Psalm 20.6 6 Now
this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his
heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. (NIV)
I know it’s just a song. I know we can’t go to the Psalms
and actually take them literally. I know we sing songs at our church, but there
only supposed to remind us of God so that we can relax from all the stuff last
week, and gird up for all this stuff this week. They’re just songs…right?
Well, I suppose that’s one way to look at them. Yes, it’s
true the Psalms are there to remind us of God’s power and presence, but they’re
not merely songs. They’re songs of
truth.
The beauty and majesty of the Psalms are this: they were
written by people whose lives were formed in the crucible of life’s trials, and
they overcame because of their faith in the Lord. So, they’re not just songs –
they are songs that were written in blood, and pain, and tragedy and all the
other stuff that life throws at us; and they resound with this triumphant refrain:
Now this I know: The Lord gives victory
to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious
power of his right hand. They aren’t pointless songs.
Last week was a long week for me. I started a second job
(long story, I’ll let you know in a couple years) and I put in some long hours
between jobs. My normal routine (will somebody please explain to me what we
mean by normal?) includes using a
floor scrubber and buffing machine in the hardware store where I work. After I
clean the floors on Thursday evenings, I go in early Friday mornings and buff
out the floors to make them gleam. They gleam…
Part of that early morning perk is listening to music on my
Droid with some Bluetooth headphones…janitorial
ain’t your daddy’s janitorial these days. Now, I’ll admit I sort of sing
along as I gleam along, and as a particular tune played, it brought up all
kinds of memories and emotions of when our oldest son died. It wasn’t a religious
song; it was a pop tune. But it played the melody that touched my soul and the
words rung out a tear or two from my eyes. And it helped me to release some
stuff I’ve been hanging on to. It was just a song.
That’s what the Psalms are supposed to do: they’re to help us remember Who God is, and
(hopefully) let go of some stuff we’ve been hanging on to. If anybody ever
had stuff to let go of, it was David, the Lord’s anointed who learned some
tough lessons and needed God to help him let go of stuff.
The first half of Psalm 20 is blessing: May the Lord… answer you…protect you…send
you help from the sanctuary…grant you support … remember all your sacrifices…
give you the desire of your heart …make all your plans succeed…may the Lord
grant all your requests. (vv. 1-5)
And the second half (vv. 6-9) is built upon this truth: Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to
his anointed. It might be just a song. But it means something when I
remember who I am and Whose I am: the Lord’s anointed. And as the Lord’s
anointed, this I know: the trials and troubles I encounter are there to help me
grow in strength and bravery as I go through them with the Lord, trusting in
the Name of my Lord. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment