Blessed man is described according to what he DOES NOT DO and what he DOES DO. He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. He delights in the law of the Lord, and he meditates on it day and night. What I realized is that these things that a blessed man does and does not do are disciplines that I need to be intentional about doing because they are not natural to man. What appeals to sinful human nature is that of comfort, ego, selfishness, and I naturally want to hear their counsel. Delighting and meditating on God’s word day and night is not that which is natural or desirable to me. I with my sinful nature want to think about myself and how to preserve my life for my personal gain, and I want to be idle in my mind.

What would motivate me to from not indulging in my natural self? It is when I remember the consequences and the end/net result of following my sinful nature. The wicked will be judged and will not stand; such a person is like chaff that the wind blows away. Ultimately, the wicked and his way will perish. I see so many miserable people out there because they simply yielded to their sinful nature and thus the ways of the wicked.

Blessing and blessed life comes through restraint, self-control, and discipline of going to God’s word. Meditating on it “day and night” is definitely something that I am not used to doing and is not natural to me, but I am motivated by the picture of an anchored and fruit-bearing person. The more I live life, the more I realize how vulnerable and frail my body and life really is and how I desperately need to be deeply rooted on solid ground. In concrete application, I want to pick a key verse from each day’s devotion text and memorize it and meditate on it throughout the day. I also want to read more of God’s word and make time for these times on a daily basis. I have had the experience of God’s word feeding my soul in deeper ways as I intentionally meditated on His word and memorized it. I want to return to having those experiences again.

Finally, I see a note of God’s grace on sinners who are headed toward the way of being perished and facing God’s judgment, as He shows us through his word how to escape this path and be on the road to a blessed life. God could have left us alone, but he intervened and gave us his word to be freed from ourselves, and I am very thankful for his mercy.

Against the frailty of human life, the Bible asserts that “the word of our God stands forever.”  This eternal, imperishable word has become flesh, and has been preached to us, and we are called to bring these “good tidings” to others ourselves, as preachers.  Note these themes in today’s text, and make personal applications from parts of the text that speak to you.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”  [Isaiah 40:8]

As I think about things that seem to “last forever,” that purport to have nearly eternal characteristics, namely great civilizations, empires, powerful kings and kingdoms of their day that no one during that time would ever imagined their downfall, history has really shown itself the reverse.  Great civilizations have fallen, empires such as the Roman, Persian, Babylonian empires have crumbled, history has shown that there is nothing of this world that even the greatest men have created, that truly last, that “stand forever.”  As we commemorated in 2011 the ten year anniversary of 9/11, never in my lifetime would I have imagined the landmark twin towers of the World Trade Center crumble to pieces as it did that fateful day.  History tells us that nothing stands forever, but the Bible asserts that the word of God, the word that became flesh for all mankind, the salvation power of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, lasts forever.

“All men are like grass… the grass withers and the flowers fall.” [1 Peter 1:24]

The Word of God shows how frail human life is, how men are like grass, how short and temporary life is, how foolish it is to think that life is somehow secure, that it is a guarantee that I will even live my life at an old age.  There is nothing certain, nothing secure, and so to receive another year, 2012, is truly a gift from God.  I did not will my life to existence nor can I will another year of life for myself.  It was given to me.  And so, knowing that life is frail and that I cannot guarantee even one day of life for myself or my loved ones, what is the best usage of my life?  Is it to amass as much as possible in as little time as possible?  Is it to gain world renown fame?  Money?  Power?  No, such things don’t last forever.  The best usage of my life would to invest in the things that DO.

You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”  [Isaiah 40:9]

As a Christian, I possess something that does last forever.  I have been given something that no man can ever take away, confiscate, or steal.  It’s the gospel.  Salvation.  Eternal life.  And that is why, it is “good tidings” worth shouting out.   At the Winter High School retreat, James inspired the Christian students to believe, that when you meet or befriend a non-Christian student, you ought to think, “It’s that person’s lucky day because I have an opportunity to share the gospel with him/her.”  Good tidings.  Good news.  At my workplace, at any opportunity (while life is short and uncertain), at my place of service (Interhigh church), with any neighbors and community, I possess the central calling to point people to Christ.

“Here is your God!” [Isaiah 40:9]

In a society, in a place, in a culture where the strong pull to live the selfish American “dream” of being ultimately isolated from one another in order to live a “comfortable” life is the norm, I cannot and should not insist on my own personal comforts at the expense of God’s kingdom, His agenda, and the salvation of others.  Sobering enough, there is a correlation between my living a selfish life and suffering for the salvation of others.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” [Romans 10:14-15]

As I think about my own salvation and those who brought such good news to me, as I go back to my freshman year in college when I was young, ready to “conquer to the world” and/or thought that I had the whole world ahead of me, I’m thankful for the very people who instructed me on the uncertainty of life, on what I could (and couldn’t) bank my life upon, on what it meant to live a gospel-centered life.  I’m thankful for the very people who didn’t give into the calling to live an ultimately inwardly-focused, that such people responded to the calling to preach the good news!  I have one life to live and what better way to live it than for things that last!  Such things are the gospel (word of God) and people.   I’m thankful to God that He has given me another year to preach this good news to others, to not live a selfish life of ultimately hoarding onto my time and money, but to share this confession of faith, that has forever changed my life, I have made with my mouth that “Jesus is Lord.”  As 2011 marked an amazing year of God’s generosity and faithfulness to us as a church, as our church had the incredible privilege of experiencing well over two hundred salvations, it’s my prayer and personal commitment to not “slow down,” but to advance God’s kingdom for the things that last.

–

Submitted by James K. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Isaiah 40:6-9

This text asserts that in the grand history of humanity we like grass and the flowers of the field.  Like the seasons, the grass and all the plants of the field will die out in due time.  The sense I get from this text is that indeed each and every person has a limited amount of time in which they are allotted to make an impact on the world they live in.  As verse 9 states, there is an urgency therefore to go up on the “high mountain”, “life up your voice with a shout”, to not be fearful of doing this and to proclaim “Here is your God!”. So often I live with such a sense of now.  I just think about the amount of work I need to do for the given work week.  I think about HOW much work I need to take care of, and in very acute sense I am just thinking about myself and how much I can get by without causing more discomfort and unease in my life.  This kind of thinking ultimately places myself as the most important person in the world and where I need to take care of myself.  This passage is a reminder to me that first, I can’t ever predict how long I will have on this Earth.  And second, that the time is urgent to proclaim the name of God to all the places I go to. Therefore, I need to live with that sense again that I have a very short time on Earth to make an impact.  As I get older, I do think more about the time I have left instead of the time I have looking forward to.  I can waste my time thinking about the things that will ultimately pass and won’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  Or occupy my thoughts and time I spend on the things that will last forever, which are souls and the word of God.

1 Peter 1:22–25

I am struck by the exhortation and command that Peter gives in the midst of the sense of urgency that he brings forth from Isaiah 40.  He doesn’t give commands to therefore do a lot of hard work for God.  He doesn’t exhort the audience to become “better” people, or to follow a set of rules to make sure you go to heaven.  Instead, he commands everyone to love.  Not only to love but to love one another DEEPLY.  Not at a superficial level that only the world does or in a way where I feel comfortable at.  But to spend and give your all being able to love the people that have been placed in your life. For me, I just think it’s easier to just work harder, or to change my behavior in some way, or even to follow a set of rules I can do in order to measure myself against that metric.  I would be more than willing to just put my head down and feel like I am making progress on that front.  But to love just even one person is a totally different thing I am just not used to doing and something I need to always be aware of and to act on.  All the more as I think about this upcoming year, I know that there will be a lot of things to do, busy work, church work, things to occupy my time with.  But I need to prioritize and understand again that in the end, people and loving them trumps them all.  If someone is in need, if someone just needs that word of encouragement, if it means I need to get deeper in their life and involve myself in their issues, this is what I am going to need to do in order to love.  I know that this is how I have been loved and cared for in my own life.

Romans 10:8–17

This is the Gospel message pure and simple. This was the same exact passage I actually had shared with my mother as she was dying.  She had been to church before, had heard the message, but never really responded to God in any way before.  But as she was dying and we knew that time was close before she couldn’t respond anymore to hearing, all I could plead and tell her was to cry out to God, to just confess that Jesus is Lord and to believe in Him.  What could one do but just say that in the midst dying and clinging on to life.  […]  As the New Year is here, I am given this allotted time I have in my life to preach and live out the Gospel in my life.  To love the people God continues to place into my life.  To continue to give it my all to serve and honor God with all my life knowing that this affects the eternity of the people that will hear the Gospel message.

Write a prayer of gratitude toward the fact that the word came to you, and a prayer of commitment to become a proclaimer of the word.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I am thankful again for this reminder of just how precious and amazing your Gospel message is.  Lord, so often I just want to do a lot of things and to try to prove myself to you by how much I can do.  But you remind me again that I am loved and that I am saved simply because of Your great mercy and grace in my life.  There is nothing I can do to earn your salvation.  The time is short that I have been given on this Earth and eternity is long.  Please help me always see that my greatest priority is therefore to love the people You have placed in my life.  Help me always keep the perspective of eternity in my mind as I serve and spend my time this upcoming new year.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

In the first pages of God’s Word, God’s creative acts are awesome to behold. His “fiat” declarations would cause things to happen. He was creating realities by declaring them as such. Out of a formlessness and emptiness, God created matter and began an ordered reality. As I reflect on the scale of what was happening, the kind of sovereignty and majesty surrounding God is quite breathtaking. But I also notice that after every time God creates, He also evaluates and pronounces it as being “good.” I realize that means God’s act of creation was a moral activity, and not merely an exercise in raw, comprehensive power. Behind all the raw movement of matter, God is creating because of goodness and for goodness. The first Beginning is an act of total goodness, and I think could be considered, an act of love. I just always imagined that the beginning of all beginnings was big, awesome, and powerful, as if God was flexing his cosmic muscles. Indeed it was. But going through Genesis 1 again, I see how each powerful act is in fact seated in a heart of love and goodness. “And God saw that it was good.” God was creating with purpose and intentionality, and by the end of creation, we see it is for man to steward and rule over. His creative force is not for in itself, but is surrounded in a moral language, that is for the good for us to enjoy and to entrust what He has created to us. Like a master artisan working on his work of art for many years, only to not keep the final product for himself, but give and entrust to a son or daughter to enjoy.

As I begin this new year, it is very fitting to consider once again where I have come from. Indeed, there have been many “realities” in my past that did not have to be there. Through many acts of God, both small and big, there are many things in my life that I have come to enjoy, that probably wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for God making them such. I think about my relationships within this body of Christ, as well as the blessing of a lot of good, meaningful work of ministry that I get to participate in. I think even my mind and my judgment today is a reality that God made possible. If it weren’t for God and His Word, I’d be going along the path that I was—just being preoccupied and anesthetized with frivolous entertainment options and worldly distractions.

Spiritually speaking, my Genesis 1 was my freshmen year in college, and looking back, it feels like God spoke many realities into place that would later flourish: a message at my first NSWN, my first birthday surprise party, or my first retreat where people took God’s Word seriously. I see God’s love in my life as He created these things in my life, because it didn’t have to be that way. So much of my life path up to that point was so much about me trying to create my own realities (and failing at such). Rather, much of what God created in my life, all the good things, from having people who love me to having my own family, these are all things God gave and made in my life, but also entrusted to me. God’s creative effort in my own life doesn’t end with me just receiving. But just as God’s vision for man was to have meaningful work stewarding and tending creation, so what I have received from God is really an entrustment, perhaps not too dissimilar from the cosmic entrustment of creation itself. Salvation being my greatest new beginning created by God is a gift and entrustment that I need to steward and tend to–to share God’s love to people in my life, and to participate with God to create salvation beginning in other’s lives. The high calling of man to rule over creation is thus mirrored as the high calling to love and minister on behalf of Christ in the people God placed in my life.

Personal Prayer:
Father, as I start this new year, I want to thank you and recognize what you have made possible in my life, not just in this past year with so many milestones and highlights I’ve been able to enjoy, but stretching all the way back when you took a wandering, restless college boy and made a new beginning in my life. You created realities that I enjoy now, in people and purpose, that I never thought would be possible when I was younger. I pray that with all you have entrusted to me, please give me strength this coming year to fully participate in your redemptive work, and to help start new similar beginnings in other people’s lives. As I look at my own life, I realize how many small beginnings took many years to grow to become tangible and recognizable. Lord, I want to be patient and faithful with the people I minister to that you have placed in my life.
———-

Submitted by Rosalin K. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church
In the beginning, there was nothing. Only God existed. Therefore, God had to start from the beginning by separating light and darkness (day and night), then separating sky and land, and separating land and seas. Once he formed these basic elements, then he moved onto creating plants and trees on land, then he created sun, moon, and stars where time and different seasons can be tracked down. Then, he created birds, sea creatures, and then land creatures. At the end, God created human in the image of God himself to rule over all that he created. The order of his creation makes perfect sense even scientifically. Without day and night, without land and sea, without sky, sun, moon, and stars, the plants and trees, the living creatures on land, in seas, and in sky cannot survive. Without all these creations, man cannot survive. After every creation, God saw that “it was good.”

In the beginning, there were only basic elements for all his living creatures to survive. We had water, land, sky, sun, moon, stars and these were more than enough for us to increase in number and be fruitful. God provided all that we needed which were very basic things. We had plenty of fruit to eat from; we didn’t even have to grow them and we didn’t need shelter or clothing because those were unnecessary. To God everything that he created looked good in his eyes and I have no doubt that it must have been good even in Adam and Eve’s eyes. They had everything that they needed for their survival. They did not worry about what to eat and what to wear. In the beginning, God created all that was necessary for us to live without worrying about anything. Everything was good. However, as I think about how all that changed after sin entered our hearts, it saddens me as I see how much sin can destroy all that were good and caused grief, heartaches, and betrayal.

For me, I am thankful that I live in America one of the most developed country where we have everything that we need. However, I recognize the desires within myself wanting more than what I am already given. Consequently, I am unable to be thankful at all times and sometimes I am filled with complaints and greed. This hinders me from fully understanding what the beginning was like. It’s hard for me to imagine how there was nothing, but God created everything from the scratch and then he created man and woman. They did not need to look after themselves because they were well fed and they simply needed to rule over the creations–even that God probably guided them and worked with them. The fact that God actually made man and woman in his own image versus how he simply created other creatures makes humans to be very special. God wanted us to share in his creation even though we are part of his creation. God wanted us to rule over his creation and wanted us to be part of this world where we work together with God. His intention was for us to enjoy his creation together with him. However, sin entered our lives and we no longer shared his heart and design.

I experience this desire to want more on daily basis. I am finding myself wanting more than what I have—desiring more time to myself to indulge in my selfishness and laziness rather than sharing my time to minister to the younger sisters, peers, or to spend that time to reflect on the God’s Word so I am more prepared to fight against sin within me and sin outside of me. Even though I am thankful for all that I am given–such as an apartment, running water, two cars, a loving husband, a stable job, financial security, healthy parents, a loving community, higher education, etc.–I constantly have to fight against these desires to want more.

However, as I am being reminded of the beginning and how God created this world, I can understand God’s heart and I am being rebuked for these desires of wanting more. When God created this world, he thought through everything as he created this world so that I have everything I need. I simply need to be thankful for what I am given rather than focusing on what I want more. I need to practice being grateful daily for what I have. Also, when I shift focus away from myself to others, I find myself being less selfish and less lazy but more motivated to share God’s love and all that God has given to me and I find joy in sharing.

Personal Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for your love, grace, and mercy and all that you have given to me even though I really don’t deserve it. You created this world so that I will be content and I will be a part of your creation. I am thankful that you did not give up on me but you patiently pursued me so that I can experience being part of your creation in more personal way rather than indulging myself with my selfish desires and laziness. You created this world and it was good in your eyes. I pray that I will live my life and see that what you have provided is good. Please help me to fix my eyes on you and your work rather than indulging in my greed, selfishness, and laziness. Thank you so much. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Naaman was angry because he had a particular idea of how the man of God would heal him, mostly in a dramatic, spectacular way, where Elisha comes out to him, “stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot…” This was probably due to how the pagan prophets worked, and it might also have been because he was such a great and revered warrior that he felt he deserved such a spectacular healing where he will be commemorated forever.  At the same time, he disdained a very basic, unremarkable, humiliating instruction from Elisha. Instruction is an instruction, and, if he wanted to be healed, he ought to have listened. However, the fact that he raged and dismissed it reveals that he might have either thought it was too beneath him to do such unremarkable, humiliating thing, and not be treated extra special from Elisha. He might have expected Elisha to be grateful to have been consulted by such a great man as he. But what he got was to be treated as the leper he was, where Elisha stayed away from him and instructed him to go and wash himself. Naaman was a leper! You’re not supposed to go near a leper, lest you get contaminated yourself. It was ordained in the Hebrew laws for people to stay away from lepers.

But, Naaman forgot the reality of their situation. He was an unclean leper who needed to be isolated and separated from others so as to not infect them. He was a leper, and Elisha was the healer. In this reality, it did not matter that Naaman was a great warrior and Elisha was a poor prophet. Naaman was the needy one and Elisha was the powerful one. In such a situation, Naaman needed to have been humbly accepting of any prescription Elisha gave him.

I find this at work when we do not want to submit to God’s mundane, unremarkable ways to be spiritually well. When confronted with our sinful nature, and we want to be spiritually well, we resist instructions that seem unremarkable and mundane, such as going back to God’s Word daily, to praying, reflecting, being thankful, persevering, pushing through, and obeying basic things. We want to obey remarkable, spectacular things, not humiliating, unremarkable things like daily DT, praying, reflecting, serving in small ways, etc.

The pride in us resists the unremarkable, humbling instructions from God. We are ultimately self-centered people who want to be made much of, and would like God to address our sins in such a way as well. We also want to do anything but to be deflated in our ego. It was clear that Naaman was so humiliated by the fact that he was not made much of by Elisha, that his ego could not take what was a very doable, simple, uncomplicated set of instructions from Elisha.

So often, we forfeit amazing spiritual movement in our own lives because we could not take doable, simple, uncomplicated set of instructions from God. And, of course, there was no miracle in the river Jordan. That was just another muddy river in Palestine. The miracle lay in Naaman’s obedience to whatever God instructed him to do at the moment. The river Jordan, Elisha, Naaman’s servants were all agents of God to work any miracle He chose, if Naaman obeyed.

I’ve experienced this, when people who have had longstanding strongholds submit to the daily practices of going to God’s Word, again and again, denying their pride and ego to be frustrated at the process.

What stood between Naaman and his healing? What stood between him being isolated and diseased for the rest of his life and being healed and rejoining community? It was his pride–his idea of how God ought to treat him, how he ought to made much of. It was not the disease itself, because God had a cure for him already.

To his credit, the one thing he did right was to humble himself and listen to his servants. Therein we find out hope! We are proud creatures, wanting to be made much of by God and his people. But, even in our raging, proud moments, if we pause and listen to His people again, and choose to follow instructions that God lays out, God is gracious and will allow spiritual healing.

²⁶ But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? ²⁷ Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

Gehazi was the ultimate tragic figure. He had front row seat of this incredible work of God, and what he chose to take away was how “to get something from [Naaman].” This was the time for him to see the awesome and amazing God, to see that he was on holy ground, that God Himself was worth more than all that money can buy. This was his opportunity to see and know that God Himself was the great reward, for all the worldly things to pale in comparison. This was the time for him to reach another level of personal faith and growth, to taste and see how good God is, that, being in His presence, as poor as they were, was by far greater than any luxuries that Naaman could provide. This was the time for him to take personal conviction and knowledge of God for himself, as Elisha was demonstrating it so clearly when he refused to accept any compensation from Naaman. God laid it out all for him to just step into.

However, he was consumed with getting something from those who got healed. That colored all of his view, and he ultimately was blind and deaf, like a brute beast, who knew or sensed nothing other than personal gain.

When God does something, and He is at work around me, I need to constantly lift my eyes and see what kind of time this is. No matter what I may be, He may be offering me an opportunity to rise and take up the mantle of God’s prophet today.

The truth that “all men are like grass” grows more and more evident for me personally as I grow older and see the reality of the world, and the reality of my own frailty.  This is a truth that I’d known in my head, but one that I had not fully internalized.  What does it mean that all men are like grass?  Are men that frail?  Are we that weak?  The resounding answer from life is yes.  In my own life I experienced the helplessness of man against ravages of disease, as I struggled with diabetes for most of my life, even losing my sight for a number of years.  I know we are incapable of controlling our own life.  And this Christmas I visited several of my relatives who are now aged and very frail.  People I remembered being strong and full of vitality are now tired, sickly, and unable to even care for themselves.  As grass withers and dries up into chaff, people grow old in this world, and their strength is dried up.  But it’s not just the elderly who show frailty.  I personally know of some young people with their whole adult lives in front of them who also seem so lost, not knowing what’s going to happen in their future, not really knowing how they are to live in order to find satisfaction let alone happiness.  These young are just as helpless and at life’s tender mercies.  As Isaiah writes, even youth grow tired and weary.

At the same time, Isaiah writes about the opposite trait for God – that he is truly powerful and majestic.  God is full of power and glory, and is everlasting.  As Isaiah points out, he is beyond understanding of frail human minds.  God is incomparable, and there is none other like God. He is the Creator of the ends of the earth and the universe, and sovereign.  He is all that man is not: full of strength and energy that never wanes, full of glory that doesn’t diminish and wither, and plans that are everlasting rather than fleeting.

The amazing thing is that these two themes intersect and come together to give us the answer to the problem of man’s frailty.  Isaiah writes that the all-powerful God is aware of man such that our problems and concerns are not hidden from God.  Isaiah describes God tending to man like a shepherd carrying a lamb.  God gives strength to the weary.  It’s not up to man to try to find his own strength, to try to come up with a way to preserve his own life.  We will grow tired and weary, whether we are the top one percent, the most competent and capable and strong and humanly powerful person, or whether we are weak and poor and sickly.  But the good news is that the story doesn’t end at v.30, but goes on to v.31 – those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  In fact, they are described as soaring like eagles in contrast to just walking and running.

This is so true in the lives of those who follow God.  This is the testimony of Christians who “hope in the Lord” rather than in the world or in ourselves.  As I recognize the reality of my own frailty more and more, I find strength in God who teaches me what’s right and wrong, what is good and noble, what is the way for me to live, what is the way I can find meaning and true purpose by serving.  God strengthens me through his Word and community to repent when I sin, to go through the struggle of dealing with my deeply rooted issues, to learn to love others and to be loved.  As I get older and become more “frail,” I’m stronger in knowing God’s love, and my hope in God grows.  It’s not about how strong I am – it never was – it’s about how strong God is, and how I’m connected to God.  When I was younger, my hope was in my abilities or potential to achieve something – now I see that that was always a fool’s hope – no achievement or success would last.  Now I’m more refreshed by doing God’s work than I’d ever felt before.  I feel strengthened and motivated more than ever to push on in life.

Man is indeed frail and like grass.  But we were not designed to rely on our own strength and power – we were meant to live with strength and power from God.  When man sins and breaks off from God, frailty results along with tragedy, pain, and death.  When man repents and reconnects with God, man reconnects with the source of strength.  Now, what’s important in my life isn’t about how strong, or how competent, or how knowledgeable, or how wealthy I am, but how much I’m connected to God and how much I hope in God.  In God, even my weaknesses, my frailty, my bad health, vision loss, and all other brokenness can serve to reveal God’s strength and bring glory to God.

The difference in the people I deal with and relate to isn’t how strong or frail they are in human terms – whether they are young and full of vital energy or not – but in where their hope lies. Whether young or old, those who hope in the Lord renew their strength and find true life.  A week ago, I had the awesome privilege of witnessing an elderly gentleman give his life to God at one of the convalescent homes where we hold worship services each Sunday.  He’s lived 98 years.  Although he’d attended churches much of that time, he confessed that he never had assurance of salvation.  After a Christmas message, this man made the decision to trust Christ. He’s frail and in convalescent care, but he now has hope in the Lord, and found the strength that was never truly in him but in God.  I’m thankful that I get to experience transformations like this, and that further strengthens me and pushes me to serve God and share the gospel.  I’m thankful that I get to see the truths of Isaiah 40 in life.

Please read the two Psalms below and meditate on the truths expressed here about life and time. Highlight key verses and jot down some thoughts about what these passages teach, particularly in light of our society’s obsession with perpetual youth, and the denial of our limits.

Psalm 39

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

1 I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.”

2 But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.

3 My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.

8 Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.

9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.

10 Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

11 You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth— each man is but a breath. Selah

12 “Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were.

13 Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more.”

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”

4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning—

6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.

8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.

10 The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.

I heard that, at the recent Middle School retreat, Jin recounted the story of a former fellow youth student who passed away from bone cancer at age 16. I remember that young boy, and how we as a church prayed for him, and hung onto the daily account of how his cancer progressed. As he faced his end, he was at peace with his eternal destiny, for he had become a Christian, and he was able to meet his end with gladness, even though he suffered much throughout the ordeal. That was a young man who had numbered his days aright, as his doctors informed him of the spread of his cancer, and actually gave him limited number of days to live.

Why, then, would that be a way of gaining “a heart of wisdom”? Through such numbered days, he was able to realize what was important. The dreams of a painless, happy life would have been burst, and he would know that life is hard, that its “span is but trouble and sorrow.” In that trouble and sorrow, he would learn to turn to God who was unlimited and infinite. He would be humble and holding onto God who was compassionate and unfailing in His love for him.

Those of us who do not have such specific illness and do not receive specific limited days from our doctors do not tend to number our days aright. We tend to get our priorities mixed up and therefore end up gaining a heart of foolishness.

Just as it would be foolish for someone with cancer to ignore the doctor’s edict and pretend that he had 70 years to live, it is foolish for us to ignore the clear and definitive indictment on our mortal lives and pretend that we do not have to contend with the eternal God.

The good news is that God did not leave us in our foolishness but had compassion on us. He can “satisfy us with His unfailing love” which is everlasting and is not numbered. We can learn the deep, true, everlasting satisfaction of His love for us.

PRAYER

Dear Lord,

As sad and sobering it is to number our days, I thank you for the clarity it brings. I foolishly ignore the warning signs at times, and think that I can count on another day to do Your work. Please help me to number my days aright. Thank you for reminding me that I am in the same predicament as a young man dying of cancer, in that I have limited days that need to be accounted for rightly.

Submitted by Karen L. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 39

4 “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Selah

How often I forget how fleeting my life is especially when I am healthy and everyone around me seems strong. I feel like we will always be around, which makes me have the illusion that life will never end. On top of that, this world constantly distracts me with endless big and small trivialities, from regular mundane work to special holiday shopping. Indeed, how I need God to show me how my life and all of our lives are very short and that we will not be around forever, so that I will know to live aright. God has been really teaching me the fact that our lives are really short through the recent prayer requests for the family members of brothers and sisters in our church. These prayers range from praying for a little girl’s battle with life-threatening chronic illness to the sudden passing of the mother of a brother in Christ in one of our church plant. Also recently, my uncle experienced a sudden heart arrest and almost lost his life. My grandfather also suffered from a minor stroke that could have ended his life. As I prayed for the ill, the dying and the deceased family members and as I saw my family members aging when I went home for Christmas, I am reminded by God’s word that life is short and I need to live knowing what my purpose is—Loving God and each person whom God has put in front of me.

6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.

When I have the correct perspective about the brevity of human lives, I begin to see the vanity of human pursuit for wealth, success and fame. Man runs around with his strength and strives to gain and amass for himself. This world makes us feel like as long as we play our cards right, we will be in full control of our lives and we can feel secure forever inside the walls we build with the wealth and our competence. People work hard in school, so that they can go to a good college; they work hard in college, so that they can get a good job that can make them a lot of money and can by them a nice house and all the things that they want. Everyone thinks that if only he could have more money, if only he could have a better job, if only he could have better skills, a higher degree, he’d be happier and he’d feel more secure about his life. We mistakenly place our hope and security in our wealth and in what we can do. We don’t consider that our lives could be gone at any moment and if how we’ve been living, building up for ourselves, was actually the wrong way to live. We fail to see that God is the source of our lives and ultimately He is the one who has full control and who can give us true security. Sometimes, I fail to see God as the true hope and anchor for me when I am too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. I often feel chased and overwhelmed by the many duties and responsibilities in modern day life. Sometimes, I think that I would feel happier if I could have these things or these people under control. But this is a futile attempt. This passage reminds me that I should really look to God for hope rather than putting my hope in having control over the different aspects of my life.

8 Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.

9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.

10 Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

11 You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth— each man is but a breath. Selah

And the reason why I need to put my full hope and trust in God is that the issue is not whether I can have control over my life or not. The issue is that I have this sin problem, which ruins everything good in my life for me. Even if man becomes rich and famous, they still cannot solve their sin, which is the most fundamental problem of every man and woman. Everyone has to eventually face the judgment of God. Instead of just being consumed by my everyday responsibilities and tasks and how I need to get things done, I need to constantly remember God, who’s my ultimate judge, and think about how God views my life and if I’m living a life that is pleasing to Him.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for reminding me about the reality that my life is very short and that I must prioritize pleasing you and doing your will in my life. So often, I want to control my own life, thinking that I would feel more secure and peaceful this way. But I am deluded to think this way because it is sin that destroys my life. And without your help, I have no control over sins. So, Lord, I put my hope and trust in you again. I look to you once again for salvation, guidance, and sustenance. Thank you Father for never letting me go but always loving me with your mercy and grace. Thank you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

1. ThanksgivingWk3_DT_Nov21-Nov26

2. ThanksgivingWk3_DT_Nov21-Nov26_QuestionsOnly

3. ThanksgivingWk3_DT_Nov21-Nov26-Chinese

4. ThanksgivingWk3_DT_Nov21-Nov26-Chinese-QuestionsOnly

1. ThanksgivingWk2_DT_Nov14-Nov19

2. ThanksgivingWk2_DT_Nov14-Nov19_QuestionsOnly

3. ThanksgivingWk2_DT_Nov14-Nov19-Chinese

4. ThanksgivingWk2_DT_Nov14-Nov19-Chinese-Questions

1. ThanksgivingWk1_DT_Nov7-Nov12

2. ThanksgivingWk1_DT_Nov7-Nov12_QuestionsOnly

3.ThanksgivingWk1_DT_Nov7-Nov12-Chinese

4. ThanksgivingWk1_DT_Nov7-Nov12-Chinese-Questions

Nehemiah 1:1-4
“In 586 B.C. Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians. Besieged, attacked and burned, Jerusalem was left in ruins. … When the Persian Empire succeeded the Babylonians, the exiled Jews were allowed to return home to resettle their homeland. Nehemiah is one of the children of the exile and most likely grew up entirely in exile.”[1]
Notice that Nehemiah’s questions about Jerusalem end up fundamentally disrupting his life. Do I want to know the truth about needy people, troubled situations, or other potentially “messy” situations, or do I try to limit the range of my concerns so that I can preserve a sense of personal tranquility?
Nehemiah’s seemingly innocent question ended up drastically changing his life. The answer to his question became something that consumed him and became the purpose for his life. But it all started with his question and his interest and concern about Jerusalem and the remnant that survived the exile. I think I have been growing in my capacity to want to know the truth about needy people, troubled situations, or other potentially “messy” situations as I have grown older over the years and hopefully a little more mature, a little more selfless, and a little more other-centered. Especially serving in college ministry, this is something that I am challenged with constantly. I do want to know the truth about needy people, troubled situations and other potentially messy situations, to try and help them, to do something about it, as God has called me to do. However, I do also recognize the temptations to limit the range of my concerns to that I can preserve a sense of personal tranquility. I do recognize the times where I know if I dig deeper or get more involved, it’s going to take up a lot of time, emotional energy, difficult conversations, and the like, and I hesitate. I start to analyze and see if I can estimate how long this might take and if I can work that around what I want to do, my agenda, and if I have enough “resources” to handle it. It becomes very calculating and cold, not loving and embracing of the person and the situation. I think I still do this at times, and I do need to continue to grow in sacrificing myself and embracing that person and situation to find out the truth and to involve myself, no matter what the cost.

Notice Nehemiah’s reaction to the news he received. What is my typical reaction when I am confronted with facts that cause me concern, or burden my heart?
Nehemiah’s reaction to the news he received was to sit down and weep. Bu it wasn’t just a momentary thing. It affected him for days, where he would mourn, fast and pray to God. It encompassed him completely. He could not do other things. My typical reaction when I am confronted with facts that cause me concern, or burden my heart, is one of two different possibilities. I either start to get anxious and want to be very active, to get to work and make a checklist of tasks, of things that need to get done, to try and address or solve whatever it is that is causing me concern or burden. Or, if nothing can be done directly about the situation that is causing me burden, I try to distract myself with being busy with other things, other tasks, so that I don’t have to think about it. I don’t often really let the facts sink in and stay with me, to ruminate and stew in me, to meditate, mourn, fast and pray about them. I can try to move on very quickly to the next thing, the next thing I need to take care of. This is an area that I need to grow in, to not just be a person who wants to always be active and just do things, but to connect my heart, my mind and my spirit with what I am doing, with what I am taking in, with the things that I hear about and cause concern and burden. I need to be more intentional about slowing down, reflecting, and connecting more with my emotional side, as that is something that I’m not very good at. I need to allow myself to mourn for what God would mourn about, to personally connect with and engage and tackle the issue not through action first, but through fasting and prayer as demonstrated by Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 1:5-11
What are some notable elements of Nehemiah’s prayer?
Some notable elements of Nehemiah’s prayer include Nehemiah praising God for who He is, a great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands, Nehemiah taking responsibility and confession not just for his own sin, but for the sins of the Israelites as a whole, himself and his father’s house, Nehemiah recalling the promises of God to Moses, and Nehemiah’s request of God to listen to his prayer and the prayer of His servants and for favor and success in his endeavors. Even though Nehemiah was so greatly affected by the sad news and the sad state of Jerusalem and his people, he is able to praise God for who He is. That is pretty amazing. He doesn’t let events or current circumstances color or change his view or understanding of God. Nehemiah also accepts responsibility for and repents on behalf of his people for all of their sins and their wickedness. That is definitely very notable, as it seems nowadays people have trouble accepting responsibility and repenting for their own sins, much less the sins of other people. Nehemiah knew God’s promises that He had made to Moses and claimed them for himself and this situation, and he depended on God for the current circumstance. In all of these things, Nehemiah demonstrates how to pray to God and some amazing attitudes on his part. I don’t think that my prayers always look like this, especially in the face of very large, disheartening, difficult situations. Often, my prayers just go straight to supplication, asking for help, asking for success from God. I don’t often praise God for who He is in difficult circumstances. I try to accept and repent for my own sins, but I don’t always take on the burden of others’ sins as my own. I hope that I can see and emulate Nehemiah’s prayer and just the intricacy and many levels of relating with God through prayer, instead of just focusing on one aspect and missing out on the rest.

Nehemiah refers to God as the great and awesome God. How can Nehemiah view God this way given what has happened to Jerusalem? Can I affirm that God is great and awesome regardless of the shifting fortunes of my life?
Nehemiah does refer to God as the great and awesome God. He can view God in this way given what has happened to Jerusalem because his view of God is not changed by circumstances, even if they are bad or difficult. He is aware of the rebelliousness, wickedness and sin of the Israelites before God, how they did not obey His decrees, commands and laws, and thus were bearing the consequences for their own actions and their own sins. But he knows God’s character, who God is, and faithfully clings to that. It is often hard for me to do the same, to affirm that God is great and awesome regardless of the shifting fortunes of my life. Especially when things are difficult and not going well, when I’m facing a lot of challenges, hardships or things not going my way, it’s hard for me to praise God for who He is. But mentally I know the truth, and I know that God is constant and faithful, and that my view of Him and how I relate to Him should not be so fickle or dependent upon circumstances, especially when the difficulties and challenges I am facing are not all that big in the grand scheme of things. I have been learning over the years to not be so easily swayed by circumstances and to be able to praise God even in the difficulties, but I think this is definitely an area that I can continue to grow in a lot, through prayer, reflection, recounting and remembering God’s faithfulness and His many blessings in my life that I don’t deserve, that I didn’t earn.

Praise be to you, O LORD…
The God who is true, in whom there is no falsehood.

You bring hope to a hopeless world that is deceived, discouraged and defeated by its lies and false promises.

You pluck people out of our endless cycles of striving or our delusional bubbles and bring us into reality and provide strength and hope to live in the real world with the hope of heaven.

You provide real purpose for our lives because the gospel is true and good and full of hope.

You are the giver of all talent and abilities so that we can give generously to bring honor to your name.

You give our church the calling to engage in so many different kinds of good works that there is never a shortage of good work to be done.

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

But who are we that we should be able to serve and have such opportunities to impact so many lives? We were all lost, damaged, broken people who did not know right from wrong, who did only what we pleased. But you have given us youth, health, talent, creativity and many people who are willing to give their evenings after work, every night of the week if need be. This is an incredible level of commitment and willingness. We give because you are worthy of our entire being. May all our younger ones give their time, talents and resources willingly and wholeheartedly. I am so thankful for their commitment and attitudes to give to me, to us the authority to speak into their lives. But all of this is only because of you. Please help us to always give with willingness.

—

From Gracepoint Berkeley Church member

Praise be to you, O LORD…

Yours is the wonderful plan to reconcile sinners like me back to you.  Yours is the compassion and mercy, looking upon my need and rescuing me from my sin even when I was hostile to you, when I did not know what was good for me.

Yours is the wonderful plan to involve me in your great work.  I am full of sins.  Yet you call me to represent you to the rest of the world that does not know who You are.  You call me to be your hands, your feet, your voice.  You know my sins get in the way all the time, you know I am full of folly, you know that I stumble every step of the way.  Yet, you choose to work through me, and I am amazed that I get to take part in your work.  I would have never imagined that at this point in my life I would be ministering to the elderly in nursing homes.  I could not have come to this point even if I tried.  You have given me work that renews me each week.  As I see the residents, I am reminded that the only thing that we truly need is salvation.  I am reminded that I have been given health, time, the ability to think, speak, and that I need to use these for proclaiming the gospel.

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

Who am I?  I am thoroughly self-centered, I am petty.  I am broken in many ways.  Yet, you rescued me and let me experience your generosity.  You’ve provided for all of my physical needs.  You have surrounded me with people who are committed to you – people who take your words seriously, who give themselves endlessly without asking for recognition, who are willing to give themselves in any way that will accomplish what you desire.  They inspire me, push me, work alongside me, helping me to be faithful to you.

Who are we that as a church we get to minister to so many different groups of people, from children to middle school and high school, to college students, grad student, to visiting scholars, to the elderly?  Who are we that we get to introduce Christianity to people from different parts of the world because they come to where we are?

I have no noble thoughts or desires, I do not know how to live a fruitful or meaningful life, but you have filled my life with meaningful work throughout each week.  You nourish me through the discipleship time, you give me a chance to connect with you through devotion time and prayer meeting, and through ministry, you give me opportunities to be a blessing to others, to build them up so that together as your people we can declare clearly to the world that there is God who is waiting to receive them back and love them.  You have generously provided me so many teachings and training over the years, and through ministry, you give me opportunities to be delivered from my self-focused ways, and to learn to do what is good for others.  What a blessed life!

—

From Gracepoint Berkeley Church member

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
You lifted me out by giving me hope when I was overrun by sin and by the consequences of sin.  You have given me a hope and a future by giving me a place to belong, a place to call my home, a people with whom I can share the same sentiment with, and giving me good work to do, so I can reverse the cycle of sin’s destruction.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
You have given me a new thing to praise about.  It’s no longer about my own life, but it’s about you, what you do , what you are like.  Because I always remember that you are a merciful God and I can never stop singing about this mercy that saved me from death.

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
Thank you that I can experience so many wonders.  I see it every day and every week, as I get to hear stories of the work you are doing in our midst.  What kind of blessing this is that I can see and recount what you are doing.   They are all wonders.

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.
I desire to do your will. Please help me and give me the strength to carry it out.  I need your help.  My flesh and my evil desires are too strong for me.  I need you to help me have the right desires and to be on that path of carrying it through.

For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
When I focus on sin, I cannot help but feel hopeless and sad, overwhelmed by my state.  However, there is hope in you.

Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
You are my God.  There is no one else that I can turn to.  What can I do?  I need you every hour and every moment.  You are my deliverer… save me..

—
From Gracepoint Davis Church member

In what ways have you experienced v.2, v.3, v.5, v.8, v.12, v.17 to be true in your life?
V2: God lifted me out of the slimy pit – the depth of pit that I was in was in my first semester in college. It was the first time my experience that much freedom – all was within my ability and possibility to explore and try new things that I never did. I hit rock bottom when I found myself doing things I never had wanted to do, being in places I had never intended to be, becoming someone I could barely recognize and not knowing who I am anymore. It was a slimy pit because no matter how hard I try to climb out, I couldn’t – I kept on falling deeper and deeper. God lifted me out of the slimy pit when I finally paid attention to his words given at the Bible studies and Sunday services. His words became relevant and convicting that I knew I needed help to get out of this pit. Another pit that I was in was my own pit of sins and self-delusion. I couldn’t see my sinfulness clearly and I couldn’t see my need for Jesus – I felt a more lost and frustrated as I tried to figure God out on my own effort but couldn’t. God gave me his word that convicted my heart, He placed me in the family of God, in the context of covenantal relationship, through which I was able to see the depth of my own sinfulness and selfishness. He pulled me out of some of the strongholds in my life – sins of competitive spirits, selfishness or approval seeking, and He provided just timely words, messages, people, circumstances to allow me to grab hold of it and He pulled me out as I experienced spiritual breakthroughs. After He pulled me out of the slimy pit, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand in my salvation through Jesus, and through his words and this church. A rock and a firm place to stand was my faith in Jesus. Even though I am a sinner through and through and God still have so much work to be done in my life, I can stand firm because I know that my righteousness comes from Jesus alone and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Even though at times life’s difficulties and trials come, I can stand firm because I know that God is sovereign, He is ultimately in control and He is able to work through all things for the good of those who love him. He gives me a firm place to stand through time spent in his word and prayers, which brings renewal and refocus. He gives me this family of God, people whom I know and have known me for many years, through whom I can go through life together and spur one another on.

V3: He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to my God when I came to realize that I have a Creator, a loving heavenly Father who loves me so deeply. I am not an orphan who needs to provide for myself or strive hard to clutch onto temporal things in life. I sing praises to God when I see that my sins do not have the final word, that God is able to forgive through Jesus Christ and give me a brand new start each time I repent, that God still welcomes me home no matter how many times I stray away from him. I praise God as I learned that my life was created to be engaged in meaningful work – that God could use a sinner like me to be a blessing to others – this moves me to tears and fills my heart with much joy and praise. He gives me a new song in my heart as my life takes on new meaning, purpose and relationships. And many will see my transformed life and what God is able to do and hear my testimonies of His faithfulness, and they will put their trust in him. Many will hear about how God can convicts my heart or how truth prevails, and many will fear Him because He cannot be mocked.

V5: many are to wonders God has done – I see this truth, not only in creation and the work of His hand, but also in the lives of many people I have witnessed. Starting with the team sisters, some of whom I know since they were freshmen, but seeing how they’re co-laboring with me now, I am amazed and thankful. To see their hearts changed, becoming more interested in sharing the Gospel, reaching out to the students, running around for sports even though they hated sport, doing things that they normally wouldn’t do, seeing them dying to themselves, going out of their ways, stretching beyond the capacity, interceding earnestly for others in order to embrace the calling God has called them. This is a wonderful work that God has created in their lives this is a testimony of what God is able to do. And to look outward – to see all the churches in Gracepoint, all that God has been doing since the start of the new church plants or even this past semester/quarter, not only with a good turnout for our events but also hearing stories about how God has been preparing the hearts of those who have been coming out or how God has worked in the hearts of our current members. And not only in our churches, God has been at work since the beginning of history, working in and through the lives of those who listen and obey, and in other churches or through godly people. So many of the good works God has been doing, and I share the same sentiment as the Psalmist that if I were to count them, speak and tell of all that happens, even just within my life time, they would be too many to declare.

V8: I desire to do God’s will – this desire was not always there but the more I come to know God, the more I grow in my relationship with him, the more I desire to do things that are in line with His will. And there are still many more areas of my life that I don’t desire God’s will because I want to be the god of my own life, but this is my prayer and this is where I am striving forward to desire to do God’s will. I have truly experienced this in my life – before I became a Christian, I only desired to please myself and do whatever I wanted to do. I had no interest to find out what God wants, what God is like, what his heart is like or who He is. I only desired for personal gains – what blessings can I get from this church, what can God do for me, how can these friends be there for me, who can give me the recognition or approval that I wanted – many were my desires, and my life was dictated to do what I desired. But God gave me new purpose and meaning for life, and he has given me a new heart and put His law, His words, in my heart so that I can recognize and respond to what is true and good. Now I see that when I obey and do what God wants me to do, I am living the way I am meant to live, and that what God says good is good. I’ve experienced my desires have slowly changed to become more aligned with God’s.

V12: troubles without numbers around me and my sins overtake me – there were many times I felt like this when one sin after another, on-going strongholds, circumstances that did not go my way, difficulties and trials that keep dragging on and do not seem to get any better, storms of life that don’t seem to ever calm down, or when is hard to find bright spots in my life and troubles without number surround around me and the overwhelming sense of my sins overtake me. Times like this, when my heart fails within me, when I feel like I don’t know if I can take on another difficulty or another trial or another time of surrender, or another test of patience, or another leap of faith to take, or another dying of myself and letting go again. These are times of troubles that I can think of throughout my journey with God in personal life as well as in ministry. But this verse is surrounded by verses 11 and 13: “do not withhold your mercy from me”, “always protect me”, “be pleased to save me”, and “come quickly to help me”. It is God who has pulled me through those times. And it is this kind of prayers that I need to go back to again and again, esp. when trouble seems overwhelming and my heart begins to fails within me.

V17: I am poor and needy – this is the true condition that describes me even though a lot of times I desire for competence, security, self sufficiency, having everything that I need and my life being well provided for and protected, that I don’t feel needy and lacking. I experienced that I was poor and needy when I first began to recognize the empty void in my heart because of my broken relationship with God despite all that I had, experienced and enjoyed in life thus far. And this led me to seeking God that even though I was physically enriched, I was spiritually poor. I am poor and needy even as a Christian as I daily need God’s mercy and grace to live the kind of life that pleases God each day. I am bankrupt inside: even though I know what is good and true, many times I fail to do the good that I ought to do. I am poor because without God daily nourishment, I cannot survive spiritually – my own strength, competence, realization, experience or sheer will power cannot sustain me. I am poor spiritually because I did not know how to properly relate to God and others, and I need constant reminder and guidance to riches in relationships. I am needy and helpless as I see more and more of my limitation, inadequacies, and weaknesses as I get older, as I see God’s holiness more clearly and as I strive to daily obey God. God is my help and my deliver, esp. from my own self and my sins. Even though circumstances may not change, believing that God is my help and my deliver gives me strength to push forward. And I echo the same sentiment as the Psalmist that when I see my poverty and neediness clearly, my prayer and plea is “God please help me, come quickly and do not delay” and each time I experienced helped through His words, messages, peace that transcends understanding and regardless of circumstances and the people God placed in my life. And I experienced His deliverance as I am reminded again and again why I need a Savior and who Jesus is to me personally.

1. Prayer-DT-Oct3-Oct8

2. Prayer-DT-Oct3-Oct8_questions-only

3. Prayer-DT-Oct3-Oct8-Chinese

4. Prayer-DT-Oct3-Oct8-Chinese-Questions

In David’s appeal, David first turns to God’s unfailing love. David appeals to God’s love – His care, his ability to watch over him, the kindness and protection that God has shown David over the years. David is appealing to God’s decision to love and bless David.

In examining this aspect of God’s character, one thing that strikes me is the fact that David calls God’s love unfailing. This is a very interesting word that is used to describe love. Growing up in our culture, love is one of those words that gets tossed around and used so often, and so often incorrectly, that it has, in many ways, lost the true power of its meaning. Love can now mean something that is fickle, dependent on circumstances and performance. Love can fade, disappear and change directions as quickly as it first arrives. But David is referencing another love – the love of God. David is establishing that God’s love is different; it is unfailing. God’s love is sure, God’s love is consistent, and God’s love wins out.

God’s love for David can handle the sins that David has committed. It’s not a love that is blind to the fact, but it is a love that remains in spite of the reality of David’s sin.

David also appeals to God’s great compassion. David is here recognizing that he deserves a penalty for his actions. David is recognizing that what he has done deserves punishment of some sort; wherein he should not get off without paying some sort of price. But despite the fact that David has done such a wrong, He is appealing to God’s compassion – the ability to suffer on behalf of. David understands fully that he has sinned against God first and foremost (v.4). Therefore, the wronged party, in order for there to be forgiveness, needs to absorb the blow of the wrong. David is asking God to suffer his wrong on his behalf. David is saying – Lord, I’ve sinned against you, but now I’m asking you to take that sin against yourself and look past it, for my sake.

Truly, as David understands his sin, as he understands why the thing he has done is such a great offense to God; the only way he can ask for mercy is to appeal to God’s unfailing love and His great compassion. It is only through love, and the willingness to suffer the offense on behalf of David could there be mercy in this situation.

How does my sense of the centrality of my sinfulness compare with the psalmist’s? What might account for the difference?
David’s understanding of the centrality of his sinfulness stands in quite stark contrast with mine. There are certainly times when I feel utterly defeated by my sin, by my offenses before God, and I certainly feel the weight of the transgression. There are times when these things are abundantly clear to me, and thus, I am able to come to God, appealing to His unfailing love and great compassion. But I’m not sure that I can honestly say that in those situation, that things are crystal clear in terms of my sense of the centrality of my sinfulness before God.

I believe there are two main reasons why there is this difference. The first and foremost reason would have to be the psalmist’s clear understanding of the Holiness of God. David is very clear to show that the Lord is pure and holy. Our sins, therefore, are wretchedly dark and obscene to the Lord. When we come before God in our sin, it is a blight before God’s holiness, and thus, the contrast between sinner and God is highlighted and that sense of sinfulness for David is highlighted. As we understand God’s holiness that much more, our understanding of our sinfulness increases.

The second reason, as related to the first, would also have to be the clear understanding of our sin. For David, there is no sugar coating going on. David understands and labels things correctly – his sin is evil and it is enough for God to be justified completely as he judges. David does not argue the fact that God has every right to remove him from his presence and take his Holy Spirit from David. David understands that sin has dire consequences that are real.

In this way, I find that these two areas are the key reasons why there is that difference in the sense of centrality of my sinfulness. I find that I do not often dwell upon the reality of God’s holiness. I sing the songs of praise, I understand and recognize God’s holiness, but do I actually live out my life as if God’s holiness were truly central to my understanding of life? I don’t think I do as much as I need to.

Additionally, I don’t think that I treat my sinfulness as seriously as David does; adding to the sense of difference in the centrality of sinfulness as compared against David. I find that I often will try to give a reason why things were how they were. “Yeah, I got mad, I lost my temper, but there was a reason why I got mad, have you taken that into account yet?” “Sure, I should not have done that, but I was feeling tired, it’s not right, but you understand what I’m getting at right?”

As I think about it, I am too well-versed in explaining my own sin away. But David here does not even attempt to do such a thing. He calls it as it really is – wicked, evil, needing to be washed. And there is that power in that understanding of sin. As he understands his sin and the true nature of that evil; as David understands the holiness of God, then the centrality of sin becomes far more deeply rooted. It is to this kind of degree of understanding that I am called to go back to, daily, as I confess my sin before the Lord.

Numbers 11:4-17

What can I learn about Moses’ relationship with the Israelites from this incident?

Moses deeply cared about the Israelites as evident in this prayer to God. He wasn’t simply carrying out some job. He didn’t have the mindset that this was just something he was “supposed” to do. As he expressed, he felt the burden for caring for them that a parent feels about the burden for caring their child. It was a burden that he felt very heavily. It was so heavy that he said it was getting too heavy for him and that he would rather die.

It says so much about Moses’ character that he chose to accept this burden in this way. He fully embraced his role. As Moses cries out in frustration, he “didn’t give birth to them.” Yet he finds himself thrust into this role of leading these obstinate, complaining rabble. He never asked to be appointed as their leader in the first place. For all these reasons, he could have very well detached himself from them and had the attitude “What’s wrong with them?! What ingrates they are after all I did for them. I am going to walk away from them!” And he very well could have walked away from the responsibility of caring for them and could have washed his hands clean of them. To his credit, even though he cries out to God how heavy the burden is, he doesn’t cease being their leader. He remains and continues to embrace his role that God assigned to him. That’s why he feels so burdened because he accepts it and doesn’t abdicate his role.

I am really challenged and inspired by Moses. Many times I feel sense of burden that feels quite heavy for me to bear but of course it’s nothing compared to what he’s going through. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to be in his shoes. Yet just as Moses full embraced the role that God assigned to him, I must bear whatever burdens and responsibilities that God assigns me. This was true of Moses, this was true of Paul, this is true of my spiritual leaders who bore that burden when I was a source of burden to them, and most of all this was true of Jesus. Jesus bore the full burden and weight of my sins and the world’s sins.

What can I learn from Moses’ prayer?

Similar to with Abraham, similar to Moses’ prayer in Exodus 32, Moses is not afraid to completely honest before God. He is so genuine and authentic in his prayer. He’s not some robot, super-leader. In his prayer, he is so honest before God. He doesn’t try to sound more spiritual than he is actually feeling. He doesn’t fake being more gracious, more patient, more stronger than he really is. He doesn’t say “After all these years, by now I should be ____.” At this point, Moses feels quite overwhelmed and understandably so. And he freely pours out his heart before God. Tying this back to the first question, to fully embrace the burdens God gives me doesn’t mean that I can’t be honest before God about how I feel. God invites me to come before Him with whatever is burdening me and weighing me down.

What can I learn about God from the way God responds to Moses’ prayer?

God doesn’t get angry at Moses. God doesn’t answer “What about me? The people are complaining and now you are complaining too!” God is actually very sympathetic towards what Moses is going through. There is no reproof, no anger, no condemnation in what God says. Instead God validates how Moses must be feeling by coming up with solution to help Moses from being overwhelmed. And God’s solution shows that He fully understood what Moses was going through. From God’s response to Moses, I am reminded that even though He is God almighty, Creator the universe, He is not distant and unsympathetic to my cries of weakness, to my needs. As incredible as it seems, God really understands what it’s like being in my shoes. And when I think about it, it shouldn’t be surprising that God would be like this. For Jesus came to earth, and incarnated among us to experience all that we go through e.g. our temptations, our weaknesses, our limitations, etc. What an amazing God I serve!

1. 2Samuel-DT-Aug29-Sep17

2. 2Samuel-DT-Aug29-Sep17_questions-only

19:1–15 Preparations for David’s return. This section is concerned with three distinct groups of people: David’s army, Absalom’s northern supporters, and the representatives of the tribe of Judah. David could easily have offended any of these. He had to show graciousness and forgiveness to former rebels without angering loyal supporters.

At first, he was in danger of offending his victorious army, till Joab once again took firm action. David’s decision to make Amasa the commander of his army (13) had two motives. First, it would show all rebels the extent of David’s forgiveness, since Amasa had been their commander. Secondly, David took pleasure in displacing Joab, who had been responsible for killing Absalom.

The northern tribesmen were ready to accept David as king once more, but plainly Judah showed some hesitation. We may infer that Absalom’s revolt had divided Judah, and as a tribe they were uncertain about David’s attitude towards them. It was, however, essential for David’s position that his own tribe should give him solid support, and he made it his priority to win them over. Some friction between north and south resulted (see vs 40–43).

19:16–39 David’s return. This whole section is set at the River Jordan, and it is the dramatic reversal of 16:1–14. The individuals who had reacted to David in various ways when he had been fleeing from Jerusalem now came to meet him as he returned victorious. David was forgiving to enemies like Shimei (18–23) and he rewarded those who had been truly loyal like Barzillai (31–40). Ziba once again reached David before his master Mephibosheth, but this time Mephibosheth presented himself and tried to undo the harm Ziba had caused (17–18, 24–30). Perhaps David could not decide which man was telling the truth, or else he felt that Ziba’s loyalty deserved some reward. The important consequence was that Mephibosheth lost some property but retained his life and presumably his honoured position at court.

19:40–20:13 Rebellion in the north. The final verses of ch. 19 revert to the tense relationship between Judah and the northern tribes. The northern group were half-hearted about David (40), even though they claimed a greater share in the king (43). The friction between them and Judah resulted in another revolt against David, led by Sheba (20:1). It was in reality a small affair which ended without a battle, but it had wide appeal nevertheless (20:2).

The personal interest centres on Joab and his relative Amasa. Amasa showed that he was a poor general, and it was Joab yet again whose ability and loyalty to David would defeat the enemy. The story also demonstrates again Joab’s brutal and ruthless character.^[1]

2 Samuel 17:1-14

“Hushai’s successful effort to counter the advice of Ahithophel is a classic use of the principles of rhetoric being used to convince a person to take a certain action. He appealed to fear, to the desire for military glory, and to Absalom’s strong desire for personal achievement.”

What can I learn about Absalom’s character from the fact that he was persuaded by Hushai’s advice over that of Ahithophel’s?

The fact that Absalom was persuaded by Hushai’s advice tells me that he is someone who is prone to responding to advice that appeals to his fears.  Hushai reminds Absalom about how his father David is known to be an experienced fighter along with the men who are with him.   Hushai goes on to mention that ‘if’ David and his men attacked Absalom’s troops first, then people will say, “There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.”  Hushai suggests that if this happened, then even the bravest soldier will melt with fear.

What Hushai was suggesting was a big ‘if’, but it was enough to cause Absalom to be persuaded.

To further persuade Absalom to not listen to Ahithophel’s advice Hushai paints a picture of how mighty and glorious he could be in facing his father’s troops head on.  Hushai suggests gathering a massive army first around himself, so that he can attack his father wherever he may be found.  This alternate future would’ve appealed to Absalom’s ego.  It’s a future that makes him look almost invincible.

What can I learn about God’s sovereignty from v. 14 and the fact that these events were an answer to David’s prayer in 2 Samuel 15:31?

This reminds me of how ultimately God is in control, and because this is true I can fight against my impulses of responding in fear.  I can be calm and react with proper discernment, wisdom and just a sense of peace about how in the end God will hear my prayers and create a way to bring about His ultimate good.  This embrace of God’s sovereignty over my life and over history in general frees me up to not grasp for things and react feeling like I might miss out on something or that I will have regrets.  I can put into practice God’s words like…

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In light of God’s sovereignty over my life, my ego can be put in its right place, which will free my heart and mind up to be genuinely “other centered” and able to submit myself to what God instructs me to do each day through DTs.  Also knowing that He hears our prayers and that He is faithful in answering our prayers encourages me to daily go to God in prayer for all that’s on my heart from little to big concerns.  I can ‘in everything…present my requests to God’ and anticipate that His peace will guard my heart and mind in Christ from folly, blunders and sins.

Reflect on David’s response to Shimei.  What is amazing about David’s response?  What does this show about David’s view of God?

10 If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, Curse David, who can ask Why do you do this? 11 …Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.

As I think about David’s response, I see a man who is humbled by his own sins, someone who is painfully aware of his own failures and shortcomings and as a result he doesn’t take any personal offense at the accusations and curses from Shimei. Even though Shimei accusations and curses were not based on truth, David is totally surrendered in how he thinks he should be treated, he is surrendered in how others think of him and he trusts that whatever God chooses to do then let it be so. David is not wrapped up in his own ego and he is not defending himself in any way.

David painfully knew what he deserved and thus he took in curses without any defensiveness on his part. He was a man who lived before God and trusted God that even though the curses came from man, he did not emotionally flare up to defend his name before people. He saw God as the ultimate judge and therefore was at peace that if these words were coming from God he knew that he could not say anything before.

2 Samuel 15:13-14

What can I learn from David’s response in these verses?

It’s a different kind of action that David takes than someone would who really wanted to hold onto their title or retain their position, who is really into retaining their own honor. Initially, I wasn’t sure whether David’s response was perhaps another manifestation of his passivity—he still had the ability to fight and try to keep his kingdom it from Absalom. However, in thinking about it more and reading the commentaries, I see that what David did was actually wise and selfless. It shows that he wasn’t someone who held onto this title or position as king so tightly like Saul…or placed his own ego or perhaps his own security as king ahead of anything else. A king like that would have reacted with retaliation, gathered his men and tried to fight to retain his kingship. However, instead, David’s response is that he knows Absalom and knows that for him to stay in Jerusalem would mean death for many of his officials and all out war within the city, and he didn’t want to see this kind of bloodshed happen. He backed down and didn’t immediately retaliate and react to the news, but in him choosing to flee the palace meant that he was sparing many innocent lives, preventing an all-out war but at the cost of looking like a coward in front of his men, appearing weak and already defeated. But his ego was not the most important thing but what would be the best for his people.

How can I apply this to myself? I think that the picture of David as someone who wasn’t into this position or ego is a lesson that I need to take away from this text. He could have fought back to protect his kingship and ego. But he didn’t. I think it’s a lesson for me to see that when criticism or attacks come towards me that hurts my ego or words that may come as threats against my reputation and I’m in a position to fight back, to retaliate and engage in battle of words or tear down the person who is negative towards me, it’s so tempting to just react. It’s so tempting to just fight back, take action. However, from David’s response I can learn that in such situations the wisest thing is not to fight back. David had to be humble; Running away would be opposite of the world’s values, which is to show your strength, crush the enemy, don’t be weak but get even. You’re being a coward if you don’t fight for your own honor. Here, David doesn’t fight for his own honor…it seems cowardly of him to run away, but his concern wasn’t about his own honor but about the well-being of his people. In the same way, if I am someone who is committed to my own ego and reputation and honor, if anyone comes and attacks me or criticizes me, then my reaction will probably be to ramp up and show off my skills, to fight back with words or to have an “I’ll show them” attitude, or to lash out. But what would be consequences of that? I would probably do something really stupid and foolish in my anger or in wanting to get back at that person. I would probably hurt a lot of people, innocent by-standers who could be my children, my husband, friends, and others as I try to prove myself and just solely focused on proving my worth and ability and neglecting the needs of the people around me or using them as some kind of project or instrument to boost my ego or image or prove myself.

Did the text provide a truth, wisdom or lesson I need to affirm or apply?

This week’s DT passages in 2 Samuel provide sobering insights into what happens when we take ourselves out of the front lines of spiritual battle.  David stayed behind during a time when kings when into battle, and on a lazy evening, he made a series of decisions that led to adultery, murder, and the eventual breakdown of his family and nation.  How did all of this happen? 2 Samuel chapter 11 simply states, “But David remained in Jerusalem.”  It’s a seemingly mundane statement, but ominously foreshadows the ugly events to come. While Joab and the rest of the men were fighting against the Ammonites, David remained in his palace–a picture that is so inappropriate in light of the hard work that his men were doing.  Perhaps David thought he had done enough in his youth and wanted to rest from battle just this one time; perhaps he even had people advising him that he should stay back and be safe from the front lines.  Whatever the reason, there is no sense from David that he thought he was doing anything wrong.  Strolling on the roof of the palace, feeling secure and luxuriating in the fact that he was king, David looked out, saw Bathsheba, desired her, and sinned.  None of this would have happened had he done his duty as a king and gone out to face the enemies of Israel.  What makes his sins even more egregious is the integrity of Uriah the Hittite, who saw his life in context of his brothers at battle, of the ark of the Lord and his nation.  His response to David’s question, “Why didn’t you go home?” is one of moral outrage: “How could I go to my house to eat and drink…?”  In contrast to David, who felt very much that he could stay back in his palace, Uriah cannot even entertain the notion that he could go home and enjoy its comforts.  Whereas David was just interested in satisfying his private lusts, Uriah denied himself the “right” to go home, eat, and be with his wife.

As I grow older and now have two kids at home, I see how tempting it is to grab hold of the “right” to remain at a safe distance from the front lines of evangelism.  I can make the excuse that I’m too old, I’m bogged down with two kids; moreover, society tells me to just “focus on the family” and that life is too busy for anything more than taking care of the nuclear family.  However, like David, Christians are called to go out to the front lines of the spiritual battle at hand and nothing should deter us from going out.  In light of the chain of events that his seemingly innocuous act–remaining in Jerusalem–caused, it’s so clear that we cannot rest from battle.  Remaining at a safe distance from battle leaves the door wide open for temptations to take hold; moreover, remaining in my “palace” of safety (physical and emotional comfort) directly goes against God’s calling for me to be a soldier for Christ and to take up my cross daily in order to be his disciple.  Going to the battle lines is only possible for a fleshly sinner like me when I have the perspective of Uriah–that is, to see my life within a greater context of God’s plans and God’s people.  When I decline to be at the front lines of spiritual battle, I’m missing out on the good works which God prepared in advance for me to do when He saved me by His grace.  I’m also discouraging the members of Christ’s body if I remain at a safe distance while everyone else is hard at work doing the work of evangelism and spreading the Gospel.  My sins and decisions are not mine alone if indeed I am a member of the greater body.  Like Uriah, I need to see my life as interconnected to that of the lives of my brothers and sisters, and, if need be, deny myself the “right” to go home.  This means pushing myself to have difficult spiritual conversations, to be physically there at the front lines of ministry by meeting people, providing rides, food, resources, all so that some may be saved.

What about human nature can I learn from Absalom’s success in gaining the hearts of the men of Israel?

I can learn that men’s hearts are easily taken when another affirms their pain.  After trying to make my case to the one who wounded me and finding little success, it would be such a relief and encouragement to hear another affirm that I am right.  It is also a relief to know that I am clearly right just from my own testimony.  In this way, it is dangerous to listen to someone who affirms my grievance.  It would be easy to agree to join with someone if “he understands!”  but I may not be able to grasp how I haven’t considered all issues or seen the problem from my neighbor’s standpoint.

How can I guard myself against this?

I can guard against this by reserving judgment for a disinterested judge.  I can also remember that my anger and frustration are not a basis to see any situation rightly.  In such a state, I can only see the look on my “enemy’s” face or those choice words s/he spoke that hurt me.  I must surrender it all to God and trust that he will bring about justice or non-just result that is best for concerned.

2 Samuel 15:1-12

“Absalom is no sooner restored to his place at court than he aims to be in the throne. He that was unhumbled under his troubles became insufferably proud when they were over; and he cannot be content with the honour of being the king’s son, and the prospect of being his successor, but he must be king now.”[1]

Reflect on Absalom’s unrepentant attitude in the previous chapter.  What might be the connection between his murder of Amnon and his conduct here?

Absalom’s behavior in the previous chapter is appalling.  He is insolent and haughty.  He wants to see the king and doesn’t get his way, so he does whatever it takes to get his way.  He wants it and he has no care of how he gets it – he is that supreme in his mind that he is not bounded by rules.  It doesn’t matter that Joab has devised a way for his return to Israel.  He is one that should not be ignored, that he will burn his benefactor’s fields to get his way.  His words to Joab are indignant.  He is incensed that he cannot get his way.  He is so forceful that Joab and David relent and allow him to come to the king.

So when he considers his new plans, he is all too willing to do what is best for self and to accomplish his plans without boundaries.  There is no other one to consider, not God, not father, only him.  So, he will pursue what he decides to do and with the quickest means possible.  In going about overthrowing David, he doesn’t consider anyone so important.  David is not thought of as his father, but as an obstacle to his plans.  He is so self-centered, he does not care for his father at all.

2 Samuel 14:1-21

In the previous chapter, David’s failure to act in response to Amnon’s sin against Tamar precipitated Absalom’s revenge.  Again, King David is depicted here as passive while others around him take action.  Consider the dilemma David is facing as father and king.  How did he come to be in this situation?

As a king, he is faced with the situation of having to bring justice and judgment onto Absalom who killed his brother Amnon. Yet as a father, he doesn’t want to pass this kind of judgment onto his own son. David had the responsibility as the judge and king of Israel to bring about justice and yet his heart of compassion as a father made him passive and end up doing nothing at all. Similarly in the situation with Absalom, David failed to act and instead of reconciling, Absalom became more and more bitter to the point of feeling justified for his actions and ultimately scheming against his own father.

David ended up in this situation because he failed to teach his children to fear God, have morality in their lives, and in being a source of moral authority over them. David indulged his children and let them do what they wanted instead of teaching them to obey God, giving them proper values, and instilling proper fear of God. Moreover instead of punishing Amnon, David passively stood by in silence, which caused Absalom to take action and revenge into his own hands. The tragic consequences to David’s passivity and lack of response led to further sin and brokenness.

–

Submitted by Matthew K., Gracepoint Berkeley Church

2 Samuel 14:32-33

Absalom seems to be offended toward David for treating him as an exile.  What is Absalom forgetting?

Absalom is forgetting that he has been brought back to Jerusalem purely out of David’s mercy and intervention of Joab.  He has forgotten that it was him who killed Amnon, his own brother and king’s son. He has forgotten the reason for the exile and the way he was being treated.

What aspect of human nature is displayed in Absalom’s sense of injury?  To what extent have I seen this kind of tendancy in my life?

We tend to forget what we have done and the crime we have committed.  I think we tend to forget this more easily when we are shown some mercy.  When we are clearly in exile, we are reminded by our surroundings and our relative positions with others that we should be humble and repentant.  But, when we are shown a little bit of mercy, we tend to forget our position as sinners and start claiming our rights.   We begin to have sense of entitlement and lack of appreciation for the mercy that was shown to us.  We become demanding of others to pay proper respect to us, recognize and appreciate us.

I can’t ever forget that I am a sinner through and through and that I am a recipient of God’s great mercy.  As a director and as one of the older ones in our ministry, I can easily begin thinking that I am entitled to some respect, appreciation, certain success in ministry, and the kind of work that I am asked to do.  I can begin to think that I am somebody in our ministry that my views, skills, know-how, experience, and years of ministry ought to be recognized, respected and appreciated.  I can begin to think that I should be given a more visible ministry or great role or be consulted by others.  I find that it is so easy for me to fall into this kind of trap unless I am vigilant about it and guard my heart against it.

I need to never forget that the ministry I have is purely out of grace.  Not only I don’t deserve being in ministry, I don’t deserve that my ministry should go well.  God does not owe me any of that.  I don’t deserve it at all.  God can take it away at any minute.  For every minute that I am allowed to serve God in any capacity, I need to be grateful.

2 Samuel 13:21-34

“We have known David as a man of decisive action, but in this and subsequent episodes narrating the drama of his own family, David is curiously passive and indecisive.  Perhaps David is himself so morally compromised by his own flagrant crimes that he cannot confront the excesses of his sons.  David may be angry, but he joins the conspiracy of silence around the rape of Tamar, and in doing so he unwittingly allows Absalom’s murderous revenge to run its course.” ^[1]

What was notably missing after the statement that King David “was furious” about this incident (v. 21)?

King David was furious about the rape of Tamar, but what was notably missing was a rebuke and punishment for Amnon.  This is unlike David who is usually a man of decisive action.  In past DTs we have seen David spring into action to battle the enemy, chase after the Amalekites who took their families, and even go to Nabal to teach him a lesson on respect.  In this text however, David does not quickly respond to the rape with swift judgment.  This was a great injustice done to someone in his own household and yet he does not exercise authority that is his responsibility.  The text also fails to mention that David grieved over the situation or even went to comfort Tamar.  At the very least David should have confronted Amnon about the rape and rebuked him and punished him.  The commentary above notes that David joined the conspiracy of silence around the rape.  This incident caused Tamar to be a desolate woman who hid in shame in the house of her brother.  Amnon on the other hand continued to go about his princely life and engage in princely behavior.  The injustice was too great and because of David’s silence, Absalom decided to serve justice by murdering Amnon.

What may have been behind’s David’s refusal to render proper judgment on Amnon?  What tragic consequences did this lead to?

The possible reason for David’s refusal to render proper judgment on Amnon is that he doesn’t feel as though he has the authority to deal with situation.  This rape of Tamar happens after David’s adultery with Bathsheba.  David was rebuked by the prophet Nathan for having abused his kingly position to fulfill his fleshly craving for Bathsheba.  This sounds very similar to the situation with his son Amnon.  Perhaps David thought he could not rebuke or punish Amnon when he himself fell to sin.  Punishing his son would have been too difficult because David would feel the sting of hypocrisy with every word because of his own moral failure.  In the past I had a hard time bringing a word of correction to a brother knowing that I had the same issue.  I remember talking to a brother in my college years about his foul temper and bullying.  That was a hard talk because every word was an indictment on my character.  Perhaps David felt the same way and so he remained silent.  His silence however led to the tragic consequence of Absalom having to murder Amnon.  Absalom administered the justice that David failed to give and this caused greater rifts in his family which caused sin to grow as we’ll see in the following chapters.

What lesson does this have for me?

The lesson I can draw from this text is to swiftly and decisively deal with sin.  When I have to confront someone of their sin there is always a moment when I have to battle my emotions.  I recognize that I am as sinful as the person I am about to correct and in some cases I am struggling with the same issues they are struggling with.  I have to continue battling that instinct to back away from confronting the person and stay silent.  I have to keep in mind that my main priority is upholding God’s honor instead of worrying so much about my honor.  The consequence of silence is just too great.  Satan would want nothing more than for people to remain silent about sin whether in confession or correction of sin.  Silence provides room for sin to fester and grow.  Abasalom was probably hoping that his father, King David, would respond to Tamar’s rape.  The fact that David remained silent probably caused Absalom to despise David. Absalom, infuriated with Tamar’s disgrace he planned for Amnon’s death.  This is a warning to me.  In my silence and refusal to confront sin this leaves the door open to greater sin.  I also lose credibility as a leader in the process.  Anyone who knew about this situation would have been crying out for David to respond.  They say that the true character of a leader comes out in dealing with critical situations in a timely manner.  In refusing to address sin in a decisive and timely manner I am allowing for future tragedy of sin that will have a rippling affect in my life and those I love.