March 7
Stephen MattsonDay 268: The Lord Is
It baffles me to think of how, even in the midst of battles and near death experiences, David would find time to write. Many of the psalms he wrote were sourced in some unfavorable situations. Among other things, David teaches us we can write out our prayers.
At one time, David (and about 400 men) were hiding in the back of (what must have been) a deep cave. Meanwhile, his pursuer, King Saul, unknowingly came in for a potty break.
Now either Saul had his headphones on, or was too busy scrolling on his phone. For whatever reason, Saul was not at all situationally aware. Somehow David snuck up and cut off a piece of Saul's robe.
Once Saul is outside his outhouse cave, David emerges and shows Saul the remnant. Then David soon resumes his running from Saul.
Either during that cave time, or soon after, David writes, "When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!" This is David's pithy way of saying, "I am not what You are. And You are not what I am."
On his loneliest day, he is not alone. In his weakest moments, he is not left to his weakness. When he is foolish, the Lord is his wisdom.
When his life is out of control, he knows the Lord controls it all for him. When David is most unrighteous, he is not left to his unrighteousness, for the Lord is his righteousness.
Even in the midst of chaos and fear, David finds peace. Because what he is not, he finds in the Lord. What he is not, the Lord is.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
"Acknowledging" God is not simply like nodding our heads as a cursory greeting while passing Him in a hallway. I sense acknowledging God is stopping to realize how very different we all are from God.
What we are not, He is. Strangely, that reality is also our peace. Peace with God, sourced in the vast difference, the gap between He and me. And leaning on Him, trusting Him for any hope of my paths being straightened out.
In Psalm 56, David wrote, "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?"
Even when David couldn't sleep. Even when he had a good ugly cry, He knew God knew.
And, again, strangely, David found peace. Because he knew what he was not, the Lord is.
