You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations. – Psalm 44:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 24, 2019): Psalm 44

What happened to you this week about which you would like to write? Anything important happening right now that is shaping your life? Any news stories that are impacting you and what you believe? There is an understanding that we can only write about what we know. Songs are often heavily influenced by what is happening in the poet’s life. We can watch the shift in lyrics as time passes. For example, the Swedish band “ABBA” made a definite shift from the carefree pop music that dominated their early careers to much darker themes as the band members began to struggle with their marriages and eventually started the process of ending their relationships.

But there is it true that we can only write from our experiences. If it is, then most writers would have only one or two books or poems lurking inside of them. We do write from our experiences, but we can also create from an imagination that extends beyond our experiences. But even then, we will probably not venture too far away from what we know.

Traditionally, Psalm 44 is considered to be the work of David. But there is a problem with that understanding that is found in these verses. There is no doubt that David went through troubling times; there were moments when David felt defeat and wondered if God had forgotten him. But we have no evidence that he ever experienced anything like what is mentioned in this passage. Not only was Israel not scattered among the nations during his lifetime, but it had never been distributed to this extent in the collective memory of the country. Something like this happened during the Assyrian Captivity on the eighth century B.C.E., or during the Babylonian Captivity in the early sixth century B.C.E. But the description David gives here really didn’t take place until the time of Jesus, and then after the fall of Jerusalem in the first century C.E. All of these events are, at minimum, hundreds of years in David’s future. And it is that fact that caused John Calvin to date this Psalm not to the age of David, but rather to the time of the Maccabees; a time just before the birth of Jesus.

But we should not discount the traditional understanding. David might have written these words. But if he did, then these words are not based on experience but are a prophecy about a time that was coming. And when it finally came, it revealed itself in a way that even David could not have comprehended during his day. And yet, obediently, David saw an image of what was coming and wrote down what had been revealed even though he had no experience of the events that were reflected in his words.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 84