Psalm 4: Lies, Fake News, and Self-Identity
As the need to quarantine continues through April, I have decided to read and reflect on the book of Psalms. The book portrays a variety of emotions from anger, despair, grief, joy, and hope. I don’t know about anyone else, but I find the intensity of my emotions has increased during this time period. To be fair, controlling my strong emotions has always been something I’ve struggled with, however, the intensity of my emotions have been exacerbated by the mass uncertainty occurring not only in the United States but throughout the world. But Psalms, with its depictions of emotions all across the spectrum seems like a fitting book to read and reflect on during this time period.
The first psalm I want to reflect on is Psalm 4. Now you may think I am crazy. Why would I use a psalm that is a bit disjointed and that has traditionally been interpreted as the psalmist pushing back against opponents who are spreading lies and falsehoods about the writer? Am I going to spill some tea about personal drama going on in my life? Sorry to disappoint, but ya’ll can put your tea cup away. There will be no tea spilling today.
However, I think this a good psalm to reflect on during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crises can lead to fake news and outright lies being spread, especially about those from historically marginalized and vulnerable groups. Racism, ableism, and all forms of hatred exist in everyday life, even when a global pandemic is not occurring but they seem to be exacerbated during times of crises. As fear and panic ramps up people begin to look for scapegoats: the poor, the elderly, the disabled, those in prison, those immunocompromised, those from minority groups. And in the United States, the tendency for humans to want to blame specific problems for the epidemic is exacerbated by an incompetent and racist President who repeatedly calls COVID 19, “China virus” or “Wuhan Virus” and by politicians who are willing to let people die in order to protect wall street.
In addition to the abundance of fake cures and outright lies being touted by dubious sources, there are two major lies that are frequently being uttered by politicians, pundits, and others during this pandemic: 1) that Asian people, especially Chinese people are somehow more susceptible to COVID-19 and thus they are unique bearers of disease and 2) that the elderly, the homeless, the imprisoned, the disabled, the immunocompromised are somehow less “human” and less important than the young, the housed, the able-bodied. This matters because as the US struggles to provide adequate medical supplies to hospitals, hard choices will have to be made about who lives and who dies. And there is concern that those most likely to bear the brunt of these difficult choices will be those that American society traditionally considers to be inherently less “valuable.”
These lies are leading to physical attacks against Asians and Asian Americans, to worries that the elderly and disabled will be denied life saving treatment, to the homeless and those in prison being virtually ignored, though they may be one of the populations most devastated by COVID-19.
Psalm 4 is a cry of both anguish and vindication for those who have been lied about and slandered. The words and narratives that society tells itself about significant portions of the population, matters. And for too long, way before the pandemic began, the most vulnerable in society have been portrayed as worthless and as burdens. Black, Brown and Asian people have been treated as inferior and less than human. These lies have translated into horrific policies that have killed untold numbers of people before the arrival of COVID-19 and may still kill more during this pandemic.
Psalm 4 provides a counter-narrative to lies that are told about the beloved children of God (and everyone is a beloved child of God). The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary asserts that the psalmist is affirming that their identity lies in God and that this identity supersedes the lies being told about the author. The psalmist’s sense of identity and self-worth rests in God. The psalmist worth is not tied to material wealth such as “bread” and “wine” but in what God says about this person.
In a similar way I think this psalm can serve as a reminder that 1) we are all children of God 2) as such, we need to stop spreading lies, particularly about society’s most vulnerable. These lies get people killed and these lies are a direct affront to the God that many Christians claim to believe in. 3) If we truly believe that everyone is beloved by God, then our social policies need to reflect that reality.
I am left wondering, how would the United States' response to COVID-19 have been different if those who identify as Christians and who have political or financial power recognized this powerful truth: that their identity should not be tied to power or wealth but in their identity as children of God. Would that change, perhaps, their tendency to hoard wealth and to use their power to oppress?
What if as Christians, we took seriously the notion that all people are beloved children of God and we should treat them as such? Would that impact how we treat the most vulnerable? Would we have taken COVID-19 much more seriously, recognizing that it would disproportionately impact and kill the most vulnerable? If God views everyone as beloved, we would do whatever possible to ensure that no one is placed in the position to decide which lives are worth saving.
