Tag Archives: David

July 16, 2014 · 7:45 AM

Mercy And Restoration

Every time I read about King David in the Bible, I come away with a deeper respect for him. In II Samuel, life was going good for David. He was king and had just brought his son, Absalom, home to set aside their differences. Instead of being grateful, Absalom stole the hearts of Israel, betrayed his father and took the kingdom away from him. David had to flee his beloved Jerusalem to keep from being killed. As he was taking one last look from the summit of the Mount of Olives, he was met by the servant of Mephibosheth.

Mephibosheth was Jonathon’s son and King Saul’s grandson. David had taken him in and let him eat from his table. When David asked the servant where he was, the servant said, “He stayed behind to reclaim his grandfather’s kingdom.” I’m sure that hurt David after all he had done for him. David said, “In that case, you get everything he owns.” As David turned to continue on his exile, another man related to Saul started yelling curses at David and throwing rocks at him. He yelled out, “Get out of here you murderer, you scoundrel! The Lord is paying you back. You stole his (Saul’s) throne.”

One of David’s men grabbed his sword and asked permission to cut off his head. David screamed, “No! Who asked your opinion?” He then told them that his own son is trying to kill him. Why shouldn’t a member of Saul’s family have even more reason to? Instead of killing the man who was taunting him, throwing rocks at him and made him weary, he let him be. He showed mercy. He showed great restraint in dealing with everything that was going wrong.

We each have people in our life who have betrayed us. We have people who use words like daggers and stab us in the back. We have people who get under our skin and wear us out. It’s nothing new. It’s been happening for millennia. David showed us a different way to handle them. He showed us that there is another option. In II Samuel 16:12, David said, “Perhaps The Lord will see that I’m being wronged and will bless me.” He knew that if he lashed out in anger, he removed the chance of blessing. He wanted to leave the door open for God to help him.

How do you respond to the people who won’t leave you alone? Do you fight back? Do you get into endless arguments? Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.” It could be that your response is keeping you in that perpetual cycle. If you want to change the circumstance, change your response to it. Show mercy instead of anger. Have patience instead of lashing out. Open the door for God to bless you instead of slamming it shut. Show love instead of hate. Give back blessings instead of curses and watch what God does. It may take a while, but God will restore you like he did David.

By the way, David did get his kingdom back. It turned out Mephibosheth’s servant was lying. David took half of the belongings back and gave them to Mephibosheth. He then let him continue to live in the palace. The man who cursed him, apologized and was forgiven. All of this was done because David did not sin when he was losing everything. Keep your head up. God sees what you’re going through. He sees the attacks and has not forgotten you. He will restore you.

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 22, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Grab Your Sword!

Have you ever been so angry with someone you sat there and plotted ways to pay them back? I have. I’ve plotted ways where I wouldn’t get caught, ways that would hurt them worse than they hurt me and ways that were they would know to never do something to me again. I used to say, “I don’t get even, I get ahead!” It’s crazy how clouded our mind gets when we’ve been hurt by someone. Reason goes out the window and we have a laser focus (tunnel vision) on hurting them back. We don’t care who gets caught in the wake as long as that person suffers.

I know I can’t be the only one who has ever felt this way. Maybe you’ve experienced it too. I know David did in I Samuel 25. He had protected a man’s property while running from Saul and living in the wilderness. He was hungry so he sent servants to ask for food as repayment. The man whose property he protected replied, “Do you think I’m going to take good bread and wine and meat freshly butchered for my sheep shearers and give it to men I’ve never laid eyes on?” David took that as a slap in the face for all he had done for him. Without hesitation, David said, “Get your swords!”

His first instinct was to repay this man evil for evil. Eye for an eye. Tit for tat. His anger blinded him. He got 400 of his strongest men and headed for that man. If he wasn’t going to give it freely, David was going to kill him and take it. We act the same way when we’re angry. Only around here, we don’t say, “Get your swords,” we say, “Grab your gun!” Violence seems to be our answer when someone has made us mad. We hit a wall, stomp our feet into the ground, punch something, scream out loud and display our displeasure any way we can. We want people to know we’re really mad.

That’s opposite of what God wants us to do. God says, in Deuteronomy 32:35, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will over take them.” The problem is we want them to have pay back now. We want to be the ones delivering it, but that’s not God’s way. That’s not God’s timing. In the New Testament, God reaffirms this message through Paul. Romans 12:17-18 says, “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

God doesn’t want us grabbing our swords (or guns) to pay back what someone did to us. He wants us to calm down, breathe and trust that He will handle it “in due time.” Proverbs 22:1 says that a good reputation is more important than riches. We lose our reputation when we go around paying people back. In turn, we tarnish God’s name. By the way, that man’s wife stopped David from killing her husband and everyone else. The next day, the man had a stroke and died. Instead of having murder on his hands, he maintained a pure heart before God. Instead of reaching for your sword next time someone hurts you, reach for patience instead. Let God have it.

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 23, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Prayer For Difficult Times

Father,

Some days I feel like David. It seems like the world is chasing me and I’m in an endless cycle of running for my life. I try to hide out in caves of seclusion, but the darkness can be unbearable and lonely. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown and fear of dropping the ball keep me from doing everything I should. I feel like I’m juggling everything and barely keeping it together. I worry that if I drop something, everything will all come crashing down. It’s overwhelming at times and my mind rarely gets to rest. I need your help.

Like David, I reach out to you in my despair. I call on your name to be my refuge when others are attacking me. I know that you are my rock when everything else seems to slip beneath my feet. You are the one who holds me in your hands when I miss the mark. I thank you for being my shield that protects me from the fiery darts that the enemy throws. You give me strength to stand when that’s all that I can do. You have never failed me nor have you ever left me alone. I’m asking that you continue to stand by my side.

When I feel you standing with me, I get encouraged. I know that nothing can come against me that will defeat me. I know that even though I can’t see the path to my victory, it’s already won. Just because I can’t see how you will move or act on my behalf, it doesn’t change the fact that you will. You have always come to my rescue in my time of need. You have been the one constant in my life that I always knew would be there no matter what. Your hand has guided me through tough times in the past and you will continue to guide me no matter what I face.

I pray that you would help me to keep my thoughts on you as I face these struggles. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on your promises rather than my circumstances. Your truth is greater than what my reality tells me. Your Word is the light to my path that shows me where to go when I can’t see what my next step should be. Above all else, I will hold on to you through difficult times. You are the anchor that keeps me from going out to sea when the storms of life try to put me on the bottom of the ocean floor.

Thank you for hearing my prayer. You are a faithful God who is concerned about my life, my needs and the things that I face each and every day. Because I know you hear me, I know that you will answer me. I love you for all that you’ve done, all that you’re doing and all that you’re going to do. I know that you love me despite all I’ve done or am going to do. Your love and concern for me has nothing to do with my actions. You simply love me and care for me because you created me and I am your child. Help me to be at peace just in knowing that. Calm my fears, help me to catch my breath and to walk in your strength.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 10, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Replacing Trust

20140410-074721.jpg

How many times does God ask us to do something and then we see if it’s feasible before trying to do it? We try to get all our ducks in a row before “stepping out in faith.” It’s not really faith if we set everything up ahead of time to ensure our success. We trust in the things we see and know versus the unseen. We end up doing it in our own strength instead of His strength. We then wonder where our reward is for such an act of faith. The truth is we have our reward because we did it in on our own instead of trusting in Him.

In the last chapter of II Samuel, God was upset with Israel. David sent his army commanders out to do a census so he would know how many warriors he had. His officer replied, “May your God multiply people by the hundreds right before the eyes of my master the king, but why on earth would you do a thing like this?” He resisted David because he knew what David was doing and it wasn’t right. After years of serving God, walking with Him and talking with Him, David was still tempted to walk by sight.

David reiterated his command and sent the men out. In verse 10, it says, “But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics.” The man, who once was indignant because an entire army was afraid of a giant defying his God, was now in the shoes of the army. He forgot that holy fire that he once had that wasn’t afraid of anything that came against God’s people. As he got older, he trusted God less and relied on what he knew instead. He forgot that God won his battles, not his numbers.

I think of my child who is willing to jump off of anything when I’m around. He trusts that I’ll catch him. As he gets older, he’ll try to push me away while he jumps off of things. He’ll get bumps and bruises and finally he’ll quit taking those leaps. His fear of gravity will overtake his trust in me. We do the same thing to God. We take leaps of faith early on in our walk with Him. We’re amazed when He catches us. Then we start trying to act independently of Him. We try to do acts of faith without Him. We fail and our pride gets bruised. We ask God where He was and why He didn’t catch us when we were doing things for Him. We then quit acting in faith all together. We end up only doing things for God where we are guaranteed success.

God asks us to trust Him completely. He asks us to trust a Him blindly. When we take those leaps, there is a time when we are free falling. Our stomach is in our throat. Our adrenalin is rushing. We are wondering if God will catch us because our destiny is not in our hands. That’s where God wants us to live. That’s where He wants our faith. He doesn’t want us to trust in statistics, numbers, things we can see or our own strength. He wants us to trust in Him alone. If He calls you to do something, don’t trust in what you see or try to make things work. Take the step of faith and have that child like trust that your Father will catch you.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 18, 2014 · 7:46 AM

God Is Looking For Nobody

When American Idol first came on TV, it was one of the most popular shows ever. People couldn’t get enough of it. Since that time several shows with the same premise have begun. The draw to reality shows like this is that it gives a nobody the chance to be somebody. It tells us that there’s a chance for each of us to be great, famous or known. It gives us a cut in the line to stardom, to bypass years of plugging away following the normal route. In essence, shows like that give each of us hope that we too will be discovered one day.

As I was reading Paul’s account of Abraham in Romans 4:17-18, it occurred to me that God only uses nobodies. When you look through the scripture and think of the great people of faith, they were nobodies. David was a shepherd minding his own business tending his father’s sheep when God chose him to be king. Abraham was a devoted husband who just wanted to give his wife a child. He was taking care of his possessions when God asked him to move. Mary and Joseph were just two young lovers trying to plan a wedding when God chose them to be the parents of Jesus.

Look at the disciples too. Most were ordinary fishermen, tax collectors and every day blue collar workers when Jesus gave the call to follow Him. Joseph was a teenager who ratted on his brothers one too many times when he was sold into slavery and dragged to a foreign land. He lived his life in obscurity until God chose to make him second in command of one of the greatest civilizations of all time. Moses was an abandoned child, who ran away from his adopted parents and was tending sheep in the desert when he had the burning bush experience.

The somebodies in the Bible all started out as nobodies. They didn’t follow the normal routes to greatness. They were just doing their normal every day routines when God stepped in. The difference between them and others was that they were willing to be obedient to the voice of God. David was willing to tend sheep as the king, Abraham was willing to leave his homeland with no questions asked, Mary and Joseph were willing to be ridiculed for having a child out of wedlock, the disciples were willing to leave everything behind to follow, Moses was willing to go home and face his past. Each person was willing to be obedient when it didn’t make sense.

That’s the difference in being a nobody and a somebody. Blind faith. God is still looking among the nobodies of this world to find somebody who will blindly obey. He’s looking for somebody to be great. He has not changed His methods. Blind obedience is still what He desires from you and me. Being willing to do whatever He asks even when it doesn’t make sense or defies logic is the trait He most admires. You and I have a choice when He comes our way. We have the choice to remain a nobody because we aren’t willing to do what He asks, or we have the choice to obey and be somebody great. What will your obedience look like today?

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 25, 2013 · 7:28 AM

Being Available

20131125-072634.jpg

Have you ever had a car break down on you? I had one break down on me in high school late at night after I dropped off my girlfriend. It was a cold night and she lived way out in the middle of no where. I was listening to the radio, signing along, when there was a noise from the engine and the car died. I coasted to a stop and began to look for lights. Cell phones were a luxury for the rich back then so calling someone was out. I got out and walked down the road until I came to a house. I went up and knocked on the door. A voice from inside asked what I wanted. When I explained what happened, they said, “We don’t open the door for anyone!”

I went down the road looking for another house. I was freezing cold and starting to jog to get my blood moving. I saw another house. It has the blinking, purple light flashing from a TV in the windows. I knocked and the TV turned off. I told them I knew they were awake and I just needed to make a call. No answer. Down the road I went to the next house. When I knocked, the door immediately opened. They were having a party. I asked for a phone, they let me use it and then drove me back to my car. I’m not sure how many doors I was going to have to knock on that night, but if was going to until I found someone available to help.

Our guest preacher yesterday mentioned in his sermon how God is looking for us to be available to Him. We say we want God to use us, but when He asks, we’re too busy. We have so many things going on in our lives that we’ve failed to be available to God when He wants to use us. He comes and knocks on our door, but it’s too late in the day or we just pretend not to hear it. We want to be used by God, but only when it’s convenient for us. We don’t want it to be in public, at a restaurant, in front of other people or when we’re in the middle of something else. We want to be used only when it’s at our convenience.

Sadly, He passes us by continuing to knock on the doors of hearts until someone is available to help. We wonder why He doesn’t use us very often. We think we are the model Christians, yet every time He knocks, we disregard it because it isn’t convenient. God wants our availability. Either we’re willing to be used by Him whenever He wants or we’re just not really available. What if Moses had been too busy doing his daily tasks to notice the burning bush? What if David had said he was too busy to go to the house to see Samuel? What if Peter was too busy to go to the upper room? You probably wouldn’t know their names. Instead you’d know the names of people who would’ve been available.

How’s your availability to God? Have you told Him you want to be used by Him, but haven’t made yourself available on His schedule? The good news is that you can change that in an instant. You simply have to let Him know that you’re ready when He’s ready, that His plans are more important than your plans and that when He asks, you’ll say, “Yes!” If you aren’t available when He knocks, He will move on to someone who will say yes. There is nothing here more important than what God wants you to do. It may not be convenient or easy to do, but it is the most important thing on your to-do list today. Will you be available when He knocks?

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 31, 2013 · 7:35 AM

The Psychological Advantage

I like to think of King David as a warrior. He’s the guy that entire armies were afraid of. When he stepped on to the battlefield, it gave his army the psychological advantage. It boosted his army’s confidence and crushed that of his enemy. But that’s not the complete picture of who David was. When you read the Psalms, you see a guy who was worried and afraid at times. You see the thoughts of that brave warrior written down in black and white saying he was terrified at times.

No one can be brave and strong all the time. No one is impervious to the words that others hurl at us. After a while, they get to us. They penetrate deep into our mind and heart. They start to cause doubt. They can cause paranoia to. That’s where David was in Psalm 31. He said, “I’m in deep, deep trouble again. I’ve cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside… My troubles have worn me out.” Even the great warrior David had days where he felt insecure and alone.

He didn’t stay like that though. He didn’t let those thoughts dominate his mind and keep him in that state. He knew how to get out of it. Verse 1 gives us his answer to getting free of the mindset that is constantly worries. David said, “I run to you, God; I run for dear life.” He knew that God was his fortress and his cave made of granite that would protect him. In verses 14-18 he says, “Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God! Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe from the hands out to get me.”

Every time the thoughts of insecurity came into his mind, he went back to God. When fear crept in, he called out to God. “Hour by hour,” he said. It wasn’t a daily thing. It was an hourly thing. He knew not to let those thoughts linger in his mind. They’re destructive and counterproductive. They are thoughts meant to pull you away from who you are in Christ. Don’t let them rule your mind. When they pop up, run to God like David did. Call out to Him and speak to who He is.

When we speak to how great our God is, our problems don’t seem so big anymore. When we call out to Him for help, we win the psychological battle. Just like when David stepped onto the battlefield, God steps into our situation and gives us the victory before there is ever a fight. He is our strong tower. He is our defender. He gives us the victory in our hearts, minds and lives. When the enemy hears us call to Him and sees Him co ing to our defense, they know the battle is over. You know the battle is over.

I love how he ends Psalm 31 in verse 24. He says this to you, “Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.” I don’t know of any better words of encouragement than that. When you call out to God, He’ll be on His way to help you. In the mean time, be brave and strong. Don’t give up or let the enemy win the psychological advantage over you before the battle begins. God is on your side today and He’s on His way!

7 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 18, 2013 · 8:43 AM

In The Waiting

I was thinking about the story of David this morning. He was tending sheep when The Lord sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him king of Israel. He was doing a menial task that was assigned to him because he was the youngest of his brothers. When the prophet told Jesse to bring his sons to a sacrifice, he didn’t even bother to invite David. As Samuel looked at Jessie’s sons, he looked at them, saw one and according to I Samuel 16:6 thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”

When all of Jessie’s sons had passed in front of Samuel, he was confused. God had rejected all of them. When Samuel asked Jesse if these were all his sons, Jesse said, “There’s still the youngest, but he’s out in the fields watching the sheep.” After he was anointed, David went back to tending sheep. He didn’t go to Jerusalem and proclaim himself king. Instead he waited for God’s timing for the call to be fulfilled.

To me, the waiting is the hardest part. How do you go back to tending sheep when you’re anointed to be king? How do you go back to sleeping on a hillside under the stars when you know there’s a palace waiting for you? David was able to trust God’s timing even though he knew where he was going in the future. He continued to be faithful to where God had called him for the present while waiting for the future calling to be fulfilled.

I think that has to be the hardest part. If God has called you to do something in the future, you don’t have the right to slack where He has you in the present. There are lessons to be learned still. There are responsibilities that must be tended to in the waiting. When David was told by his father to go to the battlefront to check on his brothers, he left his sheep with another shepherd. He didn’t neglect his present responsibilities for his future calling.

We all can learn from his example. You may have been called by God to be a missionary, preacher, evangelist, writer or something else. In the waiting time, you still have to take care of the responsibilities He’s given you. You have to continue be faithful in the “little” things. They may seem menial like watching sheep, but there is a purpose behind keeping you where you are until the right time arrives. David’s path to the throne was not an easy one. Just because God called you to something, it doesn’t mean the heavens will open, angels will sing and you’ll have a clear path to it. You may endure some difficult times getting there.

God has your steps ordered. It’s up to you to take those steps and to walk in the path that He has laid before you to get to where you’re going. Continue to trust in God’s plan even when it isn’t happening in the timing you thought it would. He’s still lining things up. He’s still preparing you. He hasn’t forgotten you or what He called you to. Do the things necessary to be ready when He says it’s time. Above all, be patient in the waiting.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 25, 2013 · 7:37 AM

Playing Chase with God

Each night when I get home, as soon as my son sees me, he smiles and yells, “Dada!” I squat down to give him a hug, but he doesn’t run to me. Instead, he runs away. With a big grin on his face, he yells, “Come get me, dada.” I chase him around the sofa in circles for several minutes. He giggles and looks back while he’s running. He laughs and says it again, “Come get me, dada!” When he gets tired, he falls down and let’s me catch him. I scoop him up in my arms then I hug and kiss him all over as he giggles.

That’s a perfect picture of what I so often do to God. He shows up ready to love me, but I take off running. I make Him chase me instead of running directly to Him. The funny thing is, He does. He chases me when I run. My heart calls out, “Come get me!” I try to keep an obstacle between us as I run. He continues to chase me until I run out of strength and fall down. He runs over, scoops me up in His arms, hugs me and tells me He loves me.

I don’t know if God loves to play chase, but I can tell you that He’s good at it. We can run and hide, but He always finds us. He knows just where we are and He continues down our path. He wants to pour out extravagant love on us. He wants to hold us in His arms and carry us away with Him. He wants to show us how much He cares for us, but we run. We try to get away. The good news is that we can’t get away to where He can’t find us!

In Psalm 139:7-12, David asked, “Is there anywhere I can go to avoid your Spirit? To be out of your sight?” He liked to run too. What he found was that no matter where He went, God was there waiting for him. When he wanted to hide in the dark, he said, “Darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.” He knew that there is no place he could go to hide or get away from God. You and I know that too, but that doesn’t keep us from running.

I think there’s something in us that loves it when we’re pursued. We love having someone chase after us. It gives us a sense of worth. It lets us know in a strange way that someone thinks we’re worth wearing themselves out over. The good news is that God loves to show us how much He loves us and is willing to play chase with us if that’s what it takes to show us love. He will do whatever it takes to find you and scoop you up just so He can hear you say, “Dada!”

If you’ve been running, I encourage you today to stop and let Him catch you. Let Him pick you up and love on you. We all need it. In Psalm 33:22, David says, “Love us, God, with all you’ve got – that’s what we’re depending on (MSG).” We’re all depending on Him to love us no matter what it is we’ve done or why we’re running away. The good news is that He will love you with all He’s got, no matter what you’ve done. It’s time to come out from hiding and let Him love you.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,