A Story Repeats Itself

Meaning in Psalm 76

by Alfred D. Byrd

OFTEN, we've seen oppressive rulers
Trample the rights of children of God.
Each time, a story repeats itself.
A ruler will brag and strut for a while
As he does much harm while he has his way.
At times, the children who feel his whip
May say, "Our God has left us to die."
Our God, however, remembers justice.
Payment for evil will come in kind.
A man who made the nations tremble
Dangles in space at the end of a rope,
Or takes his own life in a hole in the ground.

In Scripture, we read of God's response
To one who claimed the world for himself.
A king of the east, "a wolf in the fold,"
Came west to besiege the City of Peace.
He sent a herald, both loud and crude,
To tell its people, "Your God won't help you.
No one has found a god to oppose
The strength of Asshur, the god of my king.
The ones who've tried to resist his might
Have gone to their grave, their names forgotten.
Show me some sense! Give up, and you'll live,
Though you'll leave behind the homes you've known.
If you fight, you'll lose, and your death will be bad.
As you starve, you'll stuff your face with filth
That stinks so much, it'd gag a jackal."

Laughing, the herald went back to his king.
The son of David who ruled the city
Pleaded, however, with God for help.
Our God responded to pride with death—
To meekness with life, a gift of love.
By night, there was sent a plague to the camp
Of the king of the east. At dawn, he found
A camp of corpses. The siege was lifted.
Running for home, he prayed for help
From gods no more than statues and names.
While he prayed, his sons rose up against him.
Slaughtered by kinsmen, he came to his end.

The One Whom we've met is sometimes fearsome.
Caution is best in dealing with God.
If you make a vow, it's best to keep it.
Cheating ends badly, we've learned from the past.
When you come to a king, you should bring a gift.
For the King on the Throne, the gift that's best
Is the fruit of a life that spurns what's wrong
And does what's right for the sake of love.
The one who loves both neighbor and God
Receives from God a gift in return—
The gift of knowing "Our God is Love."

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.