Psalm 16:
Mikhtam. By David:
Protect me, God, for you are my refuge. I said to YHVH, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good outside of you.” The holy people in the land are the ones who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.
Those who run after another god multiply their sorrows; To such gods I will not offer drink offerings of blood or take their names on my lips.
YHVH, my assigned portion, my cup: you safeguard my share. Pleasant places were measured out for me; I am content with my heritage.
I bless YHVH, my counselor; at night my inmost being instructs me. I always set YHVH before me; with him at my right hand, I can never be moved; so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices, and my body too rests in safety; for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol, you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss. You make me know the path of life; in your presence is unbounded joy, in your right hand eternal delight.
Why do we treat people differently?
It seems we all have some kind of sorting system in our mind that tells us which people we should honor, those we should dishonor, and those we ignore (which is dishonor).
Why do we do this?
I’d argue it has to do with two primary things: our historical interaction with people and our selfishness.
As we grow up, we get exposed to many different people. We tend to do ok with individuals and can overlook our differences as long as we find them favorable in some way. The younger you are, the easier this is.
Unless you live completely disconnected from humanity, you are exposed to groups of people also. They could have physical differences such as race, gender, age, or even style. It could also be those with a different social status, wealth status, power status, or religious status.
This group dynamic is the argumentative issue of the day. It seems the group to which you belong carries more weight and value than any individual ever could. People are disposable in favor of the group.
Our culture in the west has done a horrible (but effective) job at convincing us that groups are better than people.
For example, suppose you are a successful black male businessman. Depending on who’s looking in, you could have the following analysis performed over this man:
Current score: 0. We need more data to size this man up effectively. Ok, suppose he’s a strong Christian.
Final score: -1. Wow, he’s so close to having value but comes up just shy when the final votes are tallied. If he would have just been muslim or poor or gay, he could have a life that is a model for all. He could have been victorious in the face of an oppressive culture but this just isn’t his day.
Of course, these numbers can change drastically once we move to the next person that's judging.
But this is a human being. And his value is being tabulated by irrelevant metrics? Not only is this wrong, it is simply evil.
Now, I think we all understand the argument here when we frame it in terms of the culture’s measuring stick. We see clearly that it is wrong to size people up this way.
But do we do this exact same thing?
Our historical interactions have framed a largely negative view of certain groups and for that we can learn how not to. Not with much success, but we can at least try.
The trouble comes with our positive view of groups. This one is much harder to shake. In fact, it’s likely controlling your life right now.
As we move from toddler to adolescent to teenager to adulthood, we have a laundry list of life experiences. Some good, some bad.
Bad experiences begin at the hands of individuals, but if a certain group makes a regular appearance in the “bad” domain, we tend to categorize the whole as sharing the same qualities. Meaning, if we get the raw end of the deal at the hands of members of a group, we establish prejudices against the whole of the group.
We, of course, justify this position because we have the evidence to support it. Even when we mature and seek forgiveness from Abba, these positions remain embedded within our natural framework and we struggle to break free from it. But we try.
So the negative side of this makes sense. We can understand how pain and wounds have solidified these deep negative responses.
But what about the “positive” side? I’d say this is far more destructive -- especially for a believer.
When we see people of power, we tend to fear them. Now, it may be considered a “healthy” fear but it’s fear nonetheless. It’s not uncommon to interpret this fear as respect, and that’s exactly what we tell ourselves as we turn our worship towards them. (note: street gangs make this assumption all of the time: “I’ve been disrespected so now you will fear me and that means you respect me”)
A similar thing happens when it comes to those who have wealth (riches, actually). We see the upside to their “having” and ignore any shortcomings that could be equally evident. Because we want (covet) what they have, we turn our worship towards them and seek to sidle alongside because some of them may rub off on little ol’ us. Sadly, that ends up happening.
And those high-status community members or on-line influencers? We follow after their lifestyle, their friend group, and their influence. We like them and we want to be liked, so we let our worship land directly at their feet. If only we could be this person, our mediocre existence would finally have value.
Power (authority), money (provision), comfort (identity). The age-old temptations Yeshua Himself was presented with while He was out in the wilderness with the Adversary. Yes, there is nothing new under the sun.
But David warns us:
Those who run after another god multiply their sorrows; To such gods I will not offer drink offerings of blood or take their names on my lips.
Judgment and worship. Those are the two things that come into play when we choose to look at man through our own eyes.
How can you be a servant of all when you have a group of people below you? And how can you not be idolatrous when you worship a group of infallible people above you?
Yeah, but…
Life may be unfair, but God is not.
In fact, maybe life isn’t unfair at all. Maybe you have the physical qualities you are supposed to have. And maybe you have exactly the resources you need:
YHVH, my assigned portion, my cup: you safeguard my share. Pleasant places were measured out for me; I am content with my heritage.
Huh. So are you confident in your heritage? Are you ok with your assigned portion?
The short answer is likely ‘no’. No matter what we have, we need more. No matter who we are, we want more. And not in a good way.
This is precisely why we fear man, honor the ungodly, and sacrifice our family for our work. We genuinely believe that these will yield fruit that will make our lives better. But ask anyone that has taken this path how much better their life is and you’ll likely be met with a blank stare (or justification).
On the one hand, they have more power, money, and their life is “comfortable”, BUT…
What if there was a secret formula to obtaining pleasure? What if your misguided worship of people and stuff could be transformed into a life-giving posture of pure love?
It can be. You just need to realize which side your bread is buttered on.
The holy people in the land are the ones who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.
All of the saints walking the earth right now are worthy of honor. These are the people with which you will spend all of Eternity. Time will never come to a close on our relationships with these people. They are our allies and they are the ones that will be beside us forever. Read that again: forever!
The social media influencers, the socialites in your community, the rich people that have everything you want, your boss -- they may not be there with you as you sit and listen to Yeshua tell the story of His heart’s desire the day He gave up His life so you could be sitting there listening. They may not get to see the Garden. They may never know what true life really is.
On a cerebral level, we all know this. But that internal war is great. You can be victorious, though -- if you choose to abandon the lies of the world.
We need to start walking in honor of the brethren in real time and space -- today.
Instead of chasing the fleeting things set to destroy you, why not sit and consider a life that whole-heartedly says:
I bless YHVH, my counselor; at night my inmost being instructs me.
I always set YHVH before me;
with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;
so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices, and my body too rests in safety;
for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,
you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.
You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight.
So beloved of God, isn’t this exactly what you are truly seeking in this life?