A Tale of Three Kings

February 7, 2017

A Tale of Three Kings

I cry aloud to the Lord,

and he answers me from his holy hill. Sē’lah

Psalm 3:4 (NRSV)

It is in the midst of adversity, both big and small, that the depth of our Life in Christ is revealed. The adversity may involve someone being rude or cutting us off in traffic, or perhaps we see everything we have worked for being lost through divorce, business failure or personal bankruptcy. How we respond to these circumstances reveals what we believe about God and how deeply Christ has transformed our life.

Near the end of King David’s reign, his son Absalom led a rebellion against David and seized the throne of Israel. That’s adversity. Gene Edward deals with the adversity in David’s life in his book, A Tale of Three Kings. It is the story of David’s relationship with both King Saul and Absalom. This book is a Christian classic and is a valuable addition to the personal library of every Christian.

Psalm 3 was written by King David in the midst of Absalom’s rebellion. David responded to the revolt by expressing his deep trust in God:

If God wants me to be on the throne, no one can take it away;

if God doesn’t want me on the throne there is nothing I can do to keep it.

This trust is revealed in the movement of the psalm from a description of the crisis to his calling out to God for help. David affirms he can rest because God hears, God fights the battle, and God blesses His people.

The word Sē’lah is used three times in this psalm. It is translated, Interlude, in the NLT, which comes pretty close to describing its meaning.  But Sē’lah is more than resting; in this context, it is taking the time to think and reflect on what has been written.

Today as I reflect on verses 4-6, two details caught my attention. First, David “cried out to the Lord.” I don’t know about you, but I know I try way too hard to get my life under control. David’s psalm is an invitation for me to ask myself, “When was the last time I cried out to the Lord?” Am I heeding Jesus’ invitation to keep on asking, to keep on seeking, and especially to keep on knocking? (See How Much More, January 30, 2017)  

The second detail was the connection between David’s trust in God and a good night’s sleep. This is the peace that passes all understanding that Paul speaks of in Philippians 4. David’s circumstances had not changed, but he was able to rest because he knew the Lord was watching over him.

Every day we all face adversities. How we respond to these adversities reveals the depth of our Life in Christ.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.