Psalm 52
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
Schoolyard bullies populate the memory of a lot of people. Even if the blows and the taunting did not come specifically in a given direction, memories remain. Pushing, shoving, horrible taunts, and even violence were hurled at hapless youngsters whose only crime was to walk meekly down the hallway past a bully who sensed an opportunity.
Unfortunately, bullies never seem to go out of vogue. Each generation of schoolchildren must endure the loud-mouthed vituperative antics of those who "boast of mischief done against the godly." The problem, though, rarely stops at the school playground. Young bullies grow into adult bullies unless someone stands and puts a stop to the abuse. The voice of this psalm is the voice of just such a one.
This voice fires a salvo back at the "evil-doer," which in schoolyard lingo might be heard as, "Oh, yeah? You just wait! God's gonna get you!" Though this tone resonates through the psalm, there is a deeper truth running like a vein of silver through this text. And that is that "God is not mocked. You will reap what you have sown" (Galatians 6:7). In the hot, flushed moments of seeming victory when abusive power asserts itself with violence, the temptation to gloat and crow is overwhelming. But as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of the universe is long, and it bends toward justice."
Whether it is a schoolyard bully, or a war-making nation, God is not mocked. What is sown will indeed be reaped. From the corridors of power to rural backwaters and dark urban alleys, the seeds that have been sown will sprout.
The harvest of this crop will be great. God's wondrous and powerful hand will reach through the vista of our own story and establish justice. The trust placed in God, even in the face of such evil, is not misplaced. It is a source of power and strength, a well whose waters never run dry. This is why such a one can laugh in the face of the "evildoer." This is why the weakest ones will ultimately triumph. And it is why good, decent, righteous people must never remain silent in the face of a schoolyard bully, regardless of where the schoolyard is located or what the bully looks like.
Unfortunately, bullies never seem to go out of vogue. Each generation of schoolchildren must endure the loud-mouthed vituperative antics of those who "boast of mischief done against the godly." The problem, though, rarely stops at the school playground. Young bullies grow into adult bullies unless someone stands and puts a stop to the abuse. The voice of this psalm is the voice of just such a one.
This voice fires a salvo back at the "evil-doer," which in schoolyard lingo might be heard as, "Oh, yeah? You just wait! God's gonna get you!" Though this tone resonates through the psalm, there is a deeper truth running like a vein of silver through this text. And that is that "God is not mocked. You will reap what you have sown" (Galatians 6:7). In the hot, flushed moments of seeming victory when abusive power asserts itself with violence, the temptation to gloat and crow is overwhelming. But as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of the universe is long, and it bends toward justice."
Whether it is a schoolyard bully, or a war-making nation, God is not mocked. What is sown will indeed be reaped. From the corridors of power to rural backwaters and dark urban alleys, the seeds that have been sown will sprout.
The harvest of this crop will be great. God's wondrous and powerful hand will reach through the vista of our own story and establish justice. The trust placed in God, even in the face of such evil, is not misplaced. It is a source of power and strength, a well whose waters never run dry. This is why such a one can laugh in the face of the "evildoer." This is why the weakest ones will ultimately triumph. And it is why good, decent, righteous people must never remain silent in the face of a schoolyard bully, regardless of where the schoolyard is located or what the bully looks like.
