One of the things I love (and envy) about David is his sense of wonder. I think he benefitted from not being told how to think about God as he grew up.

He was the eighth son in his family, which meant he probably had a sparse education. His father Jesse would have invested heavily in his older sons, leaving David to pretty much raise himself. But David was talented, clever, and motivated so he developed lots of skills and knowledge, and he probably learned without very much direction from anyone but God.

David didn’t even have enough education to know the Law of Moses very well when he became king. When he tried to move the ark to Jerusalem he made mistakes and Uzzah the priest died. David went home and spent three months studying the writings of Moses and when he tried again, he was able to instruct the priests in how to handle the ark correctly. He was a fast learner and immediately implemented what he learned.

And every experience David had increased his awe for God. There has never been a more eloquent spokesman for awe and wonder than David.

A Sense of Wonder

Psychologists say that a desire for wonder comes from our hunger to be moved, to be engaged and impassioned; to take pleasure and be fascinated. Gregg Levoy, who writes about developing a passionate, joyful life, says,

“Wonder sets itself over and against the still background of daily life, the routine and orderly, the familiar and predictable—those unravelers of awe—and it acts as a kind of backup generator to re-stimulate our interest in the world.”

It’s possible to develop a sense of wonder by simply stopping to really pay attention to what’s going on around us. Gregg Levoy once walked around a tiny mountain lake, taking just one step per minute and noticing all there was to see. After three hours he was in awe of the crystal water, the granite basin it was nestled in, and the flowers and dead wood that surrounded it.

We can have the same experience in our own backyards, or in the streets of our town if we take a little time to go slowly and really look at things. David seems to have developed a sense of wonder about God by slowing down and noticing who he was and what he had done.

Psalm 144, Why Does God Love People?

In Psalm 144: 3-4, David asks,

“Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are a like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.”  

These verses echo what we read in Psalm 103:13-14 a couple of days ago.

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

God made people from dust; we are as fleeting as a single breath, and as insubstantial as a shadow, yet he loves us. He thinks about us and cares for us. In the midst of writing this Psalm, David stopped and wondered why God gave people any thought at all.

In the rest of Psalm 144 David took for granted the fact that God cared for him. He looked back and saw how God had helped him in battle in the past, and he looked ahead and pleaded with God to help him again.

“Part your heavens, Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth your lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners.” Psalm 144:5-7

For just a moment, David stopped in the midst of writing this psalm and was overcome by the unfathomable love of God. He essentially said to himself, “I wonder why . . .” and took time to ponder the answer.

Artistic Influence

When it came to music and poetry, David seems to have been a natural. He was the one who taught other musicians and poets, and it was he who established music as part of worship to Israel. But who taught David? It wasn’t as if David grew up with a psalm book in his hand; he was the one who created Israel’s book of worship.

Apparently, it was God who taught David. His intimacy with God was the inspiration for every Psalm David wrote and every song he taught Israel to sing.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty – and I will meditate on your wonderful works.” Psalm 145:3-5

David never ran out of material while writing about God. He created beautiful works that led one generation to tell the next about God’s glorious splendor and majesty, and he was so prolific because David really enjoyed meditating on God. His meditation made him able to say, “My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.” Psalm 145:21

A Psalm of Despair

Psalm 88 is the most relentlessly sad psalm in the Bible. It’s attributed to Heman the Ezrahite, one of David’s musicians. Some scholars think that either Heman or someone he knew was sick with a serious disease when he wrote it, and the writer wondered if God was punishing him. He lamented that even his closest friends were repelled by his condition.

Unlike almost every other psalm in the Bible, this one has no hopeful lift to it. Its mood spirals down and down to the final line which reads,

“You have taken from me my friend and neighbor – darkness is my closest friend.” Psalm 88:18

We wouldn’t look to this psalm for comfort or direction in suffering, but isn’t it interesting that it’s in the Bible? It tells us that God knows there are people who are in despair. They don’t have to put on a fake smile to get his attention.

A Psalm of Covenant

Psalm 89 is the story of God’s covenant relationship with King David.

“You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” Psalm 89:3-4

Whenever a covenant is made between two parties, both sides have to demonstrate that they are able to perform what they pledge to do. In Psalm 89:1-18 God’s credentials are laid out. Not only is God eternal, he is sovereign over everything that exists. He has all the power; he is in control. God is able to do whatever he chooses, and he chooses to give King David a royal line that will never cease, into eternity.

Jesus appears in this Psalm as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to David. He isn’t named, but he is the only person who ever lived who meets all of the criteria.

“My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted. I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’ And I will appoint him to be my first born, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.” Psalm 89:24-29

Not All the Kings Succeeded

David had other descendants born before Jesus, and some of them failed. The psalmist refers to them in Psalm 89:30-45 and the psalm closes with a lament for a failed king.

But the beauty of this Psalm is that God kept his covenant with David. Jesus was born into David’s royal line a thousand years later. Israel was not a sovereign nation by then so there was no throne in Jerusalem for him to occupy. Instead Jesus ascended to the throne that was higher than Jerusalem. He ascended all the way to the right hand of God the Father in heaven where he lives forever.

David found what he knew of God to be wonderful, and he only knew a fraction of what God had in mind for him and his descendants. We can read all about it now and see how the royal covenant was fulfilled.

So, what is God doing in your life that fills you with wonder?  Have you taken time to really pay attention to his activity around you?  Whether it’s a star or a flower, a joy or a comfort, a healing or a help – stop and contemplate what God is doing. If you do,  it will  fill you with wonder.

For tips on how to develop a healthy sense of wonder, check out this site:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/passion/201509/7-ways-spark-your-sense-wonder