Sword

I'm sure you have heard Psalm 139 before. If not, it will probably be one of the first introduced to you should you choose to explore the Christian realm of thought. Christians love this Psalm. They love it because it speaks directly to them. They love it because it tells them they are loved. They love it because it tells them that there is always someone with them..and that someone is God. I say "they" because to be honest, I have grown numb to Psalm 139. Before I thought it was a classic example of "familiarity breeds contempt", and that I was just way too familiar. Truthfully, it was never the case that the comfort from these words had simply "faded away". Comfort was never there. I never heard these words and felt a sense of safety and peace. I thought maybe they were true for others, but they were never true for me.

The problem with human solutions to human problems is that we can't deal with complexity. We only do what we know how to help ourselves, and the only thing we know how to do is reduce. Athletic trainers and nutritionists will say that proper exercise and a healthy diet will lead to more energy and to a better self-esteem. "Your lack of happiness is a physical issue" they might say. A therapist's advice would be to look within. They would express the importance of feeling and getting to the root of the issue. Christians might assume that it's a spiritual problem and ask the inevitable question "have you prayed and read your Bible lately?" And some others might assume that there is a deep moral issue or unconfessed sin that is dragging you down. "Or is it a relational issue?" another might inquire. None of these ideas are wrong. Oftentimes our realization of these problems and solutions are enough to dull the pain. But there is still something missing. There is still a part of us that feels left out, as though we're wearing a band-aid while still suffering from an open wound that lies beneath it.

I saw the other day that the Bible is the only source that doesn't employ reductionist theories. It does not try to fix us on one or two levels while letting the other aspects of us dwell in the corner (for more on this subject give a listen to Tim Keller's "A Wounded Spirit"). We are told that we are made in the image of the living God including the ability to feel and think and relate and choose.

When God put Adam in the garden he told him to be obedient about the tree... but he failed. When Jesus was in the garden God told him to be obedient about the tree..and he was. But his instruction was a bit more extensive than Adam's. He was told he would be broken emotionally, physically, relationally, spiritually. He would be broken in every way that he could be. On the cross he would not be able to escape his humanness, and it would completely defeat him. Jesus had to mend the wound that Adam caused. He had to stretch out his arms and let himself be beaten and mocked and abandoned by his Father. He had to be crushed in every way. Then, and only then could he make way for man to know the meaning of total redemption. He had to feel pain unto death in order to offer us physical strength. He had to feel the shame of the cross in order to offer us honor. He had to feel totally abandoned in order to offer us relationship. He had to bear the weight of sin in order to offer us forgiveness.

It is through these things that we can realize the meaning of the words "by his wounds, we are healed". God does not reduce us to just emotions, or bodies, or spirits. He does not do this because we are much, much more to him than that. His love for us, a total love can be seen in the fact that he did not reduce the sufferings of Jesus either. To the degree that Jesus was raised and glorified is the degree to which he desires to do the same for us. To those who by faith identify themselves with Christ in his afflictions, he will give the right to become his heirs, his children, his inheritance.

But until then, we are here. We live in the midst of a broken people who do not know how to heal themselves but who constantly try. We so long to be in his presence and to see his face and for our faith to be sight. What a glorious day that will be! But even in the midst of our suffering, and even in the midst of our pain, God wispers some words to us in his word that have more comfort to me now than ever before.

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?..." These words of Psalm 139 are so rich when we consider the depth to which he knows us due to the depth to which he suffered for us. He does not desire to fulfill some parts of us, but the whole thing. In complexity we were created, suffered for, and now are being redeemed. We can utter "you make beautiful things" to God in comfort that these words are true now and will be even more so when we see him face to face.

We will always be living in want for more as long as we live in a world of reductionist theories. It is safe to assume that they are all around us, but let us not carry these assumptions to the Word of God. It truly is a sword, our only sword, and hope of defense.

Rejoice in these truths with me. Let us magnify our great God together.

Blessings.