January 9, 2008

• Faith... for deliverance? or regardless of deliverance?

  Thinking today about the difference between David's "faith" and the "faith" of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

  The former:

   20So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.
  21Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.
  22Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.
  23As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.
  24When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.
  25The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."
  26Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"
  ...
  31When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him.
  32David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
  33Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."
  34But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
  35I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
  36"Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God."
  37And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine " And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."
  ...
  41Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
  42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
  43The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
  44The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."
  45Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
  46"This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
  47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."
  1 Samuel 17
  The latter:

   14Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
  15"Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"
  16Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.
  17"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
  18"But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
  Dan 3:14-18
  So David was like, "You have taunted the Lord's army and you are coming to fight against me the Lord's warrior, so you are going to die."
  Meanwhile Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were like, "We don't know if God will deliver us or not.  But we will serve Him anyway regardless of whether He spares our lives or not."

  Did David have "more faith" than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?  Is one attitude more appropriate than the other?  Or is the difference due to the circumstances?  How was David so sure that God would deliver him?  Because there are certainly examples in which God did NOT deliver His representatives in this life.  (However, everything will be made right at the heavenly judgment.)  E.g. Uriah:

   20Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah.
  21When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt.
  22Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt.
  23And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people.
  Jeremiah 26:20-23

  Many more Biblical examples could be considered where "God's man (or woman)" was faced with huge / life-threatening situations and 'the glory of God's name' was put 'at risk' or 'on display for God to exalt'.  Most of the situations involving specific recorded prayers for deliverance were answered, like Moses at the Red Sea and in the desert without water, Jacob before Esau's arrival, David fleeing from Saul, Hezekiah besieged by Sennacherib, etc.  Some situations involved defeat/death - e.g. the transition of Hebrews 11 from "successful" heros of the faith to "martyred"/"unsuccessful" heros of the faith in verse 35.  And Jesus Himself - fervently asking God to spare Him from death "if possible" / if there was any other way.  Yet God said "no".  (though Hebrews 5:7 says "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety"...?)   The situation with the church in Acts praying for Peter's deliverance is fascinating - they were praying for his deliverance, and God sent an angel to spring him out of jail, then when he showed up at the door they didn't believe that it was him!

  And how does this apply to us today?  If I am faced with very large challenges at my workplace, ought I to have "David-faith": "Since I am God's representative on the job here, He will give me success in this situation and put all my enemies to shame..."  ?   or ought I to have "Shadrach-faith": "I do not know if God will deliver me in this situation or allow me to be crushed/defeated/humiliated, but I will continue to serve Him either way, as long as He gives me breath." 

  Or am I asking the wrong questions?

  • 12:56 am
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