Now Is Good

Psalm 42:7-11

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

Now, see how David has returned; yet he is still not where he should be in any way that matters. Note that the text compares the situation to a noisy waterspout, always going off, and never satisfied. So, these also call unto each other as the deep unto the deep. In order to fully understand this depth its' origin must first be seen. Here, it seems there is a condition somewhere between formed and void as in Genesis 1:2. It is that place where what was not meets up with what now is. So, darkness once lay over it as upon the deep places of God. Such a condition is a terrible one indeed. My, it seems David has been to some strange places in which he now finds himself. The waters are so deep it would drown our poor minister and the floods wait to carry our dear hart away.

How many know that the many waters of Song of Solomon 8:7 cannot quench love indeed. Though the devil should send forth a flood as in Revelation 12:15 yet the promises of God remain. Even if you are in the middle of situation, halfway to a solution, without seeing his provision yet will it happen. You can trust that you will see God's goodness in the land of the living be it now or after. What a far cry from the streams in the desert of Isaiah 43:19 and rivers in dry lands where things are just as it should be. How many know that God's goodness makes things just right. His peace is perfect, the mind is right, and even the enemies agree. That is because he is good, my friends. Without it, the waters may be raging, ready to carry you off; so also, is there enough provision found for your present situation.

My, how the situation sounds almost like the green pastures found in Psalm 23:2, if you will; there the people of God rest safe from fear and all alarms. Well might the situation be at the hands of the Lord; but here David feels it none. Notice how the text says his as though the Father must have some control over the situation. So, the disciples on the sea of Galilee might have felt so long ago with Jesus asleep at the wheel. Mark 4:36-41 tells how the situation got worse as waves and billows climbed high enough to drown them all. Then the disciples woke him crying, 'Lord, do you not care that we perish.' See, the situation was such on their lives that they were about to go under, lost forever. That is why some of us would do well to look unto the God of our lives. Better still to be seated on the Father's lap after all we humanly can telling him all about it. On the whole Davidian theology is surprisingly complex. It is often dismissed at first glance by many scholars today just as it was back then. So, then it should come as a surprise to none seeing how a breakdown is often confused with the breakthrough. Often people get so focused on the breakdown that they miss the breakthrough. Is it not so here of all places as well.

Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

Few other Scriptures manage to speak to the creation, the Levitical order, the makeup of Israel, the church, God's deliverance, as well as his goodness. Notice the whole issue of songs in the night, a simple matter of disordered times. Let me tell you, should I be awoken by my bedfellow muttering nonsense at three in the morning, I too would be most displeased. I do not care if he sounds like the most beautiful angelic host while doing it or looks like Michelangelo. It is not for nothing that Ecclesiastes 3:3 says to everything there is a season. Doing something out of season or at the wrong time can be equally detrimental. So, a lot of nonsense done without the wisdom of God behind it can be just as harmful as any outright sin can. All the while, David is managing a mental breakdown hiding in plain sight. Between the songs in the night and the "prayers to the God of" his life, it simmers just below the surface. Yet to someone like a casual observer, there is little seen besides the present mess and distress. But fixating on that will cause you to miss out on all God has for you. My, as they are ever so fond of saying in church, 'the devil is a liar.'

How often do some sing in the church because they are happy. But if you asked David, his reason for song would be entirely different. Yet, God loved him still despite all his mess and distress. Even if no woman wanted him at four in the morning due to his sudden outbursts. Even if his enemies could not stand before the man himself. Even if from God's presence he fled and ran away. Here was a man that firmly knew where he stood in 1 Samuel 13:14 as nothing without God. It is this sort of heart then that the Father prized above all else be it so if ever for long. See, in all the highs and lows, the ups and downs of life there remained to him the Lord. How much more would God have the back of one whose heart was devoted wholly unto him. How much more would God not punish such a one be it ever so severely when from him that heart was finally turned away. Could it be therein lay the reason David's rule would one day return as at the first. So, it can be seen as never-ending though he endures punishment and chastening yet for a time. How many of you know that when God keeps the throne, the nation, and the man himself nothing else matters.

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

So, he surrounds us as he did David whether king or not, in his will or not, stable or not, despairing or not, in want or not. It seems that in day and night the same; yet Proverbs 18:10 finds him as the fortress surrounding his people. Such is good indeed for there are many which sought his hurt. From the enemy which oppressed him on down they came. Worse still are his friends which really ought to have known the Lord. For then would he have kept them better than any other even as a mother hen does her chicks fluffed up beneath her wings. Thus does God do for his people as promised in Matthew 23:37. Here, David has gone from the hill country east of where God's people dwelled to a strange land; their name has been translated by some to mean going down. But how many know that God's people, whether up or down, are wherever he may be found.

The text speaks of the "sword in his bones" which was tended almost daily. So also, were these apparent enemies to him. Yet is not God's Word also the sword of which Hebrews 4:12 speaks. So then is it possible for the enemies of yours to be friends of God. The difference is when he makes them to be at peace with you. For some that only comes when a "man's ways please the Lord" as in Proverbs 16:7. From there, David went on up to the mountain ranges north of Israel. In other terms, that is where the Hermonites dwelled by hill Mizar. There, both the pretty and the devoted lot joined together as it were to remind him of his rightful place. Yet despite all that, even there David soon found that God was good. For the story was far from over and he was not yet through. So surely did goodness and mercy compel him that God used the people along the way to do it.

As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

As mentioned before and the disciples on the sea of Galilee once found, Jesus can quiet them all. Whether the disciples or the storm, so also is he the master of both. For it is of his mercy and his lovingkindness that sees us not consumed. See, Lamentations 3:22 is far different than having his mercies handed out on a silver platter for the taking. Being the recipients of the grace of God, it seems that such is his place after all. Here, God is seen as a commanding general over his lovingkindness. Sure, it is neither goodness nor mercy. But without him, where else would we be. Without him, would we be as nothing; so also, without his mercies would we be eaten up. Yet, the issue remains that whosoever will, may come as in Revelation 22:17. It seems some would do well to look up. Whether you now find yourself in a situation or lost among strange people seek unto God. As Father Beeri and the woman of Samaria found before, God can deliver his people; so, it matters not where they may find themselves. Here, King David himself finds the nature of God reflected in his situation. So also, we see the enemy made mention of.

Matthew 13:24-43 speaks to the tares found among the wheat. It seems the master arose in the morning to find it so when he went to see the cause of the matter. At that time, his servants came with their plaintive cry of 'master, what of the harvest.' His response that the enemy did this is telling. Indeed, it seems of the enemy God has much to say, calling them no less. To do more would be to dignify the greater evil as we will soon see. So then, let us look at the theology of the enemy in full. My, how we would do well indeed to stop labeling stuff on our own. Rather some would do better to call it as he sees it be it ever so redeemed, chosen, and forgiven. Sure, the time of the harvest might not be yet. See what of his work and not of our own efforts at all.

Indeed, it is not for nothing that Paul would later testify how God gave the increase. It seems then there is a distance between the enemy of this text and the enemy of that. How men like today to speak of an enemy of a different sort entirely. See, it is not until Jesus came in the gospels healing the sick and casting out demons that the origins of the word are seen clearly. Only in our modern times have some have mistaken the enemy for almost anyone who disagrees in the slightest. A large collection of foes may be termed rather broadly as enemies; on the other hand, as Hebrews 12:23 puts it there are the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Here is the casting down of the soul for no apparent reason at all. So, it seems then that all the disquiet, chaos, and disorder was to no avail. How many of you know that when God is in that house, nothing will be the same ever again. After all this time of fighting, running, and fleeing for his life, David finally confronts his face. I can almost hear you now 'what a funny thing to say.' Here, we see that a broken minister of the temple will also reflect it. Though seen as one through a glass darkly of 1 Corinthians 13:12, then will you "know even as" one known. Yet instead of working outward as some are wont to think, here the opposite takes place. See, this thing works inward and shows outward. It is almost as the circumcision, once practiced widely, now takes heart. So, the God of Romans 2:28-29 uses it to point towards the state of your heart. Thus, we see the outward for inward conversion taking place.

At the last, with the old covenant fulfilled and by it done away, the focus shifts. God puts the attention firmly on the heart. For therein lies the heart, or the source, of the matter if you will. Call it what you will. But there is a connection between the face, the minister, and the circumcision of the heart. The heart, whether desperately wicked or pure as the driven snow, must be changed; so, it happens before anything else takes place. See how it makes a whole man, perfect and complete, just as the minister of God should be. The temple is complete and the minister back in order. Then is the man of God thoroughly furnished unto all good works as 2 Timothy 3:17 states. So should men praise him just as did King David for the "health of his countenance and" his God. I too will look unto the Lord my hope, my rock when the troubles come. For then though I lose not heart as in Psalm 27:13 will I see "the goodness of" God "in the land of the living."