Year 5, Day 200: Psalm 55

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

Psalm 200 is an incredible psalm upon which we can throw the lens of character.  Take a look at what is happening in this passage.  The psalmist is realizing that the people around him that he thought were friends are actually turning on him.  They speak smooth words, but they have hatred in their hearts.  And the psalmist can feel the noose slipping in around him.  You can almost hear the panic in his voice through the middle portion of the psalm.  So how does this point us to character?  Well, there are two angles about which we can talk about human character and one angle to take on godly character.

Let’s look first at the antagonists.  They speak smooth words, but hatred is in their hearts.  They lie with their mouths.  They are disingenuous.  They are putting up a façade.  They have no character.  They hide and plot and scheme in the shadows.  They deceive people in order to get their way.  Their character is evident, and it isn’t good.  It has become all too clear what they do when nobody is looking.

On the other hand, let’s look at the character of the psalmist.  What does the psalmist do?  Does the psalmist join the battle and duke it out with them?  Does the psalmist slander them in return?  Does the psalmist plot against them as they have plotted against the psalmist?  No.  The psalmist turns to the Lord and asks the Lord to handle it in His righteousness.  The psalmist does not take vengeance into his own hands.  The psalmist puts his trust and faith in the Lord.  Now that’s character.

And what of the character of God?  As we would expect, God is painted in this psalm as a protector.  He is painted as one who is righteous.  he is painted as the ultimate victor who ahs the last say.  This is the character of God.  In Him we can readily place our trust.

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