David Accepts the Crown (2 Samuel 5:1-5)

8/30/2010 8:55:40 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  David accepted the crown

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Samuel 5:1-5

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. 2  "Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in. And the LORD said to you, ’You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.’" 3  So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the LORD at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel. 4  David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5  At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.”

            David had a long time waiting for this day to come, and he had come a long way since Samuel had anointed him king, and he had had a lot of training by the Lord to take up this position that God had anointed him for.  This training was not easy and it took a lot of time, but in the end I am sure that David looked back at this time as the best of his life, for in it he learned to walk closely with the Lord.  When David became comfortable in life and did not seem to need the Lord was when he fell into sin, but even then David was man enough to confess and repent of his sin and move on.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following in his commentary on these verses:  “After experiencing years of turbulence and division, the nation at last had a king who was God’s choice and the people’s choice.  God takes time to prepare His leaders, and much to be pitied is a person who ‘succeeds’ before he or she is ready for it.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Patience is again seen in this section, the patience David had and also the waiting to receive what was promised by the Lord and it took probably around twenty years from the time Samuel anointed David until this day, but it was all in God’s timing.  From this I can learn to be patience, patience to see if the Lord will someday have our funds returned to us, and patience to see if the Lord will lead us to Kauai to work and minister for Him there.  Patience to lead us to the church He wants us to minister in.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      I truly realize that I am in a battle and am in need of having my spiritual armor on each and every day.  I put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, and put on the helmet of salvation, and take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

2.      I give myself to the Lord for worship and service this day.

3.      I trust the Lord to guide my path today.

4.      I desire to continue to learn contentment.

5.      I trust the Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sin and to repent and confess any that are found.

8/30/2010 9:46:48 AM

Ish-Bosheth is the Loser (2 Samuel 4:1-12)

8/29/2010 7:07:02 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Ish-Bosheth the loser

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 4:1-12

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed. 2  Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin, 3  and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been aliens there until this day). 4  Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. 5  So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6  They came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7  Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8  Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, "Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the LORD has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants."

   “ 9 ¶  David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, 10  when one told me, saying, ’Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11  "How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth?" 12  Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.”

            Chapter four is a story of sin and is seen by the murder of another innocent man, Ish-bosheth, who was the son of Saul, was killed because he was the son of Saul and that was no reason to have him killed.  This story is a reminder of when Saul was killed or rather killed himself and someone else told David that he had killed him.  David rewarded him by killing him because he had said that he killed the Lord’s anointed. 

            This is a political story of a nation that was divided and a righteous king wanting to unite the nation, but because of two murders many would suspect that David, the righteous king, was doing underhanded things to accomplish his purpose.  David did not physically do anything about the death of Abner, but he did curse his cousins for doing such a horrible thing.  However in the case of the killing of the innocent king of Israel David did show that he had nothing to do with it by killing the men who killed him and hanging their corpses up to show that he had nothing to do with this murder.  “22  "If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23  his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.  (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

            I want to copy a portion from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary in which he uses a word “kings” in a way that I have never seen it used before, but I do think that I understand the point that he is trying to make by using the word.

            “The four ‘kings’ that Paul wrote about in Romans 5 were certainly active in these scenes from David’s life.  Sin was reigning (Romans 5:21) as men lied to each other, hated each other, and sought to destroy each other.  Death also reigned (5:14, 17) as Asahel, Abner, and Ish-Bosheth were slain, along with nearly four hundred soldiers who died at the battle of the pool of Gibeon.  But God’s grace also reigned (5:21), for He protected David and overruled men’s sins to accomplish His divine purposes. ‘Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ (5:20 KJV).  But David ‘reigned in life’ (5:17) and let God control him as he faced one emergency after another.  He was a man empowered by God, and God brought him through each crisis and helped him to succeed.

            “In the midst of today’s troubles and trials, God’s people can ‘reign in life by Jesus Christ’ if we will surrender to Him wait on Him, and trust His promises.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   “In the midst of today’s troubles and trials, God’s people can ‘reign in life by Jesus Christ’ if we will surrender to Him wait on Him, and trust His promises.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      In the midst of today’s troubles and trials, God’s people can ‘reign in life by Jesus Christ’ if we will surrender to Him wait on Him, and trust His promises.

2.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

3.      Put on the spiritual armor, for I am in a battle.

4.      Continue to learn contentment through the trials that I face each day.

5.      Trust that the Holy Spirit will search my heart for unconfessed sin that I may confess and repent of them.

8/29/2010 7:52:16 AM

David Honors Abner in 2 Samuel 3:28-39

8/28/2010 11:34:27 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  David honors Abner

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 3:28-39

            Message of the verses:  28  Afterward when David heard it, he said, "I and my kingdom are innocent before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29  "May it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and may there not fail from the house of Joab one who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread." 30  So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon. 31  Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner." And King David walked behind the bier. 32  Thus they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33  The king chanted a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner die as a fool dies? 34  "Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters; As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen." And all the people wept again over him. 35  Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, "May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down." 36  Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, just as everything the king did pleased all the people. 37  So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death. 38  Then the king said to his servants, "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? 39  "I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too difficult for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil.’”

            There are a number of things that I wish to point out in this section of Scripture, and in the next section of this SD I will show how I believe the Lord is speaking to me about how this applies to my life.

            David was washing his hands of the killing of Abner and called a curse down on those who murdered him in a cold blooded fashion.  David would say a elegy to Abner because David knew that he was a great man.  David would not do anything to his nephews who killed Abner, but would leave the judgment to the Lord.  David would error on the side of grace rather than the stricter punishment and this would come to haunt him in the future when it came to dealing with the members of his family. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  My decision to have our names removed from the role of membership at GBC was a decision that I truly believe that was of the Lord, for He has showed me that I am not to scheme.  The words that Dr. Wiersbe wrote in his commentary go along with what I am thinking concerning my thoughts on how to handle the problems that are going on at GBC:  “All David could do was leave the judgment with the Lord, for He never makes a mistake.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to deal with   what is going on at GBC for He has more invested there than anyone else.  God is impartial.

8/28/2010 12:08:24 PM

Joab Deceives Abner & Kills Him (2 Samuel 3:26-27)

8/27/2010 9:29:20 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Joab deceives Abner and kills him

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 3:26-27

 

            Message of the verses:  “26  When Joab came out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know it. 27  So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother.”

           

            This whole thing that happened to Abner was wrong.  Here are some of the reasons it was wrong, and the first one is that when Abner killed Asahel it was a causality of war but when Joab killed Abner it was murder.  The commandment that says “thou shall not murder speaks of murder and not of killing someone in a war.  Abner killed Asahel in self defense while Joab murdered Abner.  Asahel’s was killed in broad daylight, while Joab took Abner in the shadows of the town gate.  One would think that Abishai, Joab’s brother was involved in this murder and he was with David when he had a chance to kill Saul but did not do it because David could not kill the Lord’s anointed.  I would think that the way that Joab got Abner to return was that he used the king’s name otherwise he probably would not have returned. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It has been said that it takes a thief to catch a thief and this means in one sense that this means that a person gets upset with the sin of another person even though they commit the same sin.  In verse twenty-five Joab accused Abner of being a liar but then Joab deceives Abner in order to kill him.  The one thing that is still somewhat of a mystery to me, and I believe that I wrote about this yesterday, is that I can’t understand why David did not do something with Joab because of this, for after all it was murder. 

            I was told by my wife that I should not be a gossip this morning and defended myself, but when I thought about it I came to the conclusion that she was right and confessed this sin to the Lord and I pray that God will keep me from gossiping .

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      I give myself to the Lord for worship and service this morning.

2.      I trust the Lord to continue to teach me, and for me to continue to learn contentment.

3.      I realize that I am in a battle and therefore I put on the spiritual armor to enable me to stand today:  The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, and prayer.

4.      I seek the Holy Spirit to search my heart for hidden sins that I may confess and repent of them.

 

 

8/27/2010 9:56:33 AM   

Joab Reproaches David (2 Samuel 3:22-25)

8/26/2010 7:49:48 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Joab reproaches David

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 3:22-25

            Message of the verses:  “22 ¶  And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23  When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace." 24  Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone? 25  "You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of your going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing.’”

            I think for me to try and understand all that is going on here I must realize that there was a civil war going on in the nation of Israel and that the parties who were involved in this civil war are David, Joab, Abner and Ish-bosheth, who was Saul’s son and king of Israel at this time.  Joab was a deceitful man who wanted to avenge the killing of his brother Asahel even though it seems to me was killed by Abner during a period of war and therefore it seems to me that the rules were different during times of war.  Abner wanted David to understand that he wanted revenge for the death of his brother while David wanted the nation of Israel to be at peace and this was why he had meet with Abner.  I suppose the one thing that I don’t understand is why David kept Joab as his general all of his days.  Part of the answer was that Joab was the son of David’s sister and therefore he was family.  With all of the wives and children that David had it is no wonder that he had so much family trouble, and it would get worse too.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I guess that the thing that I can take out of this passage is that I have a choice of acting like one of the players in this drama that played out during the time of ancient Israel.  I can be like David who was being a peace maker for the good of the nation of Israel, or I can be like Joab who only wants revenge from the wrong that he sees was done to him, or I can be like Abner who himself was deceitful and was trying to get the best deal that he could get.  There is one more player Ish-bosheth who was the weak king or puppet king of Israel.  By God’s grace I will be like David and live my life with integrity and seek to be a man’s after God’s own heart.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to show me the steps that I am to take to honor Him in the situation that I find myself.

8/26/2010 8:30:52 AM

Abner the Negotiator (2 Samuel 3:1-21)

8/25/2010 9:23:42 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Abner the negotiator

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 3:1-21

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually. 2  Sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3  and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4  and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5  and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron. 6  It came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.

    “7 ¶  Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?" 8  Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, "Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman. 9  "May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as the LORD has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, 10  to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba." 11  And he could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him. 12  Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place, saying, "Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you." 13  He said, "Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me." 14  So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, "Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines." 15  Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. 16  But her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her as far as Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go, return." So he returned. 17  Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel, saying, "In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you. 18  "Now then, do it! For the LORD has spoken of David, saying, ’By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’" 19  Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin. 20  Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21  Abner said to David, "Let me arise and go and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may be king over all that your soul desires." So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.”

            There is a lot going on in these twenty-one verses, but I have decided to take them all on this morning because I have a desire to move faster through the OT, as it is my goal to study the entire Bible the way that I am doing it before I go to be with the Lord either in the Rapture or through death.

            The first six verses mention David’s new wives and new sons that were born to him while he was in Hebron.  I must mention that this was something that the Lord put up with concerning these OT saints even though it was strictly against His Law. “"He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.”  This is a quote from Deu. 17:17, and it is for certain that Solomon did not obey this command nor his father David.

            Abner is accused of sleeping with Saul’s concubine by Saul’s son and this was done after a long war between the house of David and the house of Saul to which David kept growing stronger and Saul’s house weaker.  The text does not make it clear whether or not this really happened or not, but by doing this it would mean that Abner was going after the kingdom for himself.  Absalom did this with his father’s concubines when he was trying to take over the kingdom and one of Solomon’s brothers tried to take a woman who was sleeping with David before he died in order to keep him warm and because of this he lost his life as Solomon had him killed.

            There was a series of negotiations that went on between David and Abner in order to swing the kingdom of Saul over to David and it began with some of their men meeting with each other and would conclude with the two of them meeting with each other.  As a part of these negotiations David wanted his wife Michal back for she was his first wife and she was Saul’s daughter and this would help to bring about a lasting peace between the two parties.

            This peace process ended with a feast, a feast in which Abner will lose his life because he had killed Joab’s brother, and David will be saddened because he was killed.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Once again I see David’s patience in this section, not only his patience with allowing the Lord to work these things out, but his kindness in dealing with the house of Saul.  As I look at this and compare it to what is going on at GBC I want to follow David’s example of patience and dealing with love in these matters.  In my heart I believe that the things that are going on at GBC by our elders is wrong and will not be tolerated by the Lord forever, but since Christ died for the Church and is Head of the Church, I believe that He will be the One who takes care of these problems.  I will continue to pray for the church and the leaders that God will open their eyes to see the damage that they have done, but will not scheme to get my way because it is God’s way that must be done here.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to work things out at GBC for His glory and our good.

2.      Remember that I am in a battle and in need of my spiritual armor.

3.      Have the patience to follow out with the plan concerning leaving GBC and trust the Lord to lead us to the church He wants us in.

4.      Trust the Lord to continue to teach me contentment through these difficult times.

5.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service for today.

6.      Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

            

Abner Calls for a Truce with David (2 Samuel 2:25-32)

8/24/2010 4:41:32 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Abner calls for a truce

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Samuel 2:25-32

            Message of the verses:  “25 ¶  The sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one band, and they stood on the top of a certain hill. 26  Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?" 27  Joab said, "As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have gone away in the morning, each from following his brother." 28  So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and pursued Israel no longer, nor did they continue to fight anymore. 29  Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to Mahanaim. 30  Then Joab returned from following Abner; when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen of David’s servants besides Asahel were missing. 31  But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that three hundred and sixty men died. 32  And they took up Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men went all night until the day dawned at Hebron.”

            It is clear to me that the Lord was working things out in order to bring David to the throne of Israel and nothing Abner could do would stop this plan of God.  Abner was scheming in order to get both armies under his control, but this backfired on him as his army was soundly defeated by Joab and David’s army.

            Abner knew he was defeated and this may have been the reason that he killed Asahel so that Joab and Abishai would want to stop the battle and attend to the burial of their brother.  Abner was the one who started this battle and now he is the one who called for this truce and so the battle ended with Abner loosing 360 men while Joab only lost twenty men.  The scheming Abner’s plan did not work out the way he wanted it to as he forgot that God had called David to become the next king over all of Israel.

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that on that long walk back to Hebron that Abishai and Joab were planning how they would kill Abner and this would be a disappointment to David as he did not want to see bloodshed between the sons of Israel.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am not sure what the Lord is doing at GBC, but I realize that I do not want to be doing any scheming to get my will accomplished, when it is God’s will that will be accomplished.  I see scheming in the passage above and it did not work out the way the schemer wanted it to work out because the Lord had other plans that would not be stopped by this schemer. 

            My plan was to hope for the job to come in from Hawaii and for us to leave for the job and not return to GBC unless the problems that this leadership started were ended, however I am convicted that this is scheming and therefore I believe that the best thing to do is to take my membership out of GBC and see if the Lord wants us at FBC to serve him there.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Be protected by the spiritual armor, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit along with prayer.

2.      Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

3.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

4.      Trust the Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sin that I may confess them and have fellowship with my Lord.

5.      Continue to learn contentment as I go through these tough times.

8/24/2010 5:13:58 AM

Abner Kills David's Nephew (2 Samuel 2:18-24)

8/23/2010 8:37:55 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Abner kills David’s nephew

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Samuel 2:18-24

            Message of the verses:  “18 ¶  Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel; and Asahel was as swift-footed as one of the gazelles which is in the field. 19  Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn to the right or to the left from following Abner. 20  Then Abner looked behind him and said, "Is that you, Asahel?" And he answered, "It is I." 21  So Abner said to him, "Turn to your right or to your left, and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoil." But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 22  Abner repeated again to Asahel, "Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?" 23  However, he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot. And it came about that all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still. 24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and when the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.”

            For all of the bad things that Abner did as seen in the Scriptures this was something that he did not want to do.  He did not want to kill Asahel for he knew that if he did kill him there would be a feud that would be going on for a long time because Joab was the commander of David’s army and he was the commander of the army of Israel and so this would go on until one of them was dead.  It turns out that Joab would slay Abner in cold blooded murder because he had killed his brother even though Abner did not want to kill him. 

            It is kind of hard to put the family tree together for David as not all of the pieces seem to fit together, but Dr. Wiersbe does show that Joab and Abishai and also Asahel were sons of a woman called Zeruiah who was David’s sister or half sister.  Asahel had a son who became a commander in David’s army and had 24,000 men under him and this is mentioned in 1Chronicles 27:7.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t like to read about the death of Asahel when I am reading through the Bible and now that I am studying it that too makes me sad to see this young man die.  It seems to me that the physical strength of men back in this time was more than it is today, for the Bible at times talks about how fast these men could run and when reading about how many men the soldiers of David had killed makes me think that they were much stronger and faster than men of today.

            It seems to me that there was much unneeded bloodshed during these times and this still seems to go on today.  Hatred is what starts these killings and the Lord Jesus said that if one looks at a person with hate in his heart then he is guilty in his heart of murder and this is something that I must not do for it will take me down the wrong path in life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

2.      Trust the Lord to protect me with his spiritual armor today.

3.      Trust the Lord to continue to teach me and for me to learn contentment.

4.      Trust the Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sin in my life.

5.      Trust the Lord with my life today as I give myself to Him for worship and service.

8/23/2010 9:05:31 AM 

Abner Challenges David's Army (2 Samuel 2:12-17)

8/22/2010 7:58:11 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Abner challenges David’s army

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Samuel 2:12-17

            Message of the verses:  “12  Now Abner the son of Ner, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul. 13  And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. 14  Then Abner said to Joab, "Now let the young men arise and hold a contest before us." And Joab said, "Let them arise." 15  So they arose and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16  Each one of them seized his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17  That day the battle was very severe, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.”

            I would suppose that this battle took place some four plus years after David was named king in Judah for Abner had already made Ish-bosheth, son of Saul king over all of the tribes but Judah.  The beginning of this battle seems kind of strange as there is a contest between Abner’s men and Joab’s men.  Now Joab was the nephew of David and the head of his army, however David seems to have a hard time in controlling Joab at times.  The result of the contest was that all twenty-four men were killed and then there was a battle that took place afterwards of which Abner’s army was beaten badly by Joab’s army; something that I am sure was very surprising to Abner.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Joab seemed to be an underdog in this battle, but if he would have thought about it he should have been able to figure it out that God had chosen David to be king over all of Israel and nothing he could have done would have stopped that.  This reminds me a little bit about when Saul, who became Paul, was converted on the road to Damascus and the Lord told him, in so many words, that he could not stop what was going on for it was of the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       I never want to interfere with what the Lord is doing.

2.      I give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.

3.      I seek to be protected by the Spiritual armor as I am in a battle today.

4.      I wish to continue to learn contentment.

5.      I want the Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sin.

6.      I want the Lord to direct my path this day.

8/22/2010 8:19:33 AMA

Abner Rejected the kingship of David (2 Samuel 2:8-11)

8/21/2010 8:36:16 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Abner rejects David’s kingship

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Samual 2:8-11

            Message of the verses:  “8 ¶  But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9  He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel. 10  Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. 11  The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.”

            This SD begins a new chapter in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on 2Samual and also 1Chronicles, although there have not been any verses from 1Chronicles used to this point in his book.  He entitles this chapter “David Watches and Waits,” and the first main point is Abner the kingmaker, of which today’s SD is the first sub-point under this first main point.

            If I understand this section correctly it seems like an overview of what is going to take place for in these verses there is a great period of time seen, but later on there is more explanation of this period of time, kind of like filling in the blanks of these verses.

            Abner son of Ner was not only the commander of Saul’s army, but he was the cousin of Saul, and he was actually the one who was in charge of most of Israel at this time using a puppet king, Ish-bosheth, Saul’s remaining son, as king.  One can see that it was Abner who was the one in charge, and I am sure that Abner knew that the Lord had chosen David to be king in Israel, and yet he was going against the will of the Lord in doing what he was doing in making Saul’s son king.  David was king in Judah for seven and a half years and Saul’s son became king of Israel about five years into the time that David was king of Judah.  Abner was manipulating the people of Israel for this time period to make Ish-bosheth their king.  It is possible that Saul had left this son home because he knew he was going to die and wanted his dynasty to continue.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t know if what I am about to write is coming from the Lord, but it does make sense to me and I believe that it is of the Lord.  This has to do with people leaving our church and not removing their memberships from the church roles in order to come back and vote against our pastor in the event there would be such a vote.  In the lesson today I see Abner as going against the will of the Lord and trying to manipulate what was going on in Israel, and this is what I see going on at GBC with some of the people who are leaving and not removing their membership from the membership roles. 

            I believe in my heart that God’s heart is breaking over what He sees going on at GBC, and my heart is breaking too, but God is in control and will work out what is best.  Knowing this I believe that the best thing for us to do is to leave GBC and go to a church that is deeper in its teaching and will better glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in the way that the church conducts its worship and the running of the business of the church.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       I am thankful to the Lord for seeing me through the golf game yesterday and the going out to eat afterwards with family in Lorain.

2.      Continue to trust the Lord in guiding us as to where we are to worship.

8/21/2010 9:25:51 AM

David Thanks the men of Jabesh-gilead (2 Sam. 2:4b-7)

8/20/2010 8:06:22 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Appreciation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Samuel 2:4b-7

            Message of the verses:  “And they told David, saying, "It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul." 5  David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, "May you be blessed of the LORD because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him. 6  "Now may the LORD show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7  "Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.’”

            David did a good thing in showing appreciation to the men of Jabesh-gilead for risking their lives in order to bring the bones of Saul and his three sons back to their land and bury them. Later on David would dig up these bones and bury them in the land of Benjamin when they were from.  David then took the opportunity to tell these men that he had been made king over Judah and wanted them to join him, which they refused to do at first. 

            It is at this point of today’s SD that I wish to make a quote from Dr. Wiersbe, something that to my understanding is the timing of the Lord for me to see at this time of my life:  “The people of Jabesh Gilead allowed their affection for Saul to blind them to God’s plan for the nation.  They had a good motive, but they made a bad choice.  How often in the history of the church have God’s people allowed human affection and appreciation to overrule the will of God!  Jesus Christ is King and He deserves our submission, loyalty, and obedience.  To put human leaders ahead of God’s anointed King is to create division and weakness in the ranks of the Lord’s followers and invite multiplied problems for the Lord’s people.  As Augustine of Hippo said, ‘Jesus Christ will be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been struggling with what to do with my membership at GBC as I am not happy with the leadership at the church for many reasons.  I’ve seen in this church many young people who have been following a man and some have as much told me so, and this disappoints me very much.  I have seen a Pastor who does not care that he is splitting this church, nor even admits splitting it.  He admits that he has trouble relating or ministering to older people, has a short temper, wants his way at any cost, and does not seem to care when many of the older generation leave the church.  For these and other reasons I have made my choice to remove my membership from GBC and seek out another church where the teaching is deeper, and they have an appreciation for all people in attendance.  This is something that is very difficult for me to do and something that has taken me a long time to decide, but it now seems very clear to me that I am to leave GBC and the job that I have loved to do especially working for WCA whom I will miss very much.  Perhaps the biggest reason that I have waited so long in making this decision is because the difficulty of leaving a church that has family in it, but my prayer is that their eyes will be opened to the truth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to guide my path this day.

2.      Trust the Lord to protect me with the spiritual armor that He has provided.

3.      Trust the Lord to see me through this day without ill effects of IBS, especially while playing golf.

4.      Trust the Lord to continue to teach me contentment in these difficult days.

5.      Trust the Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sins in my life.  

8/20/2010 8:34:22 AM