Three Star Night

This will seem like a cop-out, but I'm really stunned by the language of this Psalm so I'll just leave you with the text.  Take a read:

 ¹ In the LORD I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
   “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
² for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
   they have fitted their arrow to the string
   to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
³ if the foundations are destroyed,
   what can the righteous do?”^[a]
 4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
   the LORD's throne is in heaven;
   his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
⁵ The LORD tests the righteous,
   but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
⁶ Let him rain coals on the wicked;
   fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
⁷ For the LORD is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
   the upright shall behold his face.

The God Who Hides
Sometimes it's really, really hard to find God.  The world is full of hardship, heartbreak, and heresy.  We sin and are sinned against.  We are broken, and so is everything else.  Where is God?

The Wicked Who Scoff
In the absence of God's intervening presence, evildoers keep doing evil.  AND THEY PROSPER FOR IT.  They use and abuse without regret.  They get away with anything and everything, and laugh.  The wicked say to themselves, "I'll never get caught.  I'll never be held to account.  There's no one to hold me to account."

The Listener Who Chooses
When God is hard to find, all we hear are the scoffers.  Over time, we may start to agree.  Maybe God doesn't exist, or he does and doesn't care, or he cares and cannot act.  But remember Psalm 1?  Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.  The listener has to make a choice.  Will you listen to the scoffers, or will you listen to what the Bible says about God?

Invocare
"Invocare" comes form Latin and means "to invoke."  (Didn't see that coming, huh?)  This was a common writing device in epic Greco-Roman poetry where the author invokes a Deity to aid with his writing.  John Milton also used a series of invocations when writing Paradise Lost.  Obviously, I'm using the term achronistically, but that is what David is doing here as well.  He invokes God.

David does five things in this passage:

• he calls out in faith: "Lift up your hand" (12) "But you do see" (14)
• he remembers God's past work: "You have been the helper of the fatherless" (14)
• he petitions: "Break the arm...call into account" (15)
• he has faith that God will follow through: "you will strengthen...you will incline your ear to do justice" (17, 18)
• he responds in praise: "the Lord is King forever and ever" (16)

David's process here provides the framework for how we can structure our own responses to suffering and injustice.  Though wicked scoffers may say that God is distant, uncaring, or unable, we can refuse to listen to their words.  Instead, we can pray to God in faith, remember God's goodness as demonstrated in the past, and pray that God moves in a certain situation.  Stop living in passivity, start actively calling on God.  When we do this, we cannot but respond in praise when we live in the security of God's goodness, power, and love.

I've always had the answers.  As a kid, I was good at school and better at Sunday School.  As I grew older and was involved in Bible studies and small groups, I've been called a human Bible encyclopedia more than once (and hated it every time).  I might not be the person people go to when they want to have a night out on the town, but I'm the person people go to when they don't understand a doctrine, or when they want a verse, or if they want to share their problems.  Even during the times of my life where I intensely struggled, I still knew what the answers were.  Maybe I didn't fully believe them, or maybe I didn't like them, but I still knew the answers.  I always have.  This isn't a pride-thing.  I've always only praised God for this.  I could have ended up differently.  Much differently, and in a much darker place.  I could be dead, really- so, honestly, it's not a pride thing.  I'm very grateful and humbled.  I never deserved the answers, but God provided the clarity.  He always has.

I think I built an identity around that.  Around knowledge and competence.  Or the ability to feign competence until I got a handle on things.  When God provides something, it is easy to get used to it.  I'm not talking "entitlement," but rather assuming that it will always be provided in the future.  And creating an idol out of a gift?  What a joke.

I didn't realize this problem until I stopped having answers.  My answer-stream slowly trickled away and evaporated into nothing under the heat of the harsh sun called Reality.  The confidence started cracking when I found myself in my first relationship and didn't know how to handle being romantically involved with another human being.  At all.  Then the spidery cracks grew until they became splintering, gaping holes when I realized I needed to make life and career decisions where I had an endgame but no discernible means to get there.  How am I supposed to plan my life when I don't know what's going to happen next week?

Everything spiraled into feelings of inadequacy.  Why?  Because being on top of things was my idol.  It was comfort and security and peace.  Control.

It's funny, though.  People still come to me with their theological questions.  They still come to me with their problems.  I teach, and I counsel.  But as my friend once asked me, "Who's pouring into you?"  At the time the answer was "No one."

I need people.  I need people pouring into me.  Supporting me.  Loving me.  And it's difficult to say that I need people because that means being vulnerable.  But I'm glad I'm so, so grateful for my Mars Hill small group.  Because after my friend asked me that question, a chain of events occurred that allowed me to join this wonderful church and become involved in a community group.  I can be honest there- fears, failures, and all.  Community and discipleship are wonderful things.  And I'm thankful.

I don't have the answers, but I know God does.  I have to be OK with that.  And part of that answer is community, but I have to be honest first.

(Image: Pernell, flickr, CC2.0)

God gets a bad rep in the OT.  You hear a lot of theories along the lines of, "He used to be this big, angry guy, but then Jesus came and he became loving."  But I don't think it's that way at all.

There is an amazing amount of tenderness between David and God in this poem.  An amazing amount of trust.  Why?  David's faith isn't blind, but he looks to past demonstrations of God's character.  He finds strength in the grace and mercy he finds in God, and he finds protection in the justice God doles out against those who turn back from Him.

God's character encompasses all of these.  It always has, and it always will.  That's why David sings praise.

As I write this, I just got word that my classmate died.  He was maybe 26, tops.  I just met him this semester, but I met him in a small class of 5 so the impact is larger than it would otherwise be.  There were other circumstances, too, but I won't get into that here.

Psalm 8 is a hard read right now.  I know I'm not the only one who finds it hard to praise God during times like this.  Maybe it's a personal trauma or tragedy.  Maybe it's a friend, family member, coworker, or colleague.  Maybe it's nothing "big," but it's just ~life.~ 

The great thing is, my feelings don't dictate reality.  Some religions propose that God is something or someone within ourselves, but the God of the Bible has an existence external to us.  I find comfort in that because it means that I don't dictate who God is, and neither do my circumstances.

God is God.

God is worthy to be praised.

God is majestic.

And man-

We are fleeting, but oh, so precious.  Humanity has been crowned with glory and honor.  With reason and a soul.  Yes, man is dust, but we contain the breath of God.  We image the Divine.

Who are we that God is mindful of us?  That he cares for us?  That he became one of us and died for us?  We are nothing.  And yet, we are a little less than everything.

I've honestly grappled with how to blog this Psalm for the past half a week.  This Psalm is so rich, and there are so many angles I can take here.  This Psalm is about finding refuge in God.  But refuge from what?  David needs to escape from his enemies, but he also needs an escape from his own sin.  

Double Take

I think on first gloss, it seems that David is challenging God.  "If I have committed evil, let my foes defeat me."  I've certainly heard it discussed that way.  It makes it seem that David is this cool and awesome and holy guy.  Cue M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This."  And in one way, I think that is true.  David had his faults, but he was a generally upstanding guy.  But I don't think that's the whole picture.

Loving God, Hating Sin

It is very evident form the Psalms that David loves God and hates sin.  Very much.  To David, people who sin deserve to be destroyed.  They deserve God's anger, and David takes a hardline stance on this.  David longs for the day when the wicked will cease, and God's kingdom of righteousness will be established.

David hates sin in others, and he hates sin in himself.  He's not a hypocrite.  He's an equal-opportunity kind of guy. 

Repentance, Righteousness, and Refuge 

I think the crux of the Psalm is verse 12a:

 ¹² If a man^[d] does not repent, God^[e] will whet his sword

David doesn't fall back on his inherent righteousness.  He is falling back on his repentance, and God's willingness to accept it.  David can ask for refuge because he has repented and God looks upon his newfound "righteousness."  A far cry from "Can't Touch This," I find this a beautiful picture of faith and dependance on God.

Do I believe that my sin deserves damnation?  Do I really believe that repentance leads to righteousness?  Do I really believe that refuge is given to the righteousness?  How much do I "bank" on God's character and His promises?

And, like David, do I respond with awe and praise?

 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
 and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.