The Lamb Thief

The first time I heard Keith Green sing, he was already dead.  

I was driving down the street, listening to the radio.  I didn't know he was dead, so that didn't influence my opinion of his performance.  Maybe if I had known I might have cut him some slack.  As it was, what I heard didn't impress me.  I didn't know he had been somewhat controversial, and I didn't know that he had written, co-written, and performed many best selling songs.  All I knew at the time was what I heard on the radio that day, and, as I later learned, it was not a song for which he was especially well known.

The piano accompaniment which Green was playing was slow, laconic, almost wandering; just about the exact opposite of the usual pieces I heard on the radio.  There was no driving back beat from a bass guitar, no drums to draw the singer back to the appropriate pace.  His voice was, well, not exceptional in any way.  He just sounded like a guy singing.  I found myself wondering just why this piece had made it to the radio, at all.

And then, there were the words.  They didn't rhyme, which was very odd; in fact, there appeared to be no attempt to come up with a rhyming pattern of any kind; not even words that didn't rhyme but almost did.  It moved so slowly, it sounded like he was almost reading something to music.  At that point, I was reaching for the controls to change the station.

But then, I REALLY heard the words.  And I stopped; my hand hovering over the controls.

"Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence, oh Lord
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me."

THAT struck a nerve.  I had that feeling I had heard something like that before.  I know this is cliche, but it's true: I pulled my car over to the side of the road and listened to the rest of the song.  And when it was over, I pulled out my Bible and started searching.  By then, I was certain the man had been singing scripture, and almost verbatim.  I was used to songs ABOUT things in the Bible, but this--this singing verses without forcing them into some kind of rhyme--this was something a bit new to me.

And I found it.  In Psalms 51.  And I knew why it seemed so familiar.  David wrote this song after Nathan, God's Prophet, told him a story.  In the story, a man--a rich man; one with plenty of everything; power, wealth, accolades--stole, slaughtered, and ATE a poor man's only lamb rather than one of his own many lambs.  Scripture says David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!" (2 Samuel 12:5 NIV).

Then Nathan, who already knew that David had secretly had sex with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be killed in battle, turned on David and declared, "YOU are the man!"

Ever have one of those moments?  That awful slice of time when it is shoved in your face that what you have done is not only wrong (really, REALLY wrong), but KNOWN!  It was a shocking wake-up for King David.  And it made an impact.

David, finally remorseful for his actions, feels the full force of being cut off from God by his sin.  And he writes what we now call Psalm 51 to express his remorse and desire to be forgiven.

You may have done some terrible things in your life.  David certainly did.  Don't let those decisions and actions keep you from God.  I encourage you to embrace the words of Psalm 51 as your prayer of forgiveness and reconciliation.  Yes, there are always consequences for our actions, and our bad actions can come with some pretty horrific consequences.  David's did.  

I was ungracious during that first minute of listening to Keith Green sing his song.  But by the end I began to grasp what he undoubted already knew.  With that particular song, the words are far too important to let them be overshadowed by anything, even the music.  Even the performer.  What I learned is this: if I am willing to change, God is willing to forgive, to restore and renew, and even create in me a clean heart.


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 25, 2012)
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33

Annunciation of the Lord (March 25, 2012)
Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 45 or Psalm 40:5-10
Hebrews 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38

Will you be in Waco Friday morning?  If so, join us for breakfast at 8:00 at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown on 6th, near the Courthouse).  We have a great time discussing the coming week's passages, and the food is delicious :-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve