“A great man is always willing to be little.”
- Ralph Waldo Emmerson
1 SAMUEL 22-24
LUKE 16:1-18
14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
JOURNAL
So Mighty David has blown it. Game over...how can he ever recover? Saul is chasing him and wants to kill him. He has sacrificed his integrity and lied to the priest at Nob. He has acted like a fool and a madman in order to escape his enemies. He has nowhere else to turn so he goes out and hides in a cave.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is " 2All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander." I wonder if God in all his glory is sitting back watching and at this point in the story says "Now he is ready...". I kinda think he does. Facscinating that it wasn't the slaying of Goliath or the numerous military victories or the security of being accepted into Saul's family that signaled David being ready to lead...but rather being stripped of all that honor and hiding in a cave.
I think Jesus speaks to this when he condemns the pharisees for wanting to "justify themselves in the eyes of others". David has definitely blown it from a worldly perspective, however he is humbled and finally in a position where God is all he has, where justifying himself is impossible. Gone is the glory of Goliath, gone is his friendship with Jonathan, gone is all the comfort and security of the royal palace.
David is back to the lonely place where it all started, out by himself with nothing but God. We don't have a record of what happened from the time he went to the cave to the time his family and others came to him. However, Psalm 57 is an indication of what was going on spiritually at this time in his life. I can only imagine that some of his most honest moments were during this period. When he had to come to terms with all that he had lost...but the fact remained that all of that really no longer mattered because in the end he had God.
I love that God used David's weakness to bring him those who could identify with failure and their own sin. Here again God's message is never about how you can make a great life for yourself...but rather how he will bring redemption to our hearts and this therefore becomes our greatest treasure.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is " 2All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander." I wonder if God in all his glory is sitting back watching and at this point in the story says "Now he is ready...". I kinda think he does. Facscinating that it wasn't the slaying of Goliath or the numerous military victories or the security of being accepted into Saul's family that signaled David being ready to lead...but rather being stripped of all that honor and hiding in a cave.
I think Jesus speaks to this when he condemns the pharisees for wanting to "justify themselves in the eyes of others". David has definitely blown it from a worldly perspective, however he is humbled and finally in a position where God is all he has, where justifying himself is impossible. Gone is the glory of Goliath, gone is his friendship with Jonathan, gone is all the comfort and security of the royal palace.
David is back to the lonely place where it all started, out by himself with nothing but God. We don't have a record of what happened from the time he went to the cave to the time his family and others came to him. However, Psalm 57 is an indication of what was going on spiritually at this time in his life. I can only imagine that some of his most honest moments were during this period. When he had to come to terms with all that he had lost...but the fact remained that all of that really no longer mattered because in the end he had God.
I love that God used David's weakness to bring him those who could identify with failure and their own sin. Here again God's message is never about how you can make a great life for yourself...but rather how he will bring redemption to our hearts and this therefore becomes our greatest treasure.
1Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
2I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who vindicates me.
3He sends from heaven and saves me,
rebuking those who hotly pursue me—c
God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
4I am in the midst of lions;
I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
6They spread a net for my feet—
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path—
but they have fallen into it themselves.
7My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
8Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
10For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
PSALM 57
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