Man Made Strength
I’ve read this Psalm 52 a couple of times in the past couple of days.
When I first read it the verses seemed strikingly and primarily reminiscent of corrupt high-profile figures in today’s society with great power, wealth, authority and influence. And indeed the text does indeed address the treachery of wicked men (figures) in positions of power – abusing their power for evil.

But as is customary, the Truth of scripture always points both outward and inward; always challenging us, if we surrender to humility, to find ourselves in both the fall and the redemption – as both the antagonist and the blameless, the predator and the prey, the persecuted and the privileged; as the victim, the victimizer, and the victor – you get the idea…

The psalmist describes the boastful mighty man’s problematic self-empowerment behavior throughout verses 1-6, and then exposes its root cause in verse 7.

“Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

The New International Version (NIV) relays it this way

“Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”

Either way you slice it, verse 5 clearly details God’s retribution for those who empower themselves via exclusive and self-professed self-reliance at the expense of others, particularly taking advantage of them through deception, defamation, and degradation.

“God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.”

Yikes! Not good.

We must be careful. I think if we listen closely, we’ll hear The Scripture speaking to each of us, warning us that 1) reliance on any possession: wealth, ability, beauty, charisma, charm, swagger as the source of our strength and position and, 2) advancing that position by exploiting others – is risky business; especially for Kingdom dwellers.

But by His grace The Word always provides a way of escape!
See verses 8 and 9.

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.”

At first the green olive tree statement may register as bragging, but it’s not – it’s confession, verified by the second part of the statement “I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.”

In fact the two verses in their entirety are the complete opposite of, and a thorough rejection of the mighty-man approach.

The psalmist declares his prosperity is due to the mercies of God, and that He will praise his God, acknowledging Him as the source of his victory, provision, etc. AND in humility, he submits himself to God’s leadership and direction, in service to His Name before The Brethren, that they may be blessed.

Let’s examine our ways today to make sure that we’re not boasting and operating in our own might. Let’s get out of our own way, crucify pesky flesh, acknowledge and make room for The Most High as our source of strength and provision. Indeed He is our provision, n’est-ce pas? Selah!