Sin

Another letter for the children that needs another volume.

A classic broken family in the Bible is that of King David. It’s a long story. David had not learned to control his desire. But he did suffer the consequences of his errors.

Here he is talking to Yahweh when he was running away from his own grown-up son, Absalom, who was pursuing him with an army and was looking to replace him as king. So here’s prayer, fear, hiding, war, and stealing power all in one incident. (It’s not the only time that David gets into this kind of situation.) David’s family was broken, but he became famous for his poetry and his honesty.

Notice the simplicity of verse 6. I lie down and I sleep. I awake, for Yahweh supports me.

1 A psalm of David,
when he ran away from the face of Absalom his son.

2 ♪g Yahweh, how multiplied my straits!
Many arise over me.

3 Many say of me,
There is no salvation for him in God. Selah.

4 But you, Yahweh, a shield about me,
my glory, and lifting high my head.

5 ♪g My voice, to Yahweh I call,
and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah.

6 I lie down and I sleep.
I awake,
for Yahweh supports me.

7 I will not fear the multiplicity of people,
that surround set over me.

8 ♪~ Arise Yahweh. Save me my God for you strike all my enemies on the cheek.
The teeth of the wicked you break.

9 Of Yahweh is the salvation.
On your people your blessing. Selah.

I am not going to make any excuses for this - it’s his prayer. This not a politician talking or anyone making excuses. And it is his time and his place - about 3000 years ago. I don't know much about that period - except I wouldn’t take him as a good example of a family man.

He trusts his Lord. He trusts he will be safe. That’s a really good start when there is trouble. He does not smash the teeth of the wicked himself (at least not this time). Ponder that. (Maybe that's what selah means.)

David is also called ‘a man after God’s own heart’. This is good, that his heart (the things he says to himself and what he thinks about right and wrong) is like God’s. Listen to his elegy - a very sorrowful poem - on the death of king Saul and Jonathan, his son, two people, troubled also, whom David loved before he was king. They had just died in another battle a few years earlier. This is the elegy (4 minutes) that David wrote on the death of Saul and Jonathan. He was very sad and he expressed his sadness in poetry and music so everyone could share it.

You can find the words in English (2 Samuel 1:19-25) in lots of places on the web. There are a lot of words in it that I have not explained to you. But you will recognize the allusions and wonder at some of them in due course. Just listen to the emotion for now.

David also had to face his problems - and he made some of these problems for himself - and their consequences. If we have a problem, it is for the best if we face it, name it, and make a decision on what to do if we can. Sometimes our problems seem stronger than we are. That’s when to call for help. Even if we don’t call for help, we will be held by those who love us, and the one who is the origin of love, whether we realize it or not.

I too have had to face my troubles - some of them my own doing. I am now old, and I have seen many troubles that are hard to manage and not directly caused by me or under my control. I have, as all adults do, protected you from such things when I could without even mentioning them. It takes time to develop both language and strategies for learning about what is true.

Of course we all have to face the troubles caused by others as well. So a war or an accident or a divorce caused by one person's history and inability will be faced by many others. How do we respond? It is natural to be angry and to lay blame. And certainly their is fault to be borne, and crimes - actions against the laws of the social order, to be named. And everyone pays. Fault lines may trace back hundreds or even thousands of years. Who will we blame for inter-generational trauma whether it is personal or political? Will we walk away? There will be constraints no doubt.

David was constrained and bore the blame for his own errors and received in his own self their consequences, but we all have learned from his errors.

In the example of Jesus, we see that God did not walk away from problems that have fault lines tracing to the origin of all things. Creation is indeed very good, but it is not complete. The rule (rdh) of human ity in the beginning continues. And the internal governance (mwl) of God also. God has given us the responsibility to care even for those who are in error and who are bearing their sin. In our care, we make up what is lacking in the suffering of Christ Jesus himself. This is a very strange puzzle piece.