so according to 2samuel12.20, after having the death of his child confirmed, king david got up and
- washed (cleansing)
- put on lotions (anointing)
- changed clothes (casting off the week's travail)
- worshiped (declaring/testifying/ enthroning the Divine)
- had breakfast (getting on with living)
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
so now what do I do to prepare for these life-changing encounters with God? how am I engaged in cleansing, anointing and casting off the caked-on dirt of a hard week?
surely this is about more than just taking a bath
4 comments:
"washed (cleansing)
put on lotions (anointing)
changed clothes (casting off the week's travail)
worshiped (declaring/testifying/ enthroning the Divine)
had breakfast (getting on with living)"
i look at this list and it's pretty eye opening. there have been times in life when even attempting to "enter into worship" let alone possibly figuring out the "getting on with living" have been REALLY hard to do, BUT it's usually those times when i've tried so hard to "cast off the week's details" before ever approaching God for cleansing, reassurance and guidance.
challenges me to sit back and look at what i truly am doing to engage those steps of cleansing in my life.
and is it all about more than a bath? for me, i think it reminds me of the realization that i love a very approachable God...one who always there and wants to engage with me on ever growing deeper levels.
"so now what do I do to prepare for these life-changing encounters with God? how am I engaged in cleansing, anointing and casting off the caked-on dirt of a hard week?" (JB)
That passage is a little deeper of an issue than that - this man just lost his son (bereavement).
However I like your line 'getting on with living'. For some reason, in tough times this is the part that most people put to the side for quite a while.
How do I deal with cleaning, anointing, and casting off the dirt from the previous 7 days? I always use re-collection and review what it is I have done this past week.
Some things I like - some things I don't like...and I begin a process of renewal - sometimes that works and sometimes not so much. For me, the process of repentance plays a big role...being willing to change after mistakes. I also need to be able to let go of problems or deal with them directly so they get solved...don't need stuff hanging over my head if possible (and for peace also). As for anointing - I do a lot of study of scripture and enjoy that a lot.
"it's usually those times when i've tried so hard to "cast off the week's details" before ever approaching God for cleansing, reassurance and guidance."
yep- well put. i was just sharing some words on a text message with someone regarding a similar observation.
paul leads the charge by confessing in romans 7.15-25 that
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
and yet he also exorts us in 2 Corinthians 10.5b to
"...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
in both passages, he speaks of obedience, even slavery. and yet, we get the sense that while the submission that he invites is challenging to our autonomy (which isn't really accomplishing the good that we intend to accomplish in the world anyway) it IS life-giving.
as for the approachability of God, i think that this may be the aspect of God's grace that we find toughest to deal with because most of the time we are distracted by all those voices in our heads that are whispering decidedly UNgracious things about our place in his love. it's almost enough to validate that monty python bit:
(The KNIGHTS fall on their knees. The clouds part. A holy voice booms out. It is God. He looks a lot like W.G. Grace, but with a crown.)
GOD: Arthur! Arthur ... King of the Britons ...
(They all prostrate themselves even further.)
...Oh, don't grovel! One thing I can't stand, it's people grovelling!!
(They get up.)
ARTHUR: Sorry ...
GOD: And don't apologize. Every time I try to talk to someone it's sorry this and forgive me that and I'm not worthy ... What are you doing now?
ARTHUR: (squinting) I'm averting my eyes, O Lord.
GOD: Well, don't.
"That passage is a little deeper of an issue than that - this man just lost his son (bereavement)."
yes of course, jason. sorry to have come off glib there.
i'll back up a bit. the idea that we were exploring in 'the big room' was this notion that somehow just showing up on a sunday might not always be enough to engage in a life-changing encounter with God, being that life is so loaded with heinously distracting stuff most of the time.
e.g. david, in one week, learned that his lust, his infidelity and the resulting murder were no longer secret, and that his newly born son (bastard or not) would die of an infliction that he was powerless, king or not, to do anything about. so all week long, he begged God to rescue the child, to work a miracle and spare this innocent of the harsh judgement that was to come of the king's misplaced passion. pretty heavy week, all in all.
and yet the king, in complete disregard for cultural practice, gets all tidied up and goes to church upon learning of the child's death. weird.
as an assembled group, we were trying to draw from this 3000 year old story, something meaningful for our own journeys.
so anyway, regarding your thoughts about review and recollection, i'm reminded of a dear friend of mine named glenn who recently passed away. one of the things that he was known well for was being not only a brilliant and successful man, but an incredibly humble and earnest believer. he was an inspiring man to know- even more to call 'friend.'
one of the things that he did regularly was journal his experiences, struggles, thoughts, interpretations etc. these journals were private and were never read by anyone but glenn and God, even following his passing. well, at the beginning of each new year, he had a practice of reading the journals of the previous year in order to draw, with some scope, the wisdom from all that he had gone through.
i wonder if this reflection, repentence and renewal was part of his washing/anointing/casting off regimen that prepared him for a life of living worship for the coming year...
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