Psalm 34, Taste and See – David, Joe Rigney, and Shane Barnard

 

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.

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) -- Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Salomon Ligthelm

 

This group effort found its most inspirational ‘voice’ in the waters. That would probably be a fair statement, if you asked Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, and Salomon Ligthelm to describe what led their spirits during the creation of “Oceans” in 2012. They and their group Hillsong have lots of water surrounding them in Australia -- namely, the Pacific Ocean (see an ancient map of it here), and the Indian Ocean. That is a fact of life for this island nation-continent and its inhabitants, so could that have subconsciously affected these three, particularly Salomon when he thought about a certain apostle and his incident on another body of water? They must have appreciated that a water setting was a productive medium for their song-writing purposes, given how the last piece of the song came together. Since the earth has been formed with approximately 70% oceans covering the face of it, do you think God had something in mind for us who live here surrounded by water?  

 

The ’Oceans’ that Matt, Joel, and Salomon experienced in 2012 emerged in multiple stages in various geographic locales. Sydney, Australia’s capital and Hillsong’s home, was where the water concept was born, and where the song’s lyrics finally culminated. Salomon, while in Sydney, was motivated by the episode of Peter walking on – and then sinking into, before Jesus saved him – the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:22-34; Mark 6:45-53; John 6:15-21). It was a key moment, the three songwriters acknowledge, to see something in Peter’s encounter as he stepped out of the boat, something that speaks to us who would be bold today. Matt, Joel, and Salomon evidently also sought out a waterfall near their studio in Sydney for the song’s final lyrics-writing session, as they continued to visualize Peter’s water-walking, and short-lived miracle. Additionally, much of the song’s lyrics were written over several days in an intervening episode in Joel’s apartment in New York City. Even while separated by wide distances during the song’s development, the three men found common ground in what they could see, and what they and the rest of us cannot see. There is a ‘great unknown’, a ‘mystery’ (v.1) in taking that step out of the safety of the boat, and moving at the call of Jesus. One has to be aware that you might sink. That ‘…feet may fail’ (the song’s subtitle) is an admission that you ultimately trust God with your life. While Peter was in the Sea of Galilee, Matt, Joel, and Salomon chose to seek out oceans as their metaphor, the deepest body of water on planet Earth. Judging from their lyrics, they wanted to emphasize that this is the most serious kind of commitment a believer makes, requiring whole-hearted devotion. A person’s ‘faith’ (v.1), ‘eyes’ (chorus), and ‘soul’ (chorus) are thus completely focused on Him, not on the water. His attributes are juxtaposed to the water that might drown me, yes. But, where else can you find Him, and His ‘embrace’ (chorus), His ‘sovereign hand’ (v.2).

 

Fear is cast out, and trust grows. That is a key unspoken axiom of the ‘Oceans’ that Matt, Joel, and Salomon sailed upon in 2012. Consider Peter, the professional fisherman, someone accustomed to being on the water. Why didn’t he begin to swim; did his fear overwhelm even something he should have known intrinsically? And, what do you do if you’re not a fish, or don’t really like the water, and really cannot swim too well? Us landlubbers may feel especially hamstrung…I might really drown! Isn’t that the point, though? God doesn’t need me to work out, take swimming lessons, and become an Olympic phenom. When I feel unskilled at a task, perhaps that is just the place where He wants me to be. He will be all that I am not, and so much more, giving me all the coaching that I need. Are you ready to be animated by Him?              

 

Watch the song story here in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zlbunWsV5A

 

See here also background information on the song: https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/oceans-where-feet-may-fail-/

 

See more background information on the song here: Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Wikipedia

 

See here some background information on the planet’s oceans: Ocean - Wikipedia

 

Status of picture-map of Pacific Ocean: 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. (Author is Abraham Ortelius, 1527-1598.) This map was published in 1589 in the author’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. It was not only the first printed map of the Pacific, but it also showed the Americas for the first time. File:Ortelius - Maris Pacifici 1589.jpg - Wikipedia

Raise a Hallelujah -- Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser, Molly Skaggs, Jake Stevens

 

Could another symbol trigger more anxiety for parents than this rather innocuous blue square with an ‘H’ in it? Sickness is devastating for parents of young children, and it’s probably safe to assume that if it happens at Christmastime, the ache is magnified. Who wants to be in a hospital at a time of the year when children are supposed to be joyfully anticipating presents, making Christmas cookies, playing in the snow, and hearing about the Christ-birth miracle? But, that’s where friends and cohorts of the Helsers (Jonathan David and Melissa), Molly Skaggs, and Jake Stevens were, late in 2018. A little boy (Jaxon Taylor, son of Joel and Janie Taylor) had a potentially deadly illness, and so they did what Christians do: they prayed, I “Raise a Hallelujah”, despite an overwhelming sense that they would be at a funeral service in the coming days. They called it a miracle when Jaxon recovered. Tragedy was transmuted to joy and further affirmed the trust they had already expressed to the Great Physician. Wanna be moved emotionally, and rediscover that He cares when we’re in trouble? Check out the links to the story of the song below the next paragraph. They speak for themselves…

 

It was a Job-like moment (Job 1:13-22). He too must have felt that the enemy was nearby, observing and gloating that he and his family were under assault. In Job’s case, the assault actually succeeded in killing his sons, daughters, and servants, so from this episode, we might have expected a righteous indignation to erupt from his soul. And yet, he worshipped (v.21). How? Why? Perhaps it is just another phase in the response of a genuine believer -- that one does not run or complain, but confronts the enemy by calling upon Him who sees all. Realize you don’t have all the ammunition to win the fight, and instead call headquarters and ask for the strategic strike. That’s kinda what Jonathan Helser describes in that instant in which he and Melissa were facing a ‘giant of unbelief’, and something spontaneous happened in that unforgettable moment. He sang the song’s title words ‘in the presence of the enemies’; indeed, this was his only ‘weapon…the melody’ he was singing. In this defining moment, the song was recorded and subsequently given to the Taylors, who played it over their stricken little boy. ‘Victory’…that is the name of the album that contains this song, an appropriate designation for the reversal of this deathbed-like incident and the recovery of Jaxon! God is still the God who cares, and listens to those like Joseph, Daniel and his three friends, Job, and so many others who remained upright despite staggering circumstances. Just re-read Hebrews 11, flash the ‘V’ with two fingers, and sing your own hallelujah the next time you feel afflicted.          

 

See the song’s story in the following links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_a_Hallelujah

 

https://www.thechristianbeat.org/miraculous-global-unifying-story-three-year-old-jaxon-taylor-inspired-new-bethel-music-favorite/

 

https://www.foxnews.com/health/two-year-old-jaxons-miracle-healing-sparked-worship-anthem-we-believe-in-the-power-of-praise

 

https://www.faithwire.com/2019/02/18/interview-bethels-joel-taylor-reveals-tragedy-turned-victory-that-birthed-new-worship-album/

 

This is the link for the hospital symbol: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hospital.svg (Public domain statement from copyright holder: “I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.”)