As a First Resort

“Get that furniture put together, and as a last resort, read the instructions.” “Trust your gut feeling about where the place is: drive and hunt, and as a last resort, ask directions.” I am training myself away from generalizations and stereotypes, but I am amused by one person’s quip that if a woman had been leading the trip from Egypt to the promised land, it would not have taken forty years. I suppose it is a complex mixture of determination, pride, and ego that keeps some from leaning on outside help. There are both admirable and unhelpful aspects to such stubbornness.

Because of the upcoming Scripture lessons we have this Sunday, we will be looking in the coming days, at the David and Goliath contest, and at the calming the storm miracle of Jesus.  Young David of Bethlehem, before he was king of Israel, put his trust in God as a first principle, not as a last resort. He turned not first to sword and helmet, mail and armor, but with simple stone and sling in hand, he turned to God. Jesus lived in communion with his heavenly Father and taught others to live in the spirit of faith, not as autonomous sole actors until desperation drives us to call out to God.

I am looking forward to delving further into these passages, but here, I love the coaching of our psalm for this Sunday. Look at four couplets from Psalm 20:

1  May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, *
    the Name of the God of Jacob defend you;

2  Send you help from his holy place *
    and strengthen you out of Zion;

7  Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, *
    but we will call upon the Name of the Lord our God.

8  They collapse and fall down, *
    but we will arise and stand upright.

This is the language of David, a poet who knows God to be involved in the human predicament. What is our frame of thought? Are we involved in how God is moving in the world and is God interacting with us and affecting the way we walk and stand? I don’t think we need to convince each other that we do encounter trouble in the world. I think of the record in John’s gospel, in which Jesus bolsters the disciples’ trust in his ultimate victory before he is arrested and taken from them: “I have told you all this so that you may find your peace in me. You will find trouble in the world—but, never lose heart, I have conquered the world.”  (John 16:33)

It is another way of life to look to God as a first resort not as a last in everything. By choice, we can perpetually do so, and in a day of trouble look for God to answer. It is not enough to put our trust in chariots, horses, or their modern equivalents; it is better, first, to call upon God and place trust there. We will arise, and stand upright, when we look to the holy place, and see coming from there, the help and strength of God.