Hey, Friends!  This post was written on May 29, but I had technical difficulties with my website.  We are now back up and running!  Blessings!

Today’s reading is 2 Samuel 14:1-15:22, John 18:1-24, Psalm 119:97-112, Proverbs 16:8-9.

On this Memorial Day holiday, I am spending time at the lake with my family.  It is a blessed event when I can see my older kids who now have homes of their own.  Not everyone could come and though I have totally enjoyed the time with those who could, there is always a small hole that is left for those who aren’t here.  Things seem a little off, quieter.  Almost as if something is missing, which is truly the case.  And as I sit here, enjoying the beauty of the place, I am reading of another family who have something—someone—missing.  This is King David’s family.  I am grateful that my “missing pieces” are not here simply because of a scheduling conflict, for the missing piece of King David’s family is absent because of a great rift in the family.  Absalom, David’s son, is estranged from the family.  The great rift started when a half-brother of Absalom, Amnon, brutally raped his sister, Tamar.  Absalom nobly took in Tamar, but instead of seeking true justice, took matter into his own hands and brutally killed Amnon.  So, David is left with one son dead, one daughter devastated, and one son estranged.  If you ever think your family is messed up, just remember this story!  And this was the family of David, the man after God’s own heart.

The Bible does not try to sugar coat anything.  It tells a true story of real people.  It tells the dysfunction and the devastation.  But it also tells of an active God working his way of Redemption.  No one is too far gone, no family is too messed up, for God not to work a redemptive plan in the end.  Remember, this family eventually produced the Savior of the world in its descendants.

As is usually the case, unresolved conflict and unprocessed tragedy leads to more conflict and more tragedy.  And such was the case in this story.  In today’s reading, we see a plan that David’s general, Joab, orchestrates.  Joab knew that the King longed to see his estranged son, Absalom, despite what he had done.  And so, he sent for a woman from Tekoa who had a reputation for great wisdom.  She concocted a story about her two sons who had a fight, resulting in the death of one of them.  She begged for mercy for the living son, who was in danger of being killed for killing his brother.  David showed mercy to her and promised to protected the living son, despite his crime.  She then revealed the true purpose of her visit with these words:

¹³ She replied, “Why don’t you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son. ¹⁴ All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

                                                                        2Samuel 134:13-14

I love that last sentence: “But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.” So true.  God is a God of reconciliation.  He wants to restore our families.  He wants to devise ways to bring us back to Him and back together with each other.  But, we must be willing to be brought together again.

The woman’s words made their mark on the Daddy-heart of King David, and Absalom was allowed to return back to Jerusalem.  However, though the geographical distance had lessened, the emotional distance had not.  Unforgiveness gripped both of these family members.  David would not allow Absalom in his presence.  He was allowed back home but not back to the heart of David.

Now, Absalom was used to getting his way.  He was handsome and charming.  He even had good hair!  (2 Samuel 14:26). He had three sons, a mark of honor in those days, and he had a gorgeous daughter, who he named after his devastated sister, Tamar.  This seemed like a noble and good thing—honoring the bereaved sister with a name-sake.  But could it be that it was a way to keep the bitter root solidly planted in the soil of Absalom’s heart?  Could it be that this daily reminder of his sister, kept him justifying his sin?   And this bitterness, coupled with all of his other traits, led to an impatient, prideful man, furious that he could not have what he wanted.   To get the ball rolling faster, he set fire to Joab’s fields.  This forced Joab to discuss the situation of Absalom with King David, and finally, the father-son reunion took place.

I kind of wish the story could have ended with chapter 14, verse 33.

Then at last David summoned Absalom, who came and bowed low before the king, and the king kissed him.

                                                                                    2 Samuel 14:33

Ahhh!  Sweet reunion!  I want them to hug and say “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you” and go fishing together, rejoicing in their reconciliation.  But it appears the pride and bitterness in the heart of Absalom was in full bloom.  He worked his way back to the King’s good graces, only to betray him later.

What can we learn from all of this?  Several things come to mind.

• Bad things happen to good, God-fearing families.
• Unforgiveness and estrangement is a heavy, painful, and unnecessary burden to bear. It helps neither side.
• The root of bitterness and the plague of pride can unhinge any relationship.
• Reconciliation is possible, but both parties have to be willing to reconcile. Both parties have to rid themselves of bitterness and pride.  Both parties must take a step toward each other.  But remember, if you are the only one stepping, at least the distance is not so great between you; at least you have laid down part of the heavy, sinful burden of bitterness and unforgiveness.
• Remember it takes time. Give each other space to heal.  But don’t allow too much time to pass, or you will encounter many more problems to deal with.
• The most important thing to remember is that God is the Redeemer, the Repairer of broken things. He is the great Reconciler.  Turn to him with every painful problem, and praise Him despite your circumstances, remembering that only He can bring good from the bad.

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

                                                                  Romans 12:18

Today’s reading is 2 Samuel 4:1-6:23, John 13:31-14:14, Psalm 119:17-32, Proverbs 15:31-32.

Today, my mind is on the character of David.  We know that David is referred to as “a man after God’s own heart”. We learned back in 1 Samuel 13, that this topic was the very reason Saul lost his kingdom.

¹⁴ But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.

God saw his heart and it was not a heart after His.  But then there was David, a young shepherd boy.  The baby of the family.  An unlikely choice.  But God saw his heart.  Even hundreds of years later, it was written about in the New Testament.

But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

                                                                        Acts 13:22

So what does being a person after God’s own heart mean?  To understand, I think we can look at the word “after”.  Webster says that the word after means following in time or place. Being after God’s on heart means following–following His ways, following His example.  If something is modeled after another thing that means it reflects or looks like or is made in the image of the other thing.  Following after God means we will look like God, act like Him, and reflect His image in our thoughts and actions.

We also can consider the word after in the expression “go after”.  The thesaurus states that the term “go after” mean the same thing as these words:

Aggressive, chase, catch, bold, zealous, follow, hunt.  Think of those words as we seek to understand the expression of being “after God’s own heart”—aggressively seeking His will and His way, chasing Him, following Him, being bold in our pursuit of Him and being bold in our faith in Him.

All of these insights in our word study are examples of the character of David.  Was he perfect?  Absolutely not.  In fact, the most famous repentant verses are penned by David after his sinful encounter with Bathsheba.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

² Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

                                                                        Psalm 51:1-3

But even in his pursuit of forgiveness and redemption, we see a man after God’s own heart.

We also see that this description of him in his character revealed in today’s reading.

David was a strong leader who made tough decisions based on his loyalty to God.  (2 Samuel 4:9-12)

David was forgiving, even toward his greatest enemy, Saul. (2 Samuel 1:11-12)

David was loyal, as seen in his friendship with Jonathan.  (2 Samuel 1:26)

David was humble and realized that the Lord had confirmed him as king over Israel for the sake of the people of Israel, not for his own personal gain. (2 Samuel 5:13)

David consulted God and did not depend on his own understanding and wisdom.  (2 Samuel 5:19)

David was zealous in his pursuit of God.  (2 Samuel 6:12-15)

As is often the case, following after God’s own heart can be misunderstood and ridiculed.  However, those who truly are after God’s own heart are so focused on God, they often don’t even notice the opinion of others.  David is a great example of this.  When he brought the Ark of God to the City of David, he did so with great celebration.  He was so God-aware that he didn’t have the time or mental space to be self-aware.  And so, he danced and leaped and worshipped the Lord, without any regard to what others thought of his behavior.  He generously invited all the people to join him in this worship celebration, including the servants. He gave every man and woman in crowd bread and cake.  And he joyfully returned to his home, ready to bless his own family after he had blessed the common folk.  But his wife…his jealous, petty, snobby wife…she was disgusted by his undignified display of worship.  She mocked him and sarcastically degraded him.  And his response was a wonderful example of one who was after God’s own heart:

²¹ David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. ²² Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!”

                                                            2 Samuel 6:21-22

Do you want to be a person after God’s own heart?  I do.  But we must realize there is a cost involved.  There may be times we have to be willing to look foolish or  be humiliated.  But during those times, we offer that situation as a gift to the Worthy One, remembering His Words of truth:

²⁶ Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy^[a] when God called you. ²⁷ Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

                                                                                    1 Corinthians 1:26-27

Today’s reading is 2 Samuel 1:1-2:11, John 12:20-50, Psalm 118:19-29, Proverbs 15:27-28.

Okay, so the month of May has been hard for me!  I hope the rest of you are doing better than I am.  I have kept up (for the most part) with the reading, but have not had time to really dig in and study it.  But, I don’t give up!  And I hope you won’t either.  We will just press on and pick up where we left off.

In today’s reading, we see David being informed of Saul and Jonathan’s death.  We would expect great grief in hearing the news of the loss of his best friend, Jonathan, and would equally expect that he would have relief in the death of Saul, his great enemy.  The messenger with this news was an Amalekite, one of the very people that David had just defeated.  He must have also expected David to be glad to hear of the news of the death of Saul, for as Matthew Henry said, “Saul was the man whom he most feared and Jonathan the man whom he most loved.”  Why would the Amalekite feel safe and comfortable coming to the one who just defeated his people?  Because he thought David would have a “normal” reaction to the news.  He may have thought that he would even be rewarded for his part in Saul’s death.  But David wasn’t “normal”, he was a man after God’s own heart.  He was not filled with the bitter root of revenge and unforgiveness.  He was not filled with the selfish chain of personal ambition.  So, when the news came, David surprisingly grieved not only for Jonathan, but for Saul, too.  He grieved over the death of his greatest enemy and went so far as to put to death the messenger for his part in his death.

David tore his clothes in grief and wept and fasted.  Though his feelings were sincere—which could only come from a pure heart—they also were wise, for Proverbs 17:5 says,

“whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.”

Though David of all men could have gloated over the death of Saul, he did not.  He showed respect and sincere grief and he led those around him to the same attitude.  And David went a step further.  He put his feeling to the pen and used his gift of writing as a means to honor Saul.  He wrote this poem as a public lamentation, which would not only honor Saul at that time, but would allow future generations to honor him.

And so, my thoughts turn to my own heart.  I want to be one who is after God’s own heart.  But am I willing to let the Holy Spirit transform me so that every root of bitterness is gone?  Am I willing to let go of every “right” of revenge?  Am I sickened by the secret sin of gloating?  Am I willing to suffer with those who suffer and rejoice with those who rejoice?  Am I willing to move aside and let God so totally consume me so that my reactions, as well as my actions, are totally pure.  Am I willing to step aside from “normal” and be renewed by the transformation of my mind—so that I may see as God sees, not as the world sees?

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Mark 10:27

Today’s reading includes 1 Samuel 10:1-11:15, John 6:43-71, Psalm 107:1-43, Proverbs 15:1-3.

Today we enter the phase of the kings of Israel.  The first king was Saul.  His is a sad story.  He was selected by God, and anointed by Samuel at God’s request.  Saul had much potential.  He stood out and above the crowd.  According to 1 Samuel 9:2, Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.

But as we will see in chapter 16, The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1Samuel 16:7)

Saul started out as a humble man.  He was humble enough to be guided by God, to go where God said to go.  He was humble enough to remember his humble beginnings.  When told by Samuel that he was the hope of Israel, he said, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”  Sadly, we will soon see that this humility will quickly change, and the Spirit of God upon him will be replaced by an evil spirit.

I think the practical lesson in this sad story involves the heart and mindset of the one God choses to use.

First, there must be a willing spirit.  The fact that Saul began his journey towards the kingship is good, but he took it too far.  He did not have a willing spirit to arise to the calling.  When Samuel brought all the tribes together and it was revealed that the new king would come from the tribe of Benjamin, and Saul’s own family was then chosen out of all the families of Israel to be the royal family, Saul went AWOL.  He hid from his calling. When the moment of reveal came, Saul was nowhere to be found.  They had to ask the Lord where he was, and of course, the Lord knew.  It reminds me of when the Lord asked Adam and Even, “Where are you?” And of course, God knew where they were.  He just needed to expose the fact that they were hiding from God because of their sin.  And Saul was hiding, too.  They found the new king hiding among the baggage.  Not a good start to the kingship.  But this could have been a great story of God’s redemption, of God raising up the reluctant and insecure Benjaminite to become a great king of Israel.  But soon we will see that the reluctant new king will become a disobedient and arrogant king.

Secondly, the heart and mindset of the one God choses to use must include an obedient spirit.  We will soon see that Saul’s downfall involved his unwillingness to obey the Lord.  He wanted to make his own rules, and obey only part of what God said.  But the truth is, partial obedience is really disobedience, and Saul’s disobedience was a sign of arrogance.  What an extreme change!  How can one chosen by God fall to such extremes?  The answers that we can examine are revealed in human nature time and time again.

Saul’s initial humility was not real humility.  It was more insecurity.  And once he was lauded and applauded, the insecurity went away and was replaced with arrogance.  We must be very careful to guard our hearts.  We must ask the Lord to soften our hearts, to reveal any arrogance and replace it with true humility.  We must be careful to remember our humble beginnings and acknowledge that every good and perfect gift comes from God, not from any talent or developed giftedness on our part.  This is not an easy task when our world is consumed with a “look at me!” mentaltity.

Today, let’s ask the Lord to reveal our arrogance.  Let’s ask the Lord to reveal our unwillingness to serve Him.  As painful as it will be, let’s ask the Lord to remove that which He reveals, so that we can be made a willing and humble servant of God.  Today, pray this prayer of renewal and then be prepared to answer the call of God on your life.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:10-12

Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 8:1-9:27, John 6:22-42, Psalm 106:32-48, Proverbs 14:34-35.

In our passage today, we are entering a new phase in the history of the Israelites.  We have been studying the period of time—maybe around 350 years—in which Israel was ruled by a series of judges.  There are 12 judges listed in the book of Judges.  Then, in I Samuel we have added Eli and Samuel.  Later, we will find in 1 Chronicles another name listed.  So, there were around 15 judges, not including Samuel’s sons, who were rejected as judges because they were corrupt.  How sad that must have been for godly Samuel to see his sons unable to accept the baton passed to them because they were greedy for money, wealth, and power and were willing to pervert justice for unlawful gain.  The result was that the people no longer wanted a judge.  Now, they wanted a king.  But, they wanted a political king to reign over them, not a spiritual king who would have changed everything.  This is a reflection of the coming Savior who was rejected, though He fulfilled every prophesy.  In those New Testament days, the attitude was the same.  They wanted an earthly, political king or ruler, not a King who would conquer their hearts.  This passage made me feel sad as I read it:

⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance.⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. ⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. ⁹ Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

                                                            I Samuel 8:6-9

I think the reason this passage conjured up feelings of sadness is because I love the Lord.  I have experienced His love, presence, healing, strength, and comfort.  He is my King.  I feel sad for the rejection that He must have felt–the rejection throughout history, the rejection resulting in the crucifixion, the rejection that I have at times displayed toward Him.  I feel sad for the rejecters, and understand that they are blind, or maybe just bent on not seeing.  I can hear the Lord saying, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what to do.”  I feel sad for the voice of the martyrs all over the world, in every generation, whose blood cries out and testifies to the world’s rejection of the King of kings.  And there have been mild rejections that I, too, have felt at times because of my King.  But, we were never given a false sales pitch in the Bible.  This is what Jesus said:
“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

                                                                                                Luke 10:16

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. ²⁰ Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. ²¹ They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. 

                                                                                    John 15:18-21

Those are sobering words.  And, thankfully, I do know that there are times we can walk in favor with man, all for God’s glory.  But, if you are walking through a season of rejection, if you are feeling like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit in this world, take heart.  You are walking in the shoes of the heroes of faith.  More importantly, you are walking the path of the Savior, the One who took all the rejection on Himself and by His stripes you are healed, you are safe, you are adored, you are chosen.  Rest in the fact that the King of all kings loves you very much and one day you will hear those blessed words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”