Decolonization be like …
In Psalm 37, King David of Jerusalem stated in his acrostic poetry, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
I was cleaning my kitchen when that verse came to my mind. As I reached to set a coffee cup in the cabinet, I scrunched my nose and thought, How? But what about Mephiboseth? King David chose to create acrostic poetry using the Hebrew alphabet. In grade school, the teachers assigned acrostic poetry. It was fun and challenging. Drafting stanzas based on one letter while telling a narrative can lead to whimsical wonky wordplay. I also know from reading poetry and writing my own that the poet tends to share the truth as they know it. Which is why I got stuck in verse 25. Did this King who went conquering Canaanites truly not ever see the righteous forsaken, abandoned, begging for food, experiencing food scarcity? No one? Everyone in his kingdom was well cared for and food secure?
Not Mephiboseth. Not residents in Lodebar.
Poetry over poverty
In 2 Samuel 9, which follows a chapter summarizing the king’s conquests and hierarchal structure, he decides he wants to show kindness to anyone left in Jonathan’s family. A former servant to King Saul named Ziba or Tsiba told the king that Jonathan’s son Mephiboseth was living in Lodebar and was not able-bodied.
From reading dictionaries, commentaries, and searching the web, Lodebar about 70 miles from Jerusalem was pastureless, meaning the ground was not appropriate for growing food or raising animals. In an agricultural society, if you can’t grow food or tend animals, you are struggling. This town is in King David’s kingdom. Yet, the king penned stanzas about not being forsaken and not begging while Lodebar remained pastureless. If the king in all his conquesting and hierarchy could bring chariots and horses into his presence and also Mephiboseth, then he could have done better by all the people in Lodebar. The text doesn’t say if he did or did not. But I doubt he did.
There is something about hierarchy and conquering that seems to create a class system in which those experiencing riches are not preoccupied with those who aren’t. King David alludes to this thinking in his acrostic poetry:
“A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”
Psalm 37:16-19 KJVAAE
Kingdom over kinship
Psalm 37 does not encourage me anymore. King David is deflecting and dismissing the voices and the needs of those with “a little.” He tries to point to a greater cause—the wicked as the enemy (Canaanites) and the reward of the Canaanite land and eternal life (paradise and/or heaven).
Furthermore, I no longer see this poem as inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. Going back to before David’s monarchy or any Israeli monarchy, God did not want the people of Israel to have a monarchy. They warned the people that a system of hierarchy—a system of taking and control—was coming that would leave the Israelites with less, with little.
“And he (Samuel) said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”
1 Samuel 8:11-18 KJVAAE
Conquering over creating
God did not want that hierarchy. They seemingly wanted to preserve a society where a person maintained control of their own bodies and choices. This isn’t to say there wasn’t poverty before the Israeli monarchy, but it is to say that God was not accepting of a monarchy.
I have been young and I am aging older. And in these dis-United States of America, I have seen the righteous forsaken and their children begging for help. There are Lodebars all over this country that leave people insecure and in scarcity. Like King David, our leadership continues to put more money and resources into conquering than creating pastures for the least of us. God probably is not accepting of our system of rulership either.
King David wrote an acrostic poem, a creative literary work. Nothing more. He did not speak for God or those in the Israeli kingdom. David just put some words together that seemed to sound nice. In the U.S. elections, we can’t vote based on what sounds nice. Let’s look at and give an ear to who is creating.