(An Asaph psalm.)
I know this to be true:
God takes care of his people,
Those who live simply,
Innocently,
Kindly.
But I got so distracted looking the other way,
I didn’t watch where I was going,
Wandering off course,
Almost ending up in a ditch.
I was way too focused on pop culture icons,
All the fame and fortune
Of people committed to living me-first lives.
Their lives look so carefree.
Their bodies are beautiful,
So strong,
So lithe,
So lovely.
They don’t have to do real work
Or deal with real problems
Like the rest of us.
They flaunt their success in our faces
With their blood diamond bling,
So self-content
Yet so truly violent.
Their bodies may be lean,
But their eyes bulge with fat —
So lustful,
So covetous,
So endlessly imaginative in their self-love.
They laugh at innocence.
They sneer at earnest, faith-filled people.
They threaten anyone who calls into question
Their me-first lives.
They boast so boldly,
Claiming to be divine,
Their egos so big
The earth can hardly contain them.
But their I-am-God attitude merely makes them
More magnetic.
Crowds can’t resist these celebrities,
Drinking up everything they say and do.
They taunt God.
”Does God need a hearing aid?
Some new glasses?
Cause if he sees and hears us,
He sure doesn’t do anything.”
Yes, this is how the me-first live:
Carefree consumerists,
Treating the world like it’s their oyster.
I look at all this and shake my head
At my attempts to lead an honest life.
Why try?
Why take the high road?
It doesn’t pay.
I wake up every day with an aching back
And it goes downhill from there.
Life is a meaningless chore.
It’s a good thing I kept those thoughts
Inside my head.
I’d have tripped up your children
If I’d spoken my mind.
Because these thoughts disturb me deeply.
But then something changed everything,
Gave me new clarity:
I stepped into your sanctuary
And gained some new perspective.
The arrogant may be kings of the mountain now,
But it’s a steep slope
And slippery,
With a plunge to a rocky death below.
They fall
And fall apart
So suddenly,
Their fears becoming reality
In an instant.
They’re gone as quickly
As last night’s unremembered dreams,
Dust in the wind
That gets in our eyes for a moment
And is gone forever.
When I got so wound up,
Bitterness creeping into my soul,
I was losing my humanity.
I was such an idiot,
A dumb ox
Before you.
I’m so glad you didn’t walk away from me
In my stupidity.
You’re so constant,
Right there,
Holding me by the hand
Like my mother did when I was a child,
Guiding me,
Coaching me,
Leading me on the great journey to Glory.
Who do I have in heaven?
You and you alone.
You are my goal,
My home,
My everything.
I want no one and nothing else.
My body will fall apart.
My soul may too.
But that’s OK.
God is the real strength of my soul,
The real life of my body
Forever.
Those who walk away from you
Will die far from you,
Their destructive lives
Destroying them.
But I’ll stay as close to God as possible.
Yahweh my King is my home.
I’ll tell everyone the real story
About what’s really going on:
You, God, at work in the world.