Psalm 151: A Psalm for the Working Poor

(Editor’s Note: This modern psalm has been written to reflect the lives of the urban poor. It has been prepared as if it were appearing in a study Bible, complete with scholarly commentary. The reader will notice that footnotes have been added at some points to further clarify the meaning of the Psalmist.)

Come, magnify the Lord with me,
And Let us exalt His Name together.
I will bless the Lord every day, and His praise will always be in my mouth.
For He alone delivers. He alone hears my cry. He alone understands.

Preserve me, O God, because my enemies are everywhere.
They come into my neighborhood to crush me.
I borrow enough to pay the bills, but give up my own soul.
My debtors gang up to keep me down. “Fast cash” or “money now” becomes slow progress and exaggerated debt. (1)
The tax collectors (2) deceive and enslave me. (3)
In an endless cycle, I cry out from the darkness,
I cannot escape on my own! (4)

My children cry out, they hunger and thirst.
I look to you Lord, when their birthday is near, to provide just one Barbie, or Spiderman, or ball, or shirt.
My face is hidden from them. They sleep when I return from work; my bleary eyes watch over them as they slumber in blissful ignorance of the fragility of their world.
Deliver me from temptation, O Lord, for many dishonest and degrading means could put food into their mouths. (5)

I slave all the day, serving more than one master (6) , sacrificing my health and well-being for my family. I never see the sun, yet I do not make ends meet. (7)
I am cursed and despised, accosted and lectured. I am called lazy and irresponsible.
How long, O God, will I suffer at the hands of the self-righteous? (8)
Deliver me from false prophets who sneak into my camp at night.
They pretend to be wise and holy, but shame Your Name, O Lord.
They spread lies and manipulate your Word to make a god in their image. (9)

Lost, all is lost! Now no man will employ me.
I am rejected and despised.
Worry and dread encroach upon me like I have never known.
I look to the Lord, who gives and takes away.
How long, O Lord?

Though I walk through alleys of shadowy death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.
My Protector and my Shield. After dark You walk me home.
Where can I go and not find You?
When I rest in a warm apartment, you are there.
When I make my bed in the gutter, you are there.
When I choke on my tears and turn from my friends, then sell my body for a cheeseburger, even then Your hand can reach me.
Whenever I say, “I’m cold and it’s dark. Tomorrow I die,” You light dazzling street lamps and provide me a coat. Even in the darkness, you see me clearly.

Provider and Rock of my salvation,
I go to a homeless program conducted by Your people. Praise Your Holy Name!
There you open my eyes to teach me what it means to be in need.
When I, as a grown adult, am made to ask permission to cross the street with my daughter to buy a soda, I understand what poverty is all about. (10)
When I drape my body across an uncomfortable couch in the midst of the sweltering heat of a church basement, I know what it means to be poor.
As the baby screams through the night, suffering from a bad diaper rash that no one has medication for, I weep alongside him for want.
I am cursed by my fellow resident, a woman in bitter withdrawal, only seven days clean from her addiction to heroin. Then I understand anew what it means to be poor and broken.

They enter in and preach at me, giving me the answers I am supposed to know.
“Pray harder,” they say, “Dress nice, go to church.”
They preach a happy, healthy, wealthy gospel and I laugh them to derision. (11)
But, even then, You are there.

O God, my Provider, you bring me out of despair! No longer a wandering refugee, You make for me a house.
Section 8, in a better neighborhood, I rejoice! In the midst of my troubles, You make for me a shelter.
When the doorknob falls off in my hand, You make the way open before me.
When the refrigerator sputters and dies, spoiling my final meal, You make provisions for me to eat.
In those rooms where electricity fails, You light up the room by Your presence.
I huddle near the stove in the middle of long winter, and You warm my bones.
I cannot even flush my toilet without filling the tank by hand, but You comfort me.
Even the mice and cockroaches and ants and hornets fall prostrate before you in humble worship.
I can’t always see You, but all of creation bows before You.

O Come, magnify the Lord with me,
And Let us exalt His Name together.
I will bless the Lord every day, and His praise will always be in my mouth.
For He alone delivers. He alone hears my cry. He alone understands.

—-

(1) Payday loans, or Fast Cash loans basically work like this: a person who is short on cash goes to the lender. If they need $100, they will write a check for $120 and postdate it for two weeks later. The lender keeps the check but gives $100 cash to the borrower. In two weeks, if the borrower has not paid back the lender, the lender will cash the check and withdraw the amount from the borrower’s bank account. If the check bounces, the loan will roll-over for another $20 fee. This continues until the borrower pays the amount in full.

Notice, this is a 20% interest rate over 2 weeks. That translates to 1.428% daily or 521% annually. Eventually, the borrower is left to pay the principle loan, plus much more than the borrowed amount in fees and interest. A small loan can quickly double or triple in amount with interest and roll-over fees.

Most people hear of this outrageous interest rate and do not believe it. But because a check is involved, some states do not consider these payday advances to be loans. Legally, cash advance businesses can charge more than 500% annually on these loans.

(2) Low income families are more likely to be audited. In 2003, 1.36% of people earning less than $25,000 a year were audited. Of those who earned $100,000 or more per year, only 1.15% were audited (for a more full discussion of this phenomenon, see David K. Shipler’s The Working Poor).

(3) Although legal action has forced tax preparers to be more open about their policies, many customers still fall into the trap of “rapid refund” offers. In these transactions, customers pay $50 to $100 to receive their refund check within a few days of filing, months earlier than normal. The customer hears the good news about a rapid refund and just assumes that the check they receive will be their own money. Instead, they are signing up for a high-interest, refund anticipation loan. Of course, the terms of the loan are presented clearly in the fine print, and most offices now refer to them as anticipation loans because the law requires them to, but many of the urban poor are still ignorant of what they are signing up for. This is a ploy to target the poor, for only those who are in a pinch would even need such a service. No regard is given to the actual income of the customer. In fact, this year Jackson Hewitt advertised “money now” without even requiring the customer to provide a W-2.

(4) Bills and debts can pile up quickly, especially considering the roll-overs and interest charges on loans. As these debts pile up, things may begin to slip around the home. Groceries may dwindle, electricity may be turned on and off, phones may do the same, and the general maintenance of the home may suffer. Poor upkeep of the home and poor living conditions may generate illness or injury, leading to medical bills or lost wages from missed work. This not only increases the debt but might also lead to a poor credit rating when bills continue to go unpaid. A poor credit rating will affect the purchases that are made, including food and transportation choices, which may continue to limit work productivity and restrict wages. Increasing debt may lead to the use of more cash advance loans or other means of fast cash which continue to keep the family trapped in the deficits of poverty. Children miss school when siblings are ill because the family cannot afford a babysitter and can’t afford to miss work. Then grades suffer, truancy becomes an issue, and the child is placed on a path to lifelong poverty as well.

Families may draw on resources from several government agencies or community organizations, however, these institutions have eligibility requirements. Seeking aid from one agency may lead to ineligibility for another. Some families fear taking a job that would boost their standard of living by a bit, for this might be enough to cause their supporting agencies to drop them. Discontinuing support causes further instability which, in turn, causes the family to fall into poverty again.

(5) How long could you watch your children suffer before you sold your body on the street?

(6) Many providers must resort to working multiple jobs to provide for their family.

(7) The U.S. Government currently defines poverty as an annual income of $17,170 or less per year for a household of 3, and $20,650 or less for a household of 4 (See Department of Health and Human Services Website). The Psalmist is not talking about lazy bums here, he is talking about the working poor, those who are literally working themselves to death.

(8) Contrary to popular belief in many Evangelical circles, poverty is not an indication of God’s judgment. Some in the Bible were poor because of laziness or sinful living (Proverbs 19:15 and 20:13 for example). But some were oppressed and persecuted. God judged His people for their lack of care for poor people. The charges are brought against the Northern Kingdom in Amos 4:1; 6:4-7; 5:10-15. The Southern Kingdom is also charged with mistreatment of the poor: Isaiah 10:1-3, Micah 2:2, and Jeremiah 5:26-29. It is also important to note that when God listed His conditions for deliverance in Jeremiah 7:5-7, He specifically cites a deliberate change in attitude and action toward the poor and oppressed.

(9) Some quotes from prominent Evangelicals:
John Avanzini says, “”Jesus was rich,” and, “Jesus owned a nice house, a big house, which was big enough to host company. He owned land and wore designer clothes. I mean, you couldn’t buy the stuff He wore off the rack.”

Kenneth Copeland taught, “His garments were custom-made clothes because they didn’t have a seam. It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all garment. His was the type of garment that kings and merchants wore.”

Paul Crouch proclaimed, “We are going to raise enough money to bring Jesus back to earth.”

Robert Tilton, “Worry is a sin, but so is being poor, when God has promised prosperity to the Christian.”

Frederick K. Price added this gem, “…Jesus and His disciples were not poor. The Bible tells us that He has left us an example and we are to follow in His steps. That’s the reason why I drive a Rolls Royce. I’m following Jesus’ steps.”

Really? Is God mad at poor people?

(10) While many ministries demonstrate great compassion in their work, they often neglect to preserve the dignity of the Image-Bearers they are serving.

(11) Prosperity is no measure of spirituality. Taking up the cross daily entails suffering and hardship, not necessarily comfort and riches.