 
Book Reviews Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for by Eugene H. Peterson Reviewed by Robert P. Mills Tuesday, September 15, 1998 |
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Students of the psalms might recognize the title Leap Over a Wall as a phrase from Psalm 18:29, “Yea, by thee I can crush a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall” (RSV). Diligent students of the Old Testament might further recognize that Psalm 18 was sung by David “when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies” and that it is repeated almost verbatim as II Samuel 22. But scholars and biblical neophytes alike will find much to value in Eugene Peterson’s reflections on the life of David, a life epitomized by Psalm 18, “a praying shout that I like very much – my choice for an epitaph on David’s tombstone.” The book begins with Peterson leisurely recalling his mother’s elaborated tellings of the David stories and moves chronologically from I Samuel 16 through II Kings 2. Peterson gives equal attention to the triumphs and the tragedies that comprise the life of Israel’s shepherd king, and finds numerous opportunities to connect David’s life with that of Jesus, the Good Shepherd and King of Kings. The themes that emerge as Peterson immerses us in David’s life (chapter titles include: Work, Imagination, Friendship, Growth, Wilderness, Beauty, Love, Sin, Suffering, Death, and – in a contribution that may be unique to the burgeoning literature on spiritual growth – Boneheads) speak poetically yet practically to our own lives. A constant theme is that our lives, like David’s, are lived to the fullest when we willingly participate in what God is already doing in, through and around us. Two key chapters of the book concern pivotal moments in David’s life and unite Peterson’s considerable gifts as pastor, poet and scholar. Of Growth Peterson writes, “David isn’t David apart from God. … Most of what we’re reading about in David is God in David. Spirituality, but earthy spirituality.” The Christian life, he adds, “develops organically … God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost isn’t a consulting firm we bring in to give us expert advice on how to run our lives. The gospel life isn’t something we learn about and then put together with instructions from the manufacturer; it’s something we become as God does his work of creation and salvation in us and as we accustom ourselves to a life of belief and obedience and prayer.” The chapter on Religion confronts the troubling story of Uzzah, the priest who was struck dead by God for touching the Ark as it appeared to be tumbling from the ox-cart to the ground. He notes that in centuries of Christian reflection on Uzzah’s death “one insight has appeared over and over: it’s fatal to take charge of God. Uzzah is the person who has God in a box and officiously assumes responsibility for keeping him safe from the mud and dust of the world.” Peterson further observes that the Ark “wasn’t to be touched by human hands but carried by Levites using poles … Uzzah ignored (defied!) the Mosaic directions and substituted the latest Philistine technological innovation – an ox-cart, of all things.” This, in Peterson’s pointed assessment, makes Uzzah “the patron saint of those who uncritically embrace technology without regard to the nature of the Holy. … “The eventual consequence of this kind of life is death, for God will not be managed. God will not be put and kept in a box, whether the box is constructed of crafted wood or hewn of stone or brilliant ideas or fine feelings. We don’t take care of God; God takes care of us.” Peterson contrasts Uzzah’s disobedience with David’s joyful abandon. For when the Ark finally arrived in Jerusalem “David danced. In God, David had access to life that exceeded his capacity to measure or control. [He knew] that we don’t have to be careful and cautious with God; that it’s death to decorously and politely manage God; that it’s life eternal to let him take care of us.” Whether hiding in a cave or dancing in the street, leading troops in battle or mourning the death of a child, David let God take care of him. And, as Peterson evocatively reminds us throughout this book, to let God take care of us is to participate in eternal life. |
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