Let go…

Today’s reading comes from Psalm 28.

…And let God. Quite a cliched saying, but it definitely rings true as we take a slight breather from the story of David and Saul in today’s reading. This is a psalm of David’s, and could have been written in this moment. But how did we get here? Let’s recap. Or in today’s television language: previously in 1 Samuel…

Saul took upon the royal calling that he’d received from Samuel, God’s prophet. But he got complacent. He got comfortable, and let the kingship go to his head. He sat back on his laurels and it took a shepherd boy’s actions for him to stand up and take notice. Clearly God had blessed David, but instead of encouraging him, Saul envied him.

And who wouldn’t? We’re talking about David here. The giant slayer. The lion and bear tamer. But this wasn’t just a fleeting moment of envy. For Saul it became an obsession, and one which eventually consumed him. He spent the rest of his days chasing David, intent on killing him. No wonder David starts this psalm in the following way:

“To you, Lord, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.” – Psalm 28:1

Where else could he go but to God? David during this period spent everyday looking over his back, and there probably would have been times where he felt as though God wasn’t looking out for him. In times of crisis God needs to be the rock we lean on. But David might have had his mind preoccupied with his pursuer as well:

“Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.” – Psalm 28:3

Saul had already promised not to harm David, but they were merely empty words. His heart was full of malice. His obsession with chasing David is like the hold we have on a bar of soap. The harder we grip, the faster it slips out of our hands. Similarly if we are on the receiving end of such treatment: if we try to fight in our own strength, things will go pear shaped pretty quickly.

So we need to let go. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we need to remember:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.” – Psalm 28:7

With God as our strength to persevere, and our shield as protection against whatever this world and the evil one might throw at us, we should be much more confident in the fight that is the Christian daily walk. And praise should erupt from our lips on a daily basis: for life, for health, for salvation.

The shepherd boy finishes this psalm with the following words:

“The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.” – Psalm 28:8-9

David fought off lions and bears. Jesus, the shepherd of shepherds, fights off temptation, addiction, and any other vices that hold us back from being the people God calls us to be.

May you feel the comforting arms of the shepherd who carries you this week.

Alex

Not in the plan ?!

1 Sam 27

Good morning saturday FDR’s.  Before today’s demands crowd in, it’s worth remembering this day is likely to play out NOT as you planned it.  Life is usually  complicated at times isn’t it?  Unexpected challenges / opportunities, or inconveniences / pleasant distractions lay ahead. Thoughtful plans… next minute… emotional outbursts –  frustration, despair, anger !!!  Not neat.( and I haven’t left the house yet).

Chapter 27 isn’t neat.  It is a messy detour on the road to David becoming King.

God is in the process of putting His chosen one on the throne. In chapter 26, David spares Saul, the “Lord’s Annointed”, and Saul withdraws from pursuing David, (really?), and blesses him, “you will surely triumph!” (really?)

David must wonder if this is truely prophetic or merely smooth two- faced political speak. Because chapter 27 begins with David thinking to himself – one of these days I am going to die.This guy is going to catch me.  You can imagine, after relentless fleeing for your life, with a bounty on your head, the nation’s King and army pursuing you,  you might feel a little bleak.  Was it despair, or exhaustion? “ I will be destroyed” – was it doubt in God’s protection, or was it a realistic appraisal and stimulus to act –  God’s hand in keeping Saul away?

Not neat is it?  Whichever, David would have felt desperate.  Leaving the Promised Land, leaving the Chosen people, joining the enemy – of Israel and of God. Joining the enemy he defeated with a stone and sling…. Messy.

David  ”settled” in Gath for 16 months.(Surely it felt  unsettled!)  Leaving wives and children to raid Amalekites.  Actually to kill men, and their wives and children; to provide food and clothing, and a deception to the king of Gath. Messy. Was this brutal survival or  fulfillment of the Lord’s wrath on these tribes?  Was this David’s crisis of faith, or a chosen one fleeing from corrupt Israel to foreign safety, a pattern later to be repeated.

Faith has to operate in the real world.

Messy…. Surprising. Jolting. Distracting. Tiring. Not to plan.

Have you ever felt like David, and thought, despair!   Have your emotions risen up and swamped what you know to be true…about God, about his Kingdom?   Take heart from this passage, that although the journey of faith is messy, the story is in God’s hands. Your story is in God’s hands.

Neat.

 

Not yet!

Todays reading is 1 Samuel 26, please read it before reading my reflection below

Two simple words.  Not yet.  But how do you respond when you hear them?  I’ll tell you how my young daughters respond … they go crazy!

Dad, can I have ice cream now?  Not yet.  You need to finish your dinner first.  Dad, can I drive the car?  Not yet.  You need to wait until you’re older and pass your driving test.

It is incredibly frustrating wanting something, but not having it, and needing to wait longer, for an unknown period of time.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Paul Gallen and Ricky Stuart!

Two chapters (and days) ago, we looked at how David spared Saul’s life (1 Sam 24).  Today’s reading has the same elements.  Saul is asleep (v7); David’s men try to talk David into killing Saul (v8); David talks them out of it (v9); David makes an oath (v10-11); David gathers some evidence (v12); David presents it to Saul and his men (v15-20); Reconciliation occurs, and they go on their separate ways (v21-25).

Like my daughters, I think David is going crazy!

I’d like to focus on verses 8-11.  Read them again now, if you like.

Abishai, one of David’s men, doesn’t just see this second opportunity as a lucky coincidence, he sees it as God’s doing (v8).  I’m sure Abishai imagines what could happen with David on the throne even now instead of the clearly delusional Saul.  We know God wants you to be King – you’ve already been anointed.  This opportunity is from God.  He’s telling us something.  We know its what He wants.  Its all good!

David didn’t know what was to come for Saul (v 10), but he did know the Kingship would one day be his.  Just not yet.  He says to Abishai, no.  But why?

Four words in v11 give the answer:

“Because of the LORD” (HCSB – not the bank, the Bible translation!)

David trusted God with the uncertain future, and whilst waiting for God to act, conducted himself with integrity and obedience.  Even when not once, but twice the opportunity presented itself to take matters into his own hands.  Why?  Because of the LORD.

What about you?  Are you praying and waiting for something, for which you have a strong conviction from God will happen?  A new job/career path?  A spouse/child to come to the Lord?  A miraculous healing from a health problem?

Will you wait like David, because of the LORD?

Paul Whitelaw

Sense and Sensibillity

Today’s faithful reading is 1 Samuel 25

Much has happened in the life of David and much more is going to happen. One only has to read v 44 at the end of this chapter, “But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim”. This act shows Saul’s continued hatred of David. It was also a political move. We can all see that carried out in today’s world when decisions are made to maintain a position of power. For Saul, he would have hoped that this move would have destroyed any chance of David becoming king.

Makes you wonder about the repentance back in Chapter 24:16-21. Clearly, there was no possibility of reconciliation between these two men. Meanwhile, David still had the responsibility of providing food for his large band of followers. So he tried to win support from men like Nabal. However, Nabal was mean (v3) and refused to help David. David’s anger towards Nabal is easily understood, especially if you have just helped them. It is not a stretch to think that they might be generous in return. But it was not to be. So before David was confronted by Abigail his mind was made up; he was determined to take violent action.

Now to the men who are reading this, read on with interest at how Nabal’s wife Abigail was not ony able to change David’s mind, but to also recognise God as her source of instruction. This is a remarkable insight from David, in such a male dominated culture. It is also amazing how David acknowledged God’s use of Abigail to further his understanding of his own calling as the annointed one (32-34).

For us today, it is great to be reminded that like David, each one of us is on a journey somewhere. We are all in the process of becoming someone. So we can ask the question, “whom are we becoming” as we grow in grace and as we grow to full maturity.

Finally, Abigail is seen to be a very sensible woman and David has been reminded that God had a plan for him and he would surely protect him. There was no need for him to take matters into his own hands.

May we all learn today that it is still possible to live under the hands of the soverign God.

Ian

hunger games

Today’s faithful daily read comes from 1 Sam 24

“You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly” (v.18)

The movie ‘Hunger Games’ comes to mind. Teenage contestants are chosen from different regions to fight each other in a battle to the death. The winner is crowned, gets to go home and live. There are overtones of Lord of the Flies, the idea that decent people who are cast into a survival scenario, will default to their darkest side. They make alliances, hunt in packs and turn on each other. But the challenge is to the hero or heroine (no spoiler here!) to rise above and not allow base human nature to play to its worst potential.

In David and Saul’s ‘hunger games’ Saul is driven by his lust for survival of his reign. David is running, gathering support as the underdog, but refuses to let blood lust win.

Then the cave moment. This is possibly our favourite Sunday School story isn’t it? David does not lift his hand against Saul ‘the Lord’s anointed’.

The key phrase is surely ‘May the LORD judge between you and me’ (12). It is repeated twice for emphasis.

In Hunger Games there are similar stand-offs and… well, go and see it for yourself, but on view is the human nature rising above evil. There is victory for morality and human nature. However, with David & Saul the issue is not morality, it is righteousness.

Righteousness is a slightly different idea in the Bible. It doesn’t just mean morally good (although it includes it). One significant difference is that righteousness is not just about the individual’s own moral integrity and dignity. Righteousness is linked to God and his character, which is to be faithful and vindicate his people.

Saul doesn’t get righteousness. I think he thinks, it’s about his moral behaviour and the issue of his pursuit of David. For David its all about being in relationship with God. David trusts God that He will vindicate him. The expression of David’s righteousness is his faith in God’s promise to vindicate him, and place him on the throne in the right way.

Of course the other giant of faith was Abraham. He trusted God to vindicate him in his childless state, and to keep his promise, to number his descendants like the stars (Gen 15:1-6).

David acts righteously. David has faith that the righteous God will vindicate him. He is worthy to be the true king of Israel rather than Saul. And yes, you know the greater image here. Jesus is the true righteous king—the one who didn’t trust in his own power or opportunity. He trusted on God perfectly to vindicate him. To raise him from death.

But what about us, do we really live in faith? How often do we rush to vindicate ourselves, to justify our position? What does it look like for us not to strike out when we are in a corner (or a cave) because we have faith in God? What will it look like to trust God with our reputation today?

In Hunger games and Lord of the Flies, the human nature is stripped bare to fight for survival, and yep, it’s not pretty. Yet in this brutal world we have a righteous God who will vindicate us as we trust in Jesus, who is righteous for us. Jesus was vindicated by God in resurrection, and God will vindicate us.

“O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from me, O Lord. Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord. Vindicate me in your righteousness, O LORD my God”  (Ps 35)

God bless, Geoff.

Paranoid Delusional Saul Sam 22:6-23

Today’s reading is not a particularly uplifting passage. If nothing else, it does give some insights into David’s references in the Psalms to the wicked, evil men of blood that are his, and God’s enemies.

The reading opens with Saul having a whinge session about loyalty in verses 6-8. Saul’s delusional king paranoia has really messed up his head. Doeg, an Edomite, had been at the Tabernacle the day Ahimelech helped David and his men, so he decided to give Saul all the details after Saul’s rant about loyalty.

Saul was furious that the priest, Ahimelech, had given David food and Goliath’s sword. He didn’t care, or listen to the fact that Ahimelech had no idea David was on the run from Saul. When Saul confronted Ahimelech, he defends his actions and provides compelling reasons why he should not be held accountable for helping David. However, Saul’s head is not in any condition to accept reason.

He judges Ahimelech and his priests to be enemies of Israel and orders them to be killed. Saul’s Hebrew servants refuse to slay the priests, but Saul’s hired hand, Doeg the Edomite kills all 85 of them along with their entire families. Only one priest escapes, Abiathar (Ahimelech’s son), to tell David what has happened. David feels responsible for their deaths.

verse 22, David answered, “That day when I saw Doeg, I knew he would tell Saul! Your family died because of me. 23 Stay here. Isn’t the same person trying to kill both of us? Don’t worry! You’ll be safe here with me.”

Saul is not an honourable man. We have already seen his animosity toward Samuel, God’s appointed prophet, and his disregard for the promises that he had made to God. And now he orders the execution of God’s priests. Abiathar becomes David’s personal high priest at this point, accompanying David for his own protection from Saul’s delusional anger.

I am not sure of what application I can draw out of this passage for today. However, I do thank God I live under new testament Grace in a peaceful country, and that my faith hasn’t been tested to the extent the David’s and the Priests were in their day.

How great is our God sing with me…

 

Today’s reading is Psalm 27

I haven’t (yet) visited the great churches of Europe like Notre Dame in Paris,  St Peters Basilica in the Vatican or Westminster Abbey in London.  I have listened to the stories some of my friends have bought back with them when trying to describe these buildings and what they experience while being there.  They have explained the huge scale, the beautiful and historical architecture, the lavish art works and ornate decors.  Pictures usually accompany the discussion, but they often just can’t put the experience into words, its just too grand.

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

David gives us a hint of how wonderful is to dwell in His house and gaze on his beauty.  Far far more beautiful, lavish, ornate and grand than any of these magnificent buildings as the one true living God’s face is before us.  I love the great victory and celebratory nature of the next verses:

⁵ For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

My reaction is yes its easy for you King David you have all this time to think about, seek the Lord, sing and make music. You have servants do your washing, cooking and getting kids off to school.  Between paid employment, study, house work and raising kids, my life is just so much more stressful and busy than yours I couldn’t possibly have time for that.  But I find even just taking a short time each day to look at His word, to come into His presence and seek his heart, it can bring a glimpse of this lavish grandeur into my day.  Sometimes it might actually be while doing some of those every day chores, but wouldn’t you agree well worth it when you can claim:

¹³ I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

So walk into your day with this confidence, also knowing Jesus died and rose again for you personally and the Holy Spirit lives in your grand temple – and maybe even a little singing?!