I've Had Enough.

I know there have been moments when you were “fed up”. You were angry with a boss, a co-worker, a friend or a relative. Maybe you showed anger on the outside but really you were hurt or experienced a heart-break or you were just anxious about something you couldn’t control.

David shows us how to deal with anger. He writes about how he feels in Psalms 109. It’s an angry Psalm. Those kinds of Psalms are called imprecatory Psalms where one invokes judgement, calamity and curses down upon one’s perceived enemies. We try not to read those because they are very uncomfortable.

Many scholars believe this Psalm is written due to a story that unfolds for David in 1 Samuel 25 (make sure to read the story now, then come back). David has an interaction with a guy named Nabal. Nabal is disrespectful of David and David is going to get his pound of flesh. In David’s prayer in Psalm 109, David lists all the things he wants God to do to Nabal. Understand, David could have done all the things he wanted God to do but David never does them. He allows God to be a part of the story. He trusts God and knows God will act justly.

David’s experience shows us that in moments when we find ourselves upset and angry, we need to ask ourselves some questions.

First, will I react or respond? David clearly reacts in this story. As followers of Jesus, we are called to respond by thinking through how we will interact at this crossroads. When someone hurts you or gives you pain, we tend to react but God’s called us to be slow to anger and respond rather than react.

Second, will I rehearse or reflect? David, in this story, continues to rehearse how badly he’s been treated and is simply ramping up his emotional state of anger. If we aren’t fixing our eyes on Jesus, we can do the same thing. So many times our anger comes from the hurt and pain other’s have caused us. We can get locked into the replaying of the story over and over until we are sick. Jesus calls us to give him the burden and he’ll give us peace and rest (Matthew 11).

Finally, will I rage or release? I don’t mean you’re going to forget what other’s did to you…that you won’t remember but you’re going to release it to God and let him deal with it. Again, David could have taken care of business but he allowed God to enter the story, gave God his burden, and God took care of it.

At the front end of Psalm 109, David is livid. But by the end, he is worshiping. It’s all because he surrenders his emotions to God. He releases his anxiety, frustration, pain and hurt to God. In so doing, he gains peace and moves through that crossroad to a much healthier and better place. May you experience release in your story. May you allow God to walk with you. May you allow Jesus to bear your burden. Blessings on the journey.

Strength in weakness

I was a really small guy growing up. I only weighed about 60 pounds in the eighth grade. And that means I was picked on a bunch. In the seventh and eighth grade, I went to a school in Glenwood, AR where grades 7-12 were on the same campus. There were many times I wanted to hide and not come out until I could go home but I figured out a way to get through it all and it made me a better person.

My guess is, you’ve had times when life’s problems dwarfed you too. Times when you felt small and weak and you weren’t sure how to get through the day. Times when you felt the prodigal was too far gone, the diagnosis was too bleak, December was too busy, the workplace too worldly, your sin too great or the battle too big. But remember, God says when we are weak then we are strong. At least those of us who have surrendered to Jesus.

We have all heard the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. An improbable and impossible battle that David wins because he’s put his faith in the God of Heaven’s Armies. No one believed David could best the Philistine’s champion but God knew. David used the smallest, improbable weapon to put Goliath on his knees.

Then, God decided to do the improbable again. He took his smallest weapon, a baby, some 2000 years ago to put Satan and sin on it’s knees. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to fulfilled prophecy. When he was born, the angelic army leaned and said, “What an unusual way to win the battle!”

This time of year, we celebrate what God has done for us. He sent his Son, born of woman. In him, there is victory. In Jesus, we can win any battle in front of us. But to have that victory…to win the battle…to be triumphant over whatever is going on in your life, you’ve got to except Jesus and surrender fully to him.

God gave us all the most precious gift some 2000 years ago. He believed in you. Now, do you believe in him? God who spoke the world into existence choose not to show his power but his love for us through his Son Jesus. When God commands his angelic armies, it was not to wage war but to announce the birth of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. It was an unbelievable moment in history, moving from B.C. to A.D. when the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled from Isaiah 9:6-7:

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen.”

Blessings on your journey and may you find the opportunity this week to share the blessing of the reason for the season.

Davidic Mirror

I was just in Malibu, CA last week at Pepperdine University. What a gorgeous location to be renewed and refreshed. I’m not sure how students ever graduate there as the ocean is right there calling all the time. During our week, speakers focused on King David and his connection to life, love, and God. David was quite the man but not always in the most honorable ways.

David was a selfish man. You see that in 1 Samuel 17 when he fights Goliath. One of the first questions he asks in King Saul’s presence is, “What does the man get who kills Goliath?” We always hear the story of a man defending God’s honor when no one else would stand up and fight. While David did stand up to be counted, he first checked to see what was in it for him.

David was a lustful man. He wanted what was not his to take in the woman Bathsheba. She was married to one of David’s mighty fighting men, Uriah, who was off to war. David used his power as a man in a patristic society and his power as king to have his way with someone else’s wife.

That event allowed us to see David as someone trying to hide and using murder to make his problem go away. Bathsheba’s husband was called home from the war. You see, Bathsheba was pregnant with David’s baby and David wanted to hide what he did so he invited Uriah home to sleep with Bathsheba. Once that happened, David would have no worries. But Uriah would not sleep at home because his men were out in the field fighting. So, David wrote a letter to the general of his army which Uriah delivered on his way back to the front. The letter put him at the front of the fighting which led to Uriah’s demise. David is guilty of committing adultery and murder in this one family.

Yet, we read in the Bible that David was a man after God’s own heart. How? As we look at David closely, we see a flawed man who has sin in his life. But even though he makes poor decisions, God still pursues him and David pursues God. While making major mistakes, we see David never ceases to want to be near God, always seeks God, never rejects God.

And as we watch the life of David, we see ourselves in the story as well. People who have made some poor decisions and made major mistakes. Even so, God still pursues us. He loves us. David is much like the rest of us. We are much like David. So take comfort in knowing God loves you although we are far from perfect. And how are we perfect? Through Jesus Christ his son. Romans 5 reminds us that “while we were sinners, Christ died for us.” Don’t get down. Don’t be anxious. We have a real king…the most high king who loves us more than anything. There is nothing you can do to make God love you any less than he does right now. Blessings on your journey.