Come Unto Who?
Today’s reading – 2 Samuel 15-17;Proverbs 12
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 23 – 24; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 17)
“And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!” – (2 Samuel 15:3-4)
In today’s reading, we see the gradual rise to power of Absalom. David’s son. Absalom has developed into a calculating, sneaky, and conspiring rebel, who slowly stole the hearts of the people of Israel away from their God chosen leader. In the verses above, he is standing in the gate, and pulling people aside before they go into the king. He befriends them, and promises them that if he were the king things would be different; things would be better. No doubt, he is bad mouthing the king to everyone who would listen. Absalom is a snake; a rat. He has done nothing on his own; he has built nothing, conquered nothing. Instead, he is a destroyer, and a stealer of that which belongs to another man.
I have observed people like this throughout the years. They steal wives away from husbands; they steal the hearts of children away from fathers; they steal churches away from pastors. They tell the wife who may be having some struggles in her marriage that if he were her husband, he would never mistreat her. They do the same to church members. They want people to come to them. They usually use flattery. They always tear down God-ordained authority. Beware of the Absalom’s of life. God is never for them. Even when it looks like they have all the right answers, you need to stay faithful to the Lord and supportive of the leaders that God has given you.
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The Consequences of Sin
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 12-14; Proverbs 11
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 21 – 22; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 17)
“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.” – (2 Samuel 12:10-11)
“And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.” – (2 Samuel 12:15)
I have to admit, that I wish passages like this were not in the Bible. In a perfect world, there would be no sin, and none of the pain and misery that come as a result of sin. Passages like this remind us of God’s passionate hatred for sin. In chapter 11, we heard nothing from God until the very last verse of the chapter:
“…But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”
Of course, the “thing” that David had done was actually more than one individual thing. It began with David’s not being where he was supposed to be. He was the king, and it was the time for king’s to go forth to war, but David was home taking it easy. Next thing he knows, he finds himself lusting after a woman (Bathsheba) that was another man’s wife. Soon he takes her, and she becomes pregnant. When he cannot conveniently cover that situation up, he eventually goes so low as to have the woman’s husband killed in battle so that he can take his wife for his own. As I said at the beginning, God does not say a word to David until he thought it was all over. But once God starts speaking, He doesn’t stop for a very long time. David would suffer much at the hand of God as a result of this “thing” that he did that displeased the Lord.
1 The baby that was born to Bathsheba dies.
2 His son Amnon rapes his sister Tamar. (Notice – another sin of lust)
3 His other son Absalom kills Amnon because of what he did to Tamar.
4 David alienates himself from Absalom.
5 Absalom rebels against David, causing David to have to flee Jerusalem.
6 Absalom sleeps with David’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
7 Absalom is killed.
All of these sins can be traced back to the sin with Bathsheba. Don’t believe me? Look at verses 10 and 11 above again. Does God not say, “I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house”? I am not saying that God caused these people to do what they did. They did what they did because they are sinners, but I am saying, that God did not do anything to prevent all of this tragedy either. Why? Because God wants us to know how much He hates sin, and how much He wants us to stay away from it. We live in a time when sin seems to no longer be sin, but let me warn you that God has never changed his mind on the subject. What are the consequences of sin? A lot of unnecessary pain and suffering for a lot of people. It’s just not worth it.
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Bad Advice
Today’s Reading – 2 Samuel 8-11; Proverbs 10
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 19 – 20; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 17)
I will resist the temptation this morning to discuss chapters 11 and 12 regarding David, Bathsheeba, and Urriah. I have spoken much about these passages in times past; and I am sure that most of the people reading this are well familiar with that tragic period in David’s life. Instead, I would like to focus on chapter 10. David sincerely wants to shew a kindness to his neighbor to the east, Hanun, the King of the Ammonites. Apparently Hanun’s father was a friend to David, and David wanted to continue the friendship through Hanun.
When David sends some of his servants into Ammon to see Hanun, no doubt bearing gifts and sending a message of comfort from David regarding the death of Hanun’s father, the advisors of Hanun are distrustful of David’s intentions; and convince the king that David is their enemy. The Ammonites then do a stupid thing: they humiliate David’s men by shaving off half of their beards and making them go back to Israel naked. Remember, at this time in history, Israel is the big kid on the block. Now, because of his stupidity, and because of the bad advice he receives, Hanun is facing an all out war with David.
None of this had to happen. Hanun acted impulsively because he had counselors around him feeding him with bad information. We need to be careful about the people we allow in our lives. We need to be careful about the influences in our lives. Bad counsel leads to bad decisions. Let’s surround ourself with balanced, godly people who will be careful to offer only biblically based and prayerful advice to us.
PS – One thought on chapter 11 (I couldn’t resist.) Among all of the other things that helped cause David’s sin with Bathsheeba, I thought about his lack of accountability. David had nobody close to him that could stand up and say, “David, what you are about to do is wrong, and I won’t let you do it, or get away with it.” There were obviously people (servants, etc.) that knew what David was doing, yet nobody challenged him. We need people around us who will stand for the truth even at the expense of going against us.
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The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Reading: 2Samuel 4-7; Matthew 17-18; Proverbs 9
Today’s Passage: 2Samuel 4:4: And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
Good morning. Aren’t you glad to be an IFB? I’ll get to that in a minute, but let’s take a look at 2Samuel 4:4. Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son, Saul’s grandson. He was lame in his feet. It wasn’t his fault that he was lame. When he was 5 years old, his nurse picked him up to flee the city. As they were fleeing, she dropped him, and he became lame.
Many people are lame in some way or another. They could be mentally, or physically lame. Did you know that 75% of adults in America use some kind of devise to correct their vision? Seventy-five percent. I guess not everyone has “20/20” vision. If you did not watch the Phillies loose last night, then you probably know where I’m going with this. This expose’ presented a lot of eye-opening items. I found it hard to believe that there is a “preacher” out there who is advocating spanking your child as young as 2-weeks old! Can I ask you something? Does a 2-week old child know what he or she is doing wrong that they deserve a spanking? No. If they are crying, there is something wrong. This is their only way to communicate: you need to check out what is wrong.
And my heart goes out to the rape victims. It was good to see that the rapist did finally get jail time. I know of pastors who have called the police on rapists or even made the rapist call.
But to lump all Fundamental Independent Baptist churches together as one, and then label us as cults: 20/20 – you need glasses.
Peace. (John 16:33)
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Is There Safety In The City?
Today’s Passage – II Samuel 1-3; Proverbs 8
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 15 – 16; Memorize 1 Corinthians 1 – 4)
“And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.” – (2 Samuel 3:27)
These first few chapters of the Book of 2 Samuel make for some exciting reading, as well as for some valuable truth. In our verse above, we see the murder of Abner by Joab and Abishai his brother. To fully understand what is happening here, there is an underlying principle that we must learn, as well as some additional background information.
First let me give you the principle. The city where this killing took place was Hebron, which was known as a City of Refuge. You can read all about the cities of refuge in the Book of Numbers 35:9 – 34; and Joshua 20. In a nutshell, though, a city of refuge was a place where somebody could flee to for safety. You see, the law in Israel stated that if you killed somebody in wartime, or if you unintentionally killed somebody (not for cases of pre-meditated murder) that the family of the dead person could avenge the blood of their relative without any legal action being taken against them. If the person who committed the “manslaughter” could get inside the city of refuge, then he would be granted safety and refuge as long as he remained in the city; but if he was to leave the city at any time, he was fair game for the revengers of blood.
Now let’s look at the background to this story. Chapter two tells us that Joab and Abishai had a brother named Asahel that was killed by Abner during a previous battle. Naturally, Joab and Abishai had never forgotten what Abner did to their brother, and even though the act was committed during a time of war, they wanted Abner to pay for their brother’s death. The problem was, however, that they had to get him outside the gate of the city. Notice our text tells us that Joab pulls him aside, in the gate, to speak with him quietly (privately). But why would Abner willingly leave the protection of the city in order to speak with a man that wanted him dead? Because Joab had deceived him into thinking that he meant no harm. As soon as he gets him outside, however, he kills him.
Now let’s make application. The city of refuge is a picture of the will of God; and Joab is a picture of the devil. The devil cannot touch us directly as long as we are inside the walls of the will of God, so what he does is try to lure us out of the city so that he can kill our ministry for the Lord. The moral to the story is: stay inside the city. Don’t stray from God’s perfect will for your life. Don’t let Satan convince you that life will be better outside of the walls of the city. Stay in the Word of God; stay in the prayer closet; stay in church; stay out soul winning; stay separated. Stay in the City!
Posted in Thoughts from 2 Samuel by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
Encouragement From The Lord
Today’s Reading – I Samuel 28-31; Proverbs 7
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 13 – 14; Memorize 1 Corinthians 1 – 4)
In our passage this morning, we see David and his men returning home to Ziklag, and discover that the city was burned to the ground and their wives and children were gone. At this point they have no idea what these Amelekites had done to their families, but I am sure that David and his men suspected that they were either being slaughtered or, at the very least, abused. The men were naturally distraught. At times like these, people want to blame somebody, and since David was their leader, he bore the brunt of their wrath. Remember, these were men that loved David, and risked much by following him. This was certainly a great test of David’s leadership. But how was David supposed to help his men, when he was also distraught due to the loss of his family. It is very hard to encourage and lead people when you yourself are discouraged; and David is perhaps at the lowest point of his life here.
The last sentence in the verse tells us what got David back up to where he could do something to help these people who were relying on him for leadership. “…David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” It is not easy to turn to the Lord for encouragement when you are down. Honestly, I can speak from experience when I say that sometimes I want to just wallow in the mire of discouragement. Have a little pity party, so to speak. But that will not help anybody. David didn’t stay down; he got back up. He received encouragement from the only source available at the time. Remember, his loyal men wanted to stone him at this time. David went to the Lord. And the Lord gave him the answers that he needed; and in a very short time, they had recovered their families, not to mention their possessions. However, none of that would have happened if David would have just stayed down.
This passage was a great encouragement for me today. Personally. I have been battling with a lot of discouragement lately. I guess, like David, I need to get up, go to God, and get back in the battle. Maybe, if I can get some encouragement from the Lord, then I will be able to give some encouragement to the people around me.
Posted in Thoughts from 1 Samuel by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Saul Has Totally Lost It
Today’s Passage – I Samuel 22-24; Proverbs 5
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 9 – 10; Memorize 1 Corinthians 1 – 4)
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. – (1 Samuel 22:18-19)
Chapter 22 of 1 Samuel is perhaps one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. King Saul, has all of the priests of Nob slain because he thinks that they are complicit with David. Saul is now totally out of control. He is allowing his imaginations to completely run wild. Let me back up and review the story. David is on the run from King Saul. He enters into Nob, the city where the priests of God lived, looking for bread for himself and his men. David does not tell Ahimelech the priest the truth, which was wrong. He tells the priest that he is on a top secret mission for the king, which required haste, and that is the reason that he did not have time to get food before he left. Ahimelech and the other priests are completely innocent. The priests give David some of the old shewbread from off of the altar, and they also give him the sword of Goliath which was also being stored in the city of Nob. There was an evil man, named Doeg, in the city that day, and he observed what had happened, and then went and told Saul.
Saul sends for Ahimelech and the rest of the priests, and asks them what had happened. Ahimelech rehearses the matter before Saul exactly as it did happen, but Saul does not believe him. Saul then orders the death of all of the priests of God. Saul’s insecurity regarding David has completely usurped his ability to reason logically. His imagination is in total control, and his imaginations are being fed by the wicked one. The Bible says that we are to cast down imaginations:
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; – (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Saul’s insecurity began and took root as jealousy because of David’s successes. God obviously had his hand upon David and Saul knew it. Saul also knew that God no longer had his hand upon him. Saul’s insecurity affected the entire kingdom. Many people died because of it. Notice that Saul’s insecurity caused him to imagine that these priests were his enemies, and they were not. His insecurity also caused him to forget about his real enemy, which was the Philistines.
Can you relate to any of this. Have you ever imagined that people were against you without really knowing that they were? Have you ever saw a group of people gathered together without you, and imagined that they were talking about you? Have you forgotten that your enemy is Satan, not your friends and family members? Perhaps you are a little insecure yourself. As I said yesterday, you need to confess that as sin, because it is sin; and ask God to help you deal with it. Remember, that God loves you just as much as he loves everyone else, and he has a wonderful plan for your life. Keep your eyes upon him, and forget about what He is doing with other people. As Jesus told Peter, “What is that to thee?” Get control of your imaginations before you totally lose it too.
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Who Is Able To Stand Before Envy?
Today’s Passage – I Samuel 19-21; Proverbs 4
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 7 – 8; Memorize 1 Corinthians 1 – 4)
“And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.” – (1 Samuel 19:1)
I feel sorry for Saul. I don’t think that deep down inside he wants to hate David, but there is something about david that Saul just can’t get past. He is so envious of David; so afraid that the people are going to love David more than him, and more than his son Jonathon. David has done nothing to warrant this treatment from Saul. He has never challenged Saul’s authority; he has never rebelled against Saul’s orders; he has never failed to exceed anything that Saul has ever asked him to do. David’s sin is that he does things too well. Saul sees very plainly that the hand of God is upon David, and what’s worse is that Saul also knows that God is no longer with Saul. Samuel had told Saul that there was going to come another man, a man after God’s own heart, that God would use to replace Saul. Saul was smart enouth to realize that David was the man that God had chosen.
I said that I feel sorry for Saul because I know what it is like to be envious of other people. It is something that I pray about all the time. I think envy is rooted in insecurity. Saul was insecure. He didn’t trust himself (or God) enough to fight Goliath, so he let a young boy do his fighting for him, and when David succeeded and was praised by the people it made Saul even more insecure. We can plainly see what Saul’s problem is, but how could it be fixed? And how can we get rid of the green eye of envy from our own lives? Well, to begin with we must recognize the problem; and then, like any other sin, we must confess it and ask God’s help in overcoming it. I don’t think, however, that it is a problem that will go away overnight. I have been struggling with envy all of my life. I am gradually learning, though, to not compare myself with anybody else. God has uniquely designed me for a specific purpose, which is very different from anybody elses purpose. My job is to be the best that I can be at what God has called me to do. And I need to keep my focus on God, and His will, not on anyone else. You can see that Saul couldn’t see God’s will, because he was consumed with David. What a shame.
Can you relate to Saul? Do you ever find yourself being jealous and envious over other people’s abilities or maybe their possessions? Ask God to help. I believe that if we really want to be delivered from the bondage of envy, and are willing to humble ourselves before God, He will help us.
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Today’s Passage – I Samuel 17, 18; Proverbs 3
(Second Milers – Matthew 5 – 6; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:1 – 4)
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The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Reading: 1Samuel 15-16; Matthew 3-4; Proverbs 2.
Today’s Passage: 1Corinthians 1:10.
Good afternoon. Sorry I’m late. I’ve been battling with a sinus infection since Friday. Too many Ibuprofen will wipe you out. After getting home from our Saturday morning church prayer, around 8:00 am, I too 1000mg more. Then I laid down for a few, which turned out to be 6 hours. That’s why I’m late.
You also may be wondering why am I using 1Corinthians 1:10, which is outside the scheduled readings. Because of Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose: Preacher never changed the reading schedule, I was in a fog and never noticed, and that’s how the Lord led us to 1Corinthians 1:10. Talk about mysterious ways, huh?
God sends out an invitation through Paul here…
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1Cor 1:10)
Is your church like that? Neither is ours. We have our share of gossip, worldliness, and drama. I’m not quite sure what the ladies mean by ‘drama’. I guess I don’t watch Days of Our Lives, or As The World Turns enough. If our church, and your church, would speak the same thing, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and judgment imagine what the Holy Spirit could do through us. We need the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. The best way is through reading your Bible and prayer. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)
There were seven of us at the church praying this morning. Seven from a church that runs over a hundred. That’s less than 10%. Usually it’s 10% doing 90% of the work in churches. I guess, as spirits grow cold, that percentage will keep getting lower. That’s why I give this invitation: if your church has an early morning prayer time -be there. If they do not – start one. And read your Bible daily. If you don’t have time, what I do is burn a CD with all the tracks for this weeks reading, and play them while driving to and from work. It’s not as good as reading, but it helps.
I hope this will be a help to you. Let me leave you with a little bit more of Romans 12…
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12: 4-18)
Peace (Romans 12:18)
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