Psalm 119:113-120 Samekh

I hate double-minded people,
but I love your law.
You are my refuge and my shield;
I have put my hope in your word.
Away from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commands of my God!
Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live;
do not let my hopes be dashed.
Uphold me, and I will be delivered;
I will always have regard for your decrees.
You reject all who stray from your decrees,
for their delusions come to nothing.
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross;
therefore I love your statutes.
My flesh trembles in fear of you;
I stand in awe of your laws.

Psalm 119:113-120

Look at Samekh. Isn't it cute?

The 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet looks like an earnest 12-year old boy, hair combed over nicely, with a curl and a wave. Maybe even one of those Bieber flops.

The kind of boy who grows up to know his right from wrong. Good from evil. Them from us.

That's the kind of 12 year old I was. Ready to take my place on the right side of things, confident of  the unwavering line between right and not-right.

This entire set of eight verses seems to be about black and white, the divisions between good and evil. I've no doubt that's pretty much how the world looked from David's point of view.

But 21st century America is overdosing on POVs. Our culture is gorging itself on opinions. Instead of building walls to divide ourselves into opposing camps, we charge headlong into the internet of arguments. We've elevated squabbling and quibbling and shaming to preferred status as our National Pastime.

As I heard a co-worker exclaim just this morning, "Oh, I love it when people argue on Facebook!"

Some of those Facebook fighters and POV-pushers are also claiming to be people of God.

Who are the double-minded people David talks about? Are they "those sinners"? Or are they people who love the Lord their God with half of their heart and some of their soul and the part of their mind they can spare when they're not arguing online about walls and guns?

Who are the evildoers? Who is straying from the decrees of God? Who are the ones with delusions? Who is wickedly discarding his truth?

Could it be me? Could it be you?

Are we focusing on being the best of God's soldiers? Or is our engagement in the anti-social media turning us into weakened warriors?