Psalms 41:1 “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
I read through the first few verses of this Psalm and I mean there are a lot goodies involved for just giving the poor some consideration. It does not even say to help the poor, just consider them. For that the Lord will deliver you from evil, preserve you, keep you alive, you’ll be happy in your land and not fall into the hands of your greedy enemies. Why God will even heal you. Now that is what I call a good deal. Next time that old homeless boy with one shoe comes knocking on the window of my bus at Ashland and Harrison; I will just slip him a couple dollars and man I am good to go.
But is giving him a couple dollars really considering the poor and is that old boy knocking on your window off the Eisenhower expressway really what David means when referring to the poor. The word for poor here is dalal. This is the same root word where we get the word Delilah. Delilah means she who makes one weak. This word comes from an old Akkadian word which is used for lowering a well digger down into a well by a rope. Digging a well in those days was a very dangerous job. When the well reached a certain depth they would lower a digger down into the well by a rope and he would carefully dig. If the well started to collapse, which was a very common occurrence they would quickly pull the digger up. Hopefully they would pull him up in time. Sometimes the rope handlers who were charged with watching for any sign of collapse would be talking about the stats on the star gladiator of the Babylonian Charioteers or the boss’s new assistant in that low cut toga and not notice the subtle signs of an imminent collapse. They failed to masekil el dal consider the poor.
Poor may not be the best word to use here. We automatically think of someone who has no money when we hear poor. A person could have a nice bank account and still be a dal. This is a person who is very vulnerable. Many dal give the impression of being capable like the old boy being lowered in the well, but he needs someone to watch his back.
This may be that quiet person who comes into your church, sits in the back, and never says anything. It may be the house cleaner, that janitor, that person that no one bothers to consider. I remember when I was in Junior High School I had a crush on a girl who did not know I was alive. I consulted my good friend Bernard Abadacola. He asked me what I see when a train goes by. I said I don’t’ know, a train. He then said, “No, you see the engine and the caboose.” That was in the day they still had cabooses. Anyways, the girls always go for the guys who are the big football players (the engines), or the trouble makers (the cabooses). Those are the only ones who get noticed, nobody pays attention to a box car. I was just a box car.
You know what I think? I think David is telling us to consider the box cars. I mean we are great for taking care of the poor and the down and out (cabooses). We are great giving our pastors and Christian leaders (engines) glory and honor, but unless you are really in need or have a big platform no one will pay that much attention because you are just a box car.
Well now I have been a box car all my life, I have admired the engines and I have never been a caboose, but I have envied the attention these cabooses seem to get almost to the point of making me wish I was a caboose or better yet maybe an engine. But that is ok except, you know what? I do hope that if a time comes when I am being lowered into that well that those that God assigned to pull me up when the wall collapses will not be listening to Big Time Preacher Charlie on his TV program.
I am not saying you should not watch Bit Time Preacher Charlie (engine) or ignore the helpless (caboose) but I think David is telling us in Psalm 41:1 to just not forget about the box cars. It seems we just don’t pay close enough attention to the box cars, but you know what, it is those box cars that God may just use to deliver you from your day of troubles (41:2), whom God will use to preserve you and keep you alive. It is those box cars who can make you happy in your land and it is those box cars that can help deliver you from greedy enemies (41:3) and they will be the ones who will visit you in the hospital, help you when you are sick (41:4). Big Time Charlie (engine) certainly will not do these things for you and the needy and down and out (caboose) are in no position to do these things for you.
David is saying we must consider (masekil) watch the backs of the dals the box cars. Because you just may need the box cars to warn you if the walls are collapsing and it is their responsibility to pull you out if they do.
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