Psalm 89:46-52
In today’s reading the psalmist softens his words substantially from yesterday’s diatribe. He begins very pleadingly, How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? (v. 46a), but in the next half-verse he is back to charging God for His wrath. In verse 49 he links back to our readings from the last three days: Lord, where is Your steadfast love of old, which by Your faithfulness You swore to David? To me this is the key verse in the entire Psalm.
I’m intrigued at how the psalmist claims that he is receiving mockery and insults (vv. 50-51), seemingly because of his trust in God. At least that’s how I read it, in that he maintains that these insults come from “…Your enemies…” (v. 51a). I was trying to remember if anyone had ever scorned my faith and I can remember only three instances. Sadly, all of these came from family members. Such a sad reality…