Hope

“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; In You I hope all the day.” —Psa. 25:5 LSB

David addressing Yahweh, God of his salvation. David could have put his hope in many things, indeed generally when he fell into sin, that was precisely the problem, that he put his hope in other things besides God. However, he always came back to God and he states the reason here: Ultimately, there was no other place to put his hope that was sure, certain, and eternal.

I find it interesting that the New Testament writers understood this truth and extended it to Christ. While reading 1 Timothy a few days ago, I was profoundly touched by Paul’s opening statement: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, our hope,” —1 Tim. 1:1 LSB

Christ Jesus our hope. Here Paul has taken the truth David stated in Psalm 25, and many other Old Testament writers had stated, and extended it to Jesus. Why? Because Paul believed, and the church of God has believed through these many centuries, that there is one God manifested in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Of course! we believe that Jesus is our hope, not only is he one person of the Godhead, but he died for our sins and rose again, conquering that great enemy: Death. Where else could we put our hope?

Opposition to the Proud, Grace to the Humble

“The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength.” —1 Sam. 2:4 NRSV

“The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts.” —1 Sam. 2:7 NRSV

The Bible Project says that the first two chapters of 1 Samuel—the story of Hannah and her son, Samuel—rather than be an interesting story to start off the book, contains all of the themes that continue on through the book of Samuel. The story then becomes a preamble to the whole book. I tend to agree with this assessment.

In our two verses above—part of Hannah’s song—we see one of the grand themes of the book of Samuel which is that God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble. Saul starts off humble and God makes him king, but turns into an arrogant and pride-filled man and God declares that the kingdom will not proceed to his son, which was the expected outcome, but to a man of God’s own choosing, who we will discover in due time is David.

As we see from the narrative which follows, David slowly gains strength as the Lord lifts him up into a position of prominence and Saul slowly breaks bad as he goes from passive resistance to God’s will, to active resistance, and ends up plotting David’s murder and then actively trying to murder his rival himself.

The Tyndale Commentary points out here: ” The all-knowing Lord God sees the powerless and disadvantaged and acts on their behalf (cf. ‘Blessed are the meek’,  Matt. 5:5); it is a theme that will recur in these books, notably in David’s victory over Goliath (1 Sam. 17).

We serve the same God as David did, and he is still in the business of opposing the proud, but giving grace to the humble.

Flawed Faith Heroes

“And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,” (Hebrews 11:32, NASB95)

The reader of this passage is a little surprised at what we might call “the rest of the Hall of Fame for Faith.” Samson? His life seems like one gigantic failure after another, until blinded, but with his strength back, he single-handedly destroys 3000 Philistines when he topples their temple. Gideon? He had a might victory, but also a mighty failure. Jepthah? Didn’t that guy offer his virgin daughter as a burnt offering? It’s a strange list it seems, don’t you think?

It’s strange until we realize that all along the author of Hebrews has known that his examples are what we might call “flawed heroes.” Moses kills an Egyptian overseer in a fit of anger, yet he is here. Jacob deceived his own father, he is here. This is an all too human list of people who have exhibited faith and that is exactly why it is such a good list. It gives each one of us hope.

Who hasn’t failed our Lord? Who hasn’t wrestled with the attraction of false idols? Who hasn’t allowed practical living to get in the way of faithful obedience? Whose faith has stood strong through every test, trial, and difficult time? We know from this list of flawed heroes that God doesn’t discard us when we fail, isn’t that, after all, the whole point of grace?

One thing this list teaches us is that, even when we are flawed and fall short of what we should be as followers of Christ, we can still rise up and live in faith and please God. John Calvin comments here: “In every saint there is always to be found something reprehensible. Nevertheless although faith may be imperfect and incomplete it does not cease to be approved by God”

“On Our Side”

““Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say, “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side When men rose up against us,” (Psalm 124:1–2, NASB95)

In taking up a negative reference—had it not been—David gives us a beautiful positive truth: the Lord is on our side. Being human as we are, we do not fully grasp the depth of truth here, but we can do our best.

The Lord is on our side eternally. That’s the thing about being a child of God, we aren’t temporary children to be taken up and discarded as he sees fit, we are permanent children of the eternal God, and while we can (and often do) fail him, it doesn’t make us any less his children. He is still on our side.

The Lord is on our side perfectly. A human parent will always fail us in one way or another, God will never fail us. He knows what we need, be it love, kindness, correction, or reproof, and he gives us what we need perfectly and in a just and appropriate manner.

The Lord is on our side with all of the power of the One who spoke the world into existence. David ends this short psalm like this: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124:8, NASB95). Is there anywhere else you would rather get your help?

Yahweh Reigns!

“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”” (1 Chronicles 16:31, NASB95)

This is part of a song that David sung on the first day that Asaph and his relatives were assigned to give thanks to the Lord (vs. 7), or perhaps it was by Asaph, the verse is a little ambiguous.

The truth here, however, is not ambiguous. Let the heavens be glad, pens the psalmist, and let the earth rejoice. This is one of those passages in which inanimate objects are told to sing out praise to Yahweh; their message here: Yahweh reigns!

Is the psalmist being metaphorical, or can the heavens really be glad and the earth rejoice? I wouldn’t really hang my hat on this being metaphorical. Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem? “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”” (Luke 19:39–40, NASB95)

Inanimate objects like stones and heavens and earth do their part to bring praise and glory to their creator. If inanimate objects can praise God, how much more should we human beings who have been redeemed by Jesus sing the praises of our great God?

In God’s Presence

“O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells.” (Psalm 26:8, NASB95)

David’s delight, his love, his passion, is the place where Your glory dwells. God’s glory dwelled in the tabernacle and in the temple, this was where God’s presence was on earth. David wanted to be in the presence of God more than any other place. Indeed, he is even more explicit in another psalm: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4, ESV)

Given that heaven means being in the presence of the Lord for all eternity, is David giving us a little glimpse of heaven here? Do we understand this? Do we desire it like David?

I confess that it is only as I have aged that I begin to see the beauty in David’s words. I am too often distracted by good things that God has made to give thought to being in God’s actual presence. Perhaps one of the gifts of old age is that we begin to see how relatively little the world offers and how transient it is. God’s presence in eternity awaits. May we desire being in His presence as David did. Meanwhile, He has given us the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of heaven.

Surrounded with Favor

“For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.” (Psalm 5:12, NASB95)

One thing you can count on from David when he comes before the Lord in psalm/song/prayer is blunt and frank honesty. If we took this verse in isolation, we might think that God will surround all of his people at all times with favor as a shield.

This is not true. How do I know this is not true? I know it because of the very first thing David writes in this psalm/prayer: “Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my groaning.” (Psalm 5:1, NASB95) David groans because he is in trouble, and he comes to the Lord to pour out his troubles.

What does David mean then, in vs. 12? I think he is expressing dependence upon the Lord. David’s thinking goes something like this: I am in trouble. I cannot deliver myself out of trouble. I know who can deliver me out of trouble. I will go and ask for deliverance and remind God of his character, how he surrounds the righteous with favor as a shield as I ask for deliverance.

If we are to find shelter when the billows of life break upon us, it will be in the Lord and only in the Lord.

Waiting Patiently

“For God alone I patiently wait; he is the one who delivers me.” (Psalm 62:1, NET) 

A psalm of David, who understood a thing or two about both waiting on God, and needing deliverance.

While the notes to the psalm do not tell us the particular situation in which it was written, we can pick an incident from David’s life and it will fit because David was so often in difficulty and in need of deliverance [the Hebrew word is salvation, but the meaning is deliverance from some unspecified danger].

What struck me as I read this verse this morning was that David waits for God alone. David had many practical options for getting deliverance: his personal weapons, his band of hardy men, his allies, etc. He recognizes that none of these by themselves will deliver him from danger, only God can deliver from danger, and so he waits patiently for God to deliver.

We could learn a thing or two from David, if we pay close attention to what he says. We face our own difficulties in life, some as life-threatening as what David faced, and some not. No matter the severity of our troubles, the answer can still be found right here: we patiently wait for God alone to deliver us.

Matthew Henry comments here: “We are in the way both of duty and comfort, when our souls wait upon God; when we cheerfully give up ourselves, and all our affairs, to his will and wisdom; when we leave ourselves to all the ways of his providence, and patiently expect the event, with full satisfaction in his goodness.”

On Watching

“You are my source of strength! I will wait for you! For God is my refuge.” (Psalm 59:9, NET) 

The note to this psalm says that it was written by David when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him. David’s trouble was severe and life-threatening, so we have a beautiful example of what to do when we face our own difficulties, even if they aren’t as severe and David’s.

David goes straight to Yahweh for help: You are my source of strength (ESV: Oh my Strength). I will wait for you (ESV: I will watch for you). I like the ESV better than the NET. The word used means “to watch, keep, preserve guard,” and there is a better symmetry between Saul’s men watching for David in order to kill him, and David watching for Yahweh to preserve his life. It should come as no surprise that Saul’s men are not successful in their watching, but David is in his.

Like David, our refuge, our source of strength is not ourselves (though we have to be reminded of this truth again and again and again!), Yahweh is our refuge. Yahweh is our strength. Trust is learning to watch for him to fight our battles, rather than fighting them ourselves.

God: Restorer of the Banished

“Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored.” (2 Samuel 14:14, NET) 

A wise woman speaking to King David at the behest of Joab, commander of David’s army, regarding David’s son, Absalom, who has been effectively banished to Geshur after his murder of David’s oldest son, Amnon.

This wise woman (the narrator does not give us a name) points out that, though death is certainly inevitable, God is doing other things. He does not take away life, instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored. The woman is pointing out that God will do what David is not doing, God will work to bring those who are banished back into relationship with himself.

She seems to be asking David, “why is it that God will do, what you have been unwilling to do?”

This wise woman nails God’s character! We shouldn’t miss this and should spend some time thinking through it. Even in the middle of treachery and murder, God is working to right wrongs and restore the banished. This does not mean that he won’t punish sin, he certainly will. Indeed, this very incident is David reaping the result of his own murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, after David gets her pregnant. It does mean that grace is always just below the surface, waiting to pour out and take an awful situation and turn it around for God’s own glory.

This is an amazing part of God’s character that I never tire of thinking about, even though I do not fully understand it.