Show and Tell
Show or Tell
“and he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies. When the waves of death compassed me, The floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of hell compassed me about; The snares of death prevented me; In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God: And he did hear my voice out of his temple, And my cry did enter into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven moved And shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: And he was seen upon the wings of the wind. And he made darkness pavilions round about him, Dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. Through the brightness before him Were coals of fire kindled.”
2 Samuel 22:2-13
Have you ever participated in Show and Tell as a child?
I barely remember back that far. I think I was around nine or ten years old. I can’t remember what class it was in school, but I remember having to bring something into class, to “Show and Tell” about it.
Here’s the idea. We have a Show and Tell day at school. We bring an item from home, something unique and something important or special to us. When we get to that particular class, and when the teacher calls on us, we walk to the front of the class.
Once at the front of the class we take the item and show it to everyone else and then we describe the item. We can either hold the item as we talk, place it on the teachers desk or pass it around the class for everyone to look at. It’s usually a who, what, when, where, how and why sort of discussion.
Maybe it was an item that we thought was cool because no one else had it. Or maybe a parent or grandparent gave it to us. Or maybe it was something we found or even something from a place we visited while on vacation. Maybe it was something useful or something that had no use at all. Some times I scratched my head at what an item was.
The first time I participated in Show and Tell I was scared to death. I thought people would laugh at me for what I was going to talk about. Or maybe my “thing” wasn’t as cool as their “thing”. Or maybe, just maybe, someone else had the same “thing”. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to describe the “thing” accurately or perfectly. I was always thinking to myself - can’t they just see what this is? I also remember being excited to see what everyone wanted to show us and tell us about.
Throughout the Bible people talk about God. There are attempts at explaining who God is. There are people who try and describe God. Or to convey to other people how great God is. People describe Gods actions or their faith in Him. God is described as merciful and just. God is describe as a lamp or a rock. God is to be feared, honored and glorified. And many made attempts at describing how to do this.
But nobody did a better job at describing God, than David. David was a powerful King, warrior and songwriter. His words were powerful in describing God. Much was written about David, and by him, in the Bible. David wrote more of the Psalms than anyone else. And his description of his love for God was beautifully written. He was a great musician. He adored God. He lived for God. He went before God with full emotion. David appeared to have never held back.
In the verses above from 2 Samuel 22 - much had already happened in Davids life.
David became a king of Judah and then Israel. He had committed adultery, he had a man killed, he had married many times, he lost a child and many of his own family betrayed him. David won almost every battle he fought. David experienced great pain, suffering and loss. He also experienced great success and joy. Don’t get me wrong, much of David’s pain came from his own actions. But nevertheless, David had plenty to write about. And a lot was written about David. Almost everything David had written about was about God.
In the verses above, David writes about God and how God delivered Him to victory for Israel and delivered him to victory in his own life. The way he details and defined God is spectacular. The way David cries out to God, God hears David and God responds.
Read each and every detail - picture the way David writes about his own faith and trust in God in verses 22-28. He tells how God has given him everything he has and how he owes every single thing to God.
How do we describe our God?
Do we give Him credit for delivering us from our own messes? Can we even describe it in our own minds?
It’s easy to take pleasure in our accomplishments and to revel in the glory of what we’ve done. Our best descriptions of things in our lives come from the things that we possess, have accomplished or even completed.
So how would we describe all that God has done or is doing in our lives? What about what He has provided?
Even through the horrible moments in life we should turn to God and thank Him for all the wonderful things He’s already done. Blame is easy when there is pain. Thankfulness is easy when we are content. So how do we thank God for our pain and credit Him for our happiness through sorrow?
God said David was a man after His own heart. This doesn’t mean David was morally pure, which is obvious. However, David sought after God, desired Gods will, waited on God and put himself before God all the time.
I can only imagine David being in my classroom during “Show and Tell” and his “thing” being his God.
Can you picture the reverence David would have for God, even during his losses?
Our best and worst moments in life will be our testimonies of what God is to us. Other people will be the audience in our Show and Tell moment. We will have one opportunity to sit and tell others what God has done or to show them what He is doing with us.
Will people understand your Show and Tell moment with God?
“For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me: And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also upright before him, And have kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; According to my cleanness in his eye sight. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, And with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury. And the afflicted people thou wilt save: But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. For thou art my lamp, O LORD: And the LORD will lighten my darkness. For by thee I have run through a troop: By my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; The word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all them that trust in him.”
2 Samuel 22:22-31