Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 33

What I Read Today: Psalms 6-12.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 10: 5-12, "He is secure at all times. He has no regard for your commands; he disdains all his enemies. He says to himself, 'I will never be upended, because I experience no calamity.' His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; his tongue injures and destroys. He waits in ambush near the villages; in hidden places he kills the innocent. His eyes look for some unfortunate victim. He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket; he lies in ambush, waiting to catch the oppressed; he catches the oppressed by pulling in his net. His victims are crushed and beaten down; they are trapped in his sturdy nets. He says to himself, 'God overlooks it; he does not pay attention; he never notices.' Rise up, Lord! O God, strike him down! Do not forget the oppressed!"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I'm a first-born and tend to embody all the traits of the first-born.

The funny thing is that I used to think I was a Ferris Bueller-type free spirit complete with that "Life is a Highway" mindset. Oh, what a gift he gives us, to see ourselves like others see us.

My mirror was my little sister. She rolls the dice. It never really hit her brain that the road less traveled was actually less traveled. She is much more likely to enjoy the moment...just make her last excused absence count with a day of cruising with the top down, Cubs games, museums, dinners at fancy restaurants and the whole bit.

I came to the realization that I was much more like Ferris' older sister, Jeannie/Shauna (please tell me you get that). I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there. I took the road most-traveled and wished/admired/imagined I was on the road less traveled. There was a way of living life and I toed the line: college/job/wife/house/kids. Jeannie's cry of, "Why does Ferris get to ditch when everybody else has to go?" highlighted a sense of justice, right?

And I have that sense of justice, man. In spades. Especially when it comes to those that "have" keeping those that "have not" down...even when I'm in the camp of the "have's" and benefit from that reality almost every minute of my life.

For example, I live in a school district that pays taxes joyfully to have great schools for our kids (sure, we can tie in pork into those bond elections with the best of them, but such is life). This includes all sorts of side benefits like free classes to prepare for the PSAT's, which help students qualify for scholarships (and with stiff competition, every point matters). They have counselors that can find obscure grants and scholarships, too...so the kids technically qualify even if they never grew up on a "reservation" or had to learn Spanish in class or ever lived in the inner city.

It gets under my skin when the "bad guys" win. I feel for the underdogs. I mean, like everybody else, I appreciate a good old-fashioned uprising of students against "The Man." I don't like it when corporations rip-off the workers. I don't like it when bands like "Kansas" sell millions of records and bands like "Pavement" wallow in obscurity. And so it goes.

And David got this in Psalm 10. Except his stuff mattered a little more than a band not getting recognition.

He looked around and noticed that people who were enemies of God were getting what they wanted. They devised ways to keep the oppressed oppressed. They got what they wanted. They robbed good people while cursing and denying God. They were secure. They couldn't care less what God said. They weren't worried about falling from their lofty place. They were deceptive. They said and did harmful things. They ambushed the innocent. They did all sorts of ugly things...

...and then assumed God was overlooking it and/or not acting on it.

But it's funny.

Because there are times when I have all those elements in my own life. At the very least, I tend to do things that I pretty much pretend that God is overlooking and/or not acting on it.

But what scares me the most is that I generally don't have that passion that David had for God to right the wrongs ASAP. Sure, I can see the news like you and watch some sort of group getting unfairly treated and say to myself, "Man, that's not fair. We should help them."

And, for some reason, I lose the idea of eternal perspective on matters.

That, at some point in time, God will hear the cries of the oppressed. The widows and orphans will be championed. The arms of the evil will be broken. The wicked will be driven out of His land.

But it seems like a long time from verse 1 to verse 18, that's for sure. Sometimes, we take this world too seriously. Sometimes we don't take the Kingdom seriously enough. In my way of thinking, it's tough living in the "now" while waiting on the "not yet." There seems like there's too much for us to champion and fight for. I guess I just have to be glad that knowing it won't always be this way is enough.

Because it is...

...even when it appears the bad guys "win." Because my guess is that "winning" will be redefined in time. And it won't bother me at all if that redefinition comes sooner rather than later.

(Tomorrow's reading: Psalm 13-19)