As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. – Psalm 18:30

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 14, 2019): Psalm 18

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows the adventure of a brave Scottish General after he receives the prophecy from three witches that one day he will be King over Scotland. And the prophecy of the witches changes the behavior of the General. Macbeth begins to follow a path that will make him king, which includes Macbeth’s murder of the reigning king, Duncan I. Once Macbeth becomes King, he has to continue his killing ways to stay king. In the end, his tyrannical ways cause Macbeth great guilt and becomes the basis for a civil war, and Macbeth and his wife swiftly descend into darkness, madness, and eventually into death.

Shakespeare’s play is based partially on the historical Duncan I, who reigned over Scotland from 1034 to 1040, and a duke named Macbeth, who reigned over Scotland after Duncan was killed in battle against the army of Macbeth. But in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth’s rise to the throne of Scotland is due to his own ambition and the prophecy of the three witches. Armed with the prophecy, Macbeth did everything that he could to make sure that the prediction came true.

David writes in this Psalm that God’s way is perfect and his word is flawless. David is saying that God’s word is proven; it has survived the tests of the experience. What God has said has come true in life. David’s experience was the reverse of Shakespeare’s General Macbeth. He too had received a prophecy that one day he would become king. But unlike Macbeth, David did not chase after that prophecy. While Shakespeare has Macbeth murdering Duncan to achieve the throne, David on more than one occasion saved Saul, refusing to kill the King in order to rise to his throne. As far as David was concerned, if he were going to become king, it would happen because God had moved, not because he had moved.

Maybe there is a reason that we don’t know the future. We might be tempted to be too much like Macbeth and chase after the future that has been presented to us of our lives. The discipline of David is hard to achieve. And yet David’s confidence in the word of God meant that he did not have to act to make God’s word come true. He could sit back and let God’s word be tested in the fire, knowing that what God said would come to pass. David’s future was safe in the hands of God. And so is ours. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 19