SUNDAY PSALMS PART 15 OF 48 - PSALM 62

 

Southeastway Park, Indianapolis, IN

1     Truly my soul silently waits for God;
      From Him comes my salvation.
2   He only is my rock and my salvation;
     He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
3  How long will you attack a man?
     You shall be slain, all of you,
     Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
4  They only consult to cast him down from his high position;
     They delight in lies;
     They bless with their mouth,
     But they curse inwardly.
                                            Selah

5   My soul, wait silently for God alone,
     For my expectation is from Him.
6  He only is my rock and my salvation;
     He is my defense; I shall not be moved.
7   In God is my salvation and my glory;
     The rock of my strength,
     And my refuge, is in God.
8   Trust in Him at all times, you people;
     Pour out your heart before Him;
     God is a refuge for us.
                                              Selah

9  Surely men of low degree are a vapor,
    Men of high degree are a lie;
    If they are weighed on the scales,
    They are altogether lighter than vapor.
10 Do not trust in oppression,
     Nor vainly hope in robbery;
     If riches increase,
     Do not set your heart on them.
11   God has spoken once,
     Twice I have heard this:
     That power belongs to God.
12  Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy;
     For You render to each one according to his work.
                                    Psalm 62:1-12, New King James Version

 

Some people think that politics and faith should be kept separate. Of course, we're aware of those who think anything dealing with religion (especially Christianity) has no place in politics, and probably not in the public square. There are Christians as well that basically see themselves as being in the Kingdom of God and politics being the Kingdom of the Devil and don't want to defile themselves with the latter.

However, besides seeing the obvious focus on trusting in God as our Rock, our Defense, our Salvation, and the Righteous and Merciful Judge who will give to each according to their work, I also see things that make me think of American politics.

For example, look at verses 3-4. What comes to mind when I read this? The impeachments of Clinton and Trump. In both cases, the opposition party were on the lookout for any reason to try to remove the President.

I also think of politics when I get to verse 10. Sometimes, the government itself is oppressive. Other times, people tolerate the oppression of those they disagree with. And robbery? While the Libertarian thought of "Taxation Is Theft" might be exaggerated, it's not off-base, and some favor the rich - meaning those who are better-off than they are - to pay "their fair share." But let's not forget the last part of the verse. There are people who trust in their riches.  

The reality is we should put our trust and hope in God. We should not trust in ourselves or in Government or anything else.

SUNDAY PSALMS PART 4 OF 48 - PSALM 12

 

Downtown, Indianapolis.

1    Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
    For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2   They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
    With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3   May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4   Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail;
    Our lips are our own;
    Who is lord over us?"

5   "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
    Now I will arise," says the Lord;
    "I will set him in the safety for which he yearns."
6   The words of the Lord are pure words,
    Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
    Purified seven times.
7   You shall keep them, O Lord,
    You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8   The wicked prowl on every side,
    When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Psalm 12:1-8, NKJV

Another Psalm that seems relevant today, doesn't it? Doesn't it seem like the righteous and faithful have vanished? Don't we regularly hear a lot of idle talk, flattery (e.g. "You are enough"), and pride? 

Verse 4 makes me think of the Libertarian principle "You own yourself." Now, don't misunderstand me. I know exactly what the Libertarian means: it's talking about the human level, where we're not slaves, where we have personal liberty, where we're not obligated to vote for the major parties just because they're the major parties. However, the reality is that principle is a lie, because God owns us. If we're believers, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 makes it crystal clear that our Lord owns us. If we're not, we fall under the first verse of Psalm 24: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the earth and they that dwell within" (meaning everyone). 

Then, we get to verse 5. The Lord is watching, and will give the poor safety. Stop a second. If you put how verse 5 starts in place with the previous four verses, you realize that the poor are not in safety with the SFL (Society of Flattering Lips). In other words, those who think they have no accountability are at best selfish and arrogant and couldn't care less about the needs of others, and at worse are downright oppressive.

When I first noticed this Psalm, verses 6 and 7 got my attention, and I wrote a chorus for that Psalm. Verse 6 clearly talks about the purity of God's Word. But is verse 7 still talking about the Bible when it says "You will keep them.... you shall preserve them forever?" Some King James Only people make that claim, and hold that God's Word is preserved by their preferred translation. But does "them" in verse 7 go back to verse 5, where it talks about the oppressed poor and needy?

The final verse of this Psalm goes from the future hope that God will put an end to oppression to the present reality. Is vileness exalted among men? How many movies and Jerry Springer episodes do you need to watch to realize it is? 

Pardon me, but I'm not going to make things more comfortable before I close today's blog. How often does the church fall into the same category, exalting vileness? Do we cover our TV/movie/listening with prayer? Do we, as Paul encourages in Philippians 4:8, think on what is pure and lovely and true and noble and just and of good report? Or are we allowing our minds to be defiled by the world? And yes, I face the same temptations.

 

BOOK REVIEW - AVENGERS VS. X-MEN (MARVEL COMICS)

Am I in my second childhood, reading comics again? Guilty as charged. Though have I left my first childhood? I remember a five year period of not setting foot in a movie theater. The last movie I saw before that period? Batman Forever (Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face, and Jim Carey as the Riddler). The first movie I saw after that? X-Men.

Are comics just time wasters? They can be. Or they can contain gems within the action for you to consider. This is definitely the latter category.

Artwork is awesome. The story likewise not only is exciting and has plot twist after plot twist, but it examines deeper psychological, philosophical, and maybe even theological issues. Such as our treatment of others. Such as whether power corrupts. Such as ... ah, but to go further would involve spoilers.

So if you are thinking of wanting to read this, you can pass. For those who've already read this or those content to see my thoughts, continue on.

I mentioned above the quality of the artwork. True, it is good. But is there a reason super-heroines and super-villainesses' need to shop at Victoria's Secret for their costumes? And it never really changed in comics. I remember the gals in Legion of Superheroes getting new outfits that were meant to wow the guys.

Now to the story. There were superheroes I found a bit boring personality wise (though I read their comics anyway). Top of the list was Superman, with Captain America and Cyclops right behind. Since this is marvel, the Man of Steel is absent, but the other two are front and center as the main focal points. 

I will admit - the Avengers movies changed my view on Captain America. Chris Evans' portrayal made me a Cap fan (which is ironic, because I didn't like Evans as the Human Torch). Then, I re-read some of the Avengers from the '70's and '80's and gained an appreciation for Cap. I'll deal with that in another blog, but now let me add that I never was a Cyclops fan, and this story confirmed that.

Another brief digression. I was reading comics regularly in '73 when they had a three month battle between the Avengers and the Defenders. It is interesting comparing this with the Avengers vs. the X-Men. The former was one on one, while the latter was group A vs. group B. Two Avengers were injured in their battle with the Defenders: The Scarlet Witch got hurt unintentionally as a result of the Silver Surfer stirring up a volcano, while the Swordsman was shot by a bad guy. Not so nice here. In the '73 battle, the two sides realized they had been duped by the bad guys (Dormamu and Loki) and united together to fight; there was no villains manipulating here, and the battle didn't end until one side was defeated. 

The plot is that Phoenix is returning. Phoenix almost destroyed the world when it took Jean Grey (Cyclops' wife), with Grey killing herself to save the world. Captain America and the Avengers see the threat and want to take the girl Hope who Phoenix is coming for as a threat. Cyclops, on the other hand, sees the return of Phoenix to be a benefit to the mutants. Cyclops was so single focused on that he almost destroyed the planet as a result.

I mentioned there were items to point out. This story shows how depraved men can be. Hope wanted to be killed rather than become the Phoenix. Emma Frost wanted Cyclops to stop her before she reverted to her dark side, which Cyclops failed to do. 

One side I'll mention is that of a couple of troubled marriages. Marvel fans may be familiar with the House of M story where the Scarlet Witch killed her husband The Vision (who I guess came back to life - he's an Android, after all, and we're dealing with comic books). The story starts the Vision telling the Scarlet Witch the Avengers Manor is not home. Later in the story, he's carrying her unconscious form from the battle, but no development on their relationship. Also in the story - X-man Storm at first fought with her fellow mutants against the Avengers, including her husband the Black Panther. Storm later sees how bad the mutants were in power and offers to help the Avengers, only to learn the Black Panther annulled their marriage. No indication of any reconciliation.

One last issue is one I'm concerned with in the real world, and that is the ability of oppressed groups to come into power and be at least as oppressive as the former oppressors.