David seesawed with unpredictability as he fled from Saul, never really knowing who he could trust. Those he once helped informed on him, keeping King Saul and his warriors ever at his back. No safe space existed.

So David in his writings turned to the one he could trust—Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Along with Saul, David faced his old enemies the Philistines. Their enmity drove him to the Lord as well—In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?

In the midst of turmoil, one truly safe space exists—God and his word. The Lord who sustained David walks among us. The words of God David repeated over and over in the darkness of his cave rest today in the palm of our hands.

Turn to them or lay then aside, but know they are always there for you.

Psalm 54 & 56 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Zach Lezniewicz

I’ve been watching crews work on the infrastructure for a new housing and mixed-use development in our town. Weeks and weeks of moving dirt, preparing for future storm drainage and laying out streets. All before a single building goes up. Building a city takes careful planning and lots of hard work.

Which is why I find this brief reference to Sheerah so interesting. Either Ephraim’s daughter or granddaughter (the text is not totally clear), Sheerah built Lower and Upper Beth Horon as well as Uzzen Sheerah.

Rare to see a woman listed as a builder of cities in the Bible. Sheerah must have possessed a great deal of drive and leadership skills to organize those around her to haul rock and level ground and work together for the good of the community. Foundations she laid thousands of years ago remain visible today.

I also find it interesting that one of the cities is named after her—Uzzen Sheerah. I wonder if she named it after herself, or did her grateful fellow citizens title the city in her honor? Either way the name stuck, which says a lot for the character and work ethic of this ancient architect and builder of cities.

1 Chronicles 7 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Ümit Yıldırım

Paul and Silas cast a demon out of a slave girl after she followed their entourage for several days, shouting and making a ruckus. Her owners previously used the girl to predict the future, generating a great deal of money in the process. Seeing the change in the girl, the furious owners incited a mob who beat the preachers and threw them in jail.

Why? Paul and Silas hurt the local economy. Making good money trumps concern for others. It’s part of the base nature of humans, an outgrowth of sin. Why did slavery last so long? It was lucrative. And so is legalizing recreational marijuana and promoting sports betting and hawking drugs to terminate pregnancies. Follow the money and uncover the base intentions of humankind.

Jesus tells us to follow him, not the money. He frees us from slaving for wealth. Followers of Jesus still prosper, and he promises those who turn to him an abundant life.

Generosity of resources and spirit mark the way of Jesus, rather than living large upon the misfortune of others.

Acts 16 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Giorgio Trovato

I think of the people who wrote the Psalms as calm and collected, penning verses on scrolls during days of peaceful reflection. And surely this experience proved true, but it was not always the case.

David wrote a psalm in response to the horrific crime of Saul and his henchman Doeg against a group of guiltless priests. Convinced these men aided David in his escape, Saul ordered them cut down. His guards hesitated, refusing to kill the innocent, so Doeg the Edomite stepped forward. When he finished, 85 men, along with all the women and children in their village, lay scattered and dying. Only one escaped the carnage.

David responded from the cave where he hid: Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin…he will uproot you from the land of the living.

This crime of Saul and Doeg brought forth repugnance and outrage from David, and amazingly an increased dependence on the Lord—I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever…and I will hope in your name, for your name is good.

At times I enjoy the Psalms for their serene impressions. But I also enjoy those written in the midst of a messy, complicated life on the run. David wrote specifically about this crime, and reminds me that the Lord hears us in our specificity. Pour out your anger and fear and hope in the Lord, and trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

Psalm 52 & I Samuel 22 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Stefano Pollio