I don't claim to be an expert on the Psalms.
I am not even going to say I've ready anywhere close to all of them.
But one thing that I do know is that David wrote them to correspond to goings on in his life.
Now, I don't claim to be an expert on David.
And I don't know all of his stories.
But he is someone God gave us as a hero.
And he is someone God gave us as a human.
Which means he is someone God gave us to learn from.
A lot of people sortof skip over the whole Bathsheba thing. I mean, everyone knows it happened but we kindof stick to remembering that David killed Goliath and he's fighting on the Lord's side. David is a shepherd boy, who God hand-picked to be king and later the bloodline of Jesus.
But I'm going to be honest: I have a hard time looking up to David sometimes.
I mean, he does something; writes a song about how it's tearing him up and that he really loves God; and then he does another thing a couple days later. What do we call people like that today? Two-faced? Hipocrites? Insincere?
So here's the question:
Are we too harsh and unforgiving to people now, or are we too easy on David? Are we holding on to peoples' past mistakes, or are we easily wooed with beautiful prose? Does one or two foul moves mar a character forever, or does a relatable story make us feel like God could have picked any of us?
I have a hard time looking up to David, because I have a hard time forgetting when people admire do something wrong. At least I'm consistent. But I think I might be wrong.
David did a lot of dumb things. But he really really loved God.
Remember when David was running from Saul?
He kept doing dumb things and trying to take charge of God's plan, but before God would answer, David would just keep running.
But David really did love God.
And God really did love David.
And he never stopped.
I think Pedro the Lion says it best in the chorus to "Lullaby"
Rest in me, little David, and dry all your tears
you can lay down your armour and have no fear
cause I'm always here when you're tired of running.
I'm all the strength that you need.
I don't need my own strength to run this race.
or make my own decisions.
or to figure out what's best.
God is all the strength that I need.
but he can't be my strength if I'm not letting him.
Praise God he's not only there when we're tired,
and praise God we don't have to be tired before we can let him be our strength.
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2 comments:
Wow, these are good thoughts, Kari. It makes you wonder what Scripture means later when David is referred to as "a man after God's own heart."
To me, this makes the walk with God more of a hopeful endeavor. If David is that man after God's own heart with all of his junk, then I stand a chance, with all of my failures, foibles, and freakiness of being called a child of God.
It gives me hope, not just because of his failures but because of his repentance...
David was a man "after God's own heart" in that he was in pursuit of God's heart. It doesn't mean he was like God or even knew God well. It meant that he knew which direction to run. We all fall, we all mess up... okay, sin... on a daily basis. Sometimes it's a BIG sin. What's important to remember is the difference between Judas and Peter: Peter didn't give up. Run towards God.
Well done, Kari. Keep writing and thinking.
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