A Person with Friends

Meaning in Psalm 64

Alfred D. Byrd

HUMAN nature bewilders us all.
In a world that's filled with hardships and woe,
You'd think that we'd want to help each other.
A person alone may fall and not rise;
A person with friends may be raised to one's feet
And may raise in turn a friend who's fallen.
Blessings bestowed are blessings returned—
At least, if we let our reason rule us.

Sadly, we honor other masters;
Reason is rare in the world around us.
Many prefer to consume their own kind.
The poison of lies on the knives of tongues
Has made the guiltless the prey of the vile.
They sharpen their tongues and thrust them in deep
To gain their end, the theft of a life.
The law says, "Guiltless, unless there's proof";
The crowd, however, believes a lie
In a rush to judgment. No time for the truth!

In fairness to those who hunt their own kind,
We shouldn't accuse them falsely in turn:
They don't believe, "Each man for himself."
The tellers of lies will join as allies
Teaching each other how best to lay traps
For those whom they hope to seize and then rob,
Sharing the plunder with friends in deceit.

In fear of our foes, we beg our God
To hide us from lies and the harm that they cause.
Our God will repay the wicked in kind;
A teller of lies will be trapped in one's lies
And feel the pain that came from one's tongue.
The ones who feared and admired the wicked—
Evil has friends while it rides the crest,
But loses them all when it falls from the wave—
Will run for their lives, their hero forgotten.

Seeing the fall of evil reminds us,
Frightened children, of God on the Throne.
In the midst of evil, we need to teach
Ourselves and the world of Who has made us.
Wisdom consists of thinking of God
As the One Who can do what needs to be done.
Our Maker maintains a balance in things.
Although, today, the world is evil,
Only what's good can endure in God.
The one who trusts in the hope of the King
Will witness glory and live in joy.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.