Oct 21 - Psalm 4:2

How long will you people

ruin my reputation?

How long will you make

these groundless accusations?

How long will you pursue lies?
Psalm 4:2

 

I've had to train myself to be any good at all in prayer. And to tell the truth, I still fall woefully short. 

 

My natural tendency is to let thoughts and ideas and frustrations rattle around in my own empty head. 

 

And I say "empty," because any "answers" that I come up with are only as wise or powerful as me ... which in the grand scheme of things is pretty powerless. 

 

I'm not wise enough to untangle the mysteries of the atom, the "formula" for life, or every grieving person's cry of "why?." But God is. 

 

My mind can't spin planets, part the seas, or raise the dead. But God is. 

 

And yet day-by-day I'm proud enough to live in my own head, rely on my own thoughts, and do my own thing. (And then complain when I get my own Ed-made results!)

 

I started this reflections by saying, "My natural tendency is to let thoughts and ideas and frustrations rattle around in my own empty head." And here's the question: Is that natural? Do you do that too? I think we all do ... including David who wrote this Psalm. 

 

But David did one powerful thing differently than me …

We normally think of Psalms as prayers (and they are). So why does David spend so much of this Psalm addressing other people? For example, "2 How long will you people ... make these groundless accusations? How long will you pursue lies?" That doesn’t seem like prayer, does it?

 

Prayer is conversation. And in verse 2, I see David as talking out loud (… but also to God, simultaneously). I think he’s much like Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof. (Have you seen that play or movie?!)

 

Some people interrupt events to stop and pray. Tevye – and I think David – viewed life as a running conversation that always includes God. There’s no need to stop and pray because they’re praying all the time!

 

Therefore, I don’t see verse 2 as advice to other people (How long will you do this or that?). I see David as crying out loud in frustration. I think he’s probably yelling at the top of his lungs – out loud … and maybe to no one in particular. "How long will you people ... make these groundless accusations?" And as he’s yelling, he’s still talking to God because he’s learned to see God who is always beside him.

 

And I suspect that God is … listening, commiserating, comforting, and whispering back … “They may not listen, David. They may not even care. Indeed, there’s a pretty good chance that they won’t ever do what you or I want. In a physical, practical sense, this life is a mess, and your life may personally get harder, David. But do not fear, my child. I am beside you. I love you. I will protect you. And in the end, all things will be made right.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants

that kind of relationship!