S - Psalm 56:1-4, 8-9, 11-13 (NRSV): "Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many fight against me. O Most High, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can flesh do to me? … You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record? Then my enemies will retreat in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. … in God I trust; I am not afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me? My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life."O - King David, under great and constant pressure, identifies the dynamics which all who follow God can rely on and engage:
1. God's great grace (Hebrew: khaw-nan' - A primitive root (compare H2583); properly to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow; causatively to implore (that is, move to favor by petition).
2. Fear does find us; our choice is what to do when it does. David intentionally turns into trust and bases that trust on God's written voice (the Scriptures).
3. Humans are really never in control and God always is … and he is for us!
4. The Lord is very aware of and compassionate toward our tears and tossings.
5. In the midst of such pressure our assignment remains the same: to fulfill the terms of our covenant relationship and stay strong in offering to him thanks for all things.
6. He will deliver us from death and keep us from falling SO THAT we may walk before him in the light of life.
A - The context of this Psalm wonderfully intensifies the content. David is in Gath under the press of the Philistines. There is no romanticism, fantasy or over-spiritualization in the terms and realities of this awesome expression of living faith in the living God. I am being required to live these out in very concrete terms as well in my current assignment. Frankly, I think that we never permanently get away from such pressure until we leave this planet for our real home. David is "not at home" in Gath and we are not at home on this earth. The strong and unflickering reality is that because of God's grace and mercy we have this place of covenant relationship. The result is the grace to choose how we will respond when the pressure is so unrelenting. Under this pressure our vows, our living out loud the reality of the Lord's person and word, are all the more essential and all the more possible. To cave or fail in this time is to surrender the purpose and risk the benefit he intends through the hardship (e.g. shaping in his image; greater confidence in the face of the enemy; deepened faith, blessing yet to be revealed, etc.). No less loved we will miss out. The greatest thing for me is the recognition that real life is only possible in the light -- no shadows and no filter. Life doesn't flow to me because there is no pressure or no enemy. It flows to me because God's great grace and mercy is ever-present and ever-flowing and pouring into all who stay near and stay clear in the vision of who's really in control.
P - Dear Living God,
Thank you for helping us know how to go forward in so many difficult dynamics. Thank you for all the pressure and threat (intended and unintended) because it really doesn't matter anyway. What counts is staying near and clear. Thank you for delivering my life from death and keeping my feet from falling. Thank you for letting me walk in the light of life according to your grace and mercy. Thank you for hope because you are the living the God! You are working, working, working everything for good and I do love you back and throw myself at your feet in commitment to your purpose (even when I don't know exactly what it is OR like the way it currently looks and feels). You are awesome and I willingly yield to your brilliance, power and goodness.
Grateful for your plan and control,
Steve
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