Read Psalm 53
The biblical narrative is replete with stories of humans striving for divine authority and power, for success, for control, instead of looking to God for these things. In story after story, we attempt to subvert God’s natural order in favor of our own, forgetting the One who created us in His image and with His good design. David pens this lament in Psalm 53 recognizing our forgetfulness. He knows all too well our need to be reminded of our true condition and standing in relation to our holy and righteous God. He also knows the struggles and pains of this world and our need to be reminded of God’s power to care for his people. In fact, we are so forgetful of these truths, David wrote this psalm twice! Psalm 53 is a reprisal of Psalm 14 with only a few minor differences. What could be so important that God would inspire David to repeat it to His people?
Reminder of our condition
Psalm 53 reminds us of our depravity. Within the first three verses, David lays out in no uncertain terms the situation before us.
All have turned away
David doesn’t mince words, lest there be any confusion. In fact he belabors the point, decrying our corruption and lack of goodness four times. These blunt and stark statements leave no room for nuance or qualification. We are not good. We are fools who do vile and corrupt deeds. And, by the way, it’s every last one of us. How easy it is to survey those around us and play a comparative game that only leads to self-delusion and pride? “At least I didn’t do what he did!”, or “But not I!” David hears your protest and says:
There is no one who does good
Not even one.
Reminder of God’s power and protection
Even in the midst of such evil and pain, David reminds us that God is just and powerful. He asks if the evildoers even know what they are doing (v.4). They are ignorant of God’s power and authority, neglecting to even pray to God when they oppress His people. David implies that they would not act this way if they knew of God’s might. They don’t don’t even see His judgement coming.
There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
God will put to shame those that persecute and oppress. Still it is His power that does this, not our tact or skill. We rarely face physical persecution in our context, but are there situations you face today where you have forgotten that He is your protector and provider?
Reminder to hope
After five verses of lament and honest portrayals of suffering, David reminds us of our hope. Despite the sorry state of humanity and despite the oppression that God’s people faced, he writes:
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Lament is a tricky practice because being truly honest about our situation can cause us to focus too heavily on the very real consequences of our sin or worldly circumstances, resulting in an existential crisis. David’s depiction of our condition is about as honest and succinct as it gets, yet he is still able to hope for deliverance. This is a wonderful model for us and it reminds us to not let our current predicaments overshadow our true hope in Christ. Rejoice! Take a moment to thank God for His salvation that we have received through Christ Jesus.
-- Chris Reed