GO AHEAD AND SAY IT –

As king David sat in a crude camp in the wilderness far from his palace in Jerusalem, he couldn’t help but feel despondent. During those days Jesse’s son often thought of what might be taking place back on Mt. Zion as Absalom and his cohorts took over the throne. But he never gave up hope that God might intervene and Absalom would be convicted of his treachery and turn to his father for forgiveness. So he wrote this psalm to share many of the emotions he felt during this low point in his life. In his spirit David knew that God was taking care of him in a very special way. But he also knew that if he kept this all sealed in his heart that it could ferment into uncontrollable anger and hatred. So he trusted the Lord to understand what he was feeling, and help him cope with it.

“O One True God, my Sovereign God, I need You and want to be near You. My heart aches for You; I’m like a parched field, all dried up inside and in dire need of spiritual refreshing. My soul longs to be in Your presence; I want to witness Your power and glory once again. Without Your steadfast love there’s no reason to go on living; that’s why I continue to praise Your Name. That’s why I will keep on praising You as long as I have breath, while I lift up my hands to You in appreciation for who You are. So as You fill my soul with Your sweet Spirit, my mouth will celebrate You with joyful lips. And as I meditate on Your goodness, after I’ve laid my head on my pillow, I will think of You late into the night. For You give me assurance. And as I feel Your presence all around me, my mouth fills with joyful utterances. That’s why I can’t let You go; because You’re the One that keeps me going. As for those out to ruin my life, let them disappear from the scene. As a matter of fact, let them all be brought to ruin and their estates become plunder to scroungers. But as for me, I will rejoice in my One True God; and all who have stood by me will celebrate when they see these lying scoundrels silenced.” Psalm 63:1-11

Reflection: On Wednesday, November 10, 1982, Vice President George H. W. Bush attended the funeral of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, as a representative of the United States. Vice President Bush later told how he saw Brezhnev’s widow, Victoria Petrovna, standing motionless by the coffin. She did not move until seconds before the guards came to close the casket, and just as they reached up to take hold of the lid, Mrs. Brezhnev performed the most unprecedented act of courage and hope he’d ever seen; her gesture deeply moved Vice President Bush who called it one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed in a communist state. Before the lid could be closed she reached down and made the “sign of the cross” over her husband’s chest. There in the bastion of godlessness, the widow of the man who ran it for eighteen years showed that she never lost hope. Little did she know that in less than a decade communism would fall and allow Russia to return as a believing nation.

No doubt as Absalom gained power, and more and more traitors joined him, David held out hope that God would one day bring Israel out of this mess and restore, law, order, and worship. Perhaps there in the city of refuge, David knelt facing Jerusalem with closed eyes and envisioned the cherubs looking down on the Mercy Seat ready to accept the blood of the sacrifice that would bring forgiveness to his nation. Like Mrs. Brezhnev, David never lost hope in God’s ability to turn things around in even the most trying of circumstances. Each of us should ask ourselves the question, “Do we possess enough hope and courage to show our God that we are loyal, and He can count on us no matter how bad things may get? For His sake, let’s hope so.