Topsy Turvy

David was carrying a newborn baby lamb when his brother shouted from on top the rise. “Dad wants you!”

“What for?” David settled the lamb beside its mother and watched the wobbly-legged baby begin the amazing search for its first meal, butting the ewe’s front leg and falling in a heap.

By now, Micah had joined his brother at the delivery site. “He told me to watch the sheep so you could go. Cute baby. What do I do with it?”

“Make sure it gets a drink. Don’t leave until you’re sure it does because you might have to help it.”

“It’ll figure it out,” Micah declared. “I don’t want to touch it. Phew, you smell like afterbirth and sheep. Nobody will want to be around you. Look at you! You’re filthy.”

“I like to be here for the new lambs,” David wiped his hands on the dry grass. “Birth is exciting.”

“Well, you’re going to see a priest. You better wash yourself well or you’ll be unclean. He’ll send you away.”

Imagine Samuel, in search of a king, meeting this young shepherd. David might have still been damp after scrubbing the unclean remains of the sheep. The scent of the lambs still hung on his robe. Shepherds were lowly.

Samuel was looking for a tall, handsome man to lead Israel and here God brought a shepherd to be anointed. What madness to politicians and generals! It was a topsy-turvy choice, selecting the lowest to be the highest.

David’s resume was spotty and his job skills appeared ill suited for ultimate leadership.

But you know the rest of the story. David became the greatest king in the history of Israel. The man after God’s own heart lifted God’s people to the very height of their history. David spawned the kingly line of Judah, leading straight to Jesus.

Maybe you feel like you need to wash up a bit before standing before God. Maybe you feel your hands aren't clean enough yet and your habits need some straightening.

We look on the outside but God... well, God looks on the heart.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

1 Sam 16:7

Dive In: Provenance

We’ve spent several weeks discussing the design of a book of the Bible. There many elements of design and we’ve only scratched the surface there. But we need to look at the second leg of our stool for balance.

There are three aspects to a careful reading of a biblical text:

• Design
• Provenance
• Idea

We will begin our discussion of provenance today.

Provenance means, simply, the origins or beginning of something. Ultimately it is from Latin provenire, from pro-, "forth" + venire, "to come."

As we look at a biblical text, we must ask its origin. It’s tempting to look at the story in the text and assume that was when the author did his work.

However, take a look at Ruth 4:7

"Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel."

The author added this explanation because his reader did not know the custom being described in the text. That alerts us immediately that the narrative was written many years after the events actually occurred.

There are many other examples like this in the Bible, enough for us to know that many times a history was written years after the actual events.

We know, for example, that Ruth was probably written after David was king of Israel. Many scholars suspect that Ruth was written, in part, as comment on David’s reign. Did God want David to be king? Ruth answers that question with a triumphant yes!

The idea then becomes that the true kings of Israel come from David’s line. From the barrenness of Naomi and Ruth, God brought forth new life that became the future of Israel. The book endorses David’s rule and also opens the door to Christ’s reign someday, although the original reader probably would not have recognized that aspect like we do today.

When the text was written is important to the ideas it expresses.

So, as we begin our study of a text, we must ask:

Who was the author?

Who was the audience?

When was the work written?

What were some of the cultural and historic backstories for the text?

Tomorrow we’re going to apply those questions to the book of John. John’s ideas begin to spring to life as we examine these questions.

Next Tuesday, we’ll look at provenance further by examining a painting, The Graham Children, done by William Hogarth in 1742. If you get a chance, take a look at the painting and see what you observe in it. I think we’ll find next week that studying design alone won’t spring the meaning like studying the provenance.

(Thank Dr. Frank Ames, my Old Testament professor, for presenting these concepts so profoundly.)

This week, begin asking the questions of provenance, especially when. It’s vital to your understanding of the text.

Perceptions

David was a broken man. He had rationalized, maneuvered, lied, manipulated – and it had worked! Things had gotten messy – they always do when we’re overreaching – but the secret had stayed under the surface.

Well, it had remained veiled until this religious guy pushed his way past all the protection and stood before David with a hypothetical issue to sort out, a “what if” kind of game. David, who had duped plenty of others, was duped by the story. He was deceived by his pride in his great knowledge and wisdom. It was such a simple story: a poor man had his very sustenance stolen by a rich man who had plenty.

When Nathan dropped the net, David was snared. He was the conniving rich man who had stolen his brother’s wife, committed murder and covered up the whole incident.

Then came the surprise: David changed his mind. He had spent months and months hiding the secret, rationalizing, maneuvering. Nathan had pronounced the results of David’s cover-up and we might accuse David of simply wanting to avoid consequences.

Except for his words to Nathan: I have gone wrong before the Lord. David’s manipulation had been to fool others. In an instant, he realized he was playing to the wrong audience. He might hide from people but never from God. And God was the only one who mattered.

David’s story is a rich story of repentance. Repentance means to change our mind, our understanding. The root word deals with perception and knowledge. David had spent enormous energy weaving a fabric to hide his own selfish reasoning.

Now he changed his mind. He understood that God could see through the fabric and that he was standing naked before the King of kings. David’s perception changed in a flash. He was broken.

Repentance is never about a moral code but about agreeing with God’s character and perceiving God’s presence. We stand naked before the Lord. The key is whether we look up or weave a fabric to hide behind.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalms 51:6,12