“I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me—Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” – Psalm 87:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 17, 2013): Psalm 87 & 88

I watched a little of “The X-Factor” last week (and by little I mean very little.) My television has this thing where it seems to like to be on for a couple of minutes before it wants to change channels, so that means that you need to be careful of which channel you are watching when you are turning the T.V. off because you are going to be doomed to watch that channel when you turn the T.V. back on. So apparently I, or someone in the house, had been watching Fox Television when the T.V. was turned off, so when I turned the T.V. back on I was greeted by Simon Cowell (otherwise known as Mr. Nasty) and the gang on “The X-Factor,” and was doomed to watch a couple of minutes of the reality show. I happened to turn on the T.V. at the point where a fifteen year old girl was about to sing. And … she forgot the words. Now, that seems to be the unforgivable sin in most of these reality talent shows. But having said that, these are the moments that most of us tune in to reality shows to witness. We want to watch the crash and burn.

So she forgot the words. But she finally remembered them. And she began to sing. And she sang well (to be honest, I found her a little pitchy in places, but overall it was a good performance.) By this time my T.V. was working, but I stayed on Fox at least long enough to hear Simon speak. And these were his words were, “So, you forgot the words.” It was the expected response. You committed the unforgivable sin. But then he followed up with these words – “But when you can sing like that, who cares.” And the crowd erupted. Because we may tune in for the crash and burn, but we also tune in for the unexpected turn - the goose that we find out is in reality a swan.

That is exactly what this Psalm is describing. This is all about the girl who forgot the words, and it is about the goose that turns out to be a swan. The Psalmist begins by mentioning the countries that had been a thorn in the side of Israel throughout their existence. These were the nations that shared a border with Israel, or were at least were close enough to want to exercise power over them. Rahab is another name for the Egyptians living to the south. Babylon, Philistia and Tyre were all nations that for the most part, the people of Israel would prefer that God would simply destroy. But the Psalmist says that instead of destruction, God will call them people of Zion or of Jerusalem – they will be his. Even Cush, another name for the black skinned inhabitants of Ethiopia and those living in the great desert of Africa, those that live literally on the edge of the known world at the time, even there God will come and he will call them his children.

It is yet another example of the great reversal. In many ways this Psalm is a Pentecost Psalm. The story of Pentecost is found in Acts 2, and the story is really about God reuniting the people of the world into one. What had happened at the Tower of Babel, where the people began to speak different languages and were divided, has finally been overcome. We, all of us according to the Psalmist, will be reunited. With the coming of the Messiah, all of our divisions will disappear. And we shall all be called the children of Zion.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 17