Heal Me Lord And I Shall Be Healed

Ruach Breath of Life

As we know, David faced huge trials at every stage of his life: external ones, for sure, as wave after wave of devastating reverses came his way (along with unparalleled opportunities), but also internal ones, causing him to wrestle with both the challenges that faced him, and his own shortcomings. His perseverance and persistence in seeking the Lord in and through each such tossing tidal wave were what brought so many of his psalms to birth – and in such a way that they in turn have given us a voice and language with which to express our own journeys, turmoils and celebrations. What a debt we owe to this poet-warrior-king, and father of the nation! We are going to ponder here something of the accumulative toll that repeated shocks had taken on David’s hitherto resilient heart – most especially the impact that his son Absalom's revolt had on him, causing him to have to flee for his life into the wilderness. What we find in this track is David deliberately turning from despair to worship. We have set it to the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s stunning Fourth String Quartet – for here is a composer who likewise suffered many deeply upsetting hindrances and relational challenges in his life. Together with his deafness, these seriously affected his mental and emotional state. Like David in this respect at least, Beethoven continued to find ways to set down on manuscript paper the vast span of his magnificent musical mind so that we might all benefit.