Prayer

My prayer today is not to be healthy but to be holy; not to be rid of pain but to be righteous. May God live in me with a full measure of freedom and with my full obedient cooperation in everything. Just as hunger makes me crave food may pain cause me to crave my Creator and the Lover of my soul. Thank you Jesus for Salvation. You have redeemed me and justified me; when the Father looks at me, He sees You and in love accepts me. To God be all the glory. Amen.

2 Samuel 21

As the leader and representative of Israel, David seeks the LORD's face when famine grips the land for three years without relief. The LORD reveals that the sin of Saul has not been dealt with, and that has resulted in God withdrawing His hand of blessing from the nation. 

Saul's disobedience in killing the protected Gibeonites (see the story of their protected status in Joshua 9) continues to wreak havoc upon his family, as seven of Saul's descendants are put to death as payment for his bloodshed (Numbers 35:33 lays out the rationale). Again and again we have seen that someone has to die as payment for sin. 

David puts the sad tale of Saul's family to rest by having Saul and his descendants buried in the family tomb. The sin having been dealt with, God's hand of blessing returns to His people.

Questions: 1) In your leadership roles as father and/or employee, do you frequently seek the face of the LORD to identify areas that you need to make right? The well-being of your family and other areas of responsibility may depend on it! 2) Thanks be to God that our sins have been forgiven, and fellowship with God restored, by the shed blood of Jesus!

2 Samuel 20

This chapter is rated R for violence, as we get the gory details of Joab dispatching his rival Amasa, and David's rebellious subject Sheba 'losing his head' over the wise woman at the wall at Abel Beth Maacah. Lest it be said that the Bible provides sanitized versions of the men of the Old Testament, exhibit A is this ongoing picture of Joab's treachery, and the seeming willingness of the tribes of Israel to follow anyone who speaks against the King.

David has long ago been publicly anointed by God for the throne, but Sheba incites the people to declare that they 'have no share in David, no part in Jesse's son' (v. 1). Faced with unmistakable God-ordained leadership, Sheba and the others nonetheless reject His man - desiring to throw off his mantle. Several hundred years later, God would again indicate His pleasure in His Anointed One...and many would still reject Jesus' rule.

Questions: 1) Read Luke 3: 21-22 for the affirmation God provided to Jesus. 2) In 2 Samuel 20:2 we are told that the men of Judah 'stayed by their king all the way'. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you stay by your King, Jesus, when you encounter opposition or persecution for your steadfast decision to stay with Him.

2 Samuel 19

David, the King, reaffirms his status as the insurrection against him is put to rest. As he returns to Jerusalem in triumph, he encounters several individuals with whom he has a personal history: Barzillai, David's elderly benefactor (v. 32); Mephibosheth, Saul's relative to whom David showed mercy (2 Samuel 9) but whom Ziba accused of treason (2 Samuel 16); and Shimei. We first met Shimei in chapter 16 as well - the one who pelted David with rocks and cursed him has come to his senses. Shimei falls down before David, confesses his sins (v. 20), and asks for mercy. 

Abishai, the one who initially wanted to remove Shimei's head from his shoulders, reminds David again of the sins of Shimei, and the penalty he deserves for sinning against the LORD's anointed. But David responds in mercy, promising Shimei on his own authority that he shall not die for his sins.

What a picture of God's grace to us! When we realize for the first time that we've sinned against the Anointed One, Jesus, we come to Him and admit that our rebellion against him was wrong. Satan, our accuser, reminds God of our sins, and the penalty we deserve. But the only one with the right to pronounce the death penalty on us - the King, Jesus - declares that on His authority, and because of what He has done for us, we will not die!

Questions: 1) Read Colossians 1:21-22 for a picture of what Christ has done to make you 'free from accusation'.  2) Recall in the notes on 2 Samuel 16 that David entrusted his ill treatment to the Lord first - which enabled him to forgive later. As you practice enduring ill treatment from others by entrusting it to the Lord, may He help you to extend forgiveness accordingly.

2 Samuel 18

And so the saga of Absalom's rebellion comes to a close. Absalom's tall stature and long hair (2 Samuel 14:25-26) results in him getting caught in a low-hanging tree branch, where he is no match for Joab's javelins. As so often happens with all of us, that which we take such pride in becomes the seeds of our downfall.

God's words to David continue to ring true: 'the sword will never depart from your house' (2 Samuel 12:10). The death toll now stands at three of David's sons - a high price to pay indeed for a few moments of pleasure with Bathsheba.

Take note also of David's 'father heart', as he mourns over the loss of his son Absalom...his rebellious, scheming, murderous son Absalom. Instead of rejoicing over the death of his wicked enemy, David is crushed by the passing of his beloved offspring. Amazingly in v. 33, he even says, 'If only I had died instead of you, my son, my son!'

Questions: 1) What is God the Father's heart for His enemies? Read Ezekiel 33:11 to see His heart for the wicked. Moreover, God in His mercy takes David's lament one step further, saying to you and me in essence, 'I did die instead of you, My son, My son!' Jesus - who was fully God - was willing to die for us, the rebellious wicked sons. Tell somebody this good news of the gospel today! 

2) In what areas is your pride setting you up to be snared? Ask God to show you where you are walking in pride, and to help you through His Spirit to walk humbly with Him.

2 Samuel 17

As in every great military battle, Absalom's insurrection against David reaches a critical point. The advice that Ahithophel and Hushai are giving him is contradictory, and he must choose one of two paths to take out his father, the king.

Unbeknownst to Absalom, however, there are spiritual forces at work. Recall that in 2 Samuel 15:31, David had prayed a fervent, timely, specific prayer as he fled the city- "O LORD, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness." God in His grace is pleased to answer David's prayer, as Absalom values Hushai's counter-intelligence more highly than the wisdom of Ahithophel. As noted (2 Samuel 17: 14), this decision will bring disaster upon Absalom. 

Questions: 1) Are your prayers fervent? Timely? Specific? Read Philippians 4: 6-7. What is the scope of what we are called to pray about? What is the attitude we are to have? What is the promise given?

2 Samuel 16 - How to Handle Criticism

What God had ordained in Nathan's words to David (2 Samuel 12:11-12) is now coming to pass. As David originally sinned on the rooftop by lusting after Bathsheba secretly, his son Absalom lies with David's concubines on the rooftop in full view of all Israel. As prophesied, calamity has come upon David from his own household.

To (literally) add insult to injury, as David flees to safety, one of Saul's relatives does his best Ernest T. Bass impression (apologies to those who aren't Andy Griffith fans). Shimei pelts David and his men with stones, cursing David and accusing him unjustly of being responsible for Saul's blood.

With all he is encountering, David must surely be tempted to grant Abishai's request to remove Shimei's head. Watch, however, how David responds...first, with an acknowledgment that the Lord has allowed this criticism, or maybe even engendered it (v. 11). Secondly, David entrusts this ill treatment to the Lord (v.12), hoping that God in His judgment and justice may ultimately make it right. Many hundreds of years later, David's great great great etc. grandson Jesus would perfect for all time the endurance of unjust treatment in view of God's sovereign control.

Questions: 1) Read 1 Peter 2:20-23. Note Jesus' approach to unjust treatment and criticism - not only to endure it, but to do so in full knowledge that God will ultimately judge the situation justly. 2) Reflect on your last week. Are you being ill-treated, slandered, unfairly criticized? Can you entrust yourself to the sovereign God who judges justly, and endure?