CHEERLEADERS

It's a tense scene in the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire,” depicting the 1925 Paris Olympics. The 400-meter runners have lined up and are waiting for the starting shot. And just before that, a note is handed Scotland's favorite son, Eric Liddell. He was favored to win the 100-meter race, but he had skipped it. It was scheduled for a Sunday, and as a Christian he simply could not “compete” on the Lord's Day. Now he was scheduled for the 400-meter race, one of long endurance for which he'd not trained.

The film's music enhances the drama of those before-race jitters. It shows the sober-faced runners poking their trowels into the starting line to give their launch foot a toehold. In those tense moments before the starting gun came the note for Liddell. Some say it was from the team's masseur (as shown in the movie), others from another competitor. In the film, the note began, “In the Good Book it says,” then quoting 1 Samuel 2:30: “He who honors me, I will honor.”

The gun cracks, the runners burst from their crouched positions. Despite his unorthodox running style, Liddell emerges the winner. The history-maker. The man who honored God by honoring the Sabbath—honored.

ORIGINS

But what of that verse? Its context in the Old Testament is the failure of Samuel, the high priest of that time, to raise godly sons who would be expected to follow him in that hallowed role. They were immoral and gluttonous and would die the same day. The second part of the “he who honors me” verse is their death sentence: “those who despise me will be disdained.” Aging Eli had no other progeny to succeed him, only a little boy helper named Samuel. His mother Hannah had dedicated her long-awaited firstborn to God's service under Eli, and later Samuel would be the nation's spiritual leader.

What if Liddell hadn't won that race? Would the Old Testament verse still ring true? Of course. God's timing isn't man's timing. Liddell's gold medal would be put away as he went to China as a missionary. He would die there twenty-one years later in a Japanese internment camp.

End of story? Not at all. The title “Chariots of Fire” (suggesting the experience of the later prophet Elisha, recorded in 2 Kings 6) alluded to a greater truth. In that incident, Elisha and his helper woke up to find their city of refuge surrounded by the enemy. His helper was scared spitless. Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his servant's eyes to the greater power of God. With this supernatural vision, the servant saw the “hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17). The rest of the story is that the enemy soldiers were struck blind. Elisha then led the helpless warriors to a town of their enemies, who actually treated them decently.

The important principle of 2 Samuel 2:30 is that it reflects the character of God. It's not a one-size-fits-all in our earthly perspective. But those who honor Him will receive reward—if not on earth, then in Heaven. That's where we're promised not gold medals, but golden crowns, which we will lay before the throne of almighty God (Revelation 4:10). I wonder if that pile might include a surrendered 1925 Olympic gold medal.

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 34: Deliverance

Learning that many Christian couples chose a “wedding verse,” we decided on Psalm 34:3 to vanguard the vows we were taking that sunny August morning in 1981:
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
A calligraphy of that verse has hung for years in our kitchen. Seeing it reminds me that Lord God Almighty  has been faithful through our joys and difficulties as we sought to honor Him.  I’ve also discovered that Psalm 34 brims with memorable verses and stalwart truths. Underneath them all is a message of “deliverance,” even beyond the four times that specific word is used ((vv. 4, 7, 17, 19). The psalm grew out of David’s “deliverance” in one of the most desperate times of his life, noted  in the psalm’s subtitle: “When he feigned insanity before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.”

 “Abimelech” was a title for Philistine kings (like “Pharaoh” for Egyptian potentates), and this references the story told in 1 Samuel 21. Pursued by murderous King Saul, David had fled to a town he knew Saul wouldn’t enter, the Philistines’ Gath. However, years earlier, David had killed the town’s hero giant, Goliath. Worse, David came carrying Goliath’s sword, which he had retrieved from a Jewish worship center at Nob. When David’s true identity became known in Gath, his life was at risk. Scared, he pretended to be insane, scribbling on the town’s gate and drooling excessively. Gath’s disgusted “Abimelech” (Achish) had David chased out of town. He fled to the wilderness, ending up in a cave called “Adullum,”  broke and broken.

This psalm is David’s reflection on God’s deliverance, composed as an acrostic poem using the Hebrew alphabet. It includes a call to worship (vv. 1-3), a hymn (vv. 4-7) that blesses God and thanks Him for deliverance, a “taste test” sermon about following God (vv. 8-18), and finally a prophecy (vv. 19-20).

PRAISE TO THE NTH DEGREE

David didn’t need a “worship leader” to rev him up for worship. His effusive praise came from realizing how God reached down to save him from another’s treachery and his own stupid choices. He didn’t mumble the words with his nose in a hymnal. The psalm’s synonyms for “praise” are exciting and energetic: extol, boast, rejoice, glorify, exalt. He calls on others  (“let us exalt His name together,” v. 3) to join him in glorifying the Lord.

HYMN OF HELP

A radiant baby --grandson Josiah!

Think of verses 4-7 as David’s version of the more recent hymn, “O God Our Help in Ages Past.” God answered David’s prayers with deliverance from danger and fears. Two verses deserve extra comment:

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. (v. 5)
The King James Version renders this, “They looked unto him, and were lightened.” In our times, we connect “lightened” with a lessening of weight. But the term actually refers to light, coming from the Hebrew “nahar,” which means “to become bright.” The same Hebrew word is used in Isaiah 60:5, which describes the future glory of Zion as her sons and daughters return: “Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy” (NIV). Think of it as a mother seeing her beloved children returning after a long time away.  Or, a soldier’s reunion with family after a safe return home from a war zone. Faces shine with delight and joy. David says that’s what should happen to our countenances when we realize that God is with us through every difficult situation in life.

The second verse pictures the might at God’s disposal when we’re in difficulties:

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (v. 7)
The Bible gives a real-life illustration of this in 2 Kings 6, which took place more than a century after David lived. The prophet Elisha and his servant were in a city surrounded by the troops of the king of Aram, who was intent on taking down the prophet. When the servant woke up and panicked to find the city surrounded by enemies, Elisha calmly said, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:7). Elisha asked God to open the servant’s eyes to the spiritual protection, and he saw horses and chariots of fire all around. The enemy was later supernaturally blinded and rendered useless.    

DIVINE TASTE TEST

David encourages people to “Taste and see that the LORD is good” (v. 8). That’s a big stumbling block for non-Christians.  Typically, they’ll say, “Religion is just not for me.” Yet what they see as “religion” is a vital relationship with the God who created them and died for them. They can’t “taste” when they won’t even try a “bite.” They can’t make that leap of faith that Hebrews 11:6 speaks of: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Faith is believing God and acting on that. David had “tasted” and decided, “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”  We might say, “What would I do without the Lord to carry me through my difficulties?”  A non-Christian might consider himself as invincible as a lion (v. 10), but without God he cannot make it.  Christians may experience difficulties like anyone else on this fallen planet, but they won’t lack that “good thing” (v. 10) of knowing God loves and cares for them.

David then switches voices from worship leader to sermon-giver (vv. 11-12).He seems to lean over the pulpit in kindly wisdom as he counsels, “Come, my children, listen to me; and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” This “fear,” of course, is not panic or dread, but awe and profound reverence that’s repeatedly examined in the books of Proverbs, especially the “wisdom” chapters of Proverbs 1-9. David advises, watch your tongue. Pursue what’s right. Be peaceable. Hundreds of years later, the apostle Peter cited the same advice in describing what Christian behavior looks like (1 Peter 3:10-12).

Life isn’t always easy, David admits, even for the righteous.  But believers have something non-believers don’t: the Lord’s promise to be there for them. Verse 18, about God as our comforter, has encouraged untold millions enduring profound losses: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (v. 18).

LOOKING AHEAD TO JESUS

Jesus was the ultimate example of a righteous One who wasn’t immune from troubles. Verse 20 turned out to be prophetic of Christ’s crucifixion: “He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken” (v. 20).  The criminals executed alongside Christ had their legs broken to assure death from asphyxiation. But Christ was already dead, and left alone (John 19:32-33).

Christ’s death on the cross brings New Testament truth to David’s concluding statement: “The LORD redeems his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned” (v. 22). You can’t improve on that, nor the many other messages of deliverance in Psalm 34!