Faithfulness

by

Writing Songs In A Cave

Have you ever had a time that you hid from someone?  Perhaps something simple, such as a childhood game of hide and seek, with no real danger.  Or maybe something more real — a time where you knew that if you were found, trouble and harm would be the only outcomes.  Sometimes it is life itself that we are hiding from, not wanting to face another day with all of its demands, responsibilities, people, and problems.  In those times, it is easy to slide into this thought process; “I’m all alone.  Everyone is out to get me.  No one cares.  Is there anyone I can trust and turn to?”

I love the introductory text in many of the Psalms.  We are often given information about who wrote a particular Psalm, what tune to use with it, what instruments to use, what style of song it is, and even the background of where and when it was written.  Psalm 57 has one of these introductions and it says it was written by David “when he had fled from Saul into the cave.”  We know that there were at least two times that David hid in a cave, probably more that aren’t recorded.  For our purposes, it really doesn’t matter much which time, or what cave, David is in.  I want to think about the words David wrote while in hiding — while being pursued by the king who was seeking to end David’s life.

What do you do in the darkness of hiding?  David wrote a song.  A song recognizing that he was in trouble and needed help — help that only a faithful God could bring.  Help that he was pretty sure wasn’t always deserved.  We can learn a lesson from David as we look at how he approached God.  David almost always makes a clear acknowledgement of who God is in relation to himself.  David speaks to God very directly, very boldly; but not in a commanding manner — more like in desperation.  He writes like a man confident in God’s love for him, but knowing he doesn’t really deserve it.

Psalm 57 begins with David as a refugee, knowing he deserves no rights and privileges, calling out to God to have mercy on him.  Calling out to a “God Most High” for vindication, knowing that God knows for certain if his cause is just and right.  As David sits in the cave writing this song, he is confident that the God who called him to be the next king is a God of mercy and love.  As he is in hiding, he writes of God sending forth “his love and his faithfulness.”  In the verses that follow, David describes his pursuers with these words:  “I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among man-eating beasts, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.”  As I read verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 57, I think immediately of Daniel and how God sent his love and faithfulness to Daniel in the form of His angels coming to shut the mouths of the lions.  Perhaps those same angels were here, shielding David from capture and destruction by the “hungry lions” that were in constant pursuit of him.

Whatever form it took, David recognized it was God’s love and faithfulness that could make his heart steadfast and provide the protection and purpose he needed to continue.  The same love and faithfulness that God extends to us in the midst of the “dark caves” of our life.  As David writes, his song reminds us that God’s presence can illuminate the darkest of caves in our life.  For me, there has always been something about praising God that would drive the fear and darkness away from my life.  I remember as a young boy doing chores on the farm after dark or early in the morning before dawn.  I would head out to the dark barn with all of its creepy sounds and shadows and who knew what else lurking in the dark corners and hay mow.  As I entered the barn and headed up the ladder to get some hay for the cattle, I would sing praises to God at the top of my lungs.  I’ve added others to it, but my favorite song then, and now, for those “dark caves” of my life is “How Great Thou Art”.  I was convinced that anyone hiding out in the barn would have no choice but to remain hidden or run for their lives when they heard of the greatness of my God.  And so the song that began as a call for protection soon turned into a confident praise of a God who has great love and faithfulness — in my songs in the barn, and in life; and in David’s song in Psalm 57!

May you and I continue to call out to God for the mercy and grace that we need.  May we recognize the great love and faithfulness that He sends our way.  And may we ever praise Him with resounding song as He alone brings light into the “dark caves” of our life.

by

I Would Never . . .

Have you ever observed someone in the midst of some activity and say to yourself, “I would never do that!“?  Perhaps it was something that you just thought was ridiculous or silly.  Or maybe it was something wrong, an obvious sin that becomes visible and known in another person’s life and you conclude that there is no way that would ever happen to you.

But things do happen.  Choices are made.  Decisions are reached.  Options are discarded.  Desperation sets in.  And “all of a sudden” a person is in the midst of an affair, stealing from an employer, involved in a drug culture, lying about their activities and work accomplishments, gossiping about others, meddling in the lives of friends and strangers, harboring greed in their thoughts and actions, filled with pride and self-promotion, and on the list could go.  Very few people, if any, set out to do such actions.  Most Christians, when caught in sin that becomes public state, “I never thought it could happen to me.”  But it does.  Time and time again, it does.  But not just in public figures and newspaper headlines, but in you and me and in countless Christian lives in churches around the world.  We are tempted and we sin.  We think, “I never saw that coming.”  We feel blind-sided and wonder why we so easily give in to temptation at times.

If this describes you, as it does me, Paul has some words of warning and encouragement for us in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13:

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

God’s warning is clear.  If you think that sin has no appeal to you; look out!  It is when we think that we are untouchable that we drop our guard and relax.  Every job that I have had involved an element that if you became completely comfortable with it, you had better get out.  My first job “away from home” was in my uncle’s sawmill.  You learned quickly to respect the equipment, the stacks of logs and lumber, and the entire work environment if you wanted to avoid serious injury.  My next two jobs involved heights — roofing and TV tower and antenna installation and repair.  While I learned to trust my safety equipment, I also learned to have a respect for each environment that I was in.  To be observant and recognize the potential dangers.  To look for a bowed or sagging roof that might indicate a weakened support structure.  To pay attention to guy wires and tower legs that might be frayed or rusted to the point of weakness or failure.  It was never a given that just because every roof I had been on or every tower I had climbed had supported me so far that this one would as well.  I remember times during both of those jobs where I would hear or read of someone who became comfortable in a similar situation as mine and did not take heed to the potential danger.  Stories of people being seriously injured or even dying because they thought they knew what they were doing and therefore nothing could happen to them.

The same things happen in our spiritual life.  We get comfortable.  We think we know what we are doing.  Our confidence in our self takes us to the very edge.  We are so sure we know our “limit” that we continue to push it — to test it, saying, “I’ll never step over the line.  I’m not that stupid!”  And so we let the seeds of greed, lust, envy, pride, jealously, anger, hatred, etc., into our life and somehow think that we can control it.  Paul says that if you think you can handle this on your own, watch out because you are about to fall.

While the warning is clear, the promise is equally obvious.  God says that there is no temptation that is trying to overthrow you but what has already been tried.  Nothing will catch Him off guard.  Nothing will have Him scratching His head wondering, “What am I going to do now.  I don’t know how to get this person beyond this situation.”  We have a God who says that no temptation has to be given in to.  God knows every temptation that you and I will face and through His Word and His Spirit, He has given us a way out of each one.  A way that He says allows us to “stand up under it”, not necessarily avoid it.  A way that keeps the temptation from “giving birth to sin”, even while the temptation may remain present. 

Are we listening to God closely enough to hear His way out?  Are we spending consistent time in His Word, allowing His Spirit to teach us and to convict us of “sin, righteousness, and judgment”?  Jesus gave us the example of warding off temptation with Scripture.  Do we know the Scriptures well enough to use it as our “way of escape”?  Or do we play with God’s Word, sorting out verses that seem to justify our actions while ignoring the context and the principles that say the path we are headed down is leading to destruction?  I’ve known a number of Christian individuals, some very well known speakers, who have used the creation account as justification for “admiring” a woman’s beauty and even make suggestive comments about her because they are “praising God for His incredible handiwork”.  I’ve also seen some of these same individuals play with the fire of lust and end up burnt because they learned too late that they didn’t have the strength that they thought they did to control the temptation.  Their influence, their character, their witness for God goes down the drain because they were satisfying their desires rather than listening to God’s Word that says that a man who looks lustfully upon a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  The way out — the truth of Scripture — was there all the time.  It just didn’t seem necessary because, “I can handle this!”

I don’t know what areas of life and the temptations of life that you think you are standing firm in.  Whatever it is, God’s warning still holds true for you and me today; “be careful that you don’t fall!”  If you are saying in your mind, “I would never . . . “; look out!  Look to God and He will show you how close to the edge you already are and how you can escape the results of the temptation and stand up under it.

May you and I reject a prideful thinking that says, “I would never . . .”.  May we rely on the faithfulness of God to provide us a way of escape from every temptation through His Word and the power of His Spirit working in us.