Psalms 107-109

(November 17, 2014)

                The first two of these psalms were wonderful.  In the first, we have the language of the Lord reaching out to each and every one of us – wherever we are in the world and whatever we might happen to be doing at that time – and we are reminded that the Lord can bring us out of the distress we are in.  In the second, the language of the closing verses – that only God can save us in our trouble, but that He can and will save us if we turn to Him…beautiful is the one word I have for those two psalms.  I felt significantly moved as I read them.

                Unfortunately the third psalm (and, particularly, the contrast between the second psalm and the third psalm) served to highlight the problem that ultimately led to David’s destruction.  He went from praising the Lord because of His everlasting mercy to desiring that his enemies (who legitimately were mistreating him and falsely swearing against him) would be destroyed, that their family would be destroyed, that their widows and fatherless children would be hurt and destroyed.

                Sadly, and I reminded of this over and over, David was a wonderful man who had that one character flaw that brought him down.  That trait was not, as it is so often considered, lust – he sinned with Bathsheba, but that was a sin he could have repented of.  His sin was pride – he hid his dalliance with Bathsheba through the destruction of Uriah and that led to his downfall.  That same pride is on display here, and is a reminder of the need of each of us to recognize our dependence on the Lord and to likewise recognize His role as the judge of all (a position we cannot fill, even if we feel we are legitimately wronged).