Boy, You Turn Me Upside Down

My heart exults in the LORD;
My horn is exalted in the LORD,
My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
There is no one holy like the LORD,
Indeed, there is no one besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
Boast no more so very proudly,
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
For the LORD is a God of knowledge,
And with Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are shattered,
But the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry cease to hunger.
Even the barren gives birth to seven,
But she who has many children languishes.
The LORD kills and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The LORD makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust,
He lifts the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor;
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S,
And He set the world on them.
He keeps the feet of His godly ones,
But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;
For not by might shall a man prevail.
Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered;
Against them He will thunder in the heavens,
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His king,
And will exalt the horn of His anointed.
An ancient Hebrew poem

In I Samuel 2, this song is quoted by Hannah, a formerly barren woman who had been oppressed by her co-wife, who had many children. The context of this song is that of increasing God’s reputation in the world because of the great things he had done. While Hannah might have specifically been focusing on verse 5, that shows God’s help to the barren woman, the song speaks in general of God’s strength being given to those without strength.

She sings about the “feeble” who have no power against those who take up arms against them. She sings about the hungry, who are unable to provide themselves even with the staples of life. And, of course, she speaks of barren women, who have no ability in themselves to gain what they most desire in life—a child. These are the hopeless, the ones who gain nothing from anyone.

But she also makes it clear that these are the ones whom God has focused on. God takes these resourceless people and provides them not only with what they need, but more. Not only do the defenseless have protection, the hungry have food and the barren have children, but they are also given authority and power over those who used to have all the world.

It is a natural part of life that those who have look down on those who have not. It is a moral position of the powerful and satisfied that anyone could possibly have gained their position or strength or wealth or authority. All that would need to happen is for them to be self-disciplined and wise enough and anyone would have gained the same power. But, say the powerful, since they were morally superior, they gained the greater position, and thus the greater life. For this reason, the powerful place themselves in the position of moral guardians and standard-bearers. No one else is worthy.

And this unworthiness of those who are not in positions of authority is a natural consequence of those who have. Those who do not have wealth or position or possibilities in their lives, they must be in some way morally inferior. The rulers are righteous, while the pauper is morally poor as well.

“What right do these lowlifes have to ask our kind for money? Perhaps they are in need, but it is their own fault. They just want to take advantage of honest, hardworking people! Why don’t they just get a job? Aren’t the shelters and workhouses still open? If I give—which I probably won’t—I want to make sure my money’s not being used for drugs or alcohol. If they want some food, okay, I can understand that, but I can’t trust that they would actually use it on food! Since they are on the street, drugs must be more important for them than food. In fact, I wonder if they are truly human in the way that we are. After all, real humans are more interested in slaving all day so we can spend an insignificant fraction of our lives in wealth and extravagance. These people who wish to live simply, who do not seek power, who live a hand-to-mouth existence—I just don’t trust them. Some kind of alien, I think.”

Hannah sees the ones who have military might, more than enough to eat and multiple children as being boasters, arrogant in their strength. They are not righteous at all, but the lucky who do not humbly recognize the One who gave them their strength.

And God is strong, in Hannah’s view. God is the source of all strength, authority and power. Human power is nothing, Hannah boldly proclaims. Human strength is not real strength. The reality we see is like the matrix we mentioned before. That which looks to be strong is only the semblance of strength, and the real strength is at the foundation of reality. In Hannah’s song, real power and might comes from God. And the only ones who will obtain that power in the end are those who are weak enough to depend on God for that power.

For this reason, reversals are necessary. The wealthy who oppress the poor will be set aside and destroyed. They will be “made low” or taken out of their positions of authority and power and wealth. The weapons of the soldiers will be destroyed; the full of food will soon be so desperate they will hold signs saying “will work for food”; the woman with many children will be in mourning. These will soon have nothing, looking at their empty hands wondering what happened to their lives. But the lowly—those who depended on God to strengthen them—they will gain the fullness of God’s strength. They will be the strong, the powerful, the important.

And these reversals display God’s strength, God’s power. It does not show that God can grant his power arbitrarily, but that he chooses those who depend on Him. God looks for the nobodies to display what he can really do with what he has.