A quick side note - Psalms has been wonderful to me. Every night God is pointing out things, even in familiar portions of scripture, in new ways. It's really exciting. I feel like I could put up a long, long post up every single day.
Anyways... I picked up something in Psalms 51 last night that I'd never noticed before. Verse 8(b) in the NASB reads "Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. I think we all know that this Psalm was written after David's affair with Bathsheba, and we've read about the consequences that were reaped from that affair. After David's restoration before God, he knew that he would be whole, and even the 'broken bones would rejoice'.
What hit me was something I'd heard in the past (probably at HSBC) about shepherds and lost sheep. We've all seen the shepherd's staff, and the crook it has at the end. Useful for fighting away animals, and other things. When a shepherd has a sheep that wanders, and will not stay with the flock, the shepherd takes drastic action. He will put the leg of the sheep in the crook and move it quickly, breaking the sheep's leg. The sheep is now incapable of walking, and must be carried by the shepherd until the leg heals.
David was a shepherd, and I thought that just maybe he was using a similar analogy here. He had undoubtedly had to break sheep's legs in the past, and he knew the pain that he caused. And he knew the care he would have to give that sheep for recovery. *But* he also knew it was for the best.
What a way to view God's chastening of His children. God has to do it, yet the whole time, through the recovery, His love is poured out until we are made whole. And it's always for the best.
- Brian
Anyways... I picked up something in Psalms 51 last night that I'd never noticed before. Verse 8(b) in the NASB reads "Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. I think we all know that this Psalm was written after David's affair with Bathsheba, and we've read about the consequences that were reaped from that affair. After David's restoration before God, he knew that he would be whole, and even the 'broken bones would rejoice'.
What hit me was something I'd heard in the past (probably at HSBC) about shepherds and lost sheep. We've all seen the shepherd's staff, and the crook it has at the end. Useful for fighting away animals, and other things. When a shepherd has a sheep that wanders, and will not stay with the flock, the shepherd takes drastic action. He will put the leg of the sheep in the crook and move it quickly, breaking the sheep's leg. The sheep is now incapable of walking, and must be carried by the shepherd until the leg heals.
David was a shepherd, and I thought that just maybe he was using a similar analogy here. He had undoubtedly had to break sheep's legs in the past, and he knew the pain that he caused. And he knew the care he would have to give that sheep for recovery. *But* he also knew it was for the best.
What a way to view God's chastening of His children. God has to do it, yet the whole time, through the recovery, His love is poured out until we are made whole. And it's always for the best.
- Brian
posted by Brian at
7:14 AM
