Read today’s texts first: 2 Samuel 18; Psalms 56; Matthew 27
Whose favour do we want, God’s or man’s?
In today’s readings I noticed something that may be a factor behind the betrayal and denial we talked about yesterday. In the movie, “God’s Not Dead,” the reason our protagonist, Josh Wheaton, struggled with his decision to defend the existence of God is the pressure he faced from his fiancé, family, and fellow students. His choice was between gaining favour with God or man. That is a daily dilemma for all of us. We are all insecure, to varying degrees, and the affirmation of the people around us is one of the main ways we prop up our sagging egos.
Absalom’s craving for public attention completely undermined his love for God and his love for his own father. The disciples caved under public pressure to the point of denying they even knew Jesus in the moment He needed them most! In our readings today both David and Jesus faced that same pressure.
David faced it on all sides, from Absalom and his army of usurpers to his own men who wanted to crush Absalom. But David, while no doubt fearing for his life and certainly his future as King, only wanted to trust God’s plans. He made these kinds of decisions a lot in his life and his psalms reflected his thinking process in those moments: In the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? (56:4 and 10,11).
Jesus faced even greater pressure hanging helplessly on the cross: Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (27:39,40). Jesus had already made His decision in prayer the night before, Your will be done, not mine (26:39). He knew if He didn’t defend Himself, His Father would, and He did: When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!'” (27:54).
“Lord, right now I too need to choose between what people want and what You want from my life. As a chronic people-pleaser I need Your strength to say with David: in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
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