July 13, 2007

Reading through the Bible this year: http://www.emailbiblestudy.com/Schedule.htm

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 59:1-8

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him. To be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”

¹      Rescue me from my enemies, O God.

Protect me from those who have come to destroy me.

²      Rescue me from these criminals;

save me from these murderers.

³      They have set an ambush for me.

Fierce enemies are out there waiting, Lord,

though I have not sinned or offended them.

⁴      I have done nothing wrong,

yet they prepare to attack me.

Wake up! See what is happening and help me!

⁵      O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,

wake up and punish those hostile nations.

Show no mercy to wicked traitors.

Interlude

⁶      They come out at night,

snarling like vicious dogs

as they prowl the streets.

⁷      Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths;

their words cut like swords.

“After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.

⁸      But Lord, you laugh at them.

You scoff at all the hostile nations.  NLT

1 Samuel 19:11-17 Michal Saves David’s Life ¹¹ Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” ¹² So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. ¹³ Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.

¹⁴ When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.

¹⁵ But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” ¹⁶ But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.

¹⁷ “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.

“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.” NLT^[1]

The story behind this Psalm brings it to life.  Imagine being David, thinking that life was reasonably good and all was fairly well.  Then his wife delivered the news to him that the kings men were waiting for him to wake up in the morning so that they could kill him. That which seemed good now became a scramble for his life.  Pay close attention to the ingredients in this story.  David was let down from a window and escaped.  His wife took a household idol and covered it with a blanket, making it look as if it were David.  Was it reasonable to expect David to have an idol in his house?  The Psalm does not cry out to the idol for deliverance, David cries out to God for deliverance.  Fierce men came against him, and David was found living in compromise.  His own house was not in order.  To add to the intriguing set of events, his wife lied first about his being sick to cover for him, and second about David threatening her life.  On the surface, things looked good in the David household, but there was an undercurrent of idolatry and ungodly living.  Before we shake our finger at David, look at the modern day idols that we have in our homes, the one-eyed monster, and high speed access (among many other distractions).  Look also at the modern day attitude of watching out for number one that Michal demonstrated for us. 

I propose that in the Psalm was written at a much later date by David as he remembered this event.  During that time in his life, David had finally learned his lesson and was whole-heartedly sold out to the Lord.  There was no point in focusing on the past failures when he was able to focus on what the Lord had done. Would David desert his household idols if God had not brought adversity into his life?  We don't know the answer to that question, my best guess is that it was necessary for David to go through the trouble to flush the garbage out of his life.

Verses 1-4:  David cried out to God for help.  Saul had positioned the men around his house for the sole intention of killing him.  David was surrounded by an attitude of murder by men empowered by the king to kill him.  Look carefully at the verses, David had done nothing to offend the men.  He had not sinned against them.  Not only that, God seemed to have fallen asleep.  When we live in compromise with the world, we live out of fellowship with God.  David lived a life that should not have offended the men who were seeking to kill him.  His relationship with God was at a point where God was asleep.  Could it be that David was the one who was asleep spiritually and God was using these men to wake him up? 

Verses 5-8:  The hostile nations that David was faced with was his people.  It is interesting because he paints a picture of a people who are utterly ruthless.  Their excuse for ruthlessness is that no one can hear them anyway.  How many today treat God as if He is insignificant?  Can God hear us?  Does God stand aloof and casually ignore His people?  The answer to these is that yes, people treat God as if He does not exist however He does exist. 

I am going to quit here, we will explore this Psalm further tomorrow.  In the mean time, read up on the story from 1 Samuel 19.  I make a note on the study that comments are welcomed.  I eagerly wait for your responses, either online or off.  If you respond by email and wish to keep the remark confidential, it will stay that way.  However, if you do not indicate that it is to be kept private, I will pass along your nugget of information to the rest of the group so that they can profit as well.

Father, as we consider Your Word today, open our eyes so that we can see and understand how each of us need Your direction in our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

July 14, 2007

Reading through the Bible this year: http://www.emailbiblestudy.com/Schedule.htm

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 59:9-17

⁹      You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me,

for you, O God, are my fortress.

¹⁰      In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me.

He will let me look down in triumph on all my enemies.

¹¹      Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons;

stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees,

O Lord our shield.

¹²      Because of the sinful things they say,

because of the evil that is on their lips,

let them be captured by their pride,

their curses, and their lies.

¹³      Destroy them in your anger!

Wipe them out completely!

Then the whole world will know

that God reigns in Israel.

Interlude

¹⁴      My enemies come out at night,

snarling like vicious dogs

as they prowl the streets.

¹⁵      They scavenge for food

but go to sleep unsatisfied.

¹⁶      But as for me, I will sing about your power.

Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.

For you have been my refuge,

a place of safety when I am in distress.

¹⁷      O my Strength, to you I sing praises,

for you, O God, are my refuge,

the God who shows me unfailing love. NLT

1 Samuel 19:18-24 ¹⁸ So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. ¹⁹ When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰ he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy. ²¹ When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time. ²² Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.

“They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him.

²³ But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth! ²⁴ He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?” NLT^[1]

One of the comical things about prayer is the unpredictability of God.  David was crying out for deliverance from his enemies that were seeking to take his life.  God played a little joke on the pursuers.  The way that the NLT tranlsates this passage brings it to life.  Take a close look at what David prayed for and what God did in response to that prayer.

Verses 9-10:  David prayed that God would conquer his enemies through love.  Not only to conquer them through love, but David threw himself before God, declaring Him to be God.  This is important because we noticed yesterday that David had idols in his house.  This indicates that David had a split alliance with God, there were other gods in his life.  So the answer that we see God deliver to the pursuers has a dual purpose.  First it is in an answer to the prayer that David prayed.  Secondly, it is to demonstrate to David who is the true God over all.  I say that because it is odd for God to overpower the free will of men.  When God does so it must be important.  I can't think of another time in scripture when God drew men to praise Him seemingly against their will.

Verses 11-15:  God did not destroy them completely.  He did overpower their mouths and turned their mouths from instruments of sin to instruments of righteousness.  This had to destroy the will of these men as they were carried away by the Spirit of God.  I would say it was obvious to the men who were prophesying that God reined in Israel.  Not only that, God was able to use men who were entirely focused on their own desires to bring Him praise.  This is significant in our day because there are those who will say that this sect of Christianity, or that denomination cannot possibly serve God.  Christians will point out faults of those of differing beliefs, and declare that they are the same as unbelievers.  God showed through this act that He is in charge of men. 

On the flip side of the coin, these men were driven by their passions.  The scripture does not indicate that they were sold out to the devil.  These men were also followers of God.  When God overpowered them with the gift of prophesy, He may have been taking willing vessels and giving them a job that they had not previously had.

Verses 16-17:  Is God our power?  Is He our safe place when we are in trouble?  Are we willing to go to Him in the morning and sing praises to Him each morning?  This is important.  There are those who say that the spiritual disciplines of "quiet times", Bible reading, and prayer on a regular basis is simply placing yourself under the law.  It's not placing yourself under the law, it is establishing a routine of being under God's control.  One purpose of a daily time with the Lord is simply that it teaches you how to have time with the Lord.  When the time of crisis comes, then you know how to put the practice into play.  Think of it like this, we often will drill for emergency preparedness on our jobs.  In that way when a crisis hits, we mechanically know how to respond when our thinking is confused by the crisis at hand.  The daily time with the Lord can be seen as having a similar function.  We learn how to follow the Lord through daily practice.  God is our refuge or our safe place during a time of distress.  If we do not normally trust in God, then chances are that during a crisis, we will not trust in Him either. 

I hope that you enjoyed the comparison between the Psalm and the story of David.  It is a clear example of the power of prayer.  I am going to close here, all comments are welcomed.

Father, as we observe the results of the answer to David's prayer, encourage each of us in our prayer to believe in You.

In Him,

Joe Turner.