Today’s reading is Psalm 123.
Vulnerable
I get it. I understand why some, after reading yesterday’s post, decided to abandon Jesus. We love the idea of Jesus saving us, but enslaving us? That’s a tough pill to swallow. Frankly, it digs right down to the reason why it takes faith to be saved. We have to believe with such conviction and confidence that Jesus is saving us, we decide to do what unbelievers find repugnant. We decide to put our lives and eternities in someone else’s hands.
Our pilgrim psalmist does not use the metaphor of slave and master because in his day slavery was pleasant. Let us not soften this psalm by acting like slavery was not just as hard, difficult, even horrific in our psalmist’s day as it was in 19th century America. Yes, people accepted slavery more readily in the time of the ancient psalmist, but no one wanted to be a slave more readily. Certainly, the Law contained legal codes offering some protections to Hebrew slaves. What a blessing. I mean, it would be if those ancients followed the legal codes better than supposed Christians in America followed the legal codes of the new covenant about slavery (see Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1)–which, of course, few of them did. But do not for a moment think people in the psalmist’s day thought slavery was a pleasant or even desirable occupation. Think about it: redemption from slavery was such a great metaphor for salvation because nobody wanted to be a slave.
The pilgrim psalmist’s metaphor did not express comfort. It expressed vulnerability. Slaves looked to their masters’ and mistresses’ hands because slaves had no choice and no control. They had no control over whether their lives would be pleasant or miserable. Their masters’ and mistresses’ hands determined that. Therefore, slaves looked to their masters’ and mistresses’ hands.
When slaves looked to their masters’ hands, they would as likely see a fist or a whip as anything else. Slaves might not see actively abusive hands, but selfish, grasping, neglectful hands–hands which used the slaves as human tools to serve the master but did not care for the slaves at all. The slave’s entire life was held in the hand of that master. Again, not an expression of pleasing comfort, but of desperate vulnerability.
Here now is the difference. Our psalmist willingly made this pilgrimage. Our psalmist willingly placed himself under the hand of YHWH. Our Psalmist willingly looked to the LORD as Master. In the face of scoffers, mockers, warmongers, attackers, our psalmist didn’t look to the opponents, attempting to side with them in hopes they would back off. He didn’t look to himself, deciding he was strong enough to win the battle. He didn’t look to idols and false gods, especially the ones the Meshechians and Kedarians claimed to follow.
Like Jehoshaphat of 2 Chronicles 20:12, our psalmist essentially says, “We do no know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (ESV). Which, of course, actually means they both knew precisely what to do. Trust the Lord. Yes, the volunteer slaves make themselves vulnerable. But Jehoshaphat, the pilgrim, and hopefully we ourselves realize the risk is worth it. It is.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss why.
Praise the Lord!
Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 123.
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PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family
How does Psalm 123 prompt or improve your trust in God?
Read the Bible 