When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 118:5-6)
What can mere mortals do to me? Um…
Abandon,
Abuse,
Accuse,
Beat,
Belittle,
Betray,
Bully,
Cheat,
Deceive,
Defraud,
Enslave,
Extort
Forsake,
Humiliate,
Imprison,
Insult,
Kill,
Leave,
Misrepresent,
Murder,
Persecute,
Rape,
Ridicule,
Rob,
Slander/libel,
Torture,
Trick….
I’m sure I’ve missed a few, and I’m sure David was aware of at least a few of them. Given all of the commandments in the Old Testament, it’s evident that God was aware of these things, too. So why would God include these words of David in Scripture? Why would David say them? Perhaps more importantly, why should we repeat them instead of laughing them off as the idiocy they seem to be?
I’m reminded of the story of Abraham taking Isaac off to a mountain, tying him up, and raising a dagger to sacrifice him to God. How could God have asked it of Abraham? How could Abraham have obeyed? It’s the same sort of idiocy. The answer is “Because God.” Abraham could obey because God had told him that his descendants would outnumber the stars and sand and that they would be his through Isaac. Likewise, David had been promised that he would be king and that his son would rule forever. Until or unless those things were accomplished, no matter how tough things got, “the fat lady” hadn’t sung.
Of course, God hasn’t given me quite that sort of promise. There are lots of promises in Scripture that we can claim, and I claim I believe that God will keep them, but do I really? If I believed that He will never leave me, nor forsake me, would my life look like it does? If I believed that He will complete the work He began in me, would I live as I do? There is one promise that I believe God has given me personally, and that is that He will make sure I don’t miss my “exits” on my road through life. Do I even live as though I believe that one? Sometimes.
David knew that he and his son would be king. Abraham knew that Isaac would have children. And no matter how things look, I haven’t come to an exit that has my name on it since the last one. You may have a different promise that you can hold onto. You might have more than one. Hold onto it or them so tightly that it doesn’t matter what someone else may do to you.
I’m reminded of the story of Abraham taking Isaac off to a mountain, tying him up, and raising a dagger to sacrifice him to God. How could God have asked it of Abraham? How could Abraham have obeyed? It’s the same sort of idiocy. The answer is “Because God.” Abraham could obey because God had told him that his descendants would outnumber the stars and sand and that they would be his through Isaac. Likewise, David had been promised that he would be king and that his son would rule forever. Until or unless those things were accomplished, no matter how tough things got, “the fat lady” hadn’t sung.
Of course, God hasn’t given me quite that sort of promise. There are lots of promises in Scripture that we can claim, and I claim I believe that God will keep them, but do I really? If I believed that He will never leave me, nor forsake me, would my life look like it does? If I believed that He will complete the work He began in me, would I live as I do? There is one promise that I believe God has given me personally, and that is that He will make sure I don’t miss my “exits” on my road through life. Do I even live as though I believe that one? Sometimes.
David knew that he and his son would be king. Abraham knew that Isaac would have children. And no matter how things look, I haven’t come to an exit that has my name on it since the last one. You may have a different promise that you can hold onto. You might have more than one. Hold onto it or them so tightly that it doesn’t matter what someone else may do to you.
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