Daily Devotion - 11/19/2008

The Lord is with us!

When the history of this decade is written, I believe that there will be two overarching events that will be the lenses through which all other events will be viewed.  The first, of course, will be the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11^th, 2001 while the second will be the global financial crisis that we are now going through and may go through for a number of years to come.  Both of these events are the result of a complex web of cause and effect that led to enormous loss on both personal and national scales and the repercussions of their happening will likely carry forward for years and years.  At least one generation will be defined by these events much like the “builder generation”, born between 1900 and 1920, were defined by the two world wars and the economic boom and Great Depression that were sandwiched between them.

In thinking of the September 11^th attacked, I am reminded by the absolute sense of surprise many of us felt on that day.  My wife, who was home sick on that Tuesday, recalls watching the morning talk shows and seeing that the hosts were as befuddled by the events as they were unfolding as anyone.  That such an event could be taking place was so outside their (and almost everyone else’s) realm of thought that they struggled to accept that it could be taking place.  As the day wore on and the horror and shock of what happened settled in, we began to search for both answers in the confusion and solace for our losses.

In the same way, but on a much slower time scale, we are watching as our economy is coming off of the tracks due to our shortsightedness and greed as a nation.  Most people have failed to comprehend the magnitude of the crisis because the events are so far outside their experience (though I imagine that those who experienced the Great Depression aren’t caught quite as off guard as the rest of us).  As families lose their homes and as entire industries teeter on the brink of collapse, we struggle to understand and accept the causes of our current difficulties.

I don’t know the circumstances of David’s writing of Psalm 64 but I imagine that he was having just the sort of moment as we just described.  Maybe he wakes up one day as King of Israel and puts together the clues that many in his capital are plotting his overthrow.  Perhaps this is written just before his son Absalom tries to and nearly succeeds in overthrowing the King.  Whatever the events, we get the sense that David feels ambushed and in great peril.  He looks around and all he sees are foes and enemies and murderers.

For us, our natural response in this situation is to take some strong defensive action of our own.  We seek to strike back at our enemies as quickly as possible using our own resources and our own initiative.  We “circle the wagons”, expel the strangers and aliens and prepare for a long siege.  It’s the natural and instinctual thing to do and in many cases it is the appropriate response in order to protect ourselves from imminent danger.

David may do the same thing, I don’t know, but in this psalm I think that it is interesting that in his petition/complaint to God, David leaves it to God to deal with his foes.  He expects that God will work to bring things to His proper conclusion using His methods for His glory.

In this I think there are two things we can learn (or at least be reminded of).  The first is, as we’ve said many times, David takes everything to God.  Perhaps things aren’t what David thinks they are.  Perhaps it’s a misunderstanding or a misperception on David’s part.  Instead of wondering and stewing and getting into the “maybe this and maybe that” game we all seem to play, David goes to God with his fears and complaints.  We see again that David’s response to anything in his life is to take it to God and seek God’s action in his life.  This is a lesson we all need to learn to live in our lives.

The second thing to recall is that God works all things to His glory.  We can go to Him in prayer and ask Him for an outcome (and, as the psalms repeated show, we should) but for our prayer to be mature we should always pray that the results of our prayer be to God’s glory.  Maybe I feel like I’ve been unduly put upon due my wife and my lack of a second car.  Maybe I pray that the financial where-with-all come available to purchase or finance that second car.  But for my prayer to be mature, I have to ask myself, “Where does God’s glorification fit into me having a second car?”  “Do the methods I want to use to acquire this car bring Him glory?”  If the answer to those questions are lacking, maybe I find a different way to pray for them or a different thing to pray for all together.  David wants those who plot against him foiled and brought down but in this psalm the reason doesn’t seem to be so that he can gloat over their destruction or crow about how great he, the King of Israel, is.  He wants them stopped so that people will see the glory of God, hold Him in proper respect and seek Him as their true source of refuge.

So as we approach the last couple of weeks of school, I know that a number of you students will begin turning to prayer as a source of solace, comfort and strength as you finish your semester long projects and prepare for you last exams and your finals.  That’s a good thing and I encourage all of you to do so.  For some of you the approaching storm of academic obligations may seem to be catching you by surprise and you may feel unfairly put upon by your professors and you may turn to God in prayer in petition and complaint.  Again, as the psalms show us, that’s a completely understandable response to a time of crisis.  What I will ask you, however, is to ask that whatever happens, God will be glorified.  Don’t ask to be delivered from the vortex of end of the semester obligations because you want a sort of “get out of jail free” card, but ask for the strength and courage to follow through on your commitments so that God may be glorified in your actions and in the opportunities that will be opened up for you in the future if you are successful this semester.  Try to make your prayers less about God in your life and more about your life in God.  In your doing this, those around you “will proclaim the works of God and ponder what He has done.”

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 64

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; 
       protect my life from the threat of the enemy.

Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, 
       from that noisy crowd of evildoers.

They sharpen their tongues like swords 
       and aim their words like deadly arrows.

They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; 
       they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.

They encourage each other in evil plans, 
       they talk about hiding their snares; 
       they say, "Who will see them?"

They plot injustice and say, 
       "We have devised a perfect plan!" 
       Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.

But God will shoot them with arrows; 
       suddenly they will be struck down.

He will turn their own tongues against them 
       and bring them to ruin; 
       all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

All mankind will fear; 
       they will proclaim the works of God 
       and ponder what He has done.

 Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD 
       and take refuge in Him; 
       let all the upright in heart praise Him!