Tuesday 23 April, 2013

23 Here are David’s last words. He said, “I am David, the son of Jesse. God has given me a message. The Most High God has greatly honored me. The God of Jacob anointed me as king. I am Israel’s singer of songs. 2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me. I spoke his word with my tongue. 3 The God of Israel spoke. The Rock of Israel said to me, ‘A king must rule over people in a way that is right. He must have respect for me when he rules. 4 Then he will be like the light of morning at sunrise when there aren’t any clouds. He will be like the bright sun after rain that makes the grass grow on the earth.’ 5 “Isn’t my royal family right with God? Hasn’t he made a covenant with me that will last forever? Every part of it was well prepared and made secure. Won’t he save me completely? Won’t he give me everything I long for? 6 But evil people are like thorns that are thrown away. You can’t pick them up with your hands. 7 Even if you touch them, you must use an iron tool or a spear. Thorns are burned up right where they are.”

Memoirs show the depth of human pain and failure. David’s words are a closing statement of his memoir.

Just before his death, David considers his long, complex life. He

had been shepherd-boy, warrior, general, king and psalmist.

He acknowledges that it is God who has kept him through the years. David is assured that God will continue to be with his descendants. David’s last words are a poetic memoir of praise and

pain.

With all David’s brokenness, God’s promises will still be through his line. David reflected over his life, family, leadership and failures. By acknowledging the good, the bad and the ugly, his memoires show God working in his life. David’s story is part of God’s story and we are also part of God’s story.

We all have a past, and we have been shaped by events and people we’ve known. We are all broken people who make mistakes that have led us in directions we didn’t see.
Our past can be great story; God’s future will be an even better one, full of hope and new life. What’s your story? What does it look like so far?
Who and what has shaped your attitudes and understanding and changed the direction of your life? Would we answer the question, “If I had it to do over again, I’d …”?

I pray my memoir will include what God is doing with my story — how God’s love and grace has redeemed even my greatest failures and turned them into something good. That it ends with a hope for a future made possible by God. I pray that I will always recognise (as David did) that God is the only hero my memoir needs. Our stories only have lasting value if they’re folded into the story that God has, is and will do in the world.

Written by Cathy Croft