By Jeremy Bell
This is a posting of Psalm 109 with notes on Mob Rule, known as Cancel Culture. Faith, Hope, and Love, are discovered in truth in the writings of a people God has preserved for thousands of years. The Nature of Joy is not defined by failing humans. It is experienced through a perfect God who restores relationship to any who would respond.
I am going to highlight theocentric perspective using Psalm 109 as well as the connection to it from Luke, John, Matthew, and Acts. All scripture is God breathed, written through His uniquely made people. People use it to learn to be people of God. Scripture is NOT people breathed to uniquely create God. Theocentric perspective is simply believing that God reveals, and people understand. It rejects that people understand and reveal to themselves, God.
Mob Rule, Cancel Culture
Cancel culture, or mob rule, may be a new term but it is no new thing. People have been ostracizing others publicly to remove them from social and professional spaces for thousands of years. It is not hard to see the results, even by those who have never been personally involved. Regardless of topic, it is of interesting note to consider the tone and words of those doing the canceling. In 2020, Ligaya Mishan wrote in The New York Times, “The term is shambolically applied to incidents both online and off that range from vigilante justice to hostile debate to stalking, intimidation and harassment. … Those who embrace the idea (if not the precise language) of canceling seek more than pat apologies and retractions, although it’s not always clear whether the goal is to right a specific wrong and redress a larger imbalance of power.”
It’s possible to think the right things and do the right things and still be wrong. Actions and words are results of what is in the heart. That’s not just the Bible that states that, that is part of the justice system. Motive and intent matter. Witnessing violence and cursing is no longer contained in the midnight barroom brawl. It is publicly recorded and shared on social media all over the world. People have labeled it as cancel culture, but it is the same as mob rule. I’m not convinced that rage sharing is the right answer for change.
Wisdom
The Bible makes compelling points in contrast. It describes a type of system where people reap what they sow. What they dish out, will be their reward. In any of these circumstances, being on the right side is important, but it is not the only factor. Being on God’s side will sometimes produce positive social and material results and other times end in suffering. God is concerned about a persons’ character as much as He is about what they do and say. They are connected. What incites a mob rule action will revisit the one who incites.
Judas was a close, personal friend of Jesus. At the end of Jesus’ life, he joined the religious mob and led the way to cancel Jesus. Jesus claimed to be God. Judas was with the crowd, handing to them the very person who should pay according to the mob rule. Jesus, this God, was killed by the mob. The mob was full of cursing and evil. The atheist would say these things are of no matter. For, cursing or blessing belong to the dust. For the person who believes God exists, it is everything. Read these lines from Psalm 109.
In my personal motif analysis, Psalm 109 is in Verse Bridge Refrain form. This is a verse structure that express ideas, with a bridge and refrain. A verse is one idea that still has a breakdown of pattern, but those patterns are contained in one idea. A bridge extends the ideas to something else or a space for contemplation. A bridge connects. These verses and bridge include a refrain. A refrain may be used at any point along the Psalm. The refrain is a bigger picture truth. I have this visually represented in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization. You can find it here!
[ Psalm 109 ]
God of my praise, don’t remain silent,
for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me.
They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.
They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
and fought against me without a cause.
In return for my love, they are my adversaries;
but I am in prayer.
They have rewarded me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
Set a wicked man over him.
Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
When he is judged, let him come out guilty.
Let his prayer be turned into sin.
Let his days be few.
Let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
Let his children be wandering beggars.
Let them be sought from their ruins.
Let the creditor seize all that he has.
Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be cut off.
In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh.
Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before Yahweh continually,
that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
because he didn’t remember to show kindness,
but persecuted the poor and needy man,
the broken in heart, to kill them.
Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him.
He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment.
It came into his inward parts like water,
like oil into his bones.
Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself,
for the belt that is always around him.
This is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh,
of those who speak evil against my soul.
But deal with me, Yahweh the Lord, for your name’s sake,
because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;
for I am poor and needy.
My heart is wounded within me.
I fade away like an evening shadow.
I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting.
My body is thin and lacks fat.
I have also become a reproach to them.
When they see me, they shake their head.
Help me, Yahweh, my God.
Save me according to your loving kindness;
that they may know that this is your hand;
that you, Yahweh, have done it.
They may curse, but you bless.
When they arise, they will be shamed,
but your servant shall rejoice.
Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor.
Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
I will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth.
Yes, I will praise him among the multitude.
For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
to save him from those who judge his soul.
Luke 6: 12 – 16
Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God. When it was day, he called his disciples, and from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter; Andrew, his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor.
John 12: 1 – 6
Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Therefore Mary took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed Jesus’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said, “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?” Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it.
Further in the book of John, the disciples are at the Passover meal with Jesus. Jesus is washing their feet, Peter objects to it and then desires that his whole body be washed.
John 13: 10 – 11
Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”
There was more discussion.
John 13: 21 – 30
Jesus was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”
He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus’ breast, asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him.
Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
Now nobody at the table knew why he said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.
Matthew 26: 14 – 16
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” So they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. From that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Matthew 27: 1 – 10
When morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. They bound him, led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.”
But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary and departed. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It’s not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.” They took counsel, and bought the potter’s field with them to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called “The Field of Blood” to this day. Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
“They took the thirty pieces of silver,
the price of him upon whom a price had been set,
whom some of the children of Israel priced,
and they gave them for the potter’s field,
as the Lord commanded me.”
Later, the 11 apostles were meeting and discerning what to do.
Acts 1: 15 – 26
In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said, “Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus. For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry. Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness, and falling headlong, his body burst open, and all his intestines gushed out. It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called ‘Akeldama,’ that is, ‘The field of blood.’ For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his habitation be made desolate.
Let no one dwell in it;’
and,
‘Let another take his office.’
“Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, to the day that he was received up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
They put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.” They drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
Thus ends the story of Judas.
Choices
Jesus knew Judas would betray Him. He became his friend and mentor. The heart of Judas was full of darkness and cursing in differing degrees. Judas never really believed in the culture Jesus was transforming. He went along for the ride, made some money, and followed a revolutionary rabbi. He hung himself and was buried in a stranger’s field. Another took his place with the apostles. The mob rule won for a brief time and faded away in the wake of the love Jesus continued to bring and grow.
All people from all of time crucified Jesus. My sin adds to the agony of His death and outpouring of blood. But Jesus rose from the grave. Those who are full of cursing will follow Jesus in death and will live no more. Their cursing of mob rule inspiration will stay with them for eternity. Those who have blessing from God have died with Jesus and will rise again, like He did, to eternal life with God. All of us have the same action of murder, but those who have answered God’s call of salvation have different hearts. It is the nature of people to curse, it is the blessing of life from God helping the needy that will deliver us to the Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Truth Basics for Christian Living with Strategic Options.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.