Readings for today: Psalms 56, 120, 140-142
One of the reasons I love reading the Bible chronologically is that it sets the Psalms in the context of the stories from which they arise. It’s powerful when we connect them to the real lives of the real people who wrote them. Today’s readings place us squarely in one of the darkest times of King David’s life. He is on the run. He is living in the wilderness. He’s gathered around him a pretty motley crew of people. He can never rest. He is never safe. He is never fully secure. Anxiety and fear are constant companions. This is not his fault. It’s not something he brought on himself. He is not facing the consequences of his choices. No, it’s the opposite. He is being unfairly treated. Falsely accused of crimes he did not commit. All David ever did was try and serve his king faithfully and well. He has fought for Saul. Bled for Saul. Won victory after victory for Saul. When Saul was troubled, it was David who played the harp to calm his soul. All for what? Betrayal? Being hunted like an animal?
How does David respond? Does he play the victim? No! He turns to God. “Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?...This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalms 56:1-4, 9-11) This is what I love about David. He honestly acknowledges his fears. He doesn’t try to pretend like life is going well. He’s being trampled. He’s being oppressed. He’s being attacked by his enemies. David could respond in kind. David could give into fear. David could play the victim. He could rail against the betrayal and injustice of it all. But David does none of those things. Instead, he places his trust in God. He praises God. He keeps his eyes fixed on God. What happens as a result? David is filled with incredible confidence. “What can man do to me? Take my life? Take my future? Take my possessions? Big deal. I trust in God. I place my faith in God. I know God is for me so who can stand against me?”
We live in a world where it is common to play the victim. We seem to be unable to handle disappointment. We avoid responsibility. We blame-shift. We feel wounded. Hurt. Betrayed. This is not to suggest abuse isn’t real. It absolutely is and cannot be tolerated. But, as a society, we are in danger of trivializing trauma, abuse, PTSD, etc. because we use these words to describe all kinds of conditions. Many of them self-inflicted. And we seemingly believe any kind of hurt gives us license to end relationships. Avoid hard conversations. Escape the Biblical call for forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. Someone lets us down? We cut them out of our lives. We get confronted at work? We find another job. Someone holds us accountable? We stop talking to them. A friend hurts our feelings? We move on. Such behaviors are rampant both in our society and in the church. Study after study has been done on the lack of “resiliency” in our culture. We seem to be unable to handle suffering. Pain. Heartbreak. Disappointment. We seem to be ill-equipped to have hard, honest conversations. We seem to be too scared to face our own internal demons so we project them onto those around us. Especially those we are closest to. So marriages fail. Families break apart. Friendships end. All we are doing is perpetuating a cycle of brokenness.
Would that we would follow David’s example! In the face of all the hardship and suffering and injustice and pain and disappointment and betrayal...David looked to God. He took refuge in God. He cried out to God. He asked God to search his own heart so that he may not sin. Most of all, he praised God for he recognized that it is often in the “wilderness” when we are “on the run” from our enemies that God does His best work in us. Shaping. Forming. Forging our character. Making us into the people He created and called us to be.
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Samuel 25-27, Psalms 17, 73