Our Only Hope

How appropriate that on the last day of the Advent week where we celebrate HOPE, our reading should be Psalm 94! Now, Psalm 94 isn’t the most uplifting and joyous song that you can imagine. The first 16 verses (in English, 17 in Hebrew) show the psalmist in a pretty desperate position. He or she isn’t just talking about the problem of evil, she or he has been victimized so much by those who have made false promises (v. 4 Eng), use power unjustly just because they can (v. 5 Eng), take advantage of the less fortunate (v. 6 Eng), and believe that no one, including God, can stop them (v. 7 Eng).

Now, the psalmist, much like modern individual, knows that one cannot rely strictly upon human solutions to take care of these things (v. 11). Human intent is simply a breath, a wisp of air, an unreliable ripple in the atmosphere. Yet, human beings (either through tunnel vision or pride) have a tendency to look for human help before we look toward God as our hope. During our recent Advent Sunday celebrating HOPE, I jokingly included the classic line from Star Wars: A New Hope in our responsive reading in 2010, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” I was trying to suggest that while we can put our trust in some people, it’s always better to trust in the Lord.

Psalm 94 psalm pokes fun at our human self-sufficiency and inability to call upon God with two poignant rhetorical questions in verse 9 (Eng): Can’t the person who sculpted (lit. “planted”) the ear hear? And can’t the person who created the eye see? How often we act like God is too busy to deal with what we’re facing. We need to be (I need to be) on guard for this self-complacency.

The psalm also talks about how well-off the person is that God disciplines. We don’t tend to think so. We tend to think that punishment or tough lessons are negative experiences. Of course, at the time they are. I remember having the meanest Physical Education coach in high school. He ran us and ran us and ran us. I hated it. I’ve always hated running with no purpose. But I noticed that, by the end of the year (or more precisely, by the time my arm was broken in wrestling and I was excused for the rest of the year), I didn’t mind running that half to three-quarters of a mile that used to seem so miserable. We thought he gave us those laps to run because he was too lazy to come up with an interesting lesson plan for the period. He was actually trying to strengthen us.

We often think the disappointments, failures, and troubles that we face represent God being hard on us. The psalmist suggests on so many occasions that God is harder on God’s own people than on the “wicked.” Of course! I notice, as a professor, that I’m much more likely to take the time to make substantive comments on the papers of a student that has potential than to make a lot of comments (other than quick negative point deductions) on a student’s paper where the student doesn’t seem to be trying. I’m much more interested in helping students making an effort and showing potential get to the top than investing too much time in students who don’t care.

Verses 16-19 (English translation) seem pretty terrific to me. They ask who will stand up to the bullies for us and they answer that God not only will, but God many times has. What an encouragement! When I was little, I often wished I had a big brother who could scare away all those kids who picked on me (I didn’t realize that big brothers usually pick on their younger brothers unless they’re much younger.). The psalmist pictures God as that avenging, bigger loved one who takes up for us. Isn’t that a great thought?