Aug 20, 2023
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Lakeland, Florida
Psalm 23
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Please pray with
me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O
Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
In contrast to last week’s story of Ruth in 4 brief chapters, today’s story of David is multiple
books – it spans I Samuel and II Samuel and even into 1 Kings. Ruth a simple story and David a
most complex one what with 8 wives, an untold number of concubines, and 18 children not all of
whom were alive to gather around his deathbed. That very special relationship that he had with
Jonathan – whom he loved with a love that surpasses that of a woman.
The skirmishes with King Saul who as he aged became suspicious and paranoid and turned from
the ways of God. David’s military prowess and the people’s loyalty to his charismatic
personality. His rape of Bathsheba. His son’s rape of Tamar. And the stories go on and on don’t
they.
Yet, David, the shepherd boy out in the field when the prophet Samuel came to call, David who
was anointed by Samuel and on that day the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from
that day forward.
Anointed – with oil. A common enough substance but combined with the intention of God
worked a mighty work in David. Oil, poured over his head, running down his face, his neck, over
the collar of his tunic and he was never the same again – things were different. He was marked
for God.
And my friends, so it is that in our baptisms with water, a common enough substance combined
with the word of God, we too are marked for and by God with the cross of Christ – forever. Like
David’s anointing, this is a covenantal relationship. One in which God pours out God’s goodness
and grace and we are changed and drawn into community with God and with one another.
Now, God’s covenantal promises to us are not that henceforth we will lead a charmed life. Each
of us with our challenges and burdens and sins and mistakes are witness to this. But it does mean
that God does not leave us nor forsake us. In fact, it is when we are in the midst of our burdens
and our sin that we run to God’s arms – again and again. Just as David did – as we hear in the
Psalms.
The Psalms perhaps are a bit like David’s journal – there he, and the other psalmists, poured out
their hearts, their worries, their laments, their needs and even their anger. There they proclaim
their worship and praise of God who loves with an everlasting love.
Hear these words from Psalm 17 which is one of David’s psalms when his enemies are pursuing
him – Ps 17:6-8. Was this before or after he took Bathsheba? Was this before or after he tried to
kill King Saul? Was this before or after he sent Uriah to the front lines? We don’t know. Nor do
we need to know. Because there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus – not death nor life, nor things that have been nor things to come – nothing can separate us
from the love of God in Christ.
How can this be, we may wonder. Is it because of our faith? I know that the faith of you gathered
here is real. I have heard you tell me again and again how it is that your faith has sustained you
in times of need, in times of trouble. And this, my friends, is good.
Yet all of this comes about not because of our faith but because of the faithfulness of God. The
faithfulness that made David the apple of God’s eye. The faithfulness that receives us time and
again with open arms. The faithfulness that never fails.
I’ve heard it said that there is nothing you can do to make God love you more and nothing you
can do to make God love you less. I believe this to be true.
These weeks as we have taken a look at the forebears of our faith, we have seen doubters,
murderers, stutterers; we have seen adulterers, prostitutes, and abusers; we have seen
faithfulness, reliance, and even despair. Those on whose shoulders we stand are people of all
sorts with all sorts of achievements and all sorts of failures. Perhaps like us too.
Yet at the center of all of this is the love God shown so boldly in the love of Jesus for all of
God’s people. A love that we are drawn into once in our baptisms, again and again as we feast at
the Table, time after time as the Lord reaches out to us in our need.
If you have not been baptized and want to or you have questions about this, please let me know.
If you have been baptized and feel like you would like a fresh start, let me know. And for all of
us, God’s steadfast love in Christ endures forever.
Amen.
