David's Grace - Reflection of Christ - 2 Samuel 9

This chapter is one of my favorites so far as I'm reading through the bible. Yesterday, I see David on top of his game. God is giving him victory everywhere he goes. If chapter 8 is a picture of David's material blessings, chapter 9 is an awesome image of David's spiritual growth. But what's more, chapter 9 is an incredible foreshadowing of God's amazing grace through the promise of a messiah and savior, Jesus Christ! David demonstrates the very heart of God in salvation! Look at the similarities.

First, David remembers his covenant with Jonathan and seeks out any surviving sons of Jonathan to whom he may show kindness and mercy. God similarly remembers His blood covenant with mankind through Jesus' blood on Calvary. Because of Christ's sacrifice for the world, God calls for any who will believe on Jesus name that He may also show kindness and mercy. David says, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (verse 1) And I can hear God asking a similar question, "Is there anyone left who believes in my Son that I may show him kindness and mercy for Jesus' sake?" Gives me chills just thinking about this!

Second, David finds one crippled, broken son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who was fearful and deserving of the wrath of David. He was lame and could not come on his own. It took Ziba, a servant, to bring him to David. Mephibosheth probably thought he was headed for his execution. Afterall, it was his grandfather who was David's arch enemy. Mephibosheth had nothing to offer David and no defense to stand before the king of Isreal. Was not each and every one of us in Mephibosheth's shoes in our position with God before we were saved? We were crippled, pathetic, broken, and an enemy of God because of our sinful nature. We were lame in both legs unable to come to God on our own. But the Holy Spirit called us out of sin and brought us to the Cross. God had every reason to wipe us off the face of the earth absent Christ.

But what does David do with Mephibosheth? He calms his fear. He says, "Fear not. I will show you kindness because of your father Jonathan, I will restore you to the land of Saul, and you will eat at my table ALWAYS!!" (verse 7) David forgives, restores, and provides. A position at the king's table in David's day was one of great honor and prestige. It is an incredible showing of God's grace to us!! Not only does He forgive us, He restores us to our position before the fall of Adam! And for those who believe on Jesus, God invites us to eat from His banquet table forever!

There is no better account of David's life that demonstrates why God calls David a "man after My own heart". You see how the gospel of Jesus Christ is evident even in David's time? Do you see how God is proclaiming His gospel long before Jesus appears in human flesh? Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!

Thank you Jesus for dying and saving a crippled, broken, refugee like me!! I deserved Your wrath but You reserved a place for me at Your table. And while my crutches remain leaning against my seat, I will one day run through your royal court and dance before Your throne!

Have a glorius day!!

On Top of the World! - 2 Samuel 8

A few posts back I wrote about the rollercoaster ride that was David's life. In 2 Samuel 8, I think it's safe to say we see David on a major high on his rollercoaster ride. He is clearly on a mountain top. King of his world. The key verse of this passage jumps out to me : "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went." (verses 6 and 14) David's kingdom was united and powerful. He is seen subduing his enemies from the Edomites to the Moabites. And from these conquests, the spoils of war in the form of gold and silver are dedicated to the Lord. God is clearly with David in everything he endeavors to do. If only this chapter in David's life could just repeat over and over again. What an amazing time it must have been. What a rush!

But I can't help but think about the rest of his story. Chapter 8 is only a season in David's life. It wouldn't last. He will get comfortable and will make horrible choices as we will see soon. He will face great tribulation as a consequence for his sin. The rollercoaster will take a nasty turn soon.

Sounds a bit depressing, huh? But I think for me it's a wake up call. This part of David's life that we are about to explore teaches a very important lesson. We must guard our hearts and minds in times of great spiritual victory and material blessing. At the moment we experience God working in our life or He blesses us in some incredible way, Satan is lurking around the corner. He waits for us to get complacent in our victories. He waits for our pride to seep into our thinking. He waits for us to get comfortable in our spiritual and material success. And then he pounces.

I pray that as God continues to bless me in both spiritual and material matters, I will never lose sight of David's example. In the moment in our lives when God is giving us victory everywhere we go, we must guard against complacency and pride. Always dedicate every victory in our lives to the Lord. And lastly, hang on! Life will be filled with wild twists and turns, ups and downs. But Jesus is our firm foundation, our rock, and our fortress.

Don't allow the high altitude of the mountain top get to your head.

Have a blessed day! God wants that for you!

Pray God's Promises - Encourage Yourself! - 2 Samuel 7: 18-29

God's amazing, isn't He? I took a break from my blog to go on vacation. I came back a week ago and I am finally back to journaling my walk through the bible. I felt a little guilty not immediately returning to my blog last week. And then I read my latest post and the scripture for today!

God doesn't need us. We need Him.

Somewhere, deep inside my psyche filled with guilt, I presumed to think that God needed me to get back to my blog. How silly is that? My own blog reminds me that I am the one who needed to be back to journaling. Lesson learned.

Today, our scripture reveals David's prayer in response to God's promise to make David's kingdom eternal (through the reign of Jesus Christ). While David does initially asks the question "what is my house that You have brought me thus far," he confidently prays that God's promise be fulfilled in his life.

How often do we pray God's promises over our lives? Do you remind yourself of God's promises during your quiet time with Him? It is vital that we do this to encourage ourselves and strengthen our faith on a daily basis - especially when times are tough. Many of us spend too much time beating ourselves up and feeling discouraged because of our shortcomings and failures. Look at the Psalms and see how David coped with his failures. They are filled with examples of how David encouraged himself and constantly remembered God's promises and His characteristics. Do the same! Take your eyes off of yourself and keep them fixed on Jesus.

David's responsive prayer in this chapter is a model for us. Follow it. Never forget God's promises.

On Vacation Until Sept 21..God Bless and See Ya Soon!

"I AM is bigger than you" - God (2 Samuel 7:1-17)

I actually started today's blog coming at this scripture from my natural legal mind. I was going to study the Davidic Covenant (verses 1-17) in the context of contract law as I have learned it. But I quickly hit "delete" and started over. Human contract law falls short when looking at this promise/covenant that God makes to David. For our contract laws require agreed terms bargained between two relatively equal parties. But clearly God and David are not equally positioned!! So there went that half hour of writing. But that's ok. That's how we learn.

So, I took a new look at this scripture. First, we find David fat and happy. His kingdom is at peace. His enemies have been restrained. He now lives in a palace built of cedar wood. And one day he's chillin' with Nathan and he apparently is oversome with guilt because he lives in this beautiful crib while the ark of the covenant (God's literal presence) still sits in a tent. So David proclaims to Nathan of his desire to build God a house. David must be feeling pretty good about himself. It almost seems as though he is taking pity on God - dare I say. If you think about it, it's almost comical. Here's David, a mere mortal, believing that he lives better than Jehovah Himself! Pretty funny, huh? Then, Nathan's knee jerk response is "Go ahead...God is with you." Nathan saw David's misguided, but probably good intentions and endorsed them without consulting God. How do we know this? Because the next night, the Word of the Lord came to Nathan and basically said "Have I asked for a house? I haven't needed a house up to this point!"

Then God does an amazing thing. He shifts to what HE will do for David, NOT what David could do for God. God then proclaims the Davidic Covenant promising to establish David's kingdom and his house forever. His kingdom and house could only be eternal if Christ would come from David's line. This was a key point in God's plan of redemption for mankind! This was another incredible step in the Gospel story!! It's important to note that God places no conditions on this covenant as He sometimes did throughout scripture. God said it...and that was it!

Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in what we can,or what we will do for God. It can discourage us or make us prideful even - depending on where our walk is with God. But the amazing truth of this passage is that it's not about US! God shifts the whole paradigm to show David that it's David that needs God, not the other way around. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to die on a cross and provide eternal salvation of HIS OWN WILL AND DOING. He did it because He loves us dearly and knows WE need HIM.

So next time you feel discouraged, inadequate, or maybe even puffed up, never forget that it is GOD who intiates! He is unchanging! He will never let us down! He keeps us until the day of His coming! We need Him. He doesn't need us.

Get Off Your High Horse! (2 Samuel 6)

When I read about Michal's disdain for David's actions in this chapter, I can't help but think about the first few times I attended a little African-American Pentacostal church in San Antonio with my best friend's family. The worship in this church was completely foreign to me. People of all different ages, shapes, and sizes would dance without abandon as they sang and played instruments. With little air conditioning, it wouldn't take long for sweat to start dripping from the dancers' foreheads, dampening their colorful Sunday best. After my initial fear subsided, my next emotion was one of skepticism. I questioned the authenticity of this wild outward showing of emotion. This white boy had come from a strict GARBC Baptist background. I could not understand this method of worship.

It wasn't after being a long-time member of one of these churches in the Houston area that I became convicted of my attitude towards people who worship differently from myself. I was always taught God was to be worshipped with dignity. But to do so required some restraint. Afterall, when you truly experience God, one of the first inclinations you should have is one of humility and an absence of self. And to abandon self and be totally immersed in the presence of God means we should not care what others think of us. I now saw these fellow worshippers in a different light. I was envious of their joy that they expressed, their total abandoment in praise to their Father! I wanted that freedom to strip off the burden of self-awereness and dance in God's presence. Just as a child will shout across a quiet auditorium when they see their parent with no care of those around them, we should have that same reaction when we come into the presence of God.

Michal saw David dancing with all abandon as he led the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem and she immediately reacted with disdain. David lacked dignity in her opinion. He had disrobed his royal garments and was dressed as any common man. David was acting as though he didn't care what people thought about him. How dare he?!! He was the king of Israel for goodness sake!!

But I love David's response to Michal after she rebukes him. He stresses it is "before the Lord" that he dances and plays music! And he goes on to say that he will become MORE undignified than this!! David is unashamed of debasing himself to worship his God!

Now this doesn't mean that this Sunday I plan on running the aisles at church or cutting the rug during praise and worship. But it does mean that if someone is moved to do so in worship, how dare I criticize it? That's not to say that some will use dancing and shouting to gain attention. But frankly, if I was truly focused and absorbed in God's presence during church, would I have the time to be looking at others? Would such praise bother me? I can tell you that through the years I have come to love and appreciate the style of worship that scared me to death in that little pentacostal church. And I respectfully suggest you do too. Because I have a feeling you'll see a lot of it in heaven when we dance and sing before the throne of God throughout eternity. Grab those dancin' shoes! It's gonna be a party!