April 4, 2014
Psalm 41
How blessed is the one who loves the helpless and the weak;
The Lord delivers and protects when Him alone we seek.
The Lord preserves and saves his life, and blesses in the land,
He’ll not surrender him to foes, but keep him in His hand.
The Lord sustains him when he’s ill, and lifts him from his bed;
The Lord his illness takes away by lifting up his head.
I said, “O Lord, have mercy on a sinner steeped in wrong;
Heal me, O Lord, for I have sinned against You all day long.”
My enemies about me say, with malice, ill intent,
“When will he die? When will his name both perish and be spent?”
For everyone speaks ill of me and slanders in his heart;
Then they go out and spread their lies; great evil they impart.
O how my foes conspire and plot, and set their traps for me;
Imagine all the worst for me as if I cannot see.
They say a vile disease has come and struck him down to die;
His bed will be his earthly end, right where he now does lie.
Even my friend who shared my bread, in whom I put my trust,
Has lifted up his heel ‘gainst me, and scattered me with dust.
10But You, O Lord, have mercy now and raise me up, I pray;
That I may rise and turn on them and all their sins repay.
I know that You are pleased with me; for my foes do not stand;
In my integrity hold me, safe in Your righteous hand.
Praise be to our Almighty Lord, the God of Israel,
Forever and forevermore, Amen, Amen we tell!
CONSIDER THIS. . .
There’s an old saying that comes to mind in light of today’s Song.
“You will never know that God is all you need until you know he’s all you have.”
We might classify today’s song a lament for the sick. The singer has come down with something pretty bad, but it’s actually worse than that. His enemies are gloating over his condition and seem to be circling above his hospital bed like so many vultures. Other of his detractors whisper slander, stoking the fires of the rumor mill. It’s actually worse than that. The singers friends turn on him. And we are given the impression these aren’t his “so called friends.” This is a close personal friend, a trusted confidant who has defected; gone to the dark side. Note how the song phrases it:
Even my friend who shared my bread, in whom I put my trust,
Has lifted up his heel ‘gainst me, and scattered me with dust.
The image to hold in mind here is that of a rider being thrown from his most cherished horse, only to then be kicked by the horse in the face when he’s down.
There’s another image to hold in mind here.
Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
And yes it gets worse still. This trusted friend had effectively turned Jesus over to the police. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, this bread sharing buddy betrays him with a kiss. And that’s probably about the worst of it. Truth be told, this single act of treachery probably hurt him more than all the torture of Friday ever did.
As these days of Lent process us to Jerusalem, the way of lament keeps taking us further and further into descent. And yes, bad as this present situation is, it will get worse before it gets better. But our great worship leader, Jesus, shows us what it looks like to sing our way through.
He is going to take us to the place where it might be said, “You will never know that God is all you need until you know he is all you have.“
That’s when we will know what it really means to sing. Practice now. CLICK HERE.
J.D. Walt writes daily for Seedbed’s Daily Text. He serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief. Follow him @jdwalt on Twitter or email him at jd.walt@seedbed.com.
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