May 12

May 12
Psalm 108
I read this psalm several times before I finally realized that there are 3 verses to this poem.
The first one is vs. 1-6. David is speaking and he is talking to God. He plans on waking God up with his music, praising God for all his glory and then sneaking in with his petition to save them.
The second verse is vs. 7-9 and God is speaking back to David. He speaks from his sanctuary (heaven) and tells David, ‘no problem! I am going to parcel out all the good stuff and the mean boys of Moab, Edom, and Philistia, I intend squash like bugs.’ (only God uses bathroom metaphors, not insects.)
The last verse is vs. 10-13 and David is again speaking, concluding that with God, David would win.

One of the reasons that the Pharisees gave for hounding Jesus was his ‘familiarity’ with God. Jesus called God, “Father”. While David does not do this, he clearly has a relationship with God that allows him to yell, beg, plead and sometimes throw verbal jabs at God without fearing for his very hide.
Moses appeared to have a similar relationship with God. He spent the last years of his life, apparently pleading with God to let him enter into the Promised Land, which God did not allow.
If the Pharisees looked very hard at their scriptures, they could have seen that while Moses didn’t call God “Father”, he called him a lot of less nicer names and so did David!

I really appreciate that David had this kind of back/forth with God. His was a very personal, involved faith. The kind I aspire to. I am not interested in a cold, calculating God or one that is removed from everyday emotions, drives and desires. I do not expect a Santa Claus God but I do want one that is present. David clearly thought God had sleeps and wakes, temper tantrums and cooling off periods and good days and bad. Makes for interesting theology that not everyone in the Bible shares.

Graduation today. It would be nice if everyone prayed that I don’t trip coming down the uneven steps at Richardson Hall after giving Matthew his diploma. I begged him not to put me in that position – I very nearly fell coming down the steps after getting my own diploma, 31 years ago. But he refused to relent and I gave in. Prayers are totally appreciated for that.

Much love, grace and blessing to you all.