10/19/2010 9:28:32 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: David’s heart was broken
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Samuel 18:19-33
Message
of the verses: “19 ¶ Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said,
"Please let me run and bring the king news that the LORD has freed him
from the hand of his enemies." 20
But Joab said to him, "You are not the man to carry news this day,
but you shall carry news another day; however, you shall carry no news today
because the king’s son is dead." 21
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have
seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran. 22 Now Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said once more
to Joab, "But whatever happens, please let me also run after the
Cushite." And Joab said, "Why would you run, my son, since you will
have no reward for going?" 23
"But whatever happens," he said, "I will run." So he
said to him, "Run." Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and passed
up the Cushite. 24 Now David was sitting
between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the
wall, and raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man running by himself. 25 The watchman called and told the king. And
the king said, "If he is by himself there is good news in his mouth."
And he came nearer and nearer. 26 Then
the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper
and said, "Behold, another man running by himself." And the king
said, "This one also is bringing good news." 27 The watchman said, "I think the running
of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok." And the
king said, "This is a good man and comes with good news." 28 Ahimaaz called and said to the king,
"All is well." And he prostrated himself before the king with his
face to the ground. And he said, "Blessed is the LORD your God, who has
delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king."
29 The king said, "Is it well with
the young man Absalom?" And Ahimaaz answered, "When Joab sent the
king’s servant, and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what
it was." 30 Then the king said,
"Turn aside and stand here." So he turned aside and stood still.
31 Behold, the Cushite arrived, and the
Cushite said, "Let my lord the king receive good news, for the LORD has
freed you this day from the hand of all those who rose up against you."
32 Then the king said to the Cushite,
"Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered,
"Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for
evil, be as that young man!" 33 The
king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And
thus he said as he walked, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!
Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!’”
There are a couple of story lines in
this section of 2Samuel and the first one is about a young son of the priest
Zadok who was in a hurry to tell David who he presumed to be good news, but when
this happened to David before there was killing of those who gave what they
thought was good news and Joab knew this and was trying to protect him, but
Ahimaaz would have not of it. In his
hast after pestering Joab and then getting there before the Cushite, Ahimaaz
really did not know what to tell David and so he actually lied to David by not
telling him all of the truth, while the Cushite used tact with his response to
David. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Someone has
defined ‘tact’ as ‘the knack of making a point without making an enemy,’ and
the Cushite had tact.”
Now in his commentary on an earlier
occasion speaking of the fourfold payment that David spoke to Nathan the
prophet about Dr. Wiersbe points out the loss of four of David’s sons, the last
being the one that was killed by Solomon when he tried to take over the kingdom
after David had already died. Now here
he points out that the loss of the baby, the rape of Tamar, the killing of
Amnon, and now the killing of Absalom is the four and this actually makes more
sense to me because they all happened while David was alive. Dr. Wiersbe writes the following as he
describes this: “David tasted once again
the pain of forgiven sin.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I think
that the definition of the word tact is something that I need to put into my
life and to remember. How I talk to
people especially to my wife is something that I need to do better.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Trust the Lord to direct my path this day
and to, by God’s grace, take every thought captive.
2.
Realize that there are seasons in my life
when the enemy of my soul is more active in tempting me to do evil and respond
in a correct way. One thing is to put on
the spiritual armor each day.
3.
Put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of
righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith,
take up the helmet of salvation, and remember to use the Sword of the Spirit
which is the Word of God.
10/19/2010
10:46:39 AM
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