A Distasteful Mirepoix, Psalm 123:1-4

Any cook—or aficionado of the Food Network—knows
a mirepoix (meer’ pwah) when he sees one. Onions, celery, and carrots are the vegetables that comprise the most common mirepoix and these diced vegetables provide the flavor base for many different soups. There are regional variations in different styles of cooking, such as the “holy trinity” of Creole cuisine, which substitutes bell peppers for carrots.

Not so tasty is the trio of sinful morsels we find in this short chapter. This mirepoix is one of scorn, laziness, and pride. They don’t exactly rate up there with murder, theft, rape, adultery, deceit, blasphemy, or any of the other “big” sins about which we often think. They are more attitudinal, even somewhat respectable by comparison. Yet, they are bad enough, so bad that the psalmist pleads for mercy from God because

“…we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.” (v. 3, 4)

Contempt/scorn is the attitude that treats others as inferior or worthless,
kind of the flip side of pride or conceit, the attitude that causes a man to
believe and act as if he is superior to others. I have also witnessed those who are lazy or “at ease” express scorn for those who actually get up, go to work, and try to achieve in life.

While this mirepoix of attitudes may be viewed by some as harmless or “victimless,” there is really no such thing as the so-called “victimless” crime or sin. The attitudes we chose send messages to others about our view of them and can be very hurtful indeed.

May we not neglect to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness for even the little, respectable sins we have allowed to become habits in our lives, for this mirepoix of contempt, laziness, and pride are certain to leave a bad taste in the mouths of others in our life, hindering our effectiveness to minister to them as we ought.