|
The Friend
"Let another take his office. Let his children be
fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg; let
them see their bread also from their desolate places" (Psalm 109:8-10)
In 1969, I double-parked in front of a bookstore, ran in and demanded a Bible from the
startled sales clerk. I was as surprised as he was, because I had just spent years in
"eastern religions" and did not expect to ever embrace what I had been taught
was the "narrowness" of Christianity.
But, while I was in a "Hindu" monastery, God incredibly spoke to my heart,
directed me OUT of that place, and pointed me to Christ. It had never occurred to me that
God actually "spoke" to people, and certainly I had never expected it to happen
to me. I could not wait to buy a Bible and learn about Jesus.
I started to read Genesis, in the spring of 1969, and continued, one Book at a time,
until I completed the Book of Revelation, just about a year later. I was shocked. As
stated in other contexts, all I saw in the Bible, was murder, lies, adultery, and war -
the very things I was trying to get away from in this world! I missed the whole point, but
God subsequently opened my heart to His Word and through it, gave me the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus.
Today's verses in Psalm 109, are precisely the kind of Scriptures I misunderstood,
before the Lord opened me to His Word and His love. As is so typical in the Old Testament,
these verses have a much wider usage than simply in relation to the human author, David,
the King of Israel.
David was on the run. He had been anointed King by Samuel the Prophet, at the command
of God, but there was another man on the throne, Saul, who was also King, and his hatred
of David ran very deep. The older Saul would kill the younger man if he could but David
would not allow his men to harm "God's anointed" (Saul). David would be Saul's
friend if it was allowed, but Saul would betray David, any way he could.
In our Psalm (109), the key issue is betrayal. David had loyal followers, but he also
had a friend who turned against him, and the very likely betrayer was Saul.
The difficulty in understanding such Scriptures as Psalm 109, is a failure to
comprehend the heart of men like David. He was a man full of rage at the betrayal done to
him, and yet he also would not touch a hair on Saul's head, and he wouldn't allow his men
to harm him, either, through he could have killed Saul on a number of occasions.
It all makes sense, when you consider that Psalm 109, like many Psalms, is more than
poetry, more than a musical composition - it is actually a prayer. It broke David's heart
that he could HELP Saul (and the nation Israel) so much, and yet Saul, out of jealousy,
hated him in return. Saul's son Jonathan was about the same age as David, and the two
young men were sincerely the best of friends. I am struck by the stark contrast between
the friendship, the love of these "boys" and the hatred of Jonathan's Dad.
David personally knew the emotions of betrayal, but instead of acting on them in
return, he took these feelings to the Lord. Instead of killing Saul, which he could have
done many times, he told God how he felt. No embellishment, no pretense - "Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife
a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg; let them see their bread also
from their desolate places" (Psalm 109:8-10). These were David's honest
responses.
He was really upset, but he did not merely gossip or seek revenge as so many of us in
the world (and in the Church) do – he told God! He took his hurt to the Lord, and
told Him - everything! Simply, directly, openly – every bit of his anger – he
told God.
Psalm 109 is a "Messianic" Psalm, from the perspective that not only did it
refer to events of that day, but it also looked ahead in a prophetic sense to the advent
of Jesus Christ. (I am finding all of the Old Testament is "Messianic").
In Verse 3, for example, "They have surrounded me with words of
hatred and fought against me without a cause", the words indeed applied to
David, but they also related to Jesus (John 15:25), and to persons of His time.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, a Chinese Statesman who lived from 1866 to 1925, and was the Founder
and first President of the Republic of China, said "I believe in Christ and His
teachings and have endeavored to make them my own. He came to save the poor and the
unfortunate, and those in bondage." Indeed He did. We live in a place filled with
bondage and betrayal – but Jesus Christ, who gave freedom to David and Sun Yat-Sen,
can set you and me free from the betrayal and anger of this world.
This is indeed an angry place where some enjoy that anger, nursing it all they can, and
they long for the day when "revenge" can be expressed in relation to whoever may
have caused the harm. Others, hurt just as much, don't want to be angry, and push that
anger down, and down, and down, hoping it will go away. It doesn't go away and neither of
the preceding methods will help you. Anger is like the festering wound under a bandage. It
needs to be opened, lanced, and brought to the Surgeon, the Great Physician for the
healing only He can bring.
That is what David did. When he said words like "Let another
take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children
continually be vagabonds and beg; let them see their bread also from their desolate places"
(Psalm 109:8-10), he was opening his wound to the only One who can heal a broken heart.
I like Paul's approach to anger, when he said "Be angry but
sin not - don't let the sun go down on your anger" (Ephesians 4:26). Anger is
inevitable in such a world as this, because you're human like the rest of us. Nursing that
anger is not healthy and to do that is to damage yourself. Be receptive like President Sun
Yat-Sen. Be open like King David. Take your heart, and your anger to Christ. He is your
friend and He will set you free.
Ron Beckham
Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
ron@fridaystudy.org
|
