Psalm 12 - Dreaming of Something Different

Feb 03, 2025

Today, we’re going to do something different. At some point years ago, I heard about the idea of reading parts of the Bible in the opposite. So, read Psalm 23 all in the negative...The Lord is not my shepherd, I shall be in want, etc. Doing this helps to lift up the full depth and power of those words. The opposite is true - with something that feels more negative and discouraging, read it in the positive. So we’re going to do that with Psalm 12 today.

Here’s the Psalm in the NRSV:

Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;
the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
They utter lies to each other;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;
our lips are our own—who is our master?”
“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
I will now rise up,” says the LORD;
“I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure,
silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
You, O LORD, will protect us;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among humankind.

So that first half of it...pretty rough. Fischer’s translation is equally rough. Here’s the first few verses of his translation

I call out to you
For the real is gutted
The truth has fallen away
From the human family
And self-deceit and small advantage corrupt speech

Oof.

This Psalm hits a little close to home for sure. It feels like this leaf I saw the other morning - frozen and locked into the ice. Yes, the Psalm eventually moves to a more hopeful place but that first part...again...oof

Well, yesterday afternoon, I saw another leaf in the ice just around the bend from where the above one was. But this looked a LOT different.

The air had warmed up, the sun was shining, the ice was starting to melt and the leaf was slowly being set free. There were so many similar shapes and patterns right around that looked similar but this one was exactly the shape of the leaf. Honestly, I don’t remember ever seeing something like this. I loved the way that it feels like the leaf is so warm that the ice can’t hold it any longer. It stirred the memory of that practice with Psalm 23 I mentioned above but it got me thinking about this Psalm and what it might say if we turned it around not as a reflection on the very real problems of the day but looking to the possibilities of what could be. When I got home, I took Fischer’s translation and turned it around. Here it is (the 2nd to last stanza didn’t change - those are still Fischer’s words):

I call out to you
As the real is filled
The truth rises
From the human family
True honesty is spoken and shared
Neighbors hold honesty and truth with one another
They speak with deep, true, and full hearts
Open the lips of those who speak truth
May these tongues speak of humility, curiosity, and openness
And you reply,
“The needs of the poor and the needy are met. I see the ways they live in safety and no longer need to worry of traps they might fall into.”
Your words, Lord,
Are straight, clear, shining
As silver refined in earth’s crucible
Seven times purified.
You have lifted them up, no longer tied to the generation of the lie.
Always and forever, lifted up.
The truth rises above all
The humble travel gracefully all around
The world is made for all.

What a beautiful world that could be. That, I believe, is God’s dream and that’s what I’m looking to today. Yes, the ice is still there, but there is something further, something bigger, something warmer, something more healing.

All of this may have also been inspired by something I read from Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes yesterday morning that she entitled “The Woke Christian Creed” with a subtitle of “A statement of belief for those of us who love Jesus, but who are not always sure about the Church.” Even if the word “woke” is triggering for you, please please please click through to read this creed of awakening to God’s dream for all people and for all of creation.