What an answer, and what a circumstance! This most famous biblical-era songwriter and king-in-waiting, David, sure didn’t try to hide from God and shrink from a dangerous episode, even if the solution to a certain tactical situation required some guile. Perhaps the particularly unusual escape method he employed in this case allowed David to savor more than usual how God had cared for him. “Taste and See” that the Lord is good, is David’s invitation in verse 8 of Psalm 34 (see him here playing a harp), even to us today some three millennia removed from him. Tasting God was a metaphor that this desperate future-king borrowed to emphasize from whom he drew spiritual sustenance. That songwriters like Joe Rigney and Shane Barnard in 2015 are still extracting nourishment from David’s poem and passing that food along is a tribute to how fertile his words – and the God they describe – have remained. God is able to deliver in any situation, using whatever technique He chooses…that makes His food and how He provides something to relish. What do you suppose Joe Rigney and Shane Barnard were experiencing that made Psalm 34 seem so relevant?
David was on the run, and was afraid (1 Samuel 21: 10-15) because some people recognized him in Gath where he had gone. In a moment of extreme anxiety, David faked insanity to avoid prosecution by the Philistine king. How did he think on his feet so quickly, and believably? David was a refugee, with so much reputation that he was the enemy of not only these foreigners, but his own treacherous King Saul. So, with his life, and the life of the nation God had already anointed him to lead, in jeopardy, David cleverly adopted a persona that saved his neck in a flash. In an instant when his mouth might have gone dry, David tasted the rescue that he surmised God had delivered in this desperate incident. You can hear hints of it still ringing in the song that Joe and Shane have reproduced, with words like ‘deliver/delivered’ and ‘fear’ in verse 1, and the ancient poem’s title words echoing in verse 2, reminding us of either end of the emotional spectrum that David experienced that day. Ever been in mortal danger? What kind of situation produces the lightening-quick reflexes except a battle zone, or some other crisis that makes the knuckles turn white while gripping the steering wheel? David must have grown somewhat accustomed to this, while also learning to recognize the telltale signs of His Deliverer. It’s a pretty special person who not only carries a pedigree like David’s, but reacts in the wake of a life-threatening incident to preserve the moment of danger and his deliverance in a song.
God is uniquely capable of delivery. Just thumb through your bible…Noah and his family in an ark…Joseph in prison…Moses and God’s people in the Exodus. And, that’s just the start. How many times were Paul and his companions in danger? And yet, read what he said about suffering and becoming like Christ (Philippians 3:10). He’s got a big mission for His people, and His shield goes with those whose courage puts them in harm’s way. Does He always bail out those who are being threatened? Someone says ‘how about Stephen?’ (Acts 7), the first martyr for the cause of Christ. Do you think Stephen had already tasted and decided that God was good, despite what proceeded to happen to him in the next few moments after his speech to the Sanhedrin? Just read what he said at that crucial moment (7:55-56) – he knew nothing better than the God whom he trusted and the home where he was bound. He’d fulfilled the mission. So, ask yourself ‘Am I on God’s mission?’ David and Joe and Shane remind us when we might taste and appreciate God the most.
The
following is one source for comments in the above story: The NIV Study Bible,
New International Version, edited by Kenneth Barker (General Editor) and
others, Zondervan Bible Publishers,1985.
See here for some information on one of the authors: Shane & Shane - Wikipedia
See here for album information: Psalms II (album) - Wikipedia
See image of David here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:King_David,_the_King_of_Israel.jpg (the public domain status of the picture: The author (Gerard van Honthorst [1592–1656]) died in 1656, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
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