5/8/2011 7:52:50 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Faith and courage PT. 2
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Ki. 11:4-12; 2Chor. 23:1-11
Message of the verses: Today’s SD will cover the second sub-point
under this main point.
Presentation (verses as seen above): “4 ¶
Now in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of
hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him in the house
of the LORD. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the
house of the LORD, and showed them the king’s son. 5 He
commanded them, saying, "This is the thing that you shall do: one third of
you, who come in on the sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house 6 (one third also shall be at the gate Sur, and
one third at the gate behind the guards), shall keep watch over the house for
defense. 7 "Two parts of you, even all who go out
on the sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of the LORD for the
king. 8
"Then you shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his
hand; and whoever comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And be with the
king when he goes out and when he comes in." 9 So
the captains of hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest
commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the
sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the
priest. 10 The priest gave to the captains of hundreds
the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of
the LORD. 11 The guards stood each with his weapons in his
hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the
altar and by the house, around the king.
12 Then he brought the king’s son
out and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony; and they made him king
and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, "Long live the
king!’”
“1
¶ Now in the seventh year Jehoiada
strengthened himself, and took captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of
Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Johanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son
of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, and they entered into a covenant
with him. 2 They went throughout Judah
and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’
households of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3 Then all the assembly made a covenant with
the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, "Behold, the
king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David.
4 "This is the thing which you
shall do: one third of you, of the priests and Levites who come in on the
sabbath, shall be gatekeepers, 5 and one
third shall be at the king’s house, and a third at the Gate of the Foundation;
and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD. 6 "But let no one enter the house of the
LORD except the priests and the ministering Levites; they may enter, for they
are holy. And let all the people keep the charge of the LORD. 7 "The Levites will surround the king, each
man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the house, let him be
killed. Thus be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out."
8 So the Levites and all Judah did
according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took
his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on
the sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss any of the divisions.
9 Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the
captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had been
King David’s, which were in the house of God. 10 He stationed all the people,
each man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the
left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. 11 Then they brought out the king’s son and put
the crown on him, and gave him the testimony and made him king. And Jehoiada
and his sons anointed him and said, "Long live the king!’”
Each
of these series of verses begins with the same words, “In the seventh year
Jehoiada strengthened himself,” so the young man would have been about seven
years old. I think that there are two
points to be made here and the first one is that with the help of the king’s
uncle at seven or eight he could rule the nation. The second point is that faith and patience
go together and it took faith, patience, prayer and time for all of this to
come about in the way that the Lord wanted it to come about. Hebrews 6:11-12 have this to say about faith
and patience going together: “ And we desire that each one of you show the
same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 so that you will not be sluggish, but
imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Isaiah 28:16b says, “Whoever believes
will not act hastily.”
The
plan that Jehoiada had is seen very clearly in the verses above and in the next
SD it will be seen that his prayer, patience, faith, and hard work of planning
this out for the glory of the Lord will be successful.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Sandy and I have been living in one of the
most expensive places on earth to live for the last month without me working as
I was the first four months that I had been since we arrived here in
January. I often wondered why all of
this has come about since some of the other men on the crew have been working,
but one of the reasons that I think this all came about was to teach me
contentment, and also patience. I have
prayed about this situation, though about just going back home to Ohio, but
through it all I was just trying to trust the Lord to work this out for my good
and for His glory. I am to return to
work tomorrow, but for how long I do not know.
We have spent some of the reserves that we were saving to make it through
this month, and I am thankful that we had those reserves to spend. It is my desire to know why the Lord has sent
us to Kauai, and my prayer is that that will all be made clear to us in God’s
timing. I do trust the Lord in all of
this.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to learn contentment.
2.
Seek the Lord to find out why we are here at this
time in our lives.
5/8/2011 8:28:38 AM
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