Readings for today: 2 Samuel 22-23, Psalms 57
I think about the most faithful women and men I know. They are ones who have often faced death. They live with a great deal of risk. Their lives are definitely not safe. They live on so little, they find themselves vulnerable to drought, famine, and economic shutdowns. They live in undeveloped areas so access to clean water and enough food are always a challenge. They live in nations where political and social instability is more the rule rather than the exception. As a result, they have seen violence on a level I cannot fathom. Still they persevere. Still they endure. Still they hold onto faith.
I love to hear them talk about passages like the one we read today. They read David’s words with delight. They resonate with all he sings. They know what it’s like to feel the “waves of death” washing over you. They’ve felt the pressure of the “cords of Sheol” as they tighten their grip. Evil men have invaded their communities. Invaded their villages. Invaded their homes. Upended their lives. And yet many of them testify to the strength and resources God provided so they could put their foes to flight. They believe with all their heart that God girded them for battle whether their enemy was the natural forces arrayed against them or the corrupt political powers who sought to rob, steal, kill, and destroy or simply their neighbor from a different tribe. It’s powerful to hear their testimonies. Humbling as well.
I am quick to admit that David’s words do not have the same effect on me. My life is too easy. My life is too comfortable. I am a man of so much privilege. While I have experienced poverty in my life, it is relative to the abundance of the US not the scarcity of third-world countries. While I have experienced suffering in my life, I have always had the benefit of social and community and church resources to help see me through. While I’ve had to battle my own demons and overcome human adversaries at times, it is nothing compared to what my friends have gone through. I do not say these things to diminish my own experience. My experience is my experience. But there is a qualitative difference between what I have gone through in my life and what my friends have gone through or what David himself went through.
Having said all of that, I do think this crisis gives us a taste. A taste of the very real life most of the rest of the world experiences on a daily basis. We are not used to feeling insecure. We are not used to being out of control. We are not used to being at the mercy of something we cannot see or touch or taste or feel. We are not used to suffering or death. So this virus has caught us by surprise. It has shaken our world to its foundations. It has upended all we thought we knew. It has turned the world upside down. As such, it begs the most fundamental question of our existence…will we turn to God for help? Will we - like David - cry out to God in our distress? Will He be our fortress? Our Rock? Our Deliverer? Our Savior? Will we praise God in the midst of this crisis for all His goodness to us? Will we thank God in the midst of this storm for the ways He has kept us safe? Will we open our eyes to the incredible privilege we live with in America and let God use this time to train our hands to serve Him in the future? So the whole world might see and hear and believe the good news of the gospel? The good news of God’s salvation?