Pond Scum

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is full of pain. I am fading like a shadow at dusk; I am brushed off like a locust. My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. I am a joke to people everywhere; when they seem me, they shake their heads in scorn.  Help me, O Lord my God! Save me because of your unfailing love. Psalm 109: 22-27 NLT

Part of the Calvinistic mindset is saying that human beings are totally worthless and pitiable. Humans have no redemptive factor at all. As someone once said, we are all pond scum. 

Pretty low, huh? 

This part of Psalm 109 seems to agree. I am poor and needy, full of pain, fading like a shadow, brushed off like a locust, skin and bones. In other words, I am nothing. I am a bad joke to everyone who sees me as they shake their heads in scorn. Maybe pond scum would have some better attributes. 

Yet, there is hope (which I frankly don’t see in Calvin’s theology). God will save me because of God’s unfailing love. It has nothing to do with my worth and everything to do with God’s love.

God, thank you for your unfailing love. Remind me how much you love me next time I am feeling like a joke or a fading shadow or even pond scum. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Copyright Amelia G. Sims 2012