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To read:
Psalm 53
Fools say in their hearts, "There is
no God."
They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who
does good.
God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who
are wise, who seek after God.
They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no
one who does good, no, not one.
Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been.
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to
shame, for God has rejected them.
O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice;
Israel will be glad. |
To think about:
If, as Dylan Thomas said, “Poetry is the movement from over clothed
blindness to a naked vision.” And, if Psalms is one of the poetry
books in the Bible, then Psalm 53 is one passage that brings sharp
focus to this season of Lent. Psalm 53 brings this naked vision so
strongly that one can imagine the power of Paul’s revelation on the
road to Damascus for Paul quotes this very Psalm in Romans 3:10-12.
The scientific study of life, biology, reveals a realm of stupefying
complexity that masks an astounding simplicity at the heart of all
living systems. For example, the entire genetic code, not only of
Homo sapiens but of all living things, is built on just four
slightly different molecules called nucleotides. Simplicity hidden
in complexity is how God builds the living world and how he builds
relationships. There are only two things we need to do, as Jesus
said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind
…and… love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Simple.
Reading Psalm 53 the first time one tends to think, “Well, this
doesn’t apply to me.” Then on the second reading one stops at verse
three and hears the echo of Jesus voice, “Love the Lord your
God…your neighbor” and the complexities of our relationship with God
and each other becomes absurdly simple. We need help.
I imagine Paul, that expert in the complexities of the law,
confronting the astounding simplicity for the first time on the road
to Damascus. He shares this with us in Romans 3. But, I also like
the way one student in my confirmation class put it when she read
Psalm 53. She didn’t understand much of the Psalm until she came to
verse six that reads in the NRSV, “Oh, that deliverance for Israel
would come from Zion!” She said, “Sounds like some kind of Super
Hero.” Yes, how simply put. Jesus, the Super Hero. |
