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Aristotle defined a Tragedy (in literature) as a situation in which someone who is good, perhaps even great, begins to overreach and put himself in the place of God as Judge. This once good person experiences what Aristotle calls “peripeteia,” which is the reversal of fortune.

There is an important warning in Psalms 7 –  if we seek to take revenge, hold grudges, stay bitter towards others, we are in danger of evil recoiling back on us. We will do more harm to ourselves than we could ever do to our enemies.

“They dig a pit for others to fall into,
    not knowing that they will be the very ones
    who will fall into their own pit of failure.
 For you, God, will see to it that every pit-digger
    who works to trap and harm others
    will be trapped and harmed by his own treachery.” (vs 15-16 TPT)

According to Bible scholar, Derek Kidner, “this verse says evil always comes home to roost. This principle operates unevenly in the material realm but inescapably in the realm of the spirit. In the terrible hardening and poisoning effect of a wrong attitude on the one who harbors it, far more disaster comes to him or her than any suffering inflicted on others.”

Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of God’s throne (Ps. 89:14). He will make everything right. Holding grudges and seeking to harm your enemy isn’t worth your peace. Let’s not be pit-diggers. Leave the justice to God.

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This Psalm is heavy.

David is feeling condemned, sick, frail, and worn out from weeping. He is falling apart. “My eyes of faith won’t focus anymore, for sorrow fills my heart. (vs 7).”

I’ve been there.

I love the inclusion of this psalm in scripture. It tells me the Lord know’s how we talk when we are down.

This week as I have been meditationg on this psalm, the lyrics of Rita Springer’s song Defender, keeps playing in my mind.

“You know before I do
Where my heart can seek to find your truth

Your mercy is the shade I’m living in
You restore my faith and hope again.

When I thought I lost me
You knew where I left me
You reintroduced me to your love
You picked up all my pieces
Put me back together
You are the defender of my heart”

Jesus doesn’t just pick us up and put us back together, He fills us with His glory. According to Brian Simmons, “Paul uses figurative language [in 2 Cor.] to say that we are common clay jars (created from dust/clay) yet we possess the brilliant light of God’s glory, Jesus Christ, and carry him as treasure in our being. The outward vessel is not as important as the glorious treasure within. The metaphors here may allude to Gideon’s clay pots that had burning torches inside.”

“For God, who said, ‘Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,’ is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ. 

We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that the extraordinary overflow of power will be seen as God’s, not ours. Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out. We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity. We consider living to mean that we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity. 

So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-12

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“Lord, how wonderfully you bless the righteous.

Your favor wraps around each one

and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy.”

Psalm 5:12 (TPT)

David is in the midst of intense suffering and yet he can sleep soundly. His emotions do not control him. He is absolutely confident that God will come through for him. If we allow it, suffering will cause our false gods, our disordered loves, our inordinate desires to burn away. We come to the realization that our idols won’t come through for us. Only God.

“Pull up your uncontrollable emotions by the roots and you will find your idols clinging to them.” – Tim Keller.

The other day I became frustrated when my daughter wanted to ask me a series of questions as I was trying to finish my cleaning. She was interrupting my productivity and I kept brushing her off. Later I asked myself why it was so important for me to finish my chores rather than spend time with her. As I dug underneath the emotion, I realized my heart was believing a lie… “If I don’t get xyz done, I am inadequate. I am unable.” My idol of productivity was more important than my daughter.

Tim Keller has a great test for exposing the idols of your heart. Ask yourself these questions:

1. What are your daydreams? When you don’t have to think about anything, where does your mind wander? “Your real god is what you do with your solitude.” -Archbishop William Temple
2. Where do your uncontrollable emotions show up? When you are angry, ask yourself “what am I defending?” Feelings of overwhelming fear or despondency are good clues you have an idol.
3. What do you spend your money on most effortlessly? What are you looking to for your security?
4. What are your nightmares? “If this happens, I could never go on.”
5. What unanswered prayer has embittered you toward God? What are your non-negotiable prayer requests? Do you find yourself telling God you will obey Him if…. Your real god is on the other end of that “if.”

 

“The storm may be around you, but it doesn’t have to be in you.”

– Kris Vallotton –

This Psalm shows us how David won his battles first in his mind. His own son conspired to build a case against him. He was distressed by the slanderous lies and whispers of his enemy. And yet, he has found peace in the pain; quietness in the storm.

I heard a great teaching this week from the Passion Translation team, explaining David’s process of unburdening. David does not stuff his feelings. He doesn’t ignore his feelings. This is what we can learn from David in this Psalm:

1. Express your feelings to God. “This is what the enemy is saying about me. These are the accusation from my Enemy….” 
2. To win the battle in your own mind, talk to yourself. “But this is what I truly know… this is who the Lord is… This is what I know about my Father…” Absorb yourself in the Glory of God, not your pain.
3. Simply ask. Make your petitions to God in Faith, not fear.

Psalm 3 The Passion Translation (TPT)

Covered by the Glory

3 King David’s song when he was forced to flee from Absalom, his own son

The Humbling of a King

¹ Lord, I have so many enemies, so many who are against me.
² Listen to how they whisper their slander against me, saying:
    “Look! He’s hopeless! Even God can’t save him from this!”

Pause in his presence

The Help of God

³ But in the depths of my heart I truly know
    that you, Yahweh, have become my Shield;
    You take me and surround me with yourself.
    Your glory covers me continually.
    You lift high my head when I bow low in shame.
⁴ I have cried out to you, Yahweh, from your holy presence.
    You send me a Father’s help.

Pause in his presence

The Song of Safety

⁵ So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby—
    then I’ll awake in safety, for you surround me with your glory.
⁶ Even though dark powers prowl around me,
    I won’t be afraid.

The Secret of Strength

⁷ I simply cry out to you:
“Rise up and help me, Lord! Come and save me!”
    And you will slap them in the face,
    breaking the power of their words to harm me.
⁸ My true hero comes to my rescue,
    for the Lord alone is my Savior.
    What a feast of favor and bliss he gives his people!

Pause in his presence

 

Meditate on this illustration by Barbara Boyd:

If the distance between the earth and the sun (96 million miles) was the thickness of a piece of paper, that would make the distance from the earth to the nearest star a stack of papers 70 feet high.

Just the diameter of our galaxy would be a stack of papers 310 miles high, and our “little” galaxy is just a speck in the expanse of the universe that we can see.

If Jesus is the Son of God who holds all this together with one word of his power (Hebrews 1), is this the kind of person you ask into your life to be your personal assistant?

Have you noticed how easy it is for us to accept the loving Jesus, the comforting Jesus that assists us through our troubles, but not the Holy Jesus? What is it about us that rejects Jesus as King? Even the religious moralist can use their moral achievements as a way to avoid Jesus. “If I’m good enough, I won’t have to really surrender to him.”

As Flannery O’Conner wrote in her novel, Wise Blood…

“There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.”

Some of us don’t want to be yoked to anything. And others will anchor their hearts to any cause or person.  We have a deep spiritual need to surrender to something. If not the TRUE King, we will find someone or something else to worship. To adore. To protect.

 Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

No human or cause is meant to sit on the throne of our hearts. Only Jesus. He holds the universe together with one word and yet He is as close as your next breath. He is BOTH Lord and Savior. Take refuge in Him alone.

 

¹⁰ Listen to me, all you rebel-kings
    and all you upstart judges of the earth.
    Learn your lesson while there’s still time.

¹¹ Serve and worship the awe-inspiring God.
    Recognize his greatness and bow before him,
    trembling with reverence in his presence.

¹² Fall facedown before him and kiss the Son
    before his anger is roused against you.
    Remember that his wrath can be quickly kindled!
    But many blessings are waiting for all
    who turn aside to hide themselves in him!

(Passion Translation)

“Blessed is the one…

…whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.“

Steady, persistent Meditation on the Word of God. Friends, this isn’t mere bible study or the practice of simply reading scripture so we can check it off the daily schedule.

The picture of biblical meditation is likened to a cow chewing cud… constantly re-digesting, chewing and chewing, over and over until the substance completely works itself into the system. Cows spend at least 8 hours a day chewing their cud. When we meditate we are feeding on the word. We think about it, reflect on the implications, digest it, regurgitate it, chew on it some more. It’s a process of speaking to our own heart until it is ablaze. “Look, soul…. think, soul… how should you respond if you are THAT forgiven… how should you live your life if you are THAT loved…?” We don’t just read for information, we take it in, drink it up until it affects us at the center of our being.

Augustine called Meditation “the ascent of the soul unto God.” Love that.

Here are Dr. Tim Keller’s descriptions of Augusitine’s three-part method of Meditation: Retentio, Contemplatio & Dilectio.

“First, Retentiomeans the distillation of the truths of Scripture and holding them centrally in the mind. This means study and concentration on a passage of Scripture to simply understand it, so you see its thrust. Retentio is thus learning what a passage says.

Second, Contemplatio, means “gazing at God through this truth.” It is to pose and answer questions such as:

• What does this tell me about God; what does it reveal about him?
• How can I praise him for and through this?
• How can I humble myself before him for and through this?
• If he is really like this, what difference does this particular truth make to how I live today?
• What wrong behavior, harmful emotions, false attitudes result in me when I forget he is like this?
• How would my neighborhood, my family, my church, my friends be different if they saw it deeply?
• Does my life demonstrate that I am remembering and acting out of this?
• Lord, what are you trying to tell me about you, and why do you want me to know it now, today?

Above all, the purpose of Contemplatio is to move from a kind of objective analytical view of things to a personal dealing with God as he is. It is to deal with God directly, to stretch every nerve to turn this “knowing about” into knowing — to move from knowing a fact about him to actually “seeing” him with the heart — to adore, to marvel, to rest in, or to be troubled by, to be humbled by him. It is one thing to study a piece of music and another to play it. It is one thing to work on a diamond, cutting and polishing it; it is another to stand back and let it take your breath away.

Third, Dilectiomeans delighting and relishing the God you are looking at. You begin to actually praise and confess and aspire toward him on the basis of the digested and meditated truth. If you have moved from learning to personal meditation, then, depending on your spiritual sharpness, the circumstances of your life at that time, and God’s sovereign Spirit, you begin to experience him.

Sometimes it is mild, sometimes strong, and sometimes you are very dry. But whenever you are meditating (“contemplatio”) and you suddenly find new ideas coming to you and flowing in, then write them down and move to direct praising and confessing and delighting. That is (as Luther would say) the “Holy Spirit preaching to you.”

May the streams of Living Water spring up in your life. Let you roots go down deep. Chew the cud and Be Blessed, friends!

Who wants to join me for a Creative Challenge through the Psalms? One Psalm per week (no pressure). It will be a long and steady journey (150 weeks!). Begins Monday, July 23.

Read, Contemplate, and Express through any medium (photo, paint, lyric,… ). Share on your wall. Instagram: use #PsalmsArtChallenge so we can build a collection.