Sabotage! David stole a man’s wife and then killed the man. David’s son steals the people’s hearts and now seeks to kill David. Absalom goes to Hebron to have himself declared king. It was the very place where Judah first declared David to be king. David is once again fleeing for his life. Before it was from King Saul, but now it is from his own son, whom he loved. If there is any glory of the Lord in this it must be seen in David’s statement:
Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.He is a broken man, yet he could be in no better position. He casts Himself upon the mercy of the Lord. He sends the priests back into the city where they belong. In casting Himself upon the mercy of the Lord, he saves himself, for through the help of Hushai and the sons of the priests, David was able to escape Absalom in order to regroup his army and fight at another time.
The glory of the Lord is like that. He continually ushers us to the point where we are totally dependent upon Him and Him alone, and at the last moment He breaks through! So where is the glory in this tragic story? God is with David, and He walks with Him through this trouble and delivers him from it. See Psalm 3 for how David addressed God in this tragic time. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
The northern gate of the city of David, the “Ophel”
Psalm 80
“Cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” If I haven’t seen them for a while, and I walk in to the room, my granddaughter’s faces will usually light up. They will shine in excitement. Caedie in particular will light up and almost percolate with delight. Their response can bring a 180 degree change in my emotional state. Contrast this with a few occasions when I have walked into the presence of someone whom I knew was displeased with me. On a few cases, their faces would stop a clock. My emotional barometer soars like a lead balloon.
Why would the face of the Creator God shine upon me? Does He ever percolate with delight when I come into His presence? The Psalmist’s plea is for that to happen. I believe that the Holy Spirit is saying through this that if we will come in repentance to Him, He literally shines in delight with us. Wow! Imagine that! The God who created this awesome universe gets excited about us when we come to Him in repentance! That thought alone ought to send me percolating with delight, and when I stop to think about it, it does exactly that!
The converse is devastating. When He is angry, I want to run and hide. But where can I go? Even if the mountains would fall upon me, He would be there. His angry stare does more than stop a clock; it dissolves time. It brings a meal of tears and depression. We become like an abandoned acreage in a wild prairie fire. But like the spring rain, He replenishes us. He restores the charred embers with the moist green growth of new life O Lord, let me bask in shining or Your countenance! Let Your glory shine! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Daniel 1
Not long ago I returned to Stillwater from visiting my son, Daniel, in Southport. I put 3,000 miles on my car. From Stillwater to Southport alone is over 1200 miles. I usually take two long days of driving to do it one way. I would never do it as a vacation, if I had to walk it. 900 miles at the average pace of 3 miles per hour would take 300 hours of walking. If I walked 12 hours a day, it would take 25 straight 12 hour days at 3 miles per hour walking. I am not sure I could keep that pace for 25 days. My guess would be that it would take 25-40 days of walking to make Southport from here. Most likely, if we did not have cars, planes, trains, busses, or animals to ride, once I had traveled 900 miles, I would never return just as a vacation. It would be a permanent move for me.
Can you imagine as a young teen being taken captive with other young men to a land 900 miles away for the purpose of learning their language, culture and education so that you could be a useful tool in their subjugation of your country and other countries like yours. How would you respond emotionally to this? Would you be bitter because you felt like you had been robbed of your future in your homeland? Or, would you be excited that you had been selected for possibly a top career in the world? Perhaps you would be filled with both? That was the position of Daniel and his three friends. But God had great plans for Daniel, and I think Daniel sensed it.
Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies. How would the king’s food defile him? It could be that the meat was not according to the dietary laws of Leviticus 11, or it could be that the meat had been sacrificed to the idols of the king’s false gods. Either way it was important to Daniel that he first honor the Lord. He had choices. He could be very black and white about it and tell his boss that he was a Hebrew and would not defile himself with the king’s food. Or he could be diplomatic and offer a test to his boss to see if his Lord would demonstrate His ability to provide for His children. Or he could just give in. No one else but he and his three friends would ever know what they ate. Besides, it was probably very tasty.
Daniel knew the glory of his Lord. He knew that if tested, his Lord would prevail. Do I really believe that my Lord’s glory will prevail? If I do, then I am willing to risk it all. Daniel risked it all. Anytime the Lord asks me to risk it all for His glory, if I really know His glory, then I will risk it all. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
2 Corinthians 11:16-33
How did Paul keep going? Look at all the opposition! He was called a fool by those to whom He ministered. His labors were constant. His imprisonments were frequent. His physical perils were overwhelming. On top of all of this, He felt the responsibility of all the churches. That is a load! How did he keep going? He knew that He served the God who was blessed forever. What is blessed forever? Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines bless or blessing as:
the act of declaring, or wishing, favor and goodness upon others. The blessing is not only the good effect of words; it also has the power to bring them to pass. In the Bible, important persons blessed those with less power or influence. The patriarchs pronounced benefits upon their children, often near their own deaths (Gen. 49:1–28). Even if spoken by mistake, once a blessing was given it could not be taken back (Gen. 27:33). . . . One can also bless God, showing gratitude to Him (Deut. 8:10) in songs of praise (Ps. 103:1–2). . . . God also blesses people by giving life, riches, fruitfulness, or plenty (Gen. 1:22, 28). His greatest blessing is turning us from evil (Acts 3:25–26) and forgiving our sins (Rom. 4:7–8).
Is God the one being blessed in verse 31? It would appear so. How could this be a motivation to Paul to keep going in all of his difficult situations? He knew that his ability to continue on in difficult situations came directly from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. As he availed himself of the Lord’s grace, he was blessing God. God is forever being blessed by those who avail themselves of His grace. Even if we do not bless Him, He blesses Himself. But it is our privilege to enter into blessing Him by availing ourselves of His grace in the midst of difficult circumstances. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
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