Today's Scripture Reading (June 15, 2022): Psalm 6
"If your absence doesn't affect them, then your presence never mattered." The unknown author of the quote has raised many
emotions with their words. Some argue that people naturally grow apart and,
therefore, the words hold no truth. Maybe, but as I look back at my life, I
remember the names of friends with whom I have had limited or no contact over the decades. And I remember the impact that they
had on my life. Every time I read a Facebook post written by one of them, it brings back good
memories, and I miss them. But they are actually the lucky ones. There are
others that I have completely lost contact with over the years. And even in
writing these words, their names and faces are brought to mind, and I remember
the good times and their absence affects me, just as their past presence shaped who I am today. Their absence affected me because their presence mattered.
David is suffering. He is
suffering because of his sin. He has acted against the dictates of his God, and
that knowledge is causing him great pain. But an even greater pain is the
perceived absence of God from his life. God has made a difference in David's existence in days past, and because God mattered to David, his
perceived absence seemed like agony to the Poet King. And so,
he pleads for God to turn back to him and deliver him.
David's plea for salvation is based on the unfailing love
of God. Sometimes, we seem to have come to believe that love is a value instituted
in the pages of the Christian Testament. I have heard people argue a difference exists in the character of the God of the Tanakh or Hebrew
Bible and the God of the Christian Testament. The latter's character is based on love, and that of the former is based
on righteousness and judgment.
But, if that is what we
believe, we are wrong. The God of the entire Bible is a God characterized by righteousness
and judgment, moderated by an intense and unending love for his creation.
David was intensely affected
by the absence of God. And the only thing that could make up for God's absence was his presence. His request was only that
God turns and come back to him. This was David's hope. And the basis of that hope was the unfailing
love of God. God's
love never makes him less righteous or just. But it mediates his judgment and
allows us to possess hope that would otherwise be totally lost to us.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Psalm 7
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