Womb

“Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm 22:9-10 NIVUK

David made the confident assertion that his relationship with God started when he was born. In fact, he stated that he was “cast on [God]” at that nascent point in his life. A new life, full of potential, and with God’s hand upon him, how could he ever fail? And writing here David is much older and wiser, but testifying to his start in life. God was there at his birth and while being fed by his mother, and God was still with David much later as Psalm 22 rolled off his pen. 

Was David being singled out for special treatment by God? Did God know that He would have to be proactive in David’s upbringing, ensuring that he would be the right person for Israel’s king? When a child is brought into the world, the potential for a great man or woman of God is there, but not many will achieve the lofty heights of kingship. So, how is that potential realised during a child’s upbringing? In David’s culture, much of that was down to the mother, who nurtured the child, sung songs of praise and worship, prayed, told the Bible stories, and taught the child in the ways of God. The Jewish father also led the family in prayers and teaching, reminiscing over meals about the great acts of God in their heritage, the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea and so on. A Jewish boy’s education would also have been steeped in the Hebrew Bible of that time. In David’s case he progressed from childhood into manhood but he took with him all that he had been taught, and, most importantly, he started to work in his father’s business, tending sheep for long hours and in the process he developed the skills necessary for life as well as honing his relationship with God. And he wrote Psalm 8:1-2, “O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you“. In those long nights he looked up and saw the canopy of the heavens in all its glory, and he wrote, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known”(Psalm 19:1-2). But it all started as a new born baby in his mother’s arms, with God looking on.

There are other examples of God raising up a man for a particular purpose, and Moses comes to mind. But there was a special Man born two thousand or so years ago who was the Son of God. His mission has changed the course of history, and is still doing so as the End Times loom ever nearer. On that day, Heaven touched earth in the arms of a peasant teenager called Mary, bringing a Life that climaxed thirty three years later on a cross at Calvary, birthing something else that we call the Church. But that’s for another day.

The birth of David would not have appeared in his memory of course, but his parents would have reminded him about his Godly origins. It stresses the important role that a parent has in bringing up children. Those early years of nurture and teaching will make or break a child’s future, because what is sown in the first few years will set the course of their lives ahead. It is so sad that parents will often abdicate their responsibilities and sit the child before a television, potentially filling their minds with all the wrong information. And our schools, colleges, and politicians today seem more intent on propagating ideologies that are just plain wrong. We pray for our country, that God will once again visit us bringing conviction of sin and salvation. We need You, God! Our politicians need You. Our teachers need You. We all need You. Come Lord Jesus!

God does not prefer one person over another, as Paul reminded us in Romans 2:11, “For God does not show favouritism“. We are all equal before God and, most importantly, before the Cross. But people will have different abilities, as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Talents. We can read it in Matthew 25, but here is verse 15, “He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip“. Notice the phrase “in proportion to their abilities”. God doesn’t expect more from us than we are able to give. The first two servants, even though they had different abilities, heard their Master say, “well done, my good and faithful servant”. But we need to use what God has given us to the best of our ability, being aware of the ultimate fate of the third servant. 

Many people will try one day to blame their upbringing for their status in life. Although there is some truth in that, we have a wonderful God who is able to redeem our past, and restore the years the locust has eaten. We may experience many fruitless years in this life, but God is patient and knows our hearts. One day He will bring us through to His presence. But in the meantime, we listen for God’s voice and we obey His instructions. We are on Planet Earth for the just the time as this. There is an opportunity to reach our generation for Jesus, using the gifts the Holy Spirit planted within us from our mothers’ wombs. We may never see the fruit of our labours this side of eternity, but I think we may be surprised when we find souls coming to us one day thanking us for our perseverance and willingness to share our faith. We trust God with our future, as David did. And with him we proclaim that he is our God. Forever.

Dear Father God. We trust You with our lives, and one day we pray in faith that we too will hear those words “well done” from the Master Himself. In Jesus’ name. Amen.