Today's Scripture Reading (June 6, 2025): Psalm 57
One of the
struggles we often have with the Bible is that it describes things in terms
that we understand, and at the same time, we don't understand. We might have a
description of something, but at the same time, we see something other than
what the describer wants us to see. When I counsel people, often one of the most
significant difficulties is taking the words and stripping them of their
acquired meaning. It is part of the problem of the human condition. We speak,
but too often the words we use mean something else to me than they might to
you. It makes communication inexact, and we frequently need to explore what we
mean.
A good
example might be our beliefs around the concept of God as Father. I have a
great relationship with my Dad, but that isn't always true. As a result of our
experiences, our expectation of God can differ because of our emotional
experiences with our own Fathers. The Bible describes God as Father, and we
react negatively because we have a bad model of a Father. Guys, sometimes we
haven't stepped up.
I listened to
Louie Giglio preach about God as Father a decade ago. He preached for about
half an hour, and then he brought his worship leader up because I guess the
worship leader had some connection with the idea of God as Father. Giglio introduces
his worship leader as Matt (in this case, it was Matt Redman). Matt starts to
tell Chris Tomlin jokes; Chris Tomlin is so small that his passport picture is
life-size. Chris Tomlin is so short that he can swing his legs when he sits on
the curb.
But then Matt
started to talk about his image of Dad. As an older child, Matt's birth Dad
died suddenly. Later, Matt would learn that his Dad had committed suicide. As a
result of Dad's death, Matt struggled with all of the baggage and feelings of
abandonment that his death brought.
Next in line
was another Dad, who did some things differently. This Dad was a teacher and involved
not only with his kids at home but also in school, and not in a good way. In
fact, he spent some time in jail because of his involvement. As I'm listening to
Matt speak, I am thinking, how does all this affect your view of God, the Father?
I also find myself singing a song that Matt wrote.
I have heard so many songs, listened to a thousand tongues
But there is one that sounds above them all
The Father's Song, the Father's love. You sung it over me and for
Eternity it's written on my heart.
And inside me,
I am asking this question: How do you get from your Father to this Father God? I
know the answer; it takes a Selah moment. A moment when we pause and realize
that the description of God is not about reflecting the image of our Father, or
even magnifying our image of Father, but perfecting our image of Father.
David says
that he knows that God has sent salvation from heaven. He may not use the word,
but he knows that God is the Father who reacts with love and faithfulness just as
a Father should.
I get to this
portion of the Psalm, and I know that I need a break to understand God's love
and faithfulness because that is not the reality of where I live. I suspect it
is not your reality either. I don't think David felt God's love and
faithfulness as he stood in the cave with Saul going to the bathroom above him,
not knowing he was there. David writes these words knowing this isn't about existing
in the imperfect reflection of love and faithfulness that permeates this world;
it is about me existing in the perfection of love and faithfulness. The world's
message is this: You will not find it here if you expect to live in God's love
and faithfulness, not in this world. We reply that we have experienced a selah,
a pause to reset our expectations. We have broken with the world's
expectations, and we know our relationship
with Jesus will impact our reality positively and in opposition to the image of
reality we receive in this world.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Psalm 142
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