Readings for the day: Psalms 3, 4, 13, 28, 55
The Bible is such a strange book. One of the great mysteries of history is why this book survived when so many others were lost. Why has this book exerted such a gravitational pull on human beings of every tribe, tongue, and nation down throughout the centuries? Why is it that three billion people in the world today claim to follow its teachings? It certainly is not an easy read. Sixty-six different books written at different times by different authors. Hundreds of chapters. Thousands of verses. It’s hard to get through even in a year. Then there’s the content. War. Ethnic cleansing. Rape. Murder. Deceit. Privilege. Power. The “spiritual heroes” the Bible lifts up as examples are all deeply flawed. Abraham almost sacrifices his son. Jacob schemes his way to the top. Moses is a murderer. Noah is a drunk. David steals another man’s wife and then has him killed when he won’t participate in the coverup. These are the men after God’s own heart? Can you be serious?
This morning, I was re-reading a wonderful essay by Karl Barth. Barth is considered the greatest theologian of the 20th century and he insightfully points out that we often come to the Bible asking all the wrong questions. He writes, “It is precisely not the right human thoughts about God that form the content of the Bible, but rather the right thoughts of God about humans. The Bible does not tell us how we are supposed to talk with God, but rather what God says to us. It does not say how we are to find our way to Him, but how God has sought and found the way to us. It does not show the right relationship into which we must place ourselves with Him, but the covenant which God has made with all those who are the children of Abraham in faith, and which God has sealed in Jesus Christ once and for all. This is what stands in the Bible. The Word of God stands in the Bible.”
What makes the Bible different than every other book in history is that it contains within its pages the very Word of God. It tells a story. A grand narrative about God’s eternal search for man. He is relentless. He is steadfast. He is patient. He never tires. Never rests. Never relaxes. Never takes a day off. He pursues. He chases. He keeps covenant faithfulness with His people. He is loyal. He is true. Despite all they do. Despite all their sin. Despite all the corruption and degradation and evil, God never leaves them. This is why a man like David can compose poetry after stealing Bathsheba and having Uriah killed. Because this story isn’t about David. It’s about God and what God’s doing in David’s life.
“But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” (Psalms 3:3)
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalms 4:8)
“I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” (Psalms 13:6)
“The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.” (Psalms 28:8)
“But I call to God, and the Lord will save me.” (Psalms 55:16)
Now I get these verses are interspersed among a whole lot of other stuff that’s not nearly as pleasant. Calls for vengeance. Calls for the bloody destruction of David’s enemies. Bitterness. Anger. Feelings of betrayal and loss. There’s a whole lot of darkness in the Psalms and yet even amidst the deep darkness, God’s light has this way of breaking through. God has this way of making Himself known.
Such is true for us as well. When we honestly come before God. When we cry out to him from the deepest places of our hearts. When we throw off every pretense and lay aside our “holy facades”. What does God hear? Fear. Desperation. Pain. Struggle. Heartache. Anger. Bitterness. All of us have a deep well of darkness within us called sin. All of us draw from that well every single day. Left to ourselves, we would wander in the darkness permanently. We would have no hope of escape. But thanks be to God that He still pursues His people! Still chases after us with His love! He will never rest until His light scatters the darkness of our hearts and makes all things new.