Leap Over a Wall by Eugene H Peterson

Date Started: April 24, 2005
Date Completed:

Just started reading Leap Over a Wall by Eugene Peterson. I have been running across quite a few articles that reference him so thought I should read him for myself. I have had his book Long Obedience in Same Direction but it is packed in storage so found that the library had this book and the blurb on the back sounded good:

Of all the characters in the Bible, it is David who is most human. His life is lived on the “rough-edged actuality” of real life, and his relationship with God is an energetic one. Through the passions, the trials, and the lyrical poetry of this beloved figure, we gain powerful insights into the role of God in our own lives.

In this inspirational volume, Professor Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, uses stories from David’s epic life as vivid lessons in everyday faith and spirituality. Exploring David’s experiences of friendship, grief, love, sin, and suffering, as well as sanctuary, beauty, and wilderness, he reawakens us to the enduring truths behind these beloved stories.

Selections & Notes:

Chapter 1 – Stories – David and Jesus

pg 4. “Somewhere along the way, most of us pick up bad habits of extracting from the Bible what we pretentiously call “spiritual principles,” or “moral guidelines,” or “theological truths, ” and then corseting ourselves in them in order to force a godly shape on our lives. That’s a mighty uncomfortable way to go about improving our condition. And it’s not the gospel way.”

pg 8. “It looks easier and far more attractive to specialize in something we’re apt to call “spiritual,” to throw all our efforts into trying to be “like gods,” forgetting that that’s how we got into all this trouble in the first place.”

pg 9. “Why David? There are several strands that make up the answer, but prominent among them is David’s earthiness. He’s so emphatically human: David fighting, praying, loving, sinning. David conditioned by the morals and assumptions of a brutal Iron Age culture. David with his eight wives. David angry; David devious; David generous; David dancing.”

pg 11. “David’s is a most exuberant story. Earthy spirituality characterizes his life and accounts for the exuberance.
Earthy: down-to-earth, dealing with everydayness, praying while doing the laundry, singing in the snarl of traffic.
Spiritual: moved and animated by the Spirit of God and therefore alive to God.

Chapter 2 – Names – David and Samuel

pg 18. “We turn responsibility for faith over to the religious experts. Result? A public Christian identity dominated by bumper=sticker labels and television celebrities and nurture in people an insatiable appetite for watching religious performance and an indiscriminate eagerness for buying junk religious artifacts.”

pg 19. “David’s life is a premier biblical instance of what’s sometimes called “the priesthood of all believers.” Luther made a lot of it during the Reformation, but he didn’t make it up. There are a variety of offices in the community of faith — prophet, priest, wise person, elder, apostle, deacon, bishop, and so on — but throughout the church, the primary emphasis is on the people. All the offices/jobs are servant positions for assisting and encouraging men and women to be the people of God and not merely a crowd of religious consumers.”

Chapter 3 – Work – David and Saul

Chapter 4 – Imagination – David and Goliath

Chapter 5 – Friendship – David and Jonathan

Chapter 6 – Sanctuary – David and Doeg

Chapter 7 – Wilderness – David and En-gedi

Chapter 8 – Beauty – David and Abigail

Chapter 9 – Company – David and Ziklag

Chapter 10 – Generosity – David and Brook Besor

Chapter 11 – Grief – David in Lament

Chapter 12 – Boneheads – David and the Sons of Zeruiah

Chapter 13 – Growth – David and Jerusalem

Chapter 14 – Religion – David and Uzzah

Chapter 15 – Sovereign Grace – David and Nathan

Chapter 16 – Love – David and Mephibosheth

Chapter 17 – Sin – David and Bathsheba

Chapter 18 – Suffering – David and Absalom

Chapter 19 – Theology – David and God

Chapter 20 – Death – David and Abishag