Update: This song is now available at gregscheer.com.
I’m posting this Psalm two days after the Superbowl, which has given people 48 hours to register their disgust at Rihanna’s halftime show. Clutching their pearls and a bag of chips, they have declared it indecent. Perverse. I really don’t have an opinion about that. (Except maybe you shouldn’t be watching the Superbowl if you’re that easily offended.)
At first blush, Psalm 14 seems almost as catty as the Rihanna haters. The Psalmist comes out swinging, calling the godless “fools,” “abominable,” “perverse,” and “evil.” Ouch. However, this vitriol is not aimed at random unbelievers (or entertainers who sing suggestive songs), it is reserved for those “who eat my people as they eat bread” and who would “confound the plans of the poor.”
This is a good lesson for those who would engage in culture wars. God gets angry, but not with people who simply don’t believe. No, God gets angry with those who harm the ones he loves–especially the poor. And beautifully, we don’t have to get angry or fight these people; we just have to run to God for refugee.
RiRi, I’ve got your back. I just hope one day you’ll stand under God’s umbrella (ella, ella, eh, eh, eh)*
In times of disbelief and doubt,
corruption and alarm,
the Lord looks down from heaven
to judge the human heart.
The strong devour the innocent
like gluttons gorge on bread.
O God, have mercy on the weak–
give refuge, once again.
We wait for you, our Savior,
to rescue us, once more.
Restore us to your favor;
renew us in your joy.
Renew us in your joy.
*Sorry. I couldn’t resist.
