God Helps Kill Enemies?

For You have girded me with strength for battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
They looked, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;
I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.
(2 Samuel 22:40-43 NASB)

Theology, at its core, is a ‘word about God’, just as the word means: ‘theo = god’ and ‘logy = word’.  Since followers of Jesus are to get their word about God from the Scripture He created, it may be helpful to view Scriptures that make us uncomfortable. This one, is, on the surface, a praise for God’s help in times of trouble.  But as we delve into what was done, how God helped, we, 21st Century Christians, may be a bit uncomfortable with this word about God.

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Inspired Activity

 For You are my lamp, O Lord;
And the Lord illumines my darkness.
For by You I can run upon a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall
(2 Samuel 22:29,30 NASB)

I saw Star Wars when it first came out, and it was overwhelming.  I left the theater feeling like I could have run all the way home (about 20 miles…and I was 11).  Up to that point, and granted my experience was severely limited, I had never had a movie do that to me.  I felt so inspired, I wanted to do what the characters had done, overcome the evil, defeat the unbeatable odds, and live to tell the tale.

The Violence of God and His People

For You have girded me with strength for battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
They looked, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;
I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets
(2 Samuel 22:40-43 NASB)

Would it bother you if I told you that God sometimes incites His people to violent acts?  Probably.  In our culture we would probably shudder or start calling for the guys in white coats, nets, and extra-long-sleeve jackets with buckles in the back.  It sounds like the ravings of a lunatic blaming God for their lunacy, ‘hearing voices’, and foaming at the mouth.  Not something we like to think about.  To be fair, most of the times (or all the times) this sort of thing has been reported in the news, that was pretty close to what it was, lunacy; perhaps even demonic activity.

How Does God Respond To You and Me?

With the kind You show Yourself kind,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the perverted You show Yourself astute.
And You save an afflicted people;
But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase
(2 Samuel 22:26-28 NASB)

Active listening, or ‘mirroring’ are communication techniques recommended for clearer conversation, discussions, and even negotiation.  What about living this way?  What if you live in such a way as to ‘mirror’ those around you?  Well, according to God’s instructions to the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Land, that is a recipe for disaster.  But can a ‘modified’ form of life-mirroring be learned from how God responds to us?

When God Shows Up…

In my distress I called upon the Lord,
Yes, I cried to my God;
And from His temple He heard my voice,
And my cry for help came into His ears.
Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of heaven were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
Fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
And He rode on a cherub and flew;
And He appeared on the wings of the wind.
And He made darkness canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.
From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.
The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
And He sent out arrows, and scattered them,
Lightning, and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare
By the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
(2 Samuel 22:7-16 NASB)

Let’s sing another ‘hymn’ or ‘praise song’ to our Lord!  Raise your hands to our loving father!  And of course, tremble in absolute utter inability to think a rational thought completely overwhelmed by what His glory truly looks like…

We say glib and trite things like we want God to be close, we want Him to hold us close, and so on.  But really what Jesus said and what Paul repeats is that we can call Him ‘daddy’, the intimate term for our fathers on earth.  Neither Jesus nor Paul ever asserts that this one we can refer to as our intimate Parent is any different than the terrifying images previously described.  We tend to forget that.

What’s The Difference?

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great (Psalm 18:35 NASB)

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your help makes me great. (2 Samuel 22:36 NASB)

On my trek through 2 Samuel, I ran across chapter 22, which I was going to skip since it was also Psalm 18.  But then it occurred to me that the minor differences might be illuminating.  So, I wanted to pick out a few and share some insights.  Keep in mind, we don’t really know which is truly the older edition, but the prevailing suspicion is that the book of Psalms preserves the final edition more fit for public worship.  Regardless of which is more ‘fitting’, I do believe that the Psalm is the final, and 2 Samuel 22 is the ‘draft’.  That being said, permit me to delve into one of the differences, verse 36 in 2 Samuel 22, and verse 35 in Psalm 18 (in the English, not in Hebrew numbering).