Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 15 & Psalm 3

 

The Lifter Of My Head

Merry Christmas to you from ‘A Word from the Word.’ May the True Spirit of Christmas shine in your heart and light your path today and through the upcoming year.

In Psalm 3, we read the words of king David as he is fleeing from his son, Absalom. This Psalm starts out with a sense of foreboding as David is tempted by others to focus his attention on the deep problems he is facing. Can you feel his worry as he says, “Many are my foes”? Can you sense his despair as he says, “Many are rising against me”? Do you get the feeling that the world around him is telling him to give up hope as he writes, “Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God”?

But the Psalm doesn’t end there! In verse 3, David soundly rejects the world’s advice and turns his eyes back onto the God he loves. He wisely realizes that his help and salvation come from the LORD in this situation just as it has in every other situation.

“But you, O Lord, are a shield about me.”  The shield was a defensive weapon used by soldiers. It’s purpose was to cover and defend the body from the strikes of the enemy. David here acknowledges that God is his Defender and Protector. What a joy to know that our Lord will stand between us and our adversaries, taking the blows and keeping us safe. I am safe when the Lord wraps around me like a shield.

“You are… my glory.” The Hebrew word for “glory” means honor, splendor, dignity, reputation. It carries the idea of majesty and magnificence. David, here, acknowledges that whatever glory there may be that comes from his life, it is not because of his own magnificence or self-doing. The glory of David’s life, and our lives as followers of Christ, comes solely from the One who is Most Glorious. Knowing this takes a lot of pressure off of David and us. It means that, no matter what happens, no one can take away the glory of my life because it isn’t about me, it is about Him!

“You are… the lifter of my head.” When the voices of the world start to get to us, we can start feeling down and we are tempted to look inward at our own weaknesses and failures. When we look away from God, we can get discouraged or even depressed. When this happens, it can actually have an effect on our body posture. Often unknowingly, our shoulders can bend forward and hunched over, and our head takes a downward-looking posture. It is a sign that we are “weighed down” by our challenges and troubles. David here declares emphatically that, in these situations, the Lord is the lifter of his head. He is the One who can turn our downward posture back into an upward-looking, optimistic and faith-filled position. As He lifts the burden from our shoulders, our head turns back up and the joy of salvation once again fills our heart. The problems are still with us, but Someone Else is carrying the load and lifting our head!

May the Lord be your Shield, your Glory, and the Lifter of your head this Christmas Day!

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 14

 

Do The Right Thing

After Absalom killed Amnon, he remained in exile, fearing retribution from king David. Joab, the king’s army commander, recognized that David had the ability to be reconciled to his son Absalom. He realized that the king really wanted to see his son, but because of his pride and stubbornness, he refused to make the first move towards reconciliation. So, Joab devised a plan to send a widow woman from Tekoa to speak to the king and persuade him to bring Absalom back home. The plan worked and, after a period of time, the two were finally reunited.

In the course of her conversation, the woman from Tekoa pointed out that David was a wise man – as wise as “the angel of God.” Because the LORD was with him, she recognized that David had the ability to handle things and discern good and evil. By saying this, she was suggesting that David set aside his stubbornness and pride and “do the right thing.”

It can be a hard thing to set aside our emotions when faced with a choice between right and wrong. If we’re not careful, we can let our stubbornness drive our decisions and cloud our ability to discern between good and evil. When you are full of pride on the inside, it makes you stiff, stubborn, and creates strife with others.  Perhaps it is anger, jealousy, pride, bitterness, or simply your selfishness that is keeping you from obeying God’s command to “love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)

Be careful of stubbornness. In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to overcome, stubbornness is simply unwise. If we desire to know the depths of the wisdom of God, we must learn to set aside our emotions and feelings and turn to Him for help. We, like David, can be as wise as the “angel of God.” We can do the right thing when we don’t let our humanity get in the way.

Discernment is not just the ability to know right from wrong. It is also the ability to know “right” from “almost right.” Oh, how we need God’s wisdom to show us this distinction, and to give us the wisdom to rise above our human stubbornness and do the right thing. May the LORD your God be with you and may you be “like the angel of God” in wisdom and discernment.

Who do you need to be reunited with today? Make the first move and set aside your emotions. Do the right thing!

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 13

 

Tragedy in the Royal Family

Here, we read of Amnon, son of King David (and heir apparent to the throne) who rapes his half-sister Tamar and later is murdered by his own brother for his sin. What a sad story illustrating the depths of human depravity. Many people wonder why this disturbing story is in the Bible. After all, it doesn’t seem to have any mention of God’s grace or His redeeming love. It is a sad and tragic story about the dark side of human nature. But there is a reason this story is here – to teach us about the consequences of sin.  God has laid down the rules. If you follow the rules, you're going to find fulfillment and satisfaction, and a meaningful relationship with Him. But if you violate the rules, you're going to get hurt. You're going to get burned. This is the story of David getting hurt as a result of his sin and the sins of others.

Let me suggest some ways this passage may be instructive for us. First, and most obviously, we need to see that there are consequences for sin. Remember that David had committed the terrible sins of lust, adultery, deception, and murder in his incident with Bathsheba. After those sins, David repented and received forgiveness from God. He was genuinely forgiven but was informed that there would still be consequences for his sin. We must remember that God’s forgiveness doesn’t necessarily eliminate the after-effects of our sin. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) If we sow to our flesh, we will reap emptiness and heartbreak.

Secondly, we see that sin often starts small and privately, but if left unchecked, it can rapidly escalate into great sin that becomes public. It has been said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go; keep you longer than you want to stay; and cost you more than you want to pay.”  An example of this is the sin of adultery. You let a small, private attraction for another person develop into acts of sin which lead to the after-effects of destroying marriages and families. Amnon’s lust for Tamar was hidden in his heart. Only God knew about it. Until that day when he let the power of sin and his selfish desire take over. He acted on his “innocent” attraction and the results were heartbreaking. This passage encourages us to stay out of sin, no matter how “small” or “innocent” it may seem. “Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

Finally, this story teaches us something about love. Amnon claimed that he “loved” Tamar. But, he was disastrously confusing “love” with “lust.”  When someone is coming on so strong, beware. Watch out for the person who's desiring to have sex with you before you get married, trying to rush things, trying to give you the old line about, "Everybody does it, and after all how are we going to know if we're really matched or not." He's not really looking to give true love and meaningful love. He's putting on a big act, so he can gratify his own fleshly desires. When you no longer satisfy those fleshly desires, he'll discard you, and you're going to be left heartbroken, disillusioned. True love is expressed by acts of selflessness and service.  You will know it when someone is willing to deny their own desires in order to serve and care for others. “Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (1 Timothy 2:22)

Today's Reading: Psalms 86 & 122

Taught Of God

Psalm 86 is a “mash up” of various verses from the other Psalms. David takes verses that are dear to his heart from Psalms 18, 25, 27, 55, 71, 119 and various other Psalms and compiles them into Psalm 86. Practically every verse of Psalm 86 is taken from another Psalm someplace. This demonstrates David’s working knowledge of God’s word and reveals his heartfelt devotion to the Scriptures.

Psalm 86 is a prayer of David crying out for God’s active presence in his life. He prays for God to listen to him; to preserve him; to be gracious to him; to gladden his soul; to teach him God’s ways; and to give him a unified heart. In verse 11, he pleads with the Lord to “teach me your way that I may walk in Your truth.”  From this plea, we see that David understood the importance of being taught directly by God.

It is vitally important for every follower of Christ that we be taught by God - directly by Him. It is a wonderful thing when God has placed anointed teachers and preachers in our lives so we can hear Scripture being taught by wise and learned men and women. We should be thankful for such a blessing. But… learning from the teachings of men should never, ever, be a substitute for learning directly from the Lord, Himself.

The only path to pure doctrine and correct belief is for each of us to be taught directly at the feet of Jesus. In Him alone is the Way. In Him alone is the Truth. As He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6)

David’s plea shows that he grasped the truth that we all must be taught by God. This principle is repeated often in Scripture: “For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9); “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:13); “For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.” (Isaiah 28:26)

It is a wonderful thing to have godly and anointed teachers and preachers influencing our lives for Christ. We should thank God daily for such men and women. But, at the same time, we must diligently seek to be taught directly by God, Himself. It must be the passionate pursuit of our heart and soul to search the Scriptures regularly under the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who will guide us into all truth. Along with David, we must pray, “teach me your way O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.”

Make it your heartfelt prayer today that you be taught by God. Then, be like the Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

 

Today's Reading: 1 Chronicles 20 & Psalm 32

Oh Happy Man

The word “blessed” means “oh how happy.” Having confessed his sins and repented of them and having bowed before God with a contrite heart, David now expresses the wonderful and happy experience of having been forgiven! There is no greater happiness than to know that God has forgiven ALL of your sins and that you have been restored to a right relationship with Him!  If you’ve had this experience, oh how happy you must be!

True blessedness and happiness consists only in remission of sin and purification of the heart.  When people are honest with God and confess their sin to Him (as David did in Psalm 51), they experience the unspeakable joy of knowing that their sin is forgiven. When confession is made, forgiveness follows, the burden of separation from God is removed, and a fresh experience of God’s joy settles upon the sinner. Oh, what a happy moment it is when I have that assurance that my transgression has been forgiven, that my sin has been covered by the blood of Christ.

David here mentions three variations of the types of offenses that can separate us from God and take away our joy. The word “transgression” means a deliberate, willful disobedient act. David, in his incident with Bathsheba, deliberately and willfully disobeyed God’s commands regarding lust, adultery, deception, and murder. He knew where God had drawn the line, and he deliberately stepped over that line. “Blessed is the one whose deliberate disobedience is forgiven.”

The second word David uses is “sin.”  There is a difference between a transgression and a sin. A sin is not always a willful act. The word sin comes from a root word used in archery which means, "to miss the mark." God says, "Here is the mark. I want you to hit it." All right. And I take aim, but I miss. We all have missed the mark even when it was our intention to hit it. Now I may not deliberately miss. I may be trying to hit it. I might just be a poor shot. But that is still an offense to God. “Blessed is the one whose missing of the mark is covered.”

The third word David uses is “iniquity.” This word refers to the inward depravity of nature that we, as human beings, are infected with. Every person is born with a sinful nature – a personality flaw that predisposes us to think, speak, and act in sinful and immoral ways. It is this sinful nature that has separated us from God and robbed us of our joy. And, if this predisposition to sin is not dealt with, it will separate us eternally from Him. The blessed truth here is that God has a way of not counting our iniquity against us. That way is the cross of Jesus, where He took upon Himself the sinful nature of humanity allowing God to no longer count our depravity and immoral nature against us. “Blessed is the one against whom the Lord counts no sinful nature.”

Think of it! Your transgressions are forgiven, your sins are covered, and your sinful nature is not being counted against you! Oh how happy you must be!

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 12 & Psalm 51

A Contrite Heart

The Hebrew introduction for Psalm 51 tells us that this is “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” King David’s incident with Bathsheba is a dark moment in his life and reveals to us the depths to which sin can drive an otherwise godly man. David’s sins in this moment included pride, lust, adultery, deception, and murder. Truly a dark chapter in his life. We see from this that David was a sinful man, just like you and me.  After being “found out” by Nathan the Prophet, David confessed and repented of his sin. In Psalm 51, with a deeply penitent heart, David pleads to God for the remission of his sins.

David was a great sinner, a human being just like all of us, capable of being enticed by the lusts of his flesh. But, at the same time, he was truly a man after God’s heart. Deep down, far below his sinful desires, he longed to do God’s will and was grieved when confronted with his failure.

A person after God’s heart loves the things God loves and the ways He prescribes. Though he may deviate from those ways at times, he will return—for God will not let him rest in his sin. All true children of God will be called back to Him when they wander.

David’s heart was truly broken over his sin and he came to God here in true heartfelt repentance. He mentions his contrite heart in verse 17. To be “contrite” before God means that we bow down with the awareness of our spiritual bankruptcy, our inner spirit is crushed with its guilt, we have genuine and deep sorrow for how we have offended our loving God, and we have a determined desire to do differently. A contrite heart does not seek to fool God or others, nor to rationalize or excuse our sin. A contrite heart produces true repentance.  As with David, we don’t ask God to ignore or disregard our sin.  Instead, we admit our sin and plead for God to have mercy according to His “abundant mercy.”

When we become aware of our sins, iniquities, and transgressions we need to know that God isn’t interested in empty apologies and He doesn’t want our promises to do better.  God desires a broken and contrite heart which is the true sacrifice of one who determines to turn from sin, to forsake sin, and to abandon it.

David sinned greatly and repented greatly. So will all who love God.

 

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 11 & Psalm 70

 

David's Unguarded Moment

One evidence supporting the trustworthiness of the Bible is the remarkable honesty with which it tells us about its heroes like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, and the others. The portrait of each and every hero is painted with dark spots and all.  We are told of their failures as well as their triumphs. So it is with David – shepherd, giant-killer, poet, soldier, and king. Here is a very great man. Here is “a man after God’s own heart” who loved the Lord deeply.  But at the same time that David’s army is winning a military battle on foreign soil, Scripture records that he is losing a moral battle at home.

Second Samuel 11 records a dark day in king David’s life. This story of David’s moral failure is a vivid illustration of a principle taught in James 1:13-15 – “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

The principle is this: sin is not just a one-off event, it is part of a process.  Sin has, as it were, a ‘domino effect’.  Evil desire leads to sin, and sin leads to death.  In other words, there are triggers, and there are consequences. 

The trigger was an unguarded moment.  It was spring-time, the time when kings should be off to war with their troops.  David had sent his army, under its commander, Joab, to besiege the city of Rabbah.  But David stayed at home in Jerusalem, relaxing.  He could afford to.  This was a time of military strength, of material prosperity, of personal leisure.  This was his unguarded moment. In this unguarded moment, he allows the casual glance to become a lustful gaze which progresses into rationalizing thought and culminates in his tragic moral failure. He commits adultery then begins a tangled web of deceit to try to cover his sin.

David’s experience presents a stern warning to all of us – watch out for those unguarded moments! “Idol hands are the devil’s worship.” We are all susceptible to the lure of sin and, if we don’t constantly keep our hearts in check, we too could fall victim to our sinful desires. The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:12 drive the point home: “Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Beware of the unguarded moment.