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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Major Ian Thomas uses the phrase "they forgot to remember" repetitively in his teachings. It's a catchy little phrase that reiterates the role obedience plays in the spiritual life...and the memory of God's faithfulness actually helps us learn to be obedient in the here and now. I thought that title fits Psalm 132 and even wrote it in my Bible.
Anyway, I was thinking about the Oliver Stone movie "JFK." It seems like there have been very few events in American history that have captured our fancy like the murder of president John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas. There are several reasons for that, I guess.
Mostly the fact that the murder has questions surrounding who really did it. There's a plausible version that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy, acting alone. Many people believe there was a number of possible conspirators acting in conjunction to kill the president.
The movie begins with a quote: "The past is prologue."
See, the movie believes a ton of conspirators were working behind the scenes...and is really a movie that suggests the government can't be trusted. And then it spends more than two hours to show us the dangers of trusting the government. In other words, if we don't learn from the lessons of the past, they'll repeat themselves in the future...so the movie lets us know right up front we're vulnerable now if we don't question our government.
Now, I'm not suggesting that Oliver Stone got it right (frankly, he couldn't have gotten it wrong...he blamed everyone, so the odds are in his favor that he got something right), but the sentiment is real in that we can learn valuable lessons from our pasts.
In particular, we can learn valuable lessons from our past with God. And Psalm 132 starts us off with one particular moment from the past:
"Remember, O Lord, on David's behalf, all his affliction; How he swore to the Lord, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids; Until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."
For those of you who don't remember much of David's life (usually, after David & Goliath and the sin with Bathsheba, well, a lot of people don't remember much) it's easy to glaze over these words. If you look deeply into David's life, much of his role of reuniting Israel as a nation revolved around his desire to build a temple for the Lord.
It bothered David a great deal that God didn't have a "home." He wanted a temple built which would house the Ark of the Covenant, so the nation would no longer be known by their history of wandering. They'd no longer be divided. The nation would be unified around their God. They'd have a permanent home. Their God would be with them continually (symoblized by the Ark) in one location.
Maybe this is why David was a great king. He understood what made Israel Israel. He didn't forget to remember.
David wanted desperately to glorify God by building a temple. He prayed for it. He swore he would do it. And God told him "no." Remember all his affliction...
God told David he was a warrior, not a builder. And God told David he would indeed give a temple to the people, but it would be David's role to provide, through various kingly endeavors, to raise the money to ensure the building would take place. God told David his son, Solomon, would actually do the building.
Can you imagine? David had all the strength and resources to build the temple. He told God he wanted to do it. And God said to wait. In fact, you'll die before you see it, David. But don't worry...your role is to make sure Solomon doesn't have any worries in getting your dream fulfilled.
It would've been tough to be obedient. To have a passion so deep you lose sleep...or don't even want to go to bed...that God would be glorified within your kingdom...and then be told no. Sometimes I wish I had that kind of passion for God.
That is affliction.
But he was obedient anyway. He didn't build. He saved money and resources. He understood that obedience nurtures hope in God's promises, and we'll talk more about that tomorrow.
Is there something in your life you need to be obedient to and are struggling with? Know that it's tough, and can cause affliction, but forgetting to remember is dangerous.
Brent 5:59 AM
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