Betrayed

God is my help; the Lord will lift me up" (Psalm 54:4).

According to the superscription, this poem was written "when the Ziphites went and told Saul, 'Is not David hiding among us?'"

Here’s the backstory: David and his mighty men were in the wilderness of Ziph, on the run, trying to evade Saul and his henchmen, when he received word that the Philistines were pillaging the farms and fields of Keilah. Keilah was a small village that belonged to Judah, David's tribe. These were his kinsmen, family and friends.

So, "David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines...and struck them with a great blow. In this way, David saved the inhabitants of Keilah" (1 Samuel 23:1ff.) So far so good.

But the Ziphites (the inhabitants of Keilah, in the Wilderness of Ziph) went and told Saul, "Is not David hiding among us," whereupon Saul mustered his army and marched to the city of Keilah, thinking that he would trap David within its walls.

The Ziphites, his own kinsmen, the folks he delivered from the Philistines, ratted him out, proving once again the truth of the old  adage: No good deed goes unpunished.

God warned David of Saul's advance and David and his men were able to escape into the Wilderness of Ziph, where, though, "Saul sought him every day, God did not give him into his hand" (1Samuel 23:14)—a happy ending that takes us back to the theme of this poem, "God is my help: the LORD will lift me up."

It's hard when we're betrayed by friends and neighbors, harder still when our families let us down. But “even if father and mother forsake (you), the Lord will lift (you) up!" (Psalm 27:10). Men will always disappoint you. Trust Jesus.

David Roper

2.11.18

The Willingness is All

"And he came and found (James, Peter and John) sleeping, and he said to Peter, 'Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'” (Mark 14:37–39).

It's not easy for me to open up to others, and experience has taught me it's not always wise to do so. I have been "betrayed in the house of a friend."

But even true friends can disappoint and disconcert us. On occasion, I've shared a painful ordeal with a man and asked him to prayer for me and he never followed up or mentioned the incident again. I wondered if he cared.

Jesus' example in the Garden of Gethsemane is instructive: "Greatly distressed and troubled" by the horror of impending death on a Roman cross, he turned to his friends, Peter, James and John, and asked them to pray with him, but they, over-adrenalized and exhausted by the events of the previous day, fell asleep.

His response suggests he was deeply hurt by their apparent indifference and was disappointed (remember that Jesus was "made like us in all ways apart from sin."): "Peter, my old friend, couldn't you stay awake for one hour and pray with me"?

Two more times he awakened his friends and asked them to pray; two more times they slumbered and he prayed alone.

But there is this unexpected grace note: “I know you wanted to pray with me." ("The spirit indeed is willing...)

Would that we all were so gracious...

David Roper

2.9.18

Be Ready

"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes" (Matthew 24:44-46).

Carolyn's hairdresser (and my barber) is a "mere” Christian, a cheerful, good-hearted, uncomplicated soul, whose childlike faith—please note I did not say "childish" faith—endears her to me. Haircuts are always a blessing. 

She has been studying prophecy with a small group of women and sometimes has a question for me. Some weeks ago she asked me if Jesus is coming back before or after the Great Tribulation. I mentally gathered up my vast store of knowledge on that topic and downloaded it all onto her. She mused for a moment and replied, "I don't understand all that stuff. I just want to be ready." 

How refreshing is that! I pray that someday I too will stop trying to "understand all that stuff" and just be ready.

On the way home my thoughts went back to our conversation and I asked myself, "What did Jesus mean when He enjoined us to “be ready”? 

It’s interesting to me that Jesus didn’t tell us what He meant by readiness. We all understand what that word means. He rather told us what to do while we’re waiting: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time.(Matthew 24:45).

We should be feeding our own household and others in our own sphere of influence, lovingly, gently, prayerfully imparting the truth to them as God imparts it to us. 

When Jesus comes will he find us "so doing?"

David Roper

3.7.18

To Each His Own

"Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his own task and to his own burden."  —Numbers 4: 19 

Those who served in and around the Tent of Meeting were assigned a burden to bear: a special packet of poles, pegs, fixtures or furnishings to carry when the tent was moved from place to place. Some burdens were light; some were heavy. "To each his own burden." 

Paul may have had this text in mind when he wrote, "every man must bear his own burden" (Galatians 6:5). 

Paul, in another place, says we must "bear one another's burdens," and thus fulfill the Law of Love (Galatians 6:2) and that we must do for one another. But some burdens we alone must carry. Some of the Levites "were charged with the service of the holy things that have to be carried on their shoulders" (Numbers 7:9). Such burdens are our lot, our own "holy thing" to bear. 

There is the crushing weight of protracted elder-care, a long-term physical or emotional illness, a difficult marriage, a lonely outpost, a hostile work place—to each his own. 

But you’re not alone. You can, as Israel's poet put it,  "cast your burden on the LORD" and “He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). God does not promise to take your burden away, but He will "sanctify to you your deepest distress" (make your burden a holy thing) and give you strength to carry on. 

So may you pray each morning with old John Baille:

Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others. 

Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens.

Give me a believing heart to cast all my burdens upon Thee.   

https://youtu.be/AI2POFYi-Qc

David Roper

3.6.18

Toward the Ark

"The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side'" (Numbers 2:1–2).

The camp of Israel formed in ranks on the four points of the compass. All the tents faced inward toward the Tent of Meeting, where Israel met with God.

So it is that God has a place for each one of us. And there is one center: God Himself.

Your tent may be pitched on hard, rocky ground, or on a place exposed to the torrid western sun. Nevertheless you can be content, if you face inward toward the ark (Philippians 4:10-14).

Paul echoes this thought: "So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God" (1Corinthians 7:24). 

If God calls you to a better place, or to safer ground, go with God, but on the whole it's better to "remain," i.e, stay in the place to which God called you. Your lot might seem better in some other place, but better circumstances, in and of themselves, seldom make us happy. No, it's better to “remain.” But face inward toward the ark.

David Roper

3.4.18