Psalm for the redundant?

Though the government is saying we are coming out of recession, many people are still losing their jobs and some estimates say that unemployment will rise to three million by the end of this year. Are there any biblical pointers as to how to face redundancy?

There is no Bible passage of which I am aware which specifically addresses unemployment in the modern sense. But, on the other hand, Scripture has much to say about coping with trouble generally, of which being made redundant is just one specific example.

In Psalm 13 we find David in deep trouble, asking, ‘How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?’ (v.1a). It is not clear precisely what trouble David faced. So we take it that the psalm is meant to speak about facing trouble generally and we can apply it to our topic. In the psalm, David climbs out of the depths of despair (vv.1,2) to a position of confidence and hope (vv.5,6). The text breaks into three pairs of verses.

Emotion: Feeling our anxiety, vv.1,2

David is experiencing intense inner turmoil. ‘How long must I wrestle with my thoughts?’ (vv.1,2). The company tells everyone that jobs are at risk. You hope against hope that it won’t be you. But then it hits you like a train. Some employees are told to go without returning to their desks lest they, in anger, wreck computer files. Following the initial shock, what do people feel when they lose their job?

* You feel belittled. There is usually a loss of confidence and self-worth. God made human beings to work (Genesis 1&2). To work is part of who we are. One book quotes a man’s experience from the 1980s. He said: ‘If you are not earning you begin to doubt yourself… You are not wanted and so you must be no good’. You begin to compare yourself with your colleagues who kept their jobs; mentally they can (v.2) turn into ‘enemies’.

* You feel stressed. Verse 2 talks about a wrestling match. It is stressful, first, because you now wrestle with big uncertainties. ‘How are we going to pay the mortgage?’ It is also stressful because of the life changes it forces on you. Going to sign on for a job seekers’ allowance is something you have never done before. You face stressful interviews for a new job.

* You feel down. David speaks of daily sorrow (v.2). Redundancy makes us feel sad, demoralised and pessimistic. You’ve lost your job, your routines, your colleagues. Some people dwell on the idea that ‘I’m no good’ and slip into depression. Looking ahead to verse 3, David feels in darkness. Perhaps his trouble has made him ill. And such a scenario with respect to redundancy is not good, because the inertia of illness or depression will make it harder to motivate yourself to fill in the forms and go to interviews.

Taken as a whole, this is a horrible combination of emotions. And often this goes on a long time. ‘How long?’ David keeps asking (vv.1,2). ‘Why doesn’t God get me a job?’ You can feel God is against you. But that is not true. Trouble in your life does not mean that God is against you. Christians are not exempt from the difficulties other people face. Here’s David, the man ‘after God’s own heart’, God’s chosen king, facing deep trouble. God has not got it in for you. Nor has it happened because you are a bad Christian. Such things happen even to the best Christians (Romans 5.3).

Reaction: Praying our identity, vv.3,4

David prays, ‘Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him”, and my foes will rejoice when I fall’ (vv.3,4). If you don’t understand where David is coming from this might look like a very arrogant prayer. Why shouldn’t David’s enemies be allowed to triumph over him? Who does he think he is? Actually David prays like this is because of his special relationship to God. He is God’s man (v.3), God’s chosen king. If David is crushed how will that reflect on God? So David urges God to help him in his trouble.

Though you and I aren’t king David, with his unique role in the history of redemption, nevertheless we, too, are special to God. We are Christians. In times of trouble we need to remember our identity in Christ.

In the cauldron of the emotions we feel in losing our jobs, the devil and cynical fallen human nature will tell us that we are worthless failures. The worldly man builds his self-worth on his successes, his prestige or the size of his salary. The whole world system shouts at the person who has lost his job, ‘You’re useless’, and would add to your feelings of despair. But we must grasp the fact that God says something very different about us. He tells you that even without a job you are still chosen by him, still his child, you are precious to him, you are a joint heir with Christ. In the light of eternity, whether you were employed continuously from the age of 18 to 65 (or 70?) will not matter at all. Your dignity and worth are not founded in your career, but in the love of God to you in Christ Jesus. To take a liberty with Paul’s words, ‘You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus… there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, employed nor unemployed… for you are all one in Christ Jesus…. heirs according to the promise.’

And it is out of our identity in Christ that we must pray to God. ‘Lord, I’m known as a Christian. Your name is upon me. Please Lord, answer my prayers either for a new job, or for the strength and grace to handle this ongoing situation calmly and trustingly in a way that glorifies you.’

Foundation: God our security, vv.5,6

Whatever trouble we face we still have a choice. David chooses to trust in the LORD. ‘But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me’ (vv.5,6). That is where he places his hope; that is his foundation.

I repeat, he trusts in God. When we are in trouble it is great to have Christian friends around us to support us. But don’t ultimately depend on them. Look to God. If you look to them you may be disappointed. They are only human. They may let you down at some point. They shouldn’t, but they do sometimes because they are sinners like you. Let’s receive the help of friends with thanks, but let’s be like David who has his trust firmly in God.

Verse 5 speaks of the love of God, and the place where we are to read the love of God for us is the cross. We do not read God’s love from our redundancy. Our circumstances may be all kinds of things, but God still loves us. The apostle Paul was ill, shipwrecked, beaten, mistreated, slandered, yet still he knew God loved him because he gave his only Son for him. In the midst of your redundancy God still loves you.

And God’s love is unfailing (v.5). It never ceases in and of itself and it is never thwarted by anything else. It is utterly reliable. During times of trouble we need to continually immerse ourselves in that great truth. God’s love is such that:

* Time doesn’t cause it to fail. God is from everlasting to everlasting and he never changes. Time cannot cause the love of God to cease towards us. If it did he would no longer be the God of the Bible.

* Sin doesn’t cause it to fail. Think about David the writer of the psalm. Think of his adultery with Bathsheba and consequent engineering of her husband’s death. Did God’s love cease towards David? These things saddened and even angered God, but they did not cause him to stop loving David. It was to atone for our sins that God sent his Son. It may be that you have not handled your redundancy well. You may have reacted to it sinfully in some way and now you feel guilty. But God loves sinners and he still loves you.

* The attitude of others doesn’t cause it to fail. Satan stands against us to expose us and accuse us. But God himself answers Satan’s charges. We may have plummeted in the estimation of ‘friends’ as we have been made redundant. But that doesn’t affect God’s love for us. If God is not put off us by the powerful criticisms which Satan ranges against us, he certainly will not by swayed by the opinions of puny, ill-informed people.

* The relative poverty which you suffer doesn’t cause it to fail. When David was a poor shepherd very few people took notice of him. When he was King David, rich and influential, no doubt many people wanted to be at his house. People are like that. But God is not. God was David’s faithful friend rich or poor. And in the relative poverty you experience because of redundancy those who once wanted your friendship may now drift away. But God will not. His is unfailing love.

On this wonderful foundation of the unceasing love of God David takes his stand during his time of trouble — and finds himself (vv.5,6) rejoicing and singing amid his difficulties!

If you face redundancy, may you be given grace so to handle it to the glory of God.

Psalm 13 can speak to the needs of the unemployed

Emotion: Feeling our anxiety, vv.1,2

Reaction: Praying our identity, vv.3,4

Foundation: God our security, vv.5,6

John Benton

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