Feeling and thinking in Psalm 17: I need a hero.
The need to be saved by a hero seems to be universal in culture and time. The stories of someone with superhuman power, extraordinary self sacrifice or a heart for the oppressed and downtrodden coming to save the day are in all our imaginations. I think this is so deep in our psyche because we are made in the image of God and He is by nature a saviour. He is the ultimate hero, so we, being made in His image, know deep down there is such a thing as a hero and that we should long for it.
8 Guard me as you would guard your own eyes.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
9 Protect me from wicked people who attack me,
from murderous enemies who surround me.
I think our thoughts and hopes fall into a few different traps because we have this inbuilt longing and need for a hero. One trap is that we can be vulnerable to a person of influence. We can be deceived. Could it have been this inherent weakness that led Eve to believe the snake who was acting as a hero with “special knowledge”? Mankind in general and your soul specifically thinks you are being oppressed by God. But in fact God is our ultimate hero and saviour.
I think another possible trap is wanting to be our own hero and the hero of others. It is not bad to want to help and it is not bad to be self-sacrificing. But we are not going to take God’s place in the universe. This was Satan’s self deceiving trap that he fell into. There is only one God. God may use us, and we are surely going to be called to do heroic deeds for Him, but it is for His glory and He gives the power. We are never going to usurp God. As a side note to this whole heroic thinking, the Greeks, the Romans and Marvel have all struggled to create fictional heroic universes with gods and powers and such because they all deny the simple order of one God who made all things and to whom all the glory is due. Only God is all powerful, always just and always truthful. Only God is always right and compassionate and graceful. All the fictional universes make a god sinful. And although God is in Jesus vulnerable, He is never sinful. And it was in Jesus' humanity that He was vulnerable. In His divinity He is all powerful and has no vulnerabilities that evil can ever successfully exploit. Maybe one of the greatest superpowers of God is that He can turn anything His enemies do against Him to His glory and benefit for those He loves. All evil will fail. Look at the cross. It looks like evil has won. But in fact the cross becomes God’s greatest triumph. I actually think that no evil really understands this point: not evil people, not evil spiritual beings. They are self deceived so they think they can win or at least destroy a bit of God’s plan. But God’s redemptive power is greater than even the greatest plot of Satan. It is impossible for evil to win against God. He is always the hero and He can recreate, restore and heal anything. So there. Cool huh?
But we need to be careful. Humans, even Christians, even children of the King, with all their rights and power are nothing independent of God. And God and His power are not a neutral force.
The use of power, any power, is always with God’s permission and knowledge. So no one and nothing can use any power without God’s goal being accomplished. Evildoers may have deceived themselves into thinking they are in control or they are going to pull a fast one on God. As if that's possible.
But I digress. God is the hero in Psalm 17 and David wants God to protect him like a person would protect his own eyes. Now it seems that the translators of the NLT have taken the road less travelled in their rendering of this text, but I think they may have hit the nail on the head. Being the apple of someone’s eye may motivate heroic deeds but you can’t even help but react if something is coming towards your eyes. David doesn't just want special protection, he wants God to protect him as if He were protecting Himself. And since David was speaking with an eye to Christ and all in Christ are treated as if they were Christ, we can all ask and expect God to work miracles, to even mess with matter and time to do heroic things for us.
My dad worked in the building trade and his eyes were often under attack. Dust, especially saw dust, is flying around, and things are spun off cutting tools at ridiculous speed and the squint is not nearly enough. I wonder if God in turning His eyes away from evil is protecting His eyes, and when He does so, all life drains away from the place where He ceases to look. Can you imagine for a moment that the gaze of God is the source of life and warmth and all that is good. If He averts His eyes, the place where He no longer is looking ceases to have life. Adam and Eve made the mistake of trying to hide from the gaze of God’s eyes. Think of a small child who has disobeyed and thinks they can hide from the parent by closing their eyes or hiding under a blanket. A very young child thinks they can disappear from the watchful eye of a parent if they close their own eyes. To not see the one to whom you are responsible makes us think we are able to get away with something. I like that David asks God to look. Not just here in a way but often David requests a check over by God. When I am getting ready to go out I ask Lyssa to give me a look over just to see if I have forgotten something or I missed something. We cannot see ourselves nearly as well as we imagine. God has a much better perspective.
15 Because I am righteous, I will see you. When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.
Have you wished you would wake up from the terrible nightmare of life and just be loved, cared for and safe. David was counting on it. David had faith that someday after the grave he would be looking God in the face. And God would not avert His gaze but rather the two would look at each other like a couple of friends. Mick Jagger said he could get any satisfaction but David knew where to find it under the watchful eye of his Father in heaven.
Man with Hand Over His Eyes, John Califano Italian, 1864-after 1908
The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection
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