to have grown really callous about not following through on our commitments. We need to be better about just being honest and saying, "Yeah, I know you want me to do that, I'm just not going to be able to do it." Just be up front, and don't make a commitment you have no intention or motivation to keep.

Good Lenders/No Bribes: If you're willing to lend money to someone, don't be a jerk about it. It ruins friendships. If you can, lend without expectation of return. And don't ever let money sway you to turn a blind eye to injustice. Boiled down, this verse screams: don't be greedy.

I say this is not a formula, because apart from Christ, these things are impossible. It is with the coming of Christ that it finally become possible to live this way. And to finally see the fulfillment of:

LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?

Psalm 14

God is like the big kid that stood up for the weaker kids against all the bullies.

That's the basics of this psalm, which is beating a similar drum of the last few psalms. God as rescuer.

There is another thing, though. It's another oft repeated idea in the psalms:

Man is bad.

But this psalm goes further. It seems to say EVERYONE is corrupt, NONE seek God. Hyperbole- or God just calling it as it is. Personally, I think it could be both, but more in the latter. Everyone messes up, everyone rebels against God. In the context of this psalm, no one is even looking for God.

David closes with the hope that God- not man- will raise up salvation. If anything is true about our world today, it is that we think a human with enough political power, or intelligence, or money, or popularity can save us. We don't need God because we have science and Brad Pitt.

It's a good thing God's salvation is not dependent on our getting straightened up.

Psalm 13

There have been soooooo many times in my life this psalm has been a daily source of hope. It's been back in my mind recently.

We all reach a point- a breaking point, if you will- where we just can't take it anymore. We are swarmed and swamped with junk, and all we can do is cry for mercy. Our will is broken by our attackers, whether they are human, spiritual, or emotional. No person or pill can save us. We can only appeal to God.

And, sometimes, He takes His sweet time getting back to us.

Psalm 13 cries out in an almost primal way. Essentially, it tells God, "Rescue me, or I'm dead. And then what good am I to You?" As far as arguments with God, I think this is a good one. I mean, if we stand for God, and the enemies of God destroy us, then how does that make God look good? And to your response of "Jesus died on on the cross," I respond, "He got better." God not delivering us ultimately when we are His is bad press for God. True, we believers will get ultimate victory in Heaven, but in the here and now, that consolation is far off.

So, what's the consolation here and now? Why is Psalm 13 still an amazing source of fresh lemonade when life hands you worm infested, rotten, dried out lemons?

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

Despite all the trouble, all the attacks, God's love is unfailing. His salvation is sure. God WILL rescue us. He can't not rescue us. He is unfailing.

He has and will always be good to us.

Psalm 12

I generally don't trust people, it's just safer that way.

Really, I mean, look at the world today and you see verses 1 and 2 being proved true all over the place. You need not look to the news- look around your life. Friends will fail you, bosses will lie straight to your face, and when you need help- people vanish.

You think I'm cynical? Need some help with my trust issues?

Prove me wrong.

I give you that people sometimes mess up, disloyalty and lies are not a part of their core character for most people. But we all do it. Some more than others, some less. And so, I don't count on other people until they've proven themselves over a good period of time. Being stabbed in the back by Christians too many times to count has made me this way.

I, like David here, call out to God for silence for the boastful, unfaithful liars. I want God to intervene and call them out. And I realize this means me, too. I've hurt people with lies and haven't always been there for friends when they need me. I've even done some backstabbing myself.

We're all pretty false, aren't we?

Not God. His words are "flawless." Notice that contrast in the psalm- people can't be trusted, but God's words are pure. Right.

Flawless.

What I draw from this psalm is hope for those of us that don't trust people. Sure, we've been let down and lied to by friends, co-workers, leaders, and family. But not God.

God will never deceive us or let us down.

Psalm 11

When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?

This is the one that got me. I've been hearing this phrase or a variation of it for a while now, usually in regards to some politician trying to scare us into siding with them. But even though it is now a catchphrase, it doesn't mean it's not true.

For as long as I can remember, we have called the US a 'Christian nation.' I've long believed this is more of a cultural thing than an actual spiritual thing. I say that because if we really were a 'Christian nation,' the foundations would be stronger. Churches would be less full (yep, I said less) and more passionate about going to the people. Marriages would never last only 72 days (gotta be topical). There would be no controversy over the Pledge of Allegiance because the "one nation, under God" part would be visibly true. Abortion would not be the issue it is. Our savior would be Jesus, not a political figure or celebrity.

Looking at Americans today, we seem to realize that we are not- at the foundation- Christian any longer. And we are paralyzed on how to get back to that. Back to Him.

Verse 1 tells us how: take refuge in God. Run not to Dr. Phil, Oprah, or the government when things are hard- run to God. We as a people are not righteous (no, not one). God is righteous. We cannot save ourselves, let alone our nation. We think we can, and so did Israel. They begged for a king, a human ruler, but God kept telling them that He was their King. Finally, God gave them their king, and nothing really got better. Because they sought salvation by human righteousness, not God's righteousness.

So, when the foundations, the core things, are being destroyed, they are being destroyed by our hands. We are not righteous.

But God is.