Shaking Foundations

We don’t know the situation that gave rise to this psalm, but David is challenged at two levels. The first is personal: some are advising him to flee from attack (1). The psalm paints this with a vivid reality: when we are criticized or threatened it often feels as though it has come “from the shadows” (2). But there is a deeper threat. The personal attacks are part of something bigger; things are not the way they ought to be or used to be. The “foundations” of life are being destroyed (3).

David finds the answer to both threats in the same place. If the foundations we know and trust are being shaken, then by contrast God himself stands firm. It is not clear whether this psalm was written before or after the Temple was built, but, clearly, any earthly building is but a reflection of spiritual (heavenly) reality. God is sovereign: he is the one to be trusted and worshipped. He is the one whose judgment counts–he sees the deeds of both righteous and wicked and will deal with them accordingly.

What do we make of God hating the wicked “with a passion” (5)? Should we hate the wicked too? The Anglican collect (prayer) for Ash Wednesday proclaims, “You hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent”–and plenty of scriptures support this view. The language of “fiery coals and burning sulphur” (6) looks back to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah and their refusal to heed God (Gen. 19:24). Paul gives this idea a different twist. Echoing Jesus (Matt. 5:44), Paul urges his readers to “bless those who persecute you” and thus “heap burning coals on his head” (Rom. 12:14,20; Prov. 25:21-22). If God is judge, we don’t need to be.

Do you feel as though the “foundations are being destroyed,” or that arrows are being shot from the shadows? How are you dealing with this situation? In what ways does this psalm help you.