Day 316: "As for me, I will call upon God,"
Read: Psalm 55:16 - 23, 2 Samuel 13:1 - 19:8
Regaining broken trust. Turn betrayal around on its ear and set
yourself about the most difficult task, setting yourself on the most
arduous mission of regaining broken trust. Walking barefoot over the
rocky desert terrain with a goal toward overcoming the grief, the
anguish, the extraordinary hurt that someone has caused us or we have caused someone else. In my own finite mind, it is not even a task I would usually give a single moments thought to. The thought of the hot desert sun on my face, neck and shoulders, the feel of the hot desert sand on my feet, the blisters that will inevitably come, the painful thirst in my body marching toward forgiveness and reconciliation.
I keep wondering if this is not what David felt or thought to himself
when he fled his Jerusalem after his son Absalom betrayed him after
David failed to act when Tamar, David's own daughter was raped by
David's son, Absalom's brother Amnon. The truest scope of this tragedy of
this story covers over five full chapters of the Hebrew Scripture. It boggles the mind, overwhelms the strongest of souls. Psalm 55 describes David's own thoughts that followed. His first response was to run away. We can
understand and even empathize with it because it is easier to take the
matter into our own hands and run as fast, as hard possible to a nice dark cave to avoid the pain and responsibility.
Certainly it is the most immediate life preserving choice that is always going to be available to us. Absalom both stayed and ran away plotting, planning his revenge for
years against his father. Father grieved, son steamed. On one side, Irresistible
force of the Kings will versus the
immovable object of revenge
locked and blocked deeply within Absalom's heart. But neither of these
choices offers us the way forward through the scorching wilderness toward forgiveness and final reconciliation. Having felt like David once
or twice in my life and like Absalom a few more times than that, I have
had great revelation over the years that even if I am betrayed, I can still confidently climb the mountain of my God!
55:16 "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me. 17 Evening
and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh,
and He will hear my voice." This was the turning point for David and it is the hope that we all have for today when confronted by this sort of epic tragedy. Absalom chose the different path through the wilderness toward vengeance not God. David chose the path that led to the mountain of God. No betrayal can ever take away the path leading to the mountain of our God. Only I can allow the joy of my Christian walk through this utter desolation to be taken. "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me." Save me from His high mountain!
Let Us Pray: For God to bring a far better ending TO OUR STORY than
this one: "The king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the
gate and wept. And thus he said as he walked, “O my son Absalom, my
son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son,
my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33 NASB) AMEN.
Psalm 121 (NASB)
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: Psalm 55:16 - 23, 2 Samuel 13:1 - 19:8
Regaining broken trust. Turn betrayal around on its ear and set yourself about the most difficult task, setting yourself on the most arduous mission of regaining broken trust. Walking barefoot over the rocky desert terrain with a goal toward overcoming the grief, the anguish, the extraordinary hurt that someone has caused us or we have caused someone else. In my own finite mind, it is not even a task I would usually give a single moments thought to. The thought of the hot desert sun on my face, neck and shoulders, the feel of the hot desert sand on my feet, the blisters that will inevitably come, the painful thirst in my body marching toward forgiveness and reconciliation.
I keep wondering if this is not what David felt or thought to himself when he fled his Jerusalem after his son Absalom betrayed him after David failed to act when Tamar, David's own daughter was raped by David's son, Absalom's brother Amnon. The truest scope of this tragedy of this story covers over five full chapters of the Hebrew Scripture. It boggles the mind, overwhelms the strongest of souls. Psalm 55 describes David's own thoughts that followed. His first response was to run away. We can understand and even empathize with it because it is easier to take the matter into our own hands and run as fast, as hard possible to a nice dark cave to avoid the pain and responsibility.
Certainly it is the most immediate life preserving choice that is always going to be available to us. Absalom both stayed and ran away plotting, planning his revenge for years against his father. Father grieved, son steamed. On one side, Irresistible force of the Kings will versus the
immovable object of revenge locked and blocked deeply within Absalom's heart. But neither of these choices offers us the way forward through the scorching wilderness toward forgiveness and final reconciliation. Having felt like David once or twice in my life and like Absalom a few more times than that, I have had great revelation over the years that even if I am betrayed, I can still confidently climb the mountain of my God!
55:16 "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me. 17 Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice." This was the turning point for David and it is the hope that we all have for today when confronted by this sort of epic tragedy. Absalom chose the different path through the wilderness toward vengeance not God. David chose the path that led to the mountain of God. No betrayal can ever take away the path leading to the mountain of our God. Only I can allow the joy of my Christian walk through this utter desolation to be taken. "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me." Save me from His high mountain!
Let Us Pray: For God to bring a far better ending TO OUR STORY than this one: "The king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And thus he said as he walked, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33 NASB) AMEN.
Psalm 121 (NASB)
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
http://www.youtube.com/
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