9/2/2010 8:08:38 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: David defeated the Philistines
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Sam. 5:17-25; 1Chron. 14:8-17
Message of the verses: “17 ¶
When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over
Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek out David; and when David heard of
it, he went down to the stronghold. 18
Now the Philistines came and spread themselves out in the valley of
Rephaim. 19 Then David inquired of the
LORD, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them
into my hand?" And the LORD said to David, "Go up, for I will
certainly give the Philistines into your hand." 20 So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated
them there; and he said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me
like the breakthrough of waters." Therefore he named that place
Baal-perazim. 21 They abandoned their
idols there, so David and his men carried them away. 22 Now the Philistines came up once again and
spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim. 23 When David inquired of the LORD, He said,
"You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them
in front of the balsam trees. 24
"It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of
the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the LORD will have gone
out before you to strike the army of the Philistines." 25 Then David did so, just as the LORD had
commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
“8
¶ When the Philistines heard that David
had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search
of David; and David heard of it and went out against them. 9 Now the Philistines had come and made a raid
in the valley of Rephaim. 10 David
inquired of God, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will
You give them into my hand?" Then the LORD said to him, "Go up, for I
will give them into your hand." 11
So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there; and
David said, "God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the
breakthrough of waters." Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.
12 They abandoned their gods there; so
David gave the order and they were burned with fire. 13 The Philistines made yet another raid in the
valley. 14 David inquired again of God,
and God said to him, "You shall not go up after them; circle around behind
them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. 15 "It shall be when you hear the sound of
marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for
God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines."
16 David did just as God had commanded
him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even as far
as Gezer. 17 Then the fame of David went
out into all the lands; and the LORD brought the fear of him on all the
nations.”
After
reading these two portions of Scripture I find that they are very similar and that
the one difference is in the last verse of the 1Chronicles section which speaks
about the fear that all of the nations had upon David, which came from the
Lord.
I
want to write about something that I was thinking about yesterday that goes
along with this section of Scripture today and this is something that I will
call “priming the pump.” Let ‘s go back
to a section of Scripture from the book of Joshua where Joshua is about to take
on the second enemy of Israel and that is the people of AI, and he forgets to
speak to the Lord to find out if he should go up and then sends only a few men
and is soundly defeated. The reason is,
in my opinion, is twofold, for there was sin in the camp, the sin of Akin and
the other reason is because Joshua did not contact the Lord for His
directions. I believe that if Joshua
would have contacted the Lord that He would have revealed the sin of Akin and
then they would have dealt with that first and then followed the direction of
the Lord that He gave them later to defeat AI.
As far as “priming the pump” that is what Joshua did when Israel
defeated those at Jericho and the mistake that he made was thinking that he did
not have to prime the pump again when he was attacking AI, it was an assumption
on his part that the Lord was still going to work, and it was wrong.
Now
let’s look at what David did against the Philistines: David got direction from the Lord to see if
he should go against the Philistines the first time and the Lord told David
that He would give them into his hands, and then David defeated them and gave
glory to the Lord. Now the Philistines
came upon Israel again and it would be easy for David to assume that the Lord
would give them another victory, but David sought the Lord again and this time
the Lord gave him different directions and there was another victory. This was a gracious act of the Lord and
spiritually intelligent of David.
I
don’t want to be too hard on Joshua for Joshua learned from his mistakes and
certainly became a great general for the nation of Israel, one that the Lord
used greatly.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I believe that Proverbs 3:5-6 is my step of
faith for today and should be my step of faith every day, and even many times a
day. “5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. 6 In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and
lean not unto thine own understanding. 6
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
2.
1
¶ 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. 2 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.
3.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me
and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see
if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
4.
11 Not that I speak from want, for I have
learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
5.
13 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than
you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has
issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your
feet. 14 Truth, righteousness, 15 peace, 16
faith, 17 and salvation are more
than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life.
God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. 18
In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard
and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each
other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
9/2/2010 9:15:37 AM
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