August 22

1 Sam 14 Recently a number of “little things” have begun to gnaw on me, weighing my heart down. None of them are particularly insurmountable, but the sum total of them drain the energy out of me. We’ve lost a number of significant people in our church. In one case the parting included some hard relational problems. I have been patiently working through an audit with the IRS. It has demanded an accounting for every bank deposit in the 2010/2011 tax years. Every time I give an answer, it seems they want more information. I have a relative who has mental problems. He called me the other night when I was not there and left a message on the answering machine which threatened to have “my a__ thrown in jail.” According to the message, he thinks that my wife works for the Social Security office and that she caused Social Security to deny him $49,000 in benefits. My wife has nothing to do with Social Security. I am a care giver for my 91-year-old mother. Her house had a fire the other day; the roof leaks (unrelated to the fire); a sewer line had to be replaced; several trees are dropping limbs as a result of the previous two years of drought; at least two trees died and need to be cut down. My own house has issues. Limbs are dropping, the roof leaks from one of the limbs, the water heater sprang a leak (it was brand new in 2007). The dog is in heat and there is a problem with our male. The list could go on, but I will stop here. There are just a lot of little things that seem to weigh the heart down. There are things that are done in the heat of passion when the adrenaline is rushing and foolhardiness overwhelms us. Then there are things that are done in a cold calculating manner when it is determined that we can be successful. Then there are things that are not done because the multitude of little things against doing the right thing weigh the heart down, and the will becomes enmeshed in in a shroud of negative thinking. The children of Israel had experienced a great victory over the Ammonites. Saul had galvanized the nation and 300,000 men showed up in the adrenal rush of their new king. They rescued Jabesh Gilead, but farmers can’t stay in the army forever. They returned home to their families and crops. So a year or two later, Saul had only a small standing army of 3,000. Jonathan took his 1,000 and his youthful adrenaline, and he defeated the Philistine garrison raising the ire of the Philistines. Unlike the Ammonite army, the Philistine army had technology on their side, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, plus a huge number of soldiers. It overwhelmed the standing army of Israel. The citizens and much of the army became afraid and began to hide in the abundant caves of the mountains of Israel. Saul’s army was reduced from 3,000 to 600. This wasn’t just a multitude of little things; it was an overwhelming flood! Was Jonathan filled with the memories of Jabesh Gilead and the defeat of Philistine garrison, or was he caught up in youthful adrenaline and foolhardiness, or did he really believe that the Lord could and would deliver them from their oppressors. Whatever his true motivation, these are his words: “It may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.” Wow! May his kin live forever! His words indicate that he knew the glory of the Lord! He and one other guy crossed the pass at Michmash, scaling the cliffs while the Philistines watched and waited for them to come to the top. (You can see pictures of Michmash by going to google images and type in the word Michmash.) It was 20 against 2+the Lord. The 20 were mismatched. In half an acre of land Jonathan and his armor bearer brought the Philistines to their final meeting with the Lord. It began a rout. The Lord used Jonathan’s victory to cause fear to spread through the Philistine camp. The army began to melt away in fear. Meanwhile back at the camp, Saul had called a priest with an ephod to determine from the Lord whether or not he should attack the Philistines. Before the priest could toss the urim and the thummim, the noise of the retreating army reached Saul’s ears. Always a man of action over waiting upon the Lord, Saul commanded the priest to withdraw his hand. He immediately set out to join in the rout. He gave a rash oath designed to motivate the troops to victory, but it led to sin against the Lord. When victory was assured in the evening, he took time to seek the Lord concerning the wisdom of pursuing the Philistines into the night. The Lord would not answer. One gets the impression that Saul seemed more concerned with weighing his various options rather than his concern for what the Lord wanted. As A.W. Tozer once put it, “The Lord tells the man who cares.” Saul has demonstrated a lack of whole hearted devotion to seeking the Lord. This little devotion led to him placing requirements upon his army which led to sin. Their hearts and passions were revealed by ravenous eating of meat that had not been properly bled. Their hearts were found lacking. On the other hand, Jonathan helped himself to some ‘clean’ food. A little honey from the honey comb allowed him the right energy that was needed in the midst of the battle. Jonathan would not allow the overwhelming flood of the Philistine army to shroud the glory of the Lord. Saul let the problems fog His sight. His vision was set upon the problems. I am faced daily with the same choice. You are faced daily with the same choice. Which path will I follow? Which path will you follow? I choose the glory of the Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john