Like Those Who Go Down to the Pit

Today’s reading is Psalm 28.

Sometimes it is the little words we miss. For instance, it’s pretty easy to miss the word “like” in Psalm 28:1. Almost everyone who reads and comments on Psalm 28 believes David is afraid something is about to happen that will kill him. If God doesn’t act, David will go down to the pit, that is the realm of the dead. Some suggest it is more than being dead, it is the deepest place in the realm of the dead, the dungeon for the damned among the dead. However, catch that little word “like.” David is not afraid he is about to go to the pit. Rather, if God is deaf and silent toward him, he is like those who go down to the pit. Ezekiel 32:24, 25, 30 gives some insight as each verse repeats the statement about those who “bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.” If the Lord won’t listen or respond, David will be in shame like those in the pit. Notice also Psalm 88:3-7 with its fuller description of being in the pit. The pit is a region dark and deep (sounds like being abandoned in the valley of death’s shadow). Those who go down to the pit have no strength. But even worse, and this is likely the part David is calling to mind, those in the pit are cut off from the hand of the Lord, they are forsaken of God. In other words, why does living matter if the Lord won’t listen and respond? David might as well be dead. He is the living dead. The blessing of life is we can call out to God and He will respond. Therefore, David is pleading. “Don’t treat me like the dead in the pit. Don’t treat me like those who have been cut off from Your hand.” And here is the fantastic thing about our God. He really does listen. He is a rock, but only metaphorically. All the idols, they are nothing but rocks, pieces of metal, shards of wood. They are deaf. But our God hears and we will not be ashamed. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 28.

PODCAST!!!

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A Word for Our Kids

Hey kids, David is afraid he is going to become like folks in the realm of the dead even while he is still alive on earth. One of the fascinating aspects of the Psalms is the state of life and death within them. Pay attention as you read. In the Psalms, life is where people praise God and God blesses them. Death is where people are unable to praise and God doesn’t bless them. In the Psalms, life refers more to our relationship with God, than it is does to our status here on earth. The fact is, based on the worldview of the psalmists, if I’m not praising God, if I’m not loving God, if I’m not following God, I’m not really living. My body may be breathing. I may have food every day. But, really, I’m dead. Keep that in mind, and see if you can see that in the Psalms as well.