As I read the following Psalm this morning, my heart is struck with some questions we all should be asking...
Who is training our hands for battle? Who is really our defender? Who delivers us from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful? Who can rescue from the mighty waters (tsunamis)? Are our sons and like well-nurtured plants and daughters like carved pillars adorning the palace? Have our walls been breached? Do we have every provision we need? Are we captives? Are there cries of distress in our streets? If so, why?
There were few men as mighty and well disciplined as David. He made his mistakes, clearly messed up, but always returned to the Lord. His heart did not harden when his disobedience was pointed out privately and publicly before himself and the people. He knew from whom his strength and powerful leadership came. He lived a life that moved him from a humble, yet strong shepherd able to protect his sheep from lions and bears with his bear hands, defeat an enemy that no one else was willing to take on (the giant) and to be a humble yet strong king, defeating all enemies who tried to subdue Israel.
Psalm 144:1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. 2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
Ps 144:3 O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. 5 Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. 6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. 7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners 8 whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre. I will make music to you, 10 to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword. 11 Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.
12 Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. 13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; 14 our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people a of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
Our technology riddled lives are filled with opportunity. We have more time on our hands to do and be those trained in strength for battle, but instead are captives; choosing idle, insignificant, self focused tasks. America is no longer a blessed people because our God is no longer Lord. In my previous post, I spoke of suspension bridges supported by towers of strength. When David thought he was the tower of strength, his life experienced failure. When David remembered who his tower of strength was, humbling himself, listening and doing as his tower instructed and stood, nothing was able to defeat or ruin him, though many tried.
Where do we stand as we consider this thought? Do you think that the wars, the failures of our nation and our struggles are just coincidence? Do you think that the plots of men who took thousands of lives from us September 11, 2001 was just a coincidence? Do you think our nation's financial struggles, deep and potentially catastrophic are timed with coincidence as well? Will 'our' solutions solve the economic issues? What do you think of the national disasters that are facing people around the world?
While these have always existed (disasters and struggles of peoples), there has always been those who have rose above them and through them; the people of God. Not just any god, the one true God. Do you feel like you are sinking? Do you know where to turn? David speaks of such opportunity. The question is will we listen, hear and obey?
