Unto Us A Child is Born

ISAIAH 9

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, [a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Wait Just a Minute!

Wait just a minute! The Messiah is going to reign on David's throne? Okay, let's get this straight Jesus... the King of the Universe is going to reign on the throne of David forever and ever? This is astonishing! What an amazing covenant David had with the Lord!

Psalm 89
3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,

4 'I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.' "
Selah

27 I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain my love to him forever,
and my covenant with him will never fail.

29 I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.

MERCY and GRATITUDE

Two themes that dominate David's Psalms:
Mercy and Gratitude.
But the two are directly connected to one another.
David speaks continually about the mercy of God, and GRATITUDE is his RESPONSE!
Grateful people tend to talk about what it is for which they are grateful.
David is grateful for the mercy of God! Therefore, the idea of mercy dominated his thinking and, consequently, his songs and prayers.

A quick count of the word "mercy" from the Strong's concordance will show that the word is used roughly 43 times total in the scriptures pre-David. But once David arrives on the scene it is used more than 100 times in the Davidic segments of scripture (1Sam, 2Sam, 1Chronicles, 2chronicles, 1 kings, psalms). And the majority of the time it is spoken directly from David's mouth. AMAZING! There really wasn't much talk about the mercy of God before David. And his talk of mercy is no cliche. He rejoices in it, he relies upon it, and he declares it even when he feels that the whole world is caving in upon him. The mercy of God makes him sing, shout, and create new metaphors.

Wednesday 14th Youth Group

Wednesday we talked about the fact that David's Psalms have been rewritten into songs over and over again. Many of our modern Christian bands (particularly worship) write their songs based on Davids' psalms. I played 3 different songs by 3rd Day that are fairly popular, but are also lyrically derived from the psalms.

1. "Your Love oh Lord" (it reaches to heavens; your faithfulness stretches to the skies; your rigtheousness is like the mighty mountains; your justice is like the ocean's tide...) comes straight out of Psalm 36.
2. "My Hope is You" (do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me; my hope is you, show me your way...) comes straight out of Psalm 25.
3. "King of Glory" (who is this king of glory that pursues me with his love... the lord strong and mighty) comes straight out of enemies triumph over me; my hope is you, show me your way...) comes straight out of Psalm 24.

So, this is a creative way to become more familiar with the scriptures. We can develop an ear for them if we take the time to figure out where this stuff is coming from. Another point I'd like to make is that David can be thought of as one of the most successful musician/poets in the world considering the life-span, legacy, and proliferation of his lyrics.

We also talked about THEME in relation to David's psalms. We find themes all around us. We find them in the music we listen to, in the houses we live in, in the textbooks we read, the restaurants we go to, in the web pages we look at. Even this web page has a theme: first, the primary theme is the life of King David; but the secondary theme is in the design of the web page because every link within the page has the same design theme.

Moreover, we broke up into groups of 5 and each group explored the themes of two psalms.

• We looked at psalms 25, 30, 103, and 145.
  
• We payed attention to the words and ideas that would recur throughout each psalm. So, the easiest way to gain some clues is to circle words that are repeated.
  
• Also, it helps to identify to whom David is speaking. It is not at all uncommon for him to speak to more than one audience within his psalms. For instance, his primary audience is usually God because these songs/psalms are prayers to God. Although he speaks to God, he also speaks to believers, his enemies, and himself. Hence, it is helpful to identify the shifts in audience.
• Since God is the most important audience, it is also helpful to indicate how he is speaking to God. For instance, he oftenttimes praises and thanks God, and sometimes he tells God things about God (Ps 36... he says, "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice is like the great deep..." To whom is he speaking? God! Doesnt God know that about his righteousness? Does he need David to remind his about how deep his justice is? Of course not, BUT this is a dynamic aspect of worship. David is adoring God. And by doing this, he is exploring the character of God, enjoying the character of God, and receiving revelation of the character of God. Praising God isn't just saying "praise you God." And it is not the same thing as thanking God. We thank God for things he has done. We could make up a list of things to thank God for and then sing a song of thanks. But when we praise God, we go beyond what he has done and we talk about who He is. It's the same with us. If someone praises us, we usually enjoy it more than being thanked. Example: "Thank you for babysitting my child, Erich" (thanks) Or "You are so wonderful with children, Erich" (praise). You see, praise is not the same as thanks.)
• So, is David praising God? Is he thanking God? Or is he praying to God on behalf of himself ("God help me"), which is also known as intercession. Or is he praying to God on behalf of others?

If we spend a little bit of time in the psalms with a sheet of paper, and take note of these things, we'll get a feel for what David was saying and his heart behind it. We'll also get a few good ideas of how to pray!

Revelation

David wrote at least 70 of the 150 psalms. Where did he get this stuff. Poetry and music poured out of his heart. Who knows how many songs he really wrote; these are just the ones that are recorded. One thing I do know is that David talked about God in ways that nobody up until his time had before. Read the sriptures pre-David and see if you find half as many jewels about the beauty and glory of God as David declared. Some of his psalms make you wonder if he had been to heaven, or if he had actually seen the glory of God the way the prophets did. (examples: ps.29: 2; 27:4; Ps 63:2)

My point is that David had fresh revelation of God. He wasn't just spitting out cliches and metaphors staler than an opened box of year old Rice Crispies. No, these were fresh and new insights that he was gaining as we worshipped God and entered into his presence. Read the Psalms and just take note of all the power packed truths... they are beyond counting. Jesus sure did quote David's psalms a lot... that says something.

Sometimes we read the old testament, especially the first five books, and think that God was not all too merciful. And it's true that it's not easy to find very much written about God's love or his mercy in these early books. But then David comes along, and it probably would have been shocking for one of his contemporaries to read about his continual references to the love and mercy of God. It is all over the place in his psalms: "your love is better than life" "His anger is but for a moment but his mercy lasts for a lifetimes" "Your love, oh Lord, reaches to the heavens" " surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life" "may your love and your truth always protect me" "remember oh lord your tender mercies and your lovingkindnesses, for they are from of old" "I by your great mercy will come into your house" "God shall send forth his mercy and truth... For your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds" "Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits: who forives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindnesses and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's... the lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy... for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him... but the mercy of the lord is from everlasting to everlasting"

Where did David get this stuff? Of course he meditated on the scripture he knew while he was a shepherd in the fields, but as he worshipped the spirit of revelation began to flow like a mighty river in his heart. He began to see things and know things about God by his own experience. Love, mercy, truth... pay attention to the themes that David sings about in his Psalms. These themes reveal deep truths that he founded his life upon, and that he continually came back to in times of need and desparation. David knew something about God, and I don't know about you, but I want to find out what it is that he knew.

Israel tended to live at a distance from God just like in the days of Moses when the people were afraid and they didn't want to face God. They just relied upon Moses as their priest; but God really did want them to draw closer... and he especially wanted their hearts to believe. Remember Saul; he didn't have a relationship with God. he acted like he feared God by humoring Samuel as the prophet, but he didn't really have faith. He called God the God of Samuel, but what about the God of Saul. Ultimately Israel percieved God as rough and tough and holy, while they felt guilty and at a distance. Yet, David was the opposite. He saw God as merciful and compasssionate. He ran to God and not from God; and it was his revelation of God that caused him to believe and trust.

Theatre of The Mind

Our minds are free to think whichever thoughts we so desire. It's like we have a theatre in our minds where reels of imaginations play all day. In the same way, I wonder what kind of imaginations and thoughts would run through David's mind while he was out there in the fields as a young shepherd boy. Was he bored? It sure seems like sheep herding could be a boring chore... especially for a young boy. Was he frustrated or even jealous? After all, he was the youngest brother and he did seem to always get stuck out. He could have been angry and said things like: "I always have to take care of the sheep while my brothers get the better jobs. they don't care about me anyway." That's it! Maybe he would spend most of his thoughts feeling sorry for himself. For instance, when Samuel came to Jesse's house, they just left David out there in the fields, hardly even acknowledging his existence. So, maybe David was used to this treatment. He could have spent his time wallowing in self-rejection and pity.

However, I don't believe that this is how David spent his time/thoughts. You see, young shepherd boys have lots of time on their hands, so they have lots of time to think. Their minds are free to run wild with thoughts and imaginations. So, I think that David chose to spend his time thinking about God and talking to God. Instead of wallowing in boredom and vain imaginations, he chose to allow his heart to become fascinated with the living God.

While David was out there in the fields, he would worship with such inspiration that he would write songs. One of those songs has become a well known tune throughout human history: Psalm 23 "The Lord is My Shepherd." Who knows how many songs David wrote while he worshipped in those days, but he would just pour his heart out to God with an adoration and joy that released inspiration and creative expressions. This is why his songs are so good. They were infused with the spirit of God because of his raw and genuine heart of worship.

Moreover, how did he first make his way into the king's palace? It was because Saul was going mad and the men in his court decided that they needed to find a musician that could soothe his nerves. Sure enough, one of the men said that he remembered a boy in bethlehem that was pretty good on the harp. Ironically, this occured soon after Samuel had anointed David as king. Now, the thing is that David was anointed as king in private, so nobody knew about it. I suppose his brothers did, but they were all jealous, so they weren't about to go and tell anybody. Nevertheless, David was anointed outwardly as king just like Saul was, but he had an inner anointing, too. This anointing did not come overnight, and it did not come because somebody poured it upon him. It came because he chose to pour his heart out upon the Lord with songs of love and adoration while he spent his days in the fields watching his father's sheep. His heart was anointed with a spirit of worship long before the oil of Samuel was poured upon his head. This is why God said about David: "I have chosen a man who seeks after my own heart." In other words, a man who has set me up to be the object of his thoughts and imaginations in the theatre of his mind.