So where is the glory? We start out well. David seeks the Lord to find out where he should settle. As a result David settles in the heart of southern Judah, far from the heart of Benjamin from whence came Saul. The people of Judah come and anoint David king, much to the chagrin of the close followers of Saul and Benjamin. Following the ceremony David is informed of the heroic act of the men of Jabesh Gilead. David wisely sends messengers to Jabesh Gilead to express his pleasure and gratitude in their action. This is more than a genuine thank you. It is also a political move on David’s part to try to bring peace and unity to a hurting nation. Jabesh Gilead as you recall is one of Saul’s ancestral homes. It is also located east of the Jordan River and much further north. Geographically if David could coax them to support him, it would go a long way to unifying the nation under him. Things go south from here, literally and figuratively.
Abner, Saul’s general, responds by taking Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, and anointing him king over Israel. Abner did not consult the Lord; he merely followed human tradition. Abner takes him to Mahanaim to anoint him king. Why Mahanaim? Mahanaim is also east of the Jordan and further south than Jabesh Gilead. It was geographically a road block for David to unify or expand the kingdom. Also, Mahanaim was rich in cultural/religious history. Mahanaim was named by Jacob/Israel. It means two armies or two camps. Jacob named it on the night in which he wrestled with God and his name was changed to Israel. It held cultural value to the people of Israel. Without consulting the Lord, Abner’s actions were wise and calculated. It was a brilliant move. But his eyes were on his own glory, not the glory of the Lord.
To this point there is no record of warfare between David’s men and Ishbosheth’s men. Joab ventures with a detachment of his army up to Gibeon. Gibeon is in the heart of Benjamin. What is Joab doing there? The two detachments meet at the pool of Gibeon. The pool of Gibeon is dug through 35 feet of solid rock and is 37 feet in diameter. That would make its circumference 116.24 feet around. The two detachments could easily have stood around its circumference and be separate from each other. Abner suggests a contest between the young men. Joab accepts. What are they thinking? They are focused on their own glory, not the glory of the Lord. As one could predict, it lead to murder and war between Judah and Israel. It lead to the death of Joab’s youngest brother. It lead to a deep grudge on Joab’s part toward Abner. It wasn’t good. That is what happens when we cease seeking the glory of the Lord and seek our own glory. For this reason let us remember: Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 69
One summer I worked briefly with two other guys trying to clear stumps from the stream bed in a swamp. The objective was to drain the swamp. Frequently we would be up to our necks and water while our feet would seek deep into the mire. It stank. The biting flies were horrid. We even got to the point where we would smear the stinking mire on our exposed skin. The flies wouldn’t bite where the mire was covering our skin. After a week of stinking labor, the boss called a halt to the project. The neighbor, of the land through which the stream would run to drain the swamp, objected to the project and threatened lawsuits. But we were at it long enough to experience what it was like to be in mire.
Sometimes I feel like I am in a mire now. “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me.” Lord, I have blown it with my wife. I have blown it with my children. I have blown it with the ministry in which you placed me. Should I even be a pastor? I am in mire up to my neck. I want to quit, but where shall I go? “O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.” To whom shall I turn?
This Psalm just drips with prophecy of the Lord Jesus! David, writing 1000 years before Jesus, accurately sees in himself things that will belong to his descendant, his Lord. It is quoted no less than 4 times in the New Testament. Plus, there is a clear reference to it at least once and many other veiled references. Look at this!
Psalm 69:4--John 15:25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’When I am stuck in the mire, there is One who has been there before me, so that He could pull me out. There is One to whom I can turn. There is One upon whom I can call. He has been in the mire for me. He was there upon the cross. He drowned in the morass of my sin and foolishness. But that foolishness and sin, He removed. He came alive again leaving the sin and foolishness in the grave. When I die with Him, he raises me up. When I bring it to Him, He washes me clean. I don’t stink anymore, at least not to Him.
Psalm 69:8--Mark 3:21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
Psalm 69:9--John 2:17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
Psalm 69:9--Romans 15:3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
Psalm 69:19--Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Lord Jesus, I was stuck in the stench and foolishness of my own sin. I was dying in it. You took it upon Yourself. You died because of it. But You overcame it and rose from the dead! You have given me Your righteousness, Your cleansing! You have placed me on the solid ground of a river of living water instead of stinking, stagnant swamp water. Thank You! I love You because of this! I receive You as my King and my brother. I take Your Zeal for prayer as my own. I gladly identify with Your reproaches! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
EZEKIEL 38
Someone just e-mailed me some pictures from WWII of the death, destruction and mayhem. How could war ever magnify God? How could it ever sanctify Him? How could it ever make people know that He is God? Yet God describes His battle with Gog in this way, “ Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” Who is this Gog? Who is this chief prince of Meshech and Tubal? The identification is not entirely clear. The characters appear again in Revelation 20. There are some differences though. Here in Ezekiel, God gathers these foes together in what appears to be the Messianic age. In Revelation Satan gathers them together after the Millennium is over. With both the number is beyond calculating and their destruction is by supernatural means; God does it! His judgment magnifies His name. Many around me are headed for His judgment. Without Jesus, they have no hope. Jesus will be glorified, either by the way He judges them or by the way He pours His compassion upon them. Like the pictures of death and destruction from WWII, the judgment will not be pretty, but it must be done. Or He will not be just. It should motivate me to take the offer of mercy to those around me who have not heard. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
2 CORINTHIANS 1
The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He is the God of all comfort. How can He comfort us? First, He has experienced an unimaginable physical pain. He suffered (going to and upon the cross) pain of horrendous magnitude. Any physical pain we experience, he has experienced. He is able to comfort us in our physical pain.
Second, He knew financial deprivation. "Foxes have holes . . . but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head." He is able to comfort us in our poverty.
Third, He has suffered unimaginable emotional pain. The only physical father he knew died when He was somewhere between 12 & 30. One of His best friends died while he was away on a ministry trip. He was constantly misunderstood. He was depressed as He considered His coming agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was betrayed by Judas and denied by Peter. He is able to comfort us in our emotional pain.
Fourth, He experienced unimaginable spiritual pain. On the cross He experienced the open wrath of His Father. It was so great that He cried in desperation, “My God, my God why have you forsaken Me?”. He is more than able to comfort us in our spiritual pain. To comfort doesn't mean the pain is suddenly taken away. It means He comes along side to strengthen us giving us ability to endure until the pain is gone.
Some years ago I went through an extreme (for me) emotional upheaval. One of the elders of my church became convinced that I had no leadership skills. He eventually called to the other elders for my resignation, or he would resign. The outcome was he resigned. But it still left me in a tremendous state of emotional & spiritual weariness and sorrow. It also left me as the center of attack of a few others who supported him.
It was impossible to study for my sermon that week. Sunday morning came and as worship began, it was difficult to enter into His gates with joyful singing. I was flooded with emotions of great sorrow and weariness. I resolved to place my attention on Christ and not on my emotions and to sing to Him. As I sang, a new thing happened. He comforted me. As I sang, I felt as though He were speaking to me and saying, "I love you." The sorrow and weariness did not leave. It was still there. But in the midst of it, I experienced His comfort. Tears began to well up. At times I could not physically sing. It was not because of the sorrow and weariness that I felt, but rather because of the comfort I was receiving. He was communicating His love to me. It was overpowering, even while I felt sorrow and weariness.
I really don't know if the sermon was good or bad. But I know it was His comfort that carried me through. If any were comforted from the sermon, it was His doing. For as the suffering of Christ abounds in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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