106 - "Don't Pray Against the Person, Pray Against His Words" 2 Samuel 15-16

She's only in 3rd grade but she is learning about friends who have their own agenda.  May we all pray for our friends with grace-filled words. Pray against their actions not against the person.
David learns that one of his senator's is now a conspirator.  Against him and what David stands for.  So David prays these words in 2 Samuel 15:31 --- confuse the counsel of this senator.  David didn't pray against the person but against his words, against the advice of his soul.  And David prays with the strong knowledge of a Sovereign God Who holds all words and hearts in His Hand.  One commentary says we must second our prayers with endeavours.  And David did.  No man holds the corner of the market on truth.  We can think and live and move and love and still need forgiveness.  Yet, David!  Great in wisdom and patience when treated so cruel.  The David who had just sinned beyond his recognition.  May we follow the footsteps of the One and Only Who holds us tight, never to let go, never to fail.  

#prayer

God will repay not only our service but also our suffering. Here it is in this story of David and Shimei. David could have retaliated. David and his men walking through a prosaic valley. Empurpled Shimei walking on the mountainside. Throwing rocks; throwing words. David's men long to rid the world of Shimei. David's humility prevails---what if? What if he is doing me harm because God told him to speak these derisive words. What if? "It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today." 2 Samual 16:12. Someone has been trying to hurt me in my life.  What if?

PHOTO:  Ezri and the birds at The Aquarium.  We go there every week. Hey Ezri---pray against their words not against the person.

105 - "True Religion Accounts for Both the Wretchedness and Greatness of People" 2 Samuel 13-14

Pascal said it:  "True religion accounts for both the wretchedness and greatness of people."  David lived that out and found the Glory of God.

And our God promises to defeat all of the evil in the world.  Through us.  In us.  In this world.  God is moving in the midst of all that is going on.  He wants to use us to advance His Kingdom in this world and that is just unbelievable!

Larry Crabb talks about how David "lived the new way"

* He didn't celebrate the death of Saul.  He mourned the father-in-law who tried to kill him.

* He waited patiently for 7 years in Hebron as king over only one tribe---all the while knowing that God had appointed him over 12 tribes.  He didn't make it happen.

* He invited Saul's house to his table---the lame Mephibosheth, grandson of Saul.

* He mourned wicked Absalom's death and cried out "if only it had been me."  

66 Love Letters

These two stories in today's reading are so gripping.  Grasped men who are grasping for straws.  The story of Amnon in 2 Samuel 13:4: “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.” Heart wrenching.  Loving after something that can never be his.  David's valley.  

Again.  This time, a son out to get him, not a father-in-law.  Oh the grief.
Absalom slays the kings and takes the kingdom into his hands.  And David grieves.  

Someone once said we can over grieve what we over love---wondering if that was the case for David.  He could not let go of Absalom.

Wretchedness and Greatness.  Here in this story
Father, may we never be afraid to listen to your promptings in our hearts for there is hope for our sin.  

Yes, there are wretched places.  

Yes, there is matchless grace covering like blankets of fresh fallen snow.  Fall fresh on me.

PHOTO:  The Valley.  Hill Country.  David is in another valley.  And it is being filled with rain falling fresh from heaven on him.  Going deep into the trenches of his heart.  His dependence soaks it all in.  Because David is "all in" now, or is he?

104 - "Do Not Trust in Wheels and Walkers" 2 Samuel 10-12

 #104 David planned to deal loyally with the Ammonites. They didn't trust David. David had to go to war. He killed 700 men in chariots, 40,000 foot soldiers. The Ammonites made peace with David.

 2 Samuel 10:18. Some trust in chariots; some trust in horses, but we trust in the Name. Psalm 20:7

 

David plans to deal loyally with Hanun, the son of the deceased king of the Ammonites.

But they don't trust him.

David goes to war, says:

"Be courageous for our people. May the LORD do what seems good to Him~2 Sam 10:12
"David killed 700 Syrian men in chariots, 40,000 foot soldiers, and wounded Shobach ---

the commander of their army.  The Ammonites made peace with David. 2 Sam 10:18  ---

David's heart desire was to deal upright loyal to the Ammonites---he never planned evil.

David wrote:  "May God grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans." Ps 20:4
"Some trust in [700] chariots; some in [40,000] horses but we trust in the Name of God."
They all collapse & fall.
Rise Up and Stand Firm.
Ps 20:7-8

I am so "taken" with this passage of Scripture.  David won with chariots and footmen, yes?
Yes. But he placed no trust in the wheels, the walkers.  His trust was in a word, the Name, God.

Oh! Father, we all face this day, enemies coming our way whether they are in our relationships or in reality or our own faulty reasoning. Our thoughts war against us; our friends too~don't even know it.
Give us eyes to see You fighting for us.  Send help; send support (Psalm 20:2). SOS. 

PHOTO:  A brand spanking new day in the Hill Country.  As the sun rises on this day, will we trust in what we hold; what we have; what we see; what we know; what we do. Or will we trust the Name.

103 - "Find the Courage to Pray to A Sovereign God" 2 Samuel 6-9

Pray.  Take courage.  It has been our dream to pray for our children and launch them into the world.  This day was the last day of our parenting days at home.  They all have moved on and we hope that they can never get over our prayers for them. 

Rejoice with me.  I have found my lost sheep.  Out of 100.  Luke 15:6.  It mattered.
Throw a party for that one sheep is found.  

But wait, there will be way more rejoicing over 1 sinner who repents.  

And the lost coin.  Light the lamp.  Find it.  And she breathes a sigh of relief.  

And she throws a neighborhood party for it was worth a day's wage. 

 

God is looking for sinners.  

Jesus involved himself with sinners---so should disciples.  

So, what prayer of courage could I offer Him?  2 Samuel 7:27... "Your servant has found courage to pray the prayer in 2 Samuel 7 to a Sovereign Lord. 

"Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?. And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant---and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human...

How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is No One like you!

So, find courage to pray today! You have a Sovereign Lord over all your affairs.

PHOTO:  A Mom & Dad's heart for their child. Take courage. Our son hits a milestone. Britt's graduation from University of Texas.  May 2010.  Admiral McRaven speaks and writes a book from his speech. Keep on praying with courage. 

102 - "Life Can Be Too Large" 2 Samuel 3-5

How do we tackle the work of our hands.

How do we see that life is a little too grand.

Row upon row, we shuffle hard each day.

Line upon line, may it be about Love, His Way.

David experienced some close moments dodging death at the hands of Saul.
 He was young.  He was fresh.  He was willing to wait on God.  30 years old.  He becomes king.  Poised to lead and speak to evil.  II Samuel 5:23 ~ Quick to inquire of the the LORD.  And God was with David.  40 more years he reigned. 

"If you get the story wrong, your response will be wrong.  And if you get the story of the world wrong---if, for example, you see life here as mainly about self-actualization and self-fulfillment rather than the love of God---you will get your life responses wrong, including the way you go about your work."  Tim Keller.

  David saw that his work was about the love of God!  He was willing to put the self-fulfillment on the back burner and dodge the bullets of God's anointed, Saul, in a most honorable way, leading him to this reign as king.  His brutal message to those who wronged God is both chilling and white-hot.   May we go about our work this day out of the Love of God, not what's in it for us.  May God override all we do.

PHOTO:  Copyright Free. Egypt. The work of hands.

101 - "Overlook the Carnal Man That Resides in Others" 2 Samuel 1-2

                                                                          

An Amalekite tells David that he killed the Anointed One King Saul, the one who was trying to murder David. David orders the man executed for killing a man anointed by God. 2 Samuel 1:16. David never took matters into his own hands. He trusted God to take care of the evil king. Trust in your darkness.  

Here David sat in a city with his 600 men.
Defeated and distraught.  At a low.
And that news came . . . Saul is dead.
"The blow which opened David's way to the throne was given about the time he had been sorely distressed.  Those who commit their concerns to the Lord, will quietly abide his will.  It shows that David desired not Saul's death, and he was not impatient to come to the throne."  Matthew Henry

David mourned the deaths of Saul and Jonathan.

Yet, the houses of David and Saul still warred against each other.

David's life is so beautiful.  And we know the rest of the story.  He is just a man who needs God just as much on a balcony secretly watching Bathsheba as in a cave hiding from a King, his own father-in-law.  No man is to be worshipped high on a pedestal.

David has already faced strong temptation in such distress and degradation.  What does it truly mean to encourage ourselves in the Lord, as David did?  What does it look like to not touch the garment of the anointed one, even when you could justify revenge.

The funeral song, "The Bow," says nothing of Saul's righteousness or goodness.  But it does speak of two souls knit together in a strong bond of love---Jonathan and David.  They both would overlook the carnal man that resided in both.  Love covered their sins.  It's interesting that Jonathan would never see the side of David that we are about to see.

Father, help us to live by those convictions that we hold dear.  When we face haunting temptations this fresh new week, may we cry out for more of you and less of us.  Make us into the people you have called us to be.  May the song we sing this day be of praise to you and honor to all we know, even those who have done us wrong.

PHOTO:  Annette's Fig Tree.  Jesus cursed the fig tree when it would not produce.  Wondering about that story.  Wondering about life.

100 - "David Strengthened Himself in the Lord His God When Things Turned Disastrous" 1 Samuel 28-31

                                                       

The mantra. 

The theme.

Look at this. 

"Saul has struck down his thousands.And David his ten thousands." I Samuel 29:5

You know, that looks good on paper that David's success looms large.

David's success also costs him greatly: His two wives have now been taken captive.

"And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him---those who hailed him as a hero. No more. You're too much of a risk to us, David.

And they were "bitter in soul" for their own sons and daughters. And how I love David's response. May it become our holy mantra: "David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God." I Samuel 30:6. That's it!!! How do I talk to myself? What will I say to myself this day? Either I will move toward dependence or distance. 

Will I speak these words of Psalm 18, the ones that David grabbed hold of in deep distress, losing wives, friends, comrades, and his community. "I love you Lord, my Help, my Deliverer.

For it is You Who lights my lamp, the Lord my God lightens my darkness." Psa 18:28

PHOTO: The view from my bedroom window in the hill country.  It's dark out there.  And there are dark places in my own soul this night as I fold my apron.  And I think of the One Who folded his cloths in a tomb, saying "It Is Finished."  What He has done for me, that Resurrection, covers all my darkness.  I will see Light---a little more Light this day than the last one.  It's dark outside but a tad Lighter in my soul.  I know. 

99 - “Interpret the Face of My Soul” 1 Samuel 25-27

                                                               

How is it that you do not know how to interpret these present times? Luke 12:56.  May we be as wise in the concern of our very soul as we are wise in the concern of "outward affairs."  May we discern the face of our soul more than the face of the sky.  Abigail did. I Samuel 25. She was married to a jerk. She stood up for what was right.  And she let God fight her battles.  And she swept the very soul of David beyond his discernment.  When we are found doing what is right, fighting what is right, God is in your midst. So what is happening in my very soul, today?

PHOTO:  Here is a servant of God, a husband, a dad, a coach who knows how to interpret the times. The face of the sky and the face of his soul. He has been the face of God to me. 

98 - "After Whom Do You Pursue?" 1 Samuel 22-24

, 

How could David possibly feel when he learned of the news that people were dying because of him?  And Saul continues to pursue every day!  I Sam 23:14.  

But God does not give David into Saul's hand.  I Sam 23:28.  A Rock of Escape. 

David has 400 men with him---the discouraged, the depressed, the down-and-out.
Saul has 3,000 men with him---the arrogant, the confident, the jubilant, the best.
Yet . . .
David wins.
David spares Saul's life when he has a chance,
screaming after Saul:
"After whom do you pursue?" --- The person who just saved your life!

What am I really pursuing? 
After whom do I pursue?

PHOTO:  Don’t live 30,000 feet in the air. Live on earth. Live present. Deal with what is happening in your heart—-how you truly feel about things. Don’t ignore it. It’s there for a good reason. Maybe you’ve really never learned to “let go.”

97 - "Bonds That No Man Can Break" 1 Samuel 19-21

1 Samuel 19:41-42 After the servant was gone, David got up from his hiding place beside the boulder, then fell on his face to the ground—three times prostrating himself! And then they kissed one another and wept, friend over friend, David weeping especially hard.  Jonathan said, "Go in peace! The two of us have vowed friendship in God's name, saying, 'God will be the bond between me and you, and between my children and your children forever!

It's a beautiful story of true friendship. May you all find deep bonds that no man can break.  Jonathan said, "Go in peace! The two of us have vowed friendship in God's name, saying, 'God will be the bond be\tween me and you, and between my children and your children forever!

PHOTO:  The bond between 2 grandchildren, Zekey and Ezri, is true and deep and real and beautiful. May it always be so!