Tag Archives: Dishonor

Surrounded and Slandered

November 5, 2020 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.
Psalm 59:17 (NIV)

Today’s chapter, Psalm 59, is fascinating in that the liner notes reference something we don’t have a record of anywhere else in the Great Story. In earlier podcasts, like two days ago, when David finds himself with the opportunity to kill his antagonist and father-in-law, King Saul, in a cave, the whole story is well documented. The story referenced by David in today’s song is nowhere to be found.

According to the brief superscription, King Saul sends his goons to hang out around David’s house and keep an eye on him. I have to assume that this happened early in David’s life when Saul is growing jealous and suspicious of David’s success. Perhaps David is married to Saul’s daughter at his point so Saul uses the pretense of keeping an eye on his daughter. I can’t help but think of The Godfather. It would be like Don Corleone sending Clemenza’s men to watch Carlo and Connie’s place.

David, however, is no Carlo. He’s feeling insulted and dishonored that the King and his men are so disrespectful and treating him unfairly. What’s interesting about this song in contrast to yesterday’s imprecatory psalm calling for the gruesome death of his enemies, David is dealing with his own people, his own fellow citizens, and people whom he will rule if and when he ascends the throne. This isn’t people from another nation seeking to kill him, but people of his own nation targeting him with insults, slander, and spiteful words intended to publicly belittle him.

Does that sound familiar? And people say the Great Story isn’t relevant today.

David specifically writes in his lyrics that he doesn’t want God to kill them, but rather he asks God to make sure that their pride, their lies, and their slander will be revealed for what it is. David wants them to live, so that people will see and remember when the circumstances are reversed and David is the king and these goons no longer have any power over him.

In the quiet this morning, I am once again amazed at how the more things change the more they stay the same. The lyrics of David’s songs stand as testimony to the personal, spiritual playbook he used his entire life and career from being a young man and newlywed son-in-law within Saul’s court, like today, to when he was an old man facing a coup by his own adult son, like Psalm 55. He took his plea to God. Whenever he was powerless, he went to God. He expressed his emotions. He consciously and willfully trusted God to be his shield, his defender, his advocate, his avenger, and his judge. His lyrics are a permanent record of his faith.

Just last night as we lay in bed I expressed to Wendy that all it takes is for me to glance at any social media app right now and feel misunderstood, slandered, belittled, and dishonored. I have to believe I’m not alone in that. I found David’s song to be a timely spiritual antidote. I needed the reminder and the attitude adjustment:

But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.

Chapter-a-Day

Responding to Disloyalty and Criticism

May 20, 2014 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?”

Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’”

Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”

I once met a man who had served under five different U.S. presidents while working for the Department of Commerce. His favorite, he told me, was Harry Truman who always made a requested decision in a timely way and was always on top of the many details necessary to carry out the office well. His least favorite, he added, was Dwight Eisenhower whom he observed was on the golf course more than he was in the oval office and who seemed to avoid the politics and details the job required.

As a history buff I’ve heard it said that military generals make poor presidents. Politics is messier than the military. People don’t have to obey your every command. You can’t just give orders, you have to persuade and cajole those who disagree with you. U.S. Grant, another general who ascended to the White House, is generally regarded as the worst U.S. president in history.

As we read the story of David, I find it fascinating that this theme of difficulty moving from military command to political power appears to be very apt, even in antiquity. David was a great military leader, but his leadership as monarch had some fatal flaws that echo the reflections of Eisenhower by my acquaintance. Absalom stole people’s hearts because he would take the time listen to their cases and grievances while David avoided the responsibility and kept people waiting. David appears to have been more interested in personal pursuits than in national problems.

Because of his leadership blind spots, David is on the run for the second time in his life. This time, he’s fleeing his own son. David’s scandals have decimated his approval rating. He has few loyal followers left. As his monarchy collapses around him, people’s true feelings come to light and we see two examples of it in today’s chapter. I find it interesting the contrast between David’s response in the the two confrontations found in today’s chapter.

Mephibosheth, the handicapped son of Saul, had personally been shown favor by David. Now that David appears to have let the throne slip through his fingers, Mephibosheth repays David’s grace with disloyalty rather than gratitude. There is a power vacuum and Mephibosheth is going to try an make a play to grab power for himself. David responds by rescinding his former kindness and give Saul’s holdings back to Saul’s servant, Ziba.

Shimei the Benjaminite lets out his frustrations with David in an annoying one man protest in which he screams his disdain for David and hurls stones at the king. Unlike Mephibosheth’s disloyalty, which was a personal dishonoring of David’s kindness, Shimei’s verbal and stone assault comes from pent up frustration with David’s leadership, scandals, and the resulting fall out. Perhaps David recognized the truth in Shimei’s criticism. David turns the other cheek and won’t even let his loyal guard force Shimei to be quiet.

Today I’m thinking and pondering the criticism and confrontations we all face. There is a difference between Mephibosheth’s selfish power grab and Shimei’s frontal assault and a difference in David’s response. Nevertheless, Jesus never made such distinctions in his command to forgive others. His parables and consistent message instructs me to forgive both hurtful verbal criticism and a very personal slap across the face.

I’m taking a little inventory this morning of those who’ve been critical and who’ve caused me injury. I’m thinking about my own life, leadership and blind spots which have given others good reason to be critical. I’m considering my responses and asking myself if I’ve truly forgiven them.

Between you and me, I’ve got some work to do.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Esther 3

September 19, 2012 Tom Vander Well 4 Comments

English: Vashti Refuses the King's Summons, pa... — English: Vashti Refuses the King’s Summons, painting by Edwin Long (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect. Esther 3:2 (NLT)

Two days ago, we read about Queen Vashti refusing to come to the King and how it led to her being deposed. I couldn’t help thinking about Vashti as I read this morning about Mordecai’s conscientious objection to bowing down before Haman. Thousands of years later, we continue to honor Mordecai for his refusal to bow before Haman, but we think very little of Vashti’s refusal to be summoned like a trained dog to be paraded like a stripper before her drunk husband and his cronies.

So it is when we choose to make a lonely stand against tyranny, dishonor or injustice. You can’t predict the results. People might shake their heads and roll their eyes in mockery. You might end up losing everything and suffering incredible personal loss (even your life). Or, you might end up changing the course of history and being honored through the centuries.

When we are called to, or choose to, conscientiously object we must do so out of obedience with a willingness to accept the consequences whatever they may be.