Monday, February 3, 2014

David's Reliance on God


In today’s first reading 2 Sam 15: 13-14, 30; 16: 5-13, King David is being pursued by those who want him dead, who are clinging to his past sin of adultery and murder and are convinced that all of the misery in their lives is due to David’s sinfulness.  As he flees his pursuers, a man follows him, leveling curses at him and throwing stones at him.  One of the men fleeing with David wants to kill the person who is harassing David. David’s reply: “What business is it of mine or of yours,…that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’” David maintains his peace.  He is well aware of his sinful past, has repented and returned to serving the Lord to the best of his ability, realizing that there are consequences to his sin against Uriah.
All of us are sinners.  That does not mean that we do not love the Lord or are incapable of doing good.  David teaches us humility and repentance, of the importance of  acknowledging our sinfulness and seeking reconciliation with our God.  No matter what our past, there is salvation for us in God (compare Ps 3 of today’s liturgy).  With David, we can pray as David did in Psalm 3 of today’s liturgy: “…[Y]ou, Lord, are my shield; my glory, you lift up my head!  When I call out to [you,] Lord, [you] answer me from [your] holy mountain. When I lie down in sleep, I wake again, for…[you,] Lord sustain me. I fear not the myriads of people arrayed against me on every side.”

This reminds me of the “myriads of peopled arrayed” against the Catholic Church “on every side,” holding the sins of the past, the sins of certain priests or bishops or popes, the weaknesses of the hierarchy against it, just as David’s son Absalom and his followers held David’s sin against him and were bent on destroying him and his followers. In both instances, people have taken their eyes off of God, our Creator, and Jesus, our Savior and are riveted on things they cannot change. Only God is unchangeable and perfect. No human being in any state in life is perfect, whether of the Church or outside of the Church, whether members of our own families or the families of others and, “no”, not even us. We all need God’s mercy. Let us keep our eyes on the Lord, not on his servants or kings or priests or bishops or even the Pope. We are all dependent on the mercy of God to accomplish God’s will. And God’s plan will not be thwarted even in the hands of the worst of sinners.
Lord, teach me to rely on you and you alone, to seek you and you alone!

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