The Lord Tests Hearts--Day 144 Through the Bible

                            It is God's desire that we enjoy an abundant life rather than suffer devastation.
                            John 10:10--"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."   

David inquired of the Lord about the famine that had gone on year after year for three years.  God revealed to him the reason for the famine and David proceeded to make atonement for the Gibeonites that Saul had killed.  It would be extraordinary indeed if we in this country sought God and asked Him to reveal the cause behind the devastation that is becoming nothing new. Too often we hear defiance rather than humility and repentance.

David was a man of his word.  He gave over seven of Saul's descendants to the Gibeonites as they asked, yet he honored his promise to Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, and spared him. When the rain came, the bodies were taken down (See Matthew Henry's Commentary).  David also saw to it that Saul and Jonathan's remains were buried in the tomb of his father in the country of Benjamin in Zelah. "And after that God heeded the prayer for the land".  We have many sins we could deal with before God on a national level.  (God gives us the formula for the healing of our land: "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).  It is not uncommon to hear this verse quoted as devastation continues to plague our country.)

David's men would no longer allow him to go to battle, "lest you quench the lamp of Israel", due to David having to be rescued from death during a battle with the Philistines.  In chapter 22, David recalls the many times God rescued him.  In this song, David pictured the Lord hearing his voice from His temple, and gives a detailed account of God coming to rescue him--no drama spared! (This is one of my favorite passages of scripture.)  This a powerful account of God's deliverance and it would no doubt personally inspire us to review the times God has rescued or spared us.  We should also have an exciting history with God if we are walking with Him as David did.  We could come closer to being men and women after God's own heart if we used more of our thoughts meditating on what God does for us.

Jesus reveals the source of the Jews' desire to kill him as well as the source of all lies. According to verse 30,  Jesus was addressing "those Jews who believed in Him".  Why was he addressing them in this manner if they believed in Him?  Dr. Stanley comments, "But it's one thing to believe that Jesus can set you free from patterns of sin.  It's quite another to experience that freedom in your own life".  Rather than accepting the truth Jesus was telling them and acting on it, they were responding to Him with defensive statements.  This escalated until they took up stones to throw at Him.  There were no fruits of repentance--they could not admit their error.  They did not recognize the I AM--they did not see themselves in need of a Deliverer from their captivity. 

What about us?  Do we recognize the extent we are held captive by our own sins? Do we connect what we reap with what we sow?  Do we follow David's example and inquire of God when we face problems and difficulties in our lives?  Do we take action as David did and do our part to show God we are serious?  Psalm 68:6, gives us reason to rejoice when we humble ourselves and become obedient to God: "He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land".

Relationship Equations--Day 129 Through the Bible

                                           "May the Lord be between you and me." (I Samuel 20:42)
                                                            

 The principle of "cause and effect" allows us to understand and explain situations we sometimes deal with in our lives.  David, however, in I Samuel 20, is bewildered as to what he has done to Saul that would cause Saul to seek to kill him.  In algebra, equations have a way of revealing the unknown factors. In David's situation, there are factors outside himself and his actions that are affecting his relationship with Saul. Saul is not seeking his life because of something David has done.  Saul has allowed jealousy to progress to anger and hatred toward David.  David's eyes are wide open to what is going on.  He tells Jonathan, "there is but a step between me and death".  Saul's anger and plan to kill David are evident. 

This is the same Saul God chose to be Israel's first king, the man that stood head and shoulders above all the other people. Although God chose him, Saul made the choices that undermined his own victory.  Saul could have gone down in history as a successful king, however, his heart led him down a path of rebellion, disobedience, and eventual failure.  In Jeremiah 17:9, God says this about our human hearts: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"  The "heart" is also mentioned by God in reference to David in Acts 13:22: "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will".  Saul refused to fulfill God's will, he refused to be obedient to God.  On the other hand, David was just as human as Saul, however David was a man of repentance--a man attuned to obedience to God.  His heart was even sensitive to God's hand in Saul's life. In I Samuel 24:5, after David had cut off the skirt of Saul's robe, we are told, "David's heart smote him".  He confessed to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord". (We also, are told to confess our faults to one another in James 5:16.)

The Psalms are filled with David's cries to God for help and with his tears of repentance because of his sinful nature.  We can fastforward to the end of today's scriptures and hear Jesus also speaking of "repentance and remission of sins", as part of the Gospel.  "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem".  What part does repentance and remission of sins have in our own lives today?  David was no different than we are.  He suffered during his life and experienced fear, just as we do; I Samuel 21:12, says, "Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid".  (Our scripture reading in Psalms 59 is labeled "A Michtam of David when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him".  From what I could find, "Michtam" means "a golden psalm", but not much other information was available.)

In speaking to David, Jonathan said in I Samuel 20:42, "May the Lord be between you and me".  Just as in an algebra equation, certain factors must be present in relationships in order for them to work out.  David's relationship with Saul failed because Saul's relationship with God became nonexistent. Saul's heart was not filled with the love of God and this was revealed in his hatred toward David.  (I think we can honestly say that our relationships with others are better whenever our relationship with God is flourishing.)  Just as David experienced, there are many variables in relationships that we have no control over. (However, we need to examine ourselves first, repent, and even confess our sins to one another, before deeming a difficulty as "out of my control".)  David wisely removed himself from a relationship with Saul--he did not entangle himself in Saul's problems or put himself in harm's way. However, in his heart, David respected Saul as God's anointed--he kept the Lord between him and Saul. The testimonies of Saul and David's lives bear witness to the importance of the condition of the heart.  Only God can change our hearts as we submit and yield to Him in humility and true repentance.