Psalm 109: Balloon Boy

News came this date that the Balloon Boy incident from the previous day had been a hoax. The Psalm suggests the father will be going to jail.

Psalm 109

Theoretical Time:

  • 13000-09-30 NH 05:5:20 AA
  • 2009-10-17 22:39:42 TMMT
  • 2009-10-17 20:18:48 GMT
  • 2009-10-17 16:18:48 EDT

26 Psalms 109


1Do not hold your peace, god of my praise;
2for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me;
3they have spoken against me with a lying tongue and with a hateful voice, and have fought against me without a cause.
4For my love, they disgrace me; but I have prayed for them.
5And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.


6Command vengeance against them; and let the accuser stand at their right hand.
7When they will be judged, let them be condemned, and let their prayer become sin.
8Let their days be few; and let others take what they have stored. (44:1:20)
9Let their sons be fatherless and their wives widows.
10Let their sons be continually vagabonds, and beg; let them also seek their bread out of their desolate places.
11Let the creditor take all that they have, and let the strangers make them to be weakened.
12Let there not be anyone to extend mercy to them; nor let there be any to pity their fatherless sons.
13Let their end be destruction, and in the generation following, let their name be blotted out.
14Let the iniquity of their fathers be remembered; and do not let the sin of their mothers be blotted out.
15Let them be before Yahvah continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the land.


16Because they did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy, and him whose heart is sorrowful to death.
17They loved cursing, and did not delight in blessings.
18They clothed themselves with cursing like armor; it penetrated into them like water, like oil into their bones.
19Let it be to them like a mantle which covers them, and like a belt with which they are girded continually.
20These are the deeds of those who disgrace Yahvah, and of those who speak evil against me.


21But you, Yahvah Master, do good to me for your name's sake; because your mercy is good, deliver me.
22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled inside me.
23I am bent like the shadow when it declines; I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh wastes away.
25And I also became a disgrace to them; when they looked on me, they shook their heads.


26Help me, Yahvah, my god; save me, according to your mercy,
27that they may know that this is your hand, that you, Yahvah, have done it.
28Let them be cursed; but you will be blessed, and let your servant rejoice.
29Let those who had a grudge against me, be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with it, as with a mantle.


30I will greatly praise Yahvah with my mouth; yes, I will praise him among the multitude.
31He has stood at the right hand of the poor, to save his soul from judgment.

Authorities Decide to Charge Balloon Boy's Father

The previous afternoon in Colorado, a hot air balloon had been released to float in the sky. The family that owned the balloon said their son might be on board. Local news media helicopters tracked the balloon for several hours before it landed in a field. The boy was not on board, said to be hiding in an attic.

The family was interviewed on Larry King Live, and the son who was said to have possibly been on board admitted that it was a "show."

The next day, the day of this Psalm, the authorities in Colorado said they would be charging the father with several felonies.

The family has an interesting history, the husband and wife met in acting school. They had been on a wife-swapping TV show, and the father had a rather well known cursing episode that was broadcast on TV after the media began figuring out who this was.

Matches

The Psalm opens in verse 1 with a call to not "hold peace." The Colorado authorities had waited a day, and then they decided to tell the media what they were going to do.

Verse 2 says the mouth of the deceitful and wicked has been opened. This was most clearly seen with the video archive footage of the wife-swapping show.

Verse 3 says there was no good reason for what happened.

Verse 4 says they disgraced those who loved them, who had gone out chasing after the balloon.

Verse 5 continues the theme and says they rewarded the love the rescuers showed for having chased the balloon, with their own evil. This suggests they made it worse after the balloon landed, by appearing on Larry King Live. (Live is evil spelled backwards.)

Verse 6 turns its attention to the process that follows, and the authorities response is more closely timed to the Psalm itself. The verse addresses the authorities. God has told them to take vengeance, to "stand at the right hand" is to take legal authority in this case.

Verse 7 suggests they will be condemned, ie found guilty.

Verse 8 suggests an arrest, that the family will have a financial payout that takes their possessions.

Verse 9 suggests the husband in this episode will be going to jail.

Verse 10 deals with the destitution that will come on the kids who were a part of this episode. The father was not thinking clear to begin with, and now his kids will suffer.

Verse 11 deals with a different angle on the story. The family will be unable to pay creditors, like the mortgage on their house.

Verse 12 again deals with the father, he will be separated from his kids. It calls a curse on the kids, who have been taught to lie.

Verse 13 continues with the problems this will cause on the kids.

Verse 14 calls what the father did iniquity (crossing a line). It also suggests the mother was in the wrong on this too.

Verse 15 deals with what the father wanted. He wanted publicity. This verse suggests he will never be remembered, ie have no publicity, ever again.

Verse 16 and following turns to the root problems. At this verse it was failure to show mercy.

Verse 17 adds that they loved cursing.

Verse 18 suggests cursing was embedded in them.

Verse 19 says it will be visible to all, like they are clothed in it.

Verse 20 suggest this will be an example to all who disgrace God.

Verse 21 and following turns back to the relationship between the Psalmist and God, those who have to suffer publicity and stunts like this.

By Phil Stone
Revised 13000-10-01 (2009-10-19)