Crazy Train

Psalm 34

I’m an Ozzy fan–not diehard, but I like his music.  Out of all of his tunes (both with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist), two seem to define his rock star persona:  “Paranoid” and “Crazy Train.”  Biting the head off a pidgeon during a meeting with record company execs; biting the head off a bat at a concert (although that was an accident); snorting ants with Motley Crue; taking a piss on the Alamo; nearly killing his wife during a drug-induced rampage.  Yeah, I’ve seen Ozzy’s “Behind the Music” multiple times.

Psalm 34 has an interesting heading:  “A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.”  The account of David riding the crazy train is found in 1 Samuel 21:10-22:2.  It was a very stressful time in David’s life.  He was a fugitive on the run from King Saul, who was a few fries short of a Happy Meal himself.  David decided to go to the beach and seek refuge from the King of the Philistines, a tribe of people who always seemed to be a pain in the ass for the ancient Israelites.  After hearing a remark that the king made, David decided to go el poyo loco in fear for his life.  He faked crazy–he scratched up the walls, he drooled all over his gotee.  The king kicked him out of the country.  David then went back to his wilderness headquarters, the cave of Adullam.  It seems like he regained perspective here, and wrote this Psalm.  Just like a rock star–go crazy, write a song about it.

Psalm 34 is all about God–His protection, His provision.  He encourages people to praise God.  In the middle of the Psalm, he writes this in verses 12-14:  “Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good?  Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.  Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”  David’s decision to ride the crazy train wasn’t his best moment.  It looks like he had a lapse in depending on God.  Now, having regained perspective, he knows what God requires of him:  true speech, holy living, aggressively seeking peace.

How many times during our week–heck, during our day–do we want to punch our ticket for a ride on the crazy train?  Sometimes, life gets too hectic:  bills, deadlines, crazy kids, spouse, church, hobbies, the list can go on and on.  How many times do we put ourselves in the driver’s seat, trying to navigate ourselves out of the mess we’ve created?  If I can just organize my calendar better, if I can just squeeze in one more thing, if I can please one more person.  What ends up happening is that we need some Lithium and a straight jacket… and God is out of the picture.  We end up with crazy speech (out of anger), unholy living, and being just plain aggressive (or the much more annoying passive-aggressive).  Choo-Choo.  All aboard…

We’ve allowed ourselves to get way too busy, and way too proud.  We need to simplify our lives and learn to trust God.  He is our protector and our provider.  Take 15 minutes at the beginning of your day to sit in silence with your Bible (it may mean getting up earlier) and let God speak to you.  Pray, acknowledging how dependent you really are on Him. Spend your time proactively in the car–pray for someone, pray for the idiot who cut you off in traffic (not that God will strike him–be nice!), pray for your family, for your church.  Confess your sin–times of deceitful speech and unholy living.  See the line in Wal-Mart as an instant vacation.  Pray for the people in line, that God will open a door for them to encounter Jesus.  Meditate on the cross.  See what things you can cut from your life (by the way, your kids don’t have to be involved in 30 different things.  Let them choose one, make them stick to it for a season, and if they want to do something else, give them the choice to continue with what they’re doing or to quit and take up something new).  End your day by evaluating it and seeing how God worked through your day.  Thank Him for those things.  Praise Him for being your protector and provider.  If we’ll trust Jesus and do these things, our lives may just simplify and become much less crazy.

Choo-choo.  I hope you miss the train…