Bad To The Bone

Psalm 58: 1- 11

Bad to the bone

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.

1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? 2 No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, 5 Which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully. 6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! 7 Let them flow away as waters which run continually; When he bends his bow, let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. 8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, as in His living and burning wrath. 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, 11 So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He Is God who judges in the earth.”

Today’s topic deal with wicked people. Growing up and living in Philly I have come to personally be aware of wickedness. I gained more education with doing ministry in the inner city than anyone could learn in a college majoring in social studies. We have such a bad crime area within the city that it has its own name which is called the ‘bad lands’. Sad to say is that many a poor child is born in this area.

Say and think what you want but there are a couple of men who poured out their hearts relative to poverty and crime. The first one I want to mention is Malcom X. Look at his impacting words, ‘When you live in a poor neighborhood, you are living in an area where you have poor schools. When you have poor schools, you have poor teachers. When you have poor teachers, you get a poor education. When you get a poor education, you can only work in a poor-paying job. And that poor-paying job enables you to live again in a poor neighborhood. So, it's a very vicious cycle.’

Next I want to mention a singer and song writer by the name of George Thorogood who had a famous song called Bad to the Bone. Let me just list his first stanza;

On the day I was born

The nurses all gathered 'round

And they gazed in wide wonder

At the joy they had found

The head nurse spoke up

And she said "leave this one alone"

She could tell right away

That I was bad to the bone

Bad to the bone

Bad to the bone

B-B-B-B-Bad to the bone

B-B-B-B-Bad

B-B-B-B-Bad

Bad to the bone

Here’s a harsh reality: in the United States, the problem is poor on poor crime.

These poverty and crime statistics prove that when the standard of living is depressed, the individuals living in poverty see the benefits of committing a crime to meet their basic needs is worth the risk of getting caught. And, when severe poverty is considered, there is a direct correlation to a rise in violent crime.

This is because people in the poorest of conditions are desperate. With desperation comes a willingness to survive.

People living in households in the US that have an income level below the Federal poverty threshold have more than double the rates of violent victimization compared to individuals in high-income households.

Individuals who live in poverty are more likely to report a crime than those who do not live in poverty, but more than half of all crime is believed to go unreported to local law enforcement.

When people live in households that are struggling with poverty, they also have a higher rate of violence that involves a firearm at 3.5 per 1,000 people compared to 0.8-2.5 per 1,000 people in middle-to-high income families.

When looking at the overall correlation between poverty and crime, there are some facts that jump out. For example: when someone receives more education, they are less likely to commit a crime and are more likely to earn a living wage.

What does all this mean? There is a direct correlation between socioeconomic status in the United States and experiencing a risk of violent crime.

The 16-24 age demographic has experienced the highest unemployment rates and the highest increases in unemployment since 2008. In some areas, unemployment in this age demographic exceeded 20%. Nearly one-third of this demographic lives in poverty and are the most likely to commit crime and become the victim of crime.