Posts Tagged: Bible study

God / personal — No Comments
9
Apr 09

The Middle. Part 2: Honesty.

kingdavidcpcopyMy favorite Bible character is King David. I remember back in Sunday school (as both a student and eventually, teacher) we’d have these paper-cutouts of Bible characters we’d stick on feltboard as a means of illustrating whatever story we were learning that week. I could swear David came in two forms: one in shepherd clothes (with the sling! the sling!), the other regaled in kingly costume.
 
To have those two cutouts would be cool. I’m just saying.
 
Anyway, several times in the Psalms, this warrior / philosopher-king after God’s own heart asked his Maker this brilliant question:
 
“How long?”
 
As in the following examples: 
My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? (6:3)
 
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts  
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me? (13:1-2)
 
How long will the wicked, O LORD,  
how long will the wicked be jubilant? (94:3)
What’s fascinating to me is that David speaks to God with both reverence and … is that impatience?
 
Ah, marks of a vulnerable man, being open and honest with his God. David, in his shepherd days, in his days as a soldier and refugee, in his days as a king, was always in the midst of a huge struggle and crisis of faith. It was inescapable. So he did what any normal human in that circumstance would do: Scream at the heavens and complain.
 
(I don’t, but that’s because I don’t have the luxury of wide open spaces like David did back in the day. If I were to do that, the neighbors would get extremely concerned and not invite me to their next barbeque. And I love me some barbeque. So instead my complaints are kept private.)
 
I dunno, I guess David knew God well enough to know that he could lodge complaints without fear of getting smote, Old Testament-style. I guess he knew God’s grace, and His ability to look on us with tender compassion, even when we doubt.
 
I guess David knew that God would be okay with him asking “Are you even doing anything?” Even if God knew that David, in his heart of hearts, already knew that God was doing something.
 
Thing is, it doesn’t stop there. The impatience and the screaming isn’t the only thing going on. Reading further down the Psalms, David says more.
 
The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;  
the LORD accepts my prayer. (6:9)
 
But I trust in your unfailing love;  
my heart rejoices in your salvation. (13:5)

When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your love, O LORD, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul. (94:18-19)

It’s not that David was taking back his previous remarks. It’s not that he was trying to “butter up” God with flattery.

I think David’s relationship with God had reached the point where he took both the good with the seemingly bad. That he couldn’t just simply stay impatient and mad at God forever, because he knew that He had always–and always will–come through for him. So David returns to that which comes most naturally to him–praising. Satisfaction. And so the openness and honesty comes full-circle.

To me, those verses say: “There. I’ve said my piece. I’m done complaining. I’ve always known and will always know that You’re good, that You love me, so I’ll get back to trusting in You. I’ll get back to waiting.”

Which is something I end up doing too.