This is going to be a testimony to my growing relationship with one verse in the Bible: Ps. 34:8. God first impressed this verse upon me for a mission trip after my sophomore year of college. My first reaction was “This is a stupid verse for a missions trip.” Proving that God’s thoughts are much higher than my thoughts! I have spent (cough-cough-sputter) years with these sixteen words: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man [or woman] that trusteth in Him,” and I’m pretty sure that it will take as many more years (and maybe even longer) to really “get” them.

(I have to give a big “thank you” to Sam McAllister for the following, and apologies for heisting this from his sermon given on June 17, 2012.)

Psalm 34 bears the heading “A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.” Here’s the story: David has just fled from Saul with the help of Jonathan. On his run he stops by Nob where the priests (whom Saul will later slay) are keeping the sword of Goliath. In a stunningly brainless move, David takes Goliath’s sword and runs to the king of Gath of Philistia, home of the Philistines. Remember them? Goliath–you know, of Gath–was one of their heroes. After Goliath’s death at the hands of a young David, the Israelites had quite a victory. In fact, the Israelites continued to rout the Philistines under the leadership of that same David until throughout the streets of Jerusalem was heard “Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands [Philistines].” So there is David standing in Gath before the king of the Philistines (who would really love to see him dead), holding the sword of the Goliath and asking for asylum. When David realizes his colossal stupidity, he pretends to be crazy and the king decides David isn’t worth his time and dismisses him.

Here’s the scene: David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. (I Samuel 21: 10-13)

Maybe you can’t identify with this scenario . . . lucky you. For the rest of us, there is hope. David looks back on this moment in Psalm 34 and testifies to the goodness of God, the protection of God, and the possibility of growing in the fear of God. In short, David can look back on this moment of brainlessness and say “God is good even when I do something dumb. He protects me when I trust in him — even when occasionally my faith is momentarily hijacked by my stupidity. These mental-blips lead me to realize how much more I need to learn about God and his prescription for living a long and happy life.” What a much more positive outcome than wallowing in self-pity!

As always, thanks for listening.