A Week of Psalms in New York - Psalm 52 at the Rockefeller Centre

The Rockefeller Centre - Picture by Inga Sarda-Sorensen

Unlike most other psalms, here the psalmist begins by addressing those who do not follow God - people who "boast...of mischief done against the godly." Those who "love evil more than good." The psalmist warns them that such a deceitful way of life is not life at all - but an existence that is self-deceiving and ultimately self-defeating. Such people are "uprooted" whilst those who are faithful to God will, like the evergreen olive tree, live in the courts of the Lord forever.

These principles are reflected in the Credo of John D Rockefeller Jr, which is inscribed in stone at the Rockefeller Centre in the heart of Manhattan. Rockefeller inherited vast wealth from his father and was also an accomplished businessman in his own right. As a young man he attended Park Avenue Baptist Church at 64th Street (now Central Presbyterian Church). He lived his life occupying the gulf between God and Mammon, sometimes making controversial and unpopular decisions. He became a renowned patron of arts and charitable causes in New York – it is said he donated more money to good causes than he left to his family. 

His ‘Credo’ formed part of a radio interview he gave on 8th July 1941 in which he appealed for funds for the United Service Organisations. The USO aimed to provide a “home from home” by keeping the troops entertained. In his speech, Rockefeller said, like the psalmist, that he did not want his son to love evil more than good – he hoped he would become a soldier who is fighting “not for the lust of killing, but for a principle, a great cause, dearer than life itself.”

He went on to set out those principles, which “make life most worth living, without which it would have little meaning” – ten “I believe” statements which have since become known as the Credo of John D Rockefeller. Given his faith, perhaps it is not surprising that the final statements appear to echo the Greatest Commandment:

“I believe in an allwise and allloving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest fulfillment, greatest happiness and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.”

Like the psalmist, the Rockefeller Credo reminds us of the principles which point to “usefulness and happiness in life, to courage and peace in death… upon which alone a new world recognising the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God can be established.”

Psalm 52

Judgement on the Deceitful

To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’

Why do you boast, O mighty one,

   of mischief done against the godly?

   All day long you are plotting destruction.

Your tongue is like a sharp razor,

   you worker of treachery.

You love evil more than good,

   and lying more than speaking the truth.

          Selah

You love all words that devour,

   O deceitful tongue.

But God will break you down for ever;

   he will snatch and tear you from your tent;

   he will uproot you from the land of the living.

          Selah

The righteous will see, and fear,

   and will laugh at the evildoer, saying,

‘See the one who would not take

   refuge in God,

but trusted in abundant riches,

   and sought refuge in wealth!’

But I am like a green olive tree

   in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

   for ever and ever.

I will thank you for ever,

   because of what you have done.

In the presence of the faithful

   I will proclaim your name, for it is good.

Links

Psalm 52 was the Psalm appointed for Evening Prayer on Wednesday 3rd April 2019 while I was visiting New York

Rockerfeller Archive Center – I Believe Speech