Webster tells us that to “presume” is to think that something is true without knowing that it’s true. It also defines it as expecting too much from a relationship in a way that shows you do not understand your role in the relationship, resulting in going beyond the proper limits of that relationship.
If we think about it, and are honest with ourselves, we can identify times when we’ve lived out that definition. Well, we’re in good company.
Ps 30:6-7 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong…
David, like us at times, reveals his self-sufficiency by attributing his strength to God’s favor. He felt secure because of his prosperity, which he attributed to God’s blessings, but he let the blessings lead to his self-confidence. Think about that. How many times have we seen people claim that their prosperity (salwi; ease-well being) proves that “God is good,” while at the same time their heart is “far from Him.” They are like the rich fool in Jesus’ parable, who built bigger barns and then said to himself:
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
His problem, however, was that God called him a fool and required his soul that very night. That was the dangerous ground David was stepping on at the very time he realized that his “presumption” of his role in his relationship with God was wrong:
… thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
Where David found himself is a place that many Christians have found themselves today. When things suddenly turn sour they find themselves wondering what happened to “God’s favor” as they find themselves in the same place as David.
Putting this in context with the world we live in here in the West, we have been so blessed in the U.S. that it’s easy to fall into the trap of considering it as God’s blessing because He is pleased with our relationship. Think about something that Harry Blamires said (author of The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think?) concerning “presumption.”
In the modern state, crisis is moved to the edge of our lives. The government promises us everything, and we are numbed by it. Sickness, however, still turns our attention to God. Think of how cancer, heart disease, or AIDS grip us with fear. Suddenly, our mortality is before us. We, like David, are troubled or, better, “shattered,” “terrified.”
The bottom line is that God does what He does because of who He is, not because of who we “think” we are. When we find ourselves becoming comfortable in our prosperity, our security, we need to stop and put our relationship with the Lord back in perspective. If we don’t, we may well find ourselves in David’s position… troubled (bahal; trembling inwardly – dismayed). But, like David, we don’t have to stay that way.
Ps 30:10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.
We need to respond to our circumstances in the only way that matters. We need to stop “presuming” on our relationship with the Lord and put our relationship back in focus. And that focus needs to be moved from ourselves to the Lord, by asking for His mercy and grace. And the truth of the matter is… That is really all that God wants to hear from us. We need to be like blind Bartimaeus… Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me! When things are going well it is far too easy to let our spiritual guard down and take the Lord for granted, presuming upon His favor… until it all gets turned upside down.
Well, there is available to us not only a cure, but a vaccination against “presumption.” In order to keep our relationship with the Lord in its proper place, we need to constantly keep our focus on Him and not allow ourselves to become complacent. And the only way to accomplish that is focus on our relationship with Him one day at a time… every day. He has graciously only given us one day at a time, and to waste that day by taking Him for granted is to presume upon that grace. If we will keep our focus on seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33), we can depend upon the Holy Spirit to keep our “prosperity” in perspective and keep us from “presuming” upon God’s blessings by leading us into rejoicing in what the Lord has done for us.
Let’s not be like David, when he lost his “communion” with the Lord. But if we find ourselves in that position, we need to turn to the Lord and experience His forgiveness. Once again, it all boils down to keeping the Lord as the center of our being… one day at a time!