Chronological Bible 10: David as King

ENTRY FIFTY-TWO – APRIL 7, 2008

52 – DAVID’S EARLY YEARS AS KING, PART ONE

II Samuel 2-8, 22; I Chronicles 3-15, Psalm 18

To that city he will return the sacred Ark of God, and make the initial plans for the building of a permanent temple. The account of these initial years begins with David seeking God’s guidance – one of the many traits that make David such a special leader for God’s people. LOOK OUT FOR A STUDY OF PSALM 18 and a long discussion of THE STORY OF UZZAH AND THE ARK and its implications for HOLDING TO GOD’S WORD. (two days of reading)

2 Samuel 2 – David was anointed king over Judah. Now he had been anointed king by Samuel before, when he was a teenager back in 1 Samuel 16. That was more of a ceremony of affirmation. This time, the people anointed him. Years ago, a close friend of mine taught a great lesson for leaders on the need to be chosen twice – once when you are put into the ministry and again later by your people (in fact, a leader may need to be “chosen” several times over the years). This is true for leadership on all levels – if you don’t have the backing of the people, you won’t be able to lead for long.

2 Samuel 2:4-7 David expressed kindness to the men who buried Saul. He never failed to thank people for their acts of kindness – an unusual character trait in a king.

2 Samuel 2-4 Civil war broke out as Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth was anointed king over the rest of Israel and Abner, Saul’s general (and cousin) fought against Joab and David’s men. This section is bloody and gruesome, filled with intrigue and revenge. David felt sad about all the blood shed. His response gave the people confidence because they had faith that David was not guilty of murder and they saw his integrity. (see 3:36). People are always grateful for leaders who lead with integrity and kindness. 2 Samuel 5, 1 Chron 11-12 David was finally anointed as king over all Israel and many brave warriors volunteered to be in David’s army. He and his men attacked Jerusalem and took it from the Jebusites. God blessed David and he became more and more powerful. The water shafts that are mentioned in this passage are still visible – John and I saw them ourselves a few years ago! 1 Chron 13, 2 Samuel 6 David and his advisors decided to bring the ark to Jerusalem. As further evidence that Saul had not inquired of the Lord, the ark had been left in someone’s home ever since Samuel’s day. It is interesting to note that for this decision, David wanted the will of the people to rule, so he conferred with his top advisors first and then he spoke with the whole assembly of Israel before taking the ark from its place of rest. Once they all were in agreement, he then decided to do it. No wonder he was a popular leader. (I have to boast about my husband here, because I feel that he has always done this with the really big decisions as well, such as whether or not to go for the court case, whether or not to build the building, and whether or not to have the parents integrated youth ministry.)

With the people’s blessing, David and his men moved the ark back to the tabernacle area. David had great motives – he wanted to honour and glorify God, and he wanted the people to be encouraged. Look at the festivities and the celebration going on. Wow! I don’t know if we can picture how awesome of an occasion it was. (However, when we had the conference at the end of 2004 to open to celebrate the opening of our new church building, it was pretty amazing!)

Read this account in both books, all of 1 Chron 13 and 2 Samuel 6:1-11, to get the full picture. The story had been very upbeat up until this incident; then tragedy struck – Uzzah was struck dead for touching the ark. If you were the king, bringing the ark to Jerusalem for the first time, who would you have picked to guide and guard the ark on its journey? Probably a physically strong leader of some kind, perhaps from the military. Knowing David, probably a spiritually mature person, as well. We have no reason to think that Uzzah was anything other than just that. Uzzah was just doing his job – he was there to guide and guard the ark, the oxen stumbled, and therefore the cart the oxen was pulling upon which the ark was resting, tipped a bit and faithful Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark just in case it should fall off the cart! This was not an unreasonable thing for him to do! It was what any of us would have done if we were asked to guard the ark! He didn’t have a bad motive for doing it. He surely felt respectful of God and of the ark. So why did God have to kill him? Not just killed, but the bible says that “The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark.” So WHY OH WHY did God’s anger have to burn against him to the point that God had to zap him?????????????

Now look at David’s reaction. He was probably asking the same kind of questions, and he didn’t know the answers. So he felt emotional. “David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah.” “David was afraid of God that day.” Isn’t it true that we get angry and afraid when we don’t understand something, or don’t understand God? I can relate to David! David then left the ark in the home of Obed-Edom, who, according to 1 Chron 15 and 16, was a highly regarded Levite. Of course, probably to prove that there was nothing inherently scary about the ark itself, God blessed Mr. Obed’s household abundantly. Consider what David COULD have done: many leaders would have been embarrassed to go to Jerusalem without the ark after making such a big deal about it, so they would have either brought it anyway, risking other men’s lives along the way but feeling like they had to for the sake of the “big picture” or else they would have got back to Jerusalem and blamed the fact that they didn’t have the ark on something else to make themselves not look bad. However, David didn’t do that. He waited. That is a good thing for us to do sometimes. We don’t have to do everything NOW. Sometimes God wants us to wait. Sometimes God wants us to seek his will more, to read the bible more, to ask more advice….David did all of those and we will see the fruit of it, along with finding out the answers to all our questions above, when we get to 1 Chron 15, but you’ll have to wait .

1 Chronicles 14 Change scenes to the Philistines and war – the Philistines attacked, and David was insecure. He had just experience a minor setback involving the ark. He had definitely felt angry toward God, but he didn’t have an attitude. In fact, he wasn’t about to go to battle without consulting God to make sure God was behind it. And God said, “Go for it!” So David and his troops won two battles and a major victory against their arch enemies, and “David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.” (1 Chron 14:17).

After Saul’s death and the victory over their long time enemies, is it any wonder that the king would pray a prayer such as the one recorded both in PSALM 18 and 2 SAMUEL 22:1-51? Read this song of praise and celebration of God’s strength for a great prayer time. It begins with David pouring out his heart in praise and adoration, showing his total reliance on God. We get one of our songs from here: “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy of my praise, so shall I be saved from my enemies. I know the Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted!” (2 Samuel 22:4, 47; Psalm 18:3, 46).

2 Samuel 22:5-7 We can feel this way when things are looking bad – illness, job situation, family problems, or perhaps when we feel like we can’t defeat Satan in a matter in which we are trying to repent. 22:8-16 shows the power of God and the emotion he has for fighting on our behalf! Wow! Do you believe that God loves and cares about you this much??!! 22:17-20 and then again in 33-44 These verses illustrate how PERSONALLY David viewed his relationship with God. Count how many times David uses the pronouns “me”, “my” and “I” in these passages. 22:21-28 In this group of verses, David focuses on personal purity and humility. He knows that he isn’t sinless, but he has been trying to live a life of integrity and have a righteous life before God and he can feel confident that God loves him. Read verses 26 and 27 out loud – sobering!! 22:29-46 When your eyes are on how HUGE God is, you can’t help but feel confidence! Fear and weakness are banished! (at least for that day ). When you are focused on the word of God, and its perfection, you are more likely to avoid sin and experience God’s victories. This is not an egotistical boast from David; this song is an example of boasting in the Lord and what HE can do in our lives! Habakkuk would echo David’s words hundreds of years later when he closed his book with, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:19). 22:47-51 David ends by praising God and vowing to tell of God among the nations. When you love someone this much and are this grateful, of course you’ll tell people. We don’t keep such good news quiet!!

Awesome!! Makes me feel like singing!!

Now it is time to get back to 1 Chron 15/2 Samuel 6:12 and figure out what happened with that ark situation!!

1 Chron 15 David prepared some buildings for the ark in Jerusalem, then assembled everyone together to discuss another attempt to bring it to Jerusalem. He gathered the priests and the Levites and gave them instructions concerning the ark. Then he told them something very important“It was because you, the Levites, didn’t bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. WE DID NOT INQUIRE OF HIM ABOUT HOW TO DO IT IN THE PROSCRIBED WAY.” Ah-ha!!! You see, in his enthusiasm to bring the ark to Jerusalem, David forget to ask God HOW bring the ark to Jerusalem, and did it according to his own judgment. He thought that putting the ark on a cart pulled by oxen guided by two strong men sounded like a good plan. However, the Law of Moses has numerous passages commanding that only the Levites, and only those from the clan of Kohath, be involved in transporting of the ark. Here are the verses in which God commanded the Kohathite clan of the Levites to carry the ark on long poles which should rest on their shoulders: Ex 25:10-16; Num 1:47-54; 3:27-32; 4:1-15; 4:17-20; 7:6-9. Here are the verses which show by example that the leaders of the day knew that the Kohathites were to carry the ark on poles: Josh 3:24:15; 8:30-33; 1 Sam 6:13-7:1; 2 Chron 5:2. So David had finally figured out went wrong! He had forgotten to inquire of the Lord. He forgot to go back and check the bible! After sorting out what the Law of Moses said about the Kohathites, he straightened things out and in 1 Chron 15:15 we read, “And the Levites carried the ark of God with poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.” The insight for us surely has to be: NO MATTER HOW ENTHUSIASTIC, SINCERE, OR PURELY MOTIVATED WE ARE, WHEN WE WANT TO PLEASE GOD, WE HAVE TO DO IT HIS WAY, NOT OURS. Therefore, when we read specific commands in the bible, that’s not the time the time to have our own opinion. As the saying goes, “God said it, and that settles it.”

David, ever the godly leader, acknowledged the mistake publicly and took responsibility for changing the process.

1 Chron 15:16-28, 2 Samuel 6:12-15 Now that they have been obedient and knew that God would bless their efforts, they were free to celebrate and bring the ark back with joy. David had the Levites find out who were the best at singing (amen, to all of our awesome church choirs and music ministries!!), and they sacrificed rams and cattle as they made their way to Jerusalem, with David dancing “with all his might.” God loves this kind of celebration in his name. (Reminds me a little of our 15^th anniversary service five years ago, and the 20^th anniversary service we have planned for today and every Sunday this month!!.)

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ENTRY FIFTY-THREE – APRIL 9, 2008

53 – DAVID’S EARLY YEARS AS KING, PART TWO

II Samuel 6-8; I Chronicles 16-17, Psalm 105, 96

David gave the people gifts as part of the celebration and appointed more musicians and singers to complete the festivities, including Asaph, who would write several Psalms. As we read this chapter, we will read a compilation of three of David’s writings, 1 CHRONICLES 16, PSALMS 105 and 96, which fit in perfectly with what is happening at the time, and which give us a great DESCRIPTION OF WORSHIP. We will also examine what caused one of David’s wives to have a bad attitude and what happened as a result, plus how we can OVERCOME BAD ATTITUDES ourselves if we are tempted to have them. THIS MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL FOR THOSE WHO HAVE STRUGGLED WITH TRUST OR FAITH IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. (two days of reading)

1 CHRONICLES 16:7-36; PSALMS 105 and 96 The chronological bible combines these three prayers into one continuous song of praise. Try reading these three out loud, one after the other, for an awesome time with God.

v8-12 These verses are really like an instruction manual on how to worship God. Look at the verbs – give, call, make known, sing, praise, tell, glory, rejoice, look, seek, remember – twelve different commands which all have their end in worshiping God.

1. Give thanks to Him
2. Call on Him
3. Proclaim His deeds
4. Sing to Him
5. Praise Him
6. Speak about Him
7. Glory in His name
8. Seek Him
9. Rejoice in Him
10. Look to Him
11. Seek His face
12. Remember His wonders

The combination of these three passages is 78 lines worth of remembering God and praising God for what God has done for His chosen ones. We can pray like this, too! If we find that we are having a hard time thinking of awesome things that God has done, perhaps we aren’t fellowshipping enough to know what is going on with everyone, or perhaps we aren’t focusing enough on others, but thinking too much of our selves. Open your ears and eyes, seek out the good news (and the prayer requests of others) and you will soon be aware of victories, (and you’ll probably experience a few yourself)!!

As David remembers and thanks God for what God has done, he also remembers the human leaders that God used along the way – Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Aaron – which is a reminder to us that human leaders are necessary in God’s scheme of things. They will not be perfect, but if they stay in the will of God, they will be vessels that God can use to do great things. It is not wrong to be grateful to and for godly leaders. The trouble comes when we think of them more than God, or when we are worried about making a leader happy instead of pleasing God. Barring extreme cases, God uses men to lead his people. And David was happy to thank God for that.

If we learn anything from this long compilation, it should be that, whatever we do, we should never stop thanking God and being grateful!! It is beautiful to note that David felt so strongly about thanking God that he set up regular worship just for that perhaps, because he wanted everyone to remember that “His love endures forever”!! (verse 41).

The last verse in chapter 16 should have indicated a positive event to come. “Then all the people left, each to their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.” Sadly, because of one of his wives’ attitudes, things didn’t turn out so well. (I will leave the discussion of why David felt the need to have so many wives to another chapter.) At any rate, instead of going home to bless his family, he went home to a disrespectful wife who had an attitude. (Hope this is NOT sounding familiar…….) 1 Chron 15:29 and 2 Samuel 6:16 tell us that Michal (the daughter of Saul who had married David when he was a young man and then divorced him later because of her father) saw David dancing before God in front of the people and was ashamed – she “despised him in her heart”. I assume it was because she thought he was acting below his dignity as a ruler (see her sarcastic comment in 2 Samuel 6:20-23 about the way he “distinguished himself” in front of the servant girls). I believe her reaction probably came from either one of or a combination of the following attitudes:

1. Firstly, David got her back from the man to whom she had been married for several years. Yes, it is true that she was originally in love with David and married him, but after the incident in which Saul tried to kill David and she helped him escape, her father had her marry another man. How sad that she was used as a pawn by her father in his desire to hurt David. At the very least we can assume that she had probably grown used to her new family and had possibly had children by him, in which case she would definitely be bitter towards David for insisting that she go back to him.
2. She may have also resented David for usurping her father’s throne and taking the kingdom away from his line (and her brother, Ish-bosheth).
3. She may have just not been able to relate to his religious fervor, since she had grown up with traditional, duty-bound religion and David had a passionate, true relationship with God. IT IS THIS ATTITUDE THAT I WANT TO ADDRESS HERE. I believe that many Christians who have gone through hard times become cynical and critical, and then when they see other Christians being “fired-up” or enthusiastic about their faith, the church, or, horror of horrors, leaders in a church, they get an attitude much like the kind that Michal had toward David. As long as someone acts “normal”, then they are accepted, but let a person get excited about their bible study or some radical thing they are doing as a Christian, and talk about it with friends, then watch out – some one will surely be making comments about how they look “old school” or how they are acting like they are “back in the old days”. This doesn’t apply if one is a full-time ministry staff, since they are “paid” to be spiritual, nor does it apply if you are a Small Group leader, since it may be assumed that you have resigned yourself to “toeing the party line”, but woe be to the old Christian who starts having awesome Quiet Times and gets excited about his prayer life and brings a few friends to study the bible … before you know it, people will be laughing at him behind his back. Now, if this sounds bizarre to you, GOOD! Praise God that you aren’t experiencing this in your fellowship. But if you are, please know that this is ungodly, worldly, and all part of Satan’s plan to get us to drift away from God. (For example, I know of a teen from one congregation who visited a different congregation and told me she was encouraged because she felt free to be spiritual. When I asked what she meant, she told me that in her home teen ministry, if a teen was “too spiritual”, he/she stood out and was looked down on by the other kids in the teen ministry.) In Michal’s case, David wasn’t swayed by her negativity and sarcasm. He countered her rebuke with confidence. The next verse says that she never had any more children. That may be because God put a barren curse on her, or it may be that David was so put off by her lack of spirituality that he didn’t want to sleep with her, so she wasn’t able to even get pregnant, or it may be that he wanted to “bless” another one of his wives and ignored Michal from then on. The particulars don’t really matter. What does matter is that there is no way that Michal herself could actually be happy. And she didn’t get what she wanted by making that foul comment – in fact, her life became worse. If you know a “Michal” or think that you might be one, please go to God in prayer, get help for your friend or beg for forgiveness for yourself and cry out to him to help you get your heart or your friend’s heart and faith back. And for heaven’s sake, if you are too stubborn to do this (which I doubt since you are taking the time to read quiet times ), then please don’t pull down others who are excited about their faith! (By the way, I have felt weak and spiritually lethargic after a particularly hard situation where I didn’t feel like showing up to church, much less singing out loud. It was back in 1992 during my first pregnancy. I even sneaked out of church a few times when I was really down just to escape everyone else’s happiness. But I kept the words of Asaph in mind, “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children.” from Psalm 73, and made sure I didn’t take my own confusion/sadness/weakness out on others.)

2 Samuel 8 and 1 Chron 18 tell of the advisors that David appointed. What an example of surrounding yourself with good people!!

2 Samuel 9 This chapter reveals a sweet side of David’s character – he pledges to take care of Jonathan’s crippled son, and his servant. David had promised Jonathan that he would always take care of his descendants, but now that Jonathan was dead, there was no way that anyone would have known about it. However, David was so pure-hearted that he kept his promise just for the sake of his love for Jonathan and for his integrity.

2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17 tell of the dream David had to build a temple and how God told him to wait and allow his son to build it. However, God blessed David by telling him that, just as he had brought the Israelites to this point because of His promise to Abraham, he would now bring his people to the time of Jesus because of His promise to David! What a great present for David! God promised him that he would always have someone on the throne – it would be established forever!! And David was so grateful! He prayed a humble and thankful prayer, and he is so boiling over with excitement that you can tell David is just about to burst!! David had a small dream (comparably speaking), which was to build God a temple, and God gave him a huge dream instead. And speaking of temples, when I read this passage about two years ago, right around Easter, a newspaper article about our beautiful church building appeared in the paper that day. It was so cool to read this passage, and then the article which spoke about how the design brings glory to Jesus, the Light of the World. Wow! What an inspiring article and what a great piece of free publicity with all the photos! Amen! Thanks, God, for that Easter present!!

We close with a description of some of the battles in which David and his men were involved and then a Psalm with a victorious ending: 2 Sam 10; 21:15f, 1 Chron 18-19, Psalm 60 David was exhausted in battle and about to be killed by a huge guy, but was saved by one of his main supporters, Abishai, brother of Joab and a cousin of the king. The battle against the Ammonites and Arameans is awesome – I love how Joab and Abishai fought as a team, and relied on God. David probably prayed Psalm 60 about this time – “but for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.” And it ends with the oft quoted, “With God we will gain the victory...”

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ENTRY FIFTY-FOUR – APRIL 11, 2008

54 – DAVID’S BATTLES (WAR AND ADULTERY)

II Samuel 8-12; I Chronicles 3, 11, 18-21, 24; Psalm 51, 60

As seen in the scriptures above, David was forced to battle almost constantly with Israel’s enemies, yet in the midst of defending his kingdom and spreading its borders offensively, David fell victim to his own lust and became both an adulterer and a murderer… THIS IS A LONG AND ACTION-PACKED ENTRY WHICH FOCUSES ON (1) THE PROGRESSION OF SIN WHICH BROUGHT DAVID TO MURDER, (2) THE PEOPLE THAT WE HURT WHEN WE SIN, (3) HOW WE SHOULD TAKE CORRECTION AND (4) THE HEART WE CAN PRAY TO HAVE WHEN WE ARE REPENTING, AND (5) AN IMPORTANT LESSON ABOUT GRACE. It also includes lots of personal sharing about my own sin. (two days of reading)

2 Samuel 11-12:13a

(1) THE PROGRESSION OF SIN

Unfortunately, no sooner had God blessed David on the battlefield than David entered the worst, least spiritual and most sinful period of his life. This is such a sad story. Read the verses mentioned and then think about it. (I couldn’t help but ask out loud, in a Fran Drescher accent, “what, he didn’t have enough wives already?”) Paul teaches us in 1 Cor 10:13 that God will give us a way out, if we will but LOOK for it and TAKE it when it comes. David had SO MANY chances to get out before the next step, but he kept going. For instance, after the guy came back with the report that the beautiful woman about whom David was inquiring was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, all David had to do was say, “Oh, my, she’s already married. Wow- that Uriah sure got himself a looker. Never mind. I’ve got more important things to think about. So, Absalom and Amnon, my sons, let’s finish memorizing Deuteronomy 5 and 6.” BUT NO… he had to go the next step. And the next. The book of James 1:13-15 gives us God’s version of the progression of sin: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’. For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

I have chronicled my version of David’s progression of sin as follows: idleness/opportunity > lust > greed > abuse of power > adultery > deceit > scheming > treachery > murder > unbridled arrogance/hard heartedness.

(2) THE PEOPLE WE HURT WHEN WE SIN

It’s so sad to see him try to coerce Uriah into sleeping with Bathsheba, just because she was pregnant. And Uriah’s adamant refusal brings to mind the purity of heart that David previously possessed. If nothing else, we can see from this passage that sin can make us rationalize the most horrible things. Perhaps the scariest lesson from this is about all the people we hurt or corrupt when we sin. Think of all the people hurt by David:

1. The man who inquired about Bathsheba – perhaps he would be haunted by knowing that he helped to initiate the adultery and he surely would have become a bit disillusioned by his previously righteous and respectable boss.
2. The messengers who brought Bathsheba to the king – they would also sure have become disillusioned.
3. Bathsheba - she was taken from her husband and, for all practical purposes, forced to have sex with another man. (You didn’t say “No” to monarchs in those days!) Now one could ask, why was she bathing on a roof top? Perhaps that was a custom or perhaps her roof was high enough that no one except someone looking from the palace could see? Some people sunbathe in the nude on a hidden balcony, but if a helicopter suddenly flew over, would the sunbather be responsible for the view? As it was evening, perhaps she thought that no one could see her. At any rate, the scriptures never hint of her having been at fault or that she was a less than virtuous woman. Also, after she married David and bore him a son, her son died as a direct result of this episode.
4. Joab - he became part of a murder plot against a loyal friend and a pure-hearted warrior.
5. Uriah – he was definitely hurt the most, since his wife was stolen, albeit without his knowledge, and, more importantly, he was BETRAYED AND MURDERED BY THE VERY PEOPLE HE SERVED AND TRUSTED. Can you imagine – David’s heart was so hard that he made Uriah bring the note to Joab which contained the order to have Uriah killed? This is worse than any treachery ever dreamed up by Shakespeare!!
6. The other men who died needlessly in the battle next to Uriah – Joab sacrificed them in order to make Uriah’s death look like an unavoidable accident due to war.
7. The families of the men above – these wives and children suffered innocently just because of a king’s dalliance.
8. The child born to Bathsheba – he died young, although we don’t know how old he was. I reckon he was not just a newborn, as David had grown quite attached to him.
9. David’s other children – they surely would have suffered from neglect and jealousy, as David took another wife, especially in the sinful way that he did. And the prophet, Nathan, told him that Absalom’s subsequent sin of sleeping with David’s concubines on the rooftop would be retaliation for David’s sins with Bathsheba and Uriah.
10. The people of Israel – they had to endure another civil war (Absalom against his father), the cause of which can be eventually traced back to this abomination.

So, if we think, “My sin doesn’t hurt people…”, we are WRONG!! Imagine if, on the day that David decided not to go out to battle, someone had said, “David, if you don’t want to go out to battle because your men think your life is in danger, please think of an alternate plan for yourself to keep yourself busy with kingly duties. Please don’t look around at night from your roof top at other men’s wives. If you are ‘in the mood for love’, you’ve got plenty of wives – please guard your heart.” David would have possibly taken this as an insult. “How dare you caution me, a man known for compassion, for fairness, for uprightness? Who are you to tell me?” Does this sound familiar? We sometimes have such thoughts when a fellow disciple hints that we (or our children – gasp!!) might be less than perfect!! We’ll never know if history would have been changed had someone had that talk. But alas, no one did. And we are left with the saddest story of David’s lifetime. I have been tempted to think that my sin of overeating doesn’t hurt anyone. (EXCUSE ME FOR DWELLING ON MY SELF AND MY OWN SIN, BUT THIS IS *MY* *QT* Ha Ha!) However, since my overeating has caused me to be obese (I hate that word, but it is technically true) and my obesity has caused me to have various health problems, not to mention has now caused my psoriasis to relapse, I can no longer say that I am not hurting anyone. Of course, it first of all hurts me, by hardening my heart along with my arteries, and causing me heart palpitations, knee pain and severe bouts of indigestion. Worst of all, it has brought my psoriasis back, which causes me a great deal of physical discomfort, not to mention that the treatment for it is time consuming. Therefore I have not always been able to serve people to the extent that I should have, nor have I sometimes been as giving as I should have been to others. My sin has hurt my flock, the untold people that I could have helped if I had not been sick, and certainly those closest to me. My children have to put up with a less-than-attractive mother who isn’t as physically active as she should be and who leaves a trail of dead skin in her wake. My long-suffering husband has to put up with an overweight wife who looks as if she has terminal chicken pox. My parents and my mother-in-law are worried about me. Even my friends suffer, because they feel sorry for me when they see me scratching my neverending itch. I am humbled to see how my so-called “small sin” of having a few too many nibbles here and there, of taking comfort in the momentary pleasure of eating and of eating foods that I love but which I shouldn’t eat because of my skin can have such a significant effect on myself and others, and about how God’s purity and commandments are always important, no matter how “insignificant” we may think they are. Sin always scars, always separates, and always seals our hearts – in other words, makes them hard. Sadly, it sometimes takes a Nathan to wake us up, but thank goodness for the Nathans of this world!

(3) HOW WE SHOULD TAKE CORRECTION

Although David wasn’t exactly in humility mode during the year or so he was in sin (I am assuming it was about a year because it was long enough for him to have an affair and for a baby to be born), he had been very open before that time. People had been accustomed to speaking directly to him in the past, but his friends and advisors were keeping mum during this time. Perhaps they were hoping for a miraculous intervention. I don’t know. But Nathan finally decided that he had seen enough, and he opened his mouth. He surely prayed for wisdom as to how to best bring such a thing up to the king (in those days, the king could cry, “Off with his head” as easily as he could ask for a glass of water, so rebuking a king wasn’t anyone’s favourite task!) and God helped him to think of a clever and diplomatic way of bringing up the sin – the sheep analogy! (For parents, perhaps we have taught our children the G-rated version of this story in the Veggietales “King George and the Ducky”.) However he packaged it, the rebuke was stiff – after all, David had broken four of the ten commandments! Nathan even had to give David the bad news of what would happen to him and his family in the future! Nowadays, we don’t get rebuked by prophets, so no one could say quite what Nathan said, but they could tell us what might happen, given that there are many verses in the bible which state, either explicitly or implicitly, the Laws of Sowing and Reaping! Perhaps if Nathan would have come to me a few years ago, he would have said, “Hello, you’ve just turned 44 and will be 45 on your next birthday; would you PLEASE get some self-control in this area over the long haul, not just six months here, six months there, and crucify your love for pleasure eating once and for all? You have taken so long to repent that your psoriasis will come back this year and if you don’t change soon, you’ll die of heart failure!” The important thing for David was that he took the challenge well. How do we take correction? Are we open to it in the first place? I don’t know any normal person who likes to correct people. When someone does it, it is USUALLY because they love you and want to help you. (It could also be because they are a self-righteous jerk, but God knows that and will deal with them later!) David’s response was immediate and humble. What a great example! Here are two observations I made while reading a book called, Emotional Blackmail by Susan Forward PhD.

OBSERVATION #1 - As people have examined mistakes from the old days of the ICOC, I feel that the "aware" leaders see that they sometimes relied on emotional blackmail (some more than others), and have (hopefully) left this behind because they know it's wrong, not just because people won’t put up with it any more.

OBSERVATION #2 In some congregations, it seems like people are so afraid that someone may try to put "emotional pressure" on them that they're unwilling to trust or be vulnerable at all. Unfortunately this stunts growth, prohibits healing, and is unbiblical. As for myself, I'm fortunate that I personally didn't OFTEN feel blackmailed emotionally. However, as to how often I made others feel this way, I don't know. I have had three people share with me about things I said or did in the ‘90s that made them feel bad about themselves or that showed I wasn’t considering their needs enough when I asked them to do things as leaders. I am sure there are many more examples but people have been forgiving or had a short memory or have decided not to mention it. However, I pray that we will all give each other grace and unconditional love (while still holding each other to a Christ-like standard) and hold to the principles in which we believed when we were baptized! And let us thank God for the Nathans we have in our lives. Nathan’s life-giving rebuke (Prov 15:31 “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.”) led David to pray one of the most beautiful prayers of repentance ever recorded.

(4) THE HEART WE CAN PRAY TO HAVE WHEN WE ARE REPENTING

Psalm 51 On that note, let’s examine PSALM 51 and David’s famous prayer of repentance:

v1 God has mercy on us when we ask, and it is according to HIS LOVE and compassion, not because of anything we deserve or have done. v2 Sin makes us feel dirty. v3 If we are self-aware and spiritually in-tune, we will know our sins. When we are in sin, these sins will haunt us and will always be in front of us. v4 REAL REPENTANCE COMES WHEN WE ARE BROKEN ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST GOD! And our sin, though it breaks God’s heart, proves his words to be true. v5 David is so aware of his sin that he feels as though he has been a sinner since conception!! v6 David is also aware, as his prayer life richly reflects, that God is interested in the heart, and he states explicitly here that he knows God desires honesty and truth. David’s life hadn’t reflected this recently; his life had been lived in dishonesty and he had been spreading lies. Now he sees himself the way God sees him. v7 The king knows that only God can cleanse him. v8 When we are living in sin (if we already are Christians who have repented and have the awareness of sin) our bones do feel crushed, because God loves us so much that he won’t let us off easily – he wants us to be miserable and for that misery to drive us to repentance. I have said that before about my psoriasis – God loves me so much he has allowed me to have this so that I won’t eat myself into an early grave. David also understood that he couldn’t experience true joy and gladness when living in sin. v9 When we see our sin, we feel true shame and are ashamed that God sees it. v10 This verse has been sung along to many different tunes. We all have felt at times the yearning for a clean and new heart. David had always been known for his heart but now he needed for his heart to be purified because he had let his “old heart” become “hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13). As the passage in Hebrews says, we need daily encouragement from our brothers and sisters to prevent our hearts from getting hardened. Unfortunately for David, he wasn’t receiving this kind of daily encouragement. NOTE TO LEADERS: if you want this kind of input, you will have to seek it out, because it is the nature of leadership that people will either be too shy to bring things up or they will assume that you are fine. It is our responsibility to seek it out. When we don’t do that, we will die spiritually, and our flock will suffer. As many of you know, I not only am a part of an awesome small group in S’pore but also the SeaRegion core group, and I also attend weekly meetings of Overeaters Anonymous plus talk to the members of that group during the week. I need all of these people in my life to help me be on the narrow path. In David’s life, he had surrounded himself with good men, and he did it again after this incident. If we as leaders are to survive spiritually, we must do the same, and have a pull-no-punches kind of relationship to ensure that none of us develop sinful, unbelieving hearts that fall prey to the deceitfulness of sin. No one is immune!! v11 David understood that his soul was in danger. v12 We only feel the joy of salvation when we are living honest and righteous lives. (See Psalm 32:2 in the NLT, “Oh, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” I call this The Twelve Step Psalm!) Also, we sometimes KNOW the right thing to do but we are not WILLING to do it, so David humbly prays, “grant me a willing spirit”. If we don’t feel like doing something, (especially if we don’t feel like repenting of a sin), we shouldn’t be content and say, “oh well, since I don’t feel like repenting yet, it wouldn’t be sincere if I repented”. (That’s like Paul’s question in Romans 6:1, -should we go on sinning so that grace can abound? By no means!!!!!!!!!). It is time for us to pray to God to give us a willing spirit! “God, I don’t FEEL like doing what I am supposed to do right now, but I beg you to give me the “WANT-TOs”. This can save your life!! v13 Interestingly, when we ourselves are excited about our own repentance and God’s grace & mercy, sharing it with others is second nature! v14-15 We feel like praising God as well! v16-17 David knew that, deep down, the sacrifices on their own didn’t really make God happy – what God longed for was for David’s heart to be pure, obedient, broken and humble. v18-19 When the heart is right, then the outward, corporate worship is acceptable and pleasing to God.

(5) AN IMPORTANT LESSON ON GRACE

After praying this prayer, David had a different heart. Unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that David’s child would still have to die, so the child became ill. I don’t believe that God is in the habit of inflicting such punishment on people in normal situations. Please don’t think that your child is ill because of your sin. This is an unusual situation – the king, the one who should be the example of righteousness in front of the nation, has sinned in a very public way, and his punishment would have to be very public as well. I believe that is why James says that teachers will be judged more strictly! (James 3:1). Therefore, in this case, God told David through Nathan that his child would have to die. David pleaded with God and fasted. He wept and spent nights lying on the ground beside the child, but the child died on the seventh day. David arose, bathed, and worshiped God with a surrendered heart. Now why do I think that this is such a wonderful lesson about grace? Just think – when we read Psalm 51, David was pleading for forgiveness, yearning for a new heart, admitting that he had been terribly sinful and begging God for salvation. Yet here we see David praying for his “love child” to live, even though God already told him that the child must die on account of the terrible sin. My point is – David understood the grace of God!! Most of us would feel so ashamed and unworthy and sinful and dirty that we wouldn’t dare ask God to spare the child’s life. We would think that the child’s death was our fault, feel guilty about it and be in despair, and we wouldn’t dare ask God for anything until we had gone through a period of beating ourselves that we thought was adequate. However, God doesn’t teach us this. We invent it. God tells us that “if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” And that we can have confidence in approaching God – “that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 1:9; 5:14). So David, who had a relationship with God under the old covenant, understood grace better than many of us under the new covenant. Now that is a lesson worth learning. May we learn this in our lifetime. (For a beautiful book that explains grace in an unusual way, try reading Viktor Frankl’s classic, Man’s Search for Meaning, about his years in a Nazi concentration camp. It isn’t written from a Christian perspective, but it is very illuminative and shows us how gratitude and perspective have as much to do with understanding grace as anything else. For those of you with access to DPI books, Sam Laing has written a book on grace that is supposed to be wonderful, but I haven’t read it yet.) next entry in two days.

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ENTRY FIFTY-FIVE – APRIL 13, 2008

55 – DAVID and ABSALOM

2 Samuel 8-24; 1 Chronicles 3; 11; 18-21; 24; Psalms 3

This entry begins with lots of battles and David’s men defeating the enemy. However, even when there are so many victories occurring on the battle field, there is nothing sadder for a God-fearing father than to see his children go off the rails spiritually, or, even worse, to have a totally rebellious son. The tale of Absalom’s rebellion provides an insight into the political intrigue of David’s time and a further insight into the humble heart of an extraordinary king, not to mention a Parenting Lesson for us all – you will reap what you sow! David’s sons sinned as a result of his own transgression. (Remember the prophecy from Nathan?) As mentioned before, Gene Edwards’ Christian classic, A Tale of Three Kings, is a riveting account of how we should behave when we are under an unrighteous leader, like a Saul, or when we are a leader threatened by an Absalom – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING! This book has kept me from sinning more than once!! LOOK OUT FOR lots of PARENTING INSIGHTS and LEADERSHIP LESSONS as you read this entry! (four days of reading)

These are great examples of bravery and honour, courage and sacrifice. The Thirty Mighty Men and their exploits are told in this section of scripture, and these stories are very inspiring. The chronological bible jumps all over the place here (if you have a question about how this works, write Mr. F. La Gard Smith himself – don’t ask me!!), going from 2 Sam 12/1 Chron 20 to 2 Sam 8/1 Chron 18 to 2 Sam 23/1 Chron 11 to describe this period of wars. I won’t comment on much here because just reading the history itself is exciting. One sad but noteworthy comment – Uriah the Hittite, the man who was betrayed and murdered by David, was actually one of the 30 mighty men, which makes the whole episode even uglier. Yuk!

Jump back to the end of 2 Samuel 12 for the birth of Solomon, who was born to Bathsheba to comfort her after the death of her other son. What an example of grace! Nathan the prophet delivered good news this time – he told the royal couple that the Lord loved this boy and asked that they give him the nick-name, “Jedidiah”, meaning “loved by the Lord”. Wow! What an incredible God we serve!! Talk about not holding grudges! No wonder God expects us to forgive.

On to the sad bit…go to 2 Samuel 13-20 for the story of Absalom.

2 SAMUEL 13-16:14 It all started when one of David’s sons, Amnon, FELL IN LUST with his half-sister, Tamar, and devised a plot to have sex with her. She was David’s child, just like Amnon, but from a different mother, and was the full sister of Absalom. (It is thought that Absalom and Tamar were the most handsome/beautiful children of King David.) Now here is a prince, who can have anyone he wants, lusting after his own sister! The Law of Moses had already outlawed incest and the penalty for sexual relations between siblings was being totally cut off from Israel. Leviticus makes it clear that no one should have sexual relations with a close relative, and specifically mentions with a sister, “either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.” (Leviticus 18:6, 9; 20:17) Perhaps the catalyst for Amnon’s abomination was the combination of David having multiple wives, which would surely have caused rivalry and jealousy as it often does in today’s blended families, plus the fact that David hadn’t kept a lid on his own lust, combined with the fact that he probably hadn’t spent much time teaching his children the Law, even though he loved it himself, nor had he helped them to chose wise friends, since Amnon’s no-good cousin, Jonadab, helped to spur him on to his sin in the first place. At any rate, Amnon followed his wicked advisor’s counsel and tricked his sister into being with him alone, where he overpowered her and raped her. Once the deed was done, Amnon felt repulsed by Tamar and had his servants throw her out of the house! This is not unusual in such cases, one of the reasons being that when we finally get the unlawful thing that we have lusted and pined over, it is usually not half as “wonderful” as we thought it would be, and then we hate the object of our desire, and/or ourselves!

Now, look at David’s ineptitude at parenting: 2 Samuel 13:21 says, “When King David heard all this, he was furious.” What comes next? “So he disciplined him in front of all Israel.” Or “So he banished him from the kingdom.” Or even, “So he made Amnon marry his half-sister.” NO, the bible doesn’t say any of those things. It just says that David was furious, and THAT IS ALL THAT IT SAYS!!! Great – he was furious – and he should have been – but what did he DO about it??!! NOTHING!! This is one of the frustrations of being a parent – if we over-react, we risk alienating our children, even when they are in the wrong. However, if we under-react, we are not training them in the way they should go. That is why the way of love is the best way- we speak the truth in love, amen!!!!!!!! And when we make a mistake, we acknowledge it and move on. But we don’t do “NOTHING”!! (Sorry about the double negative.) How do we know that David did “nothing”? Because two years later, Amnon was still living as if “nothing” had happened, and Absalom still felt hungry for justice and revenge. If David had dealt with Amnon after the event, Absalom wouldn’t have needed to get justice himself! However, because it had never been dealt with, killing Amnon had been Absalom’s goal since his sister was raped (v 32). Then David goofed up again after Absalom murdered his brother. David had a forgiving heart, and perhaps he didn’t feel so angry toward Absalom because he knew it was his fault. However, instead of letting Absalom know that all was forgiven, he banished him. The bible doesn’t reveal David’s motive, but I can’t help thinking it was because the king was trying to “look strong”, and avoid “appearing weak”. This is another trap we can fall into as parents: TRYING TO LOOK GOOD AS PARENTS instead of thinking about what is the godly thing to do or what is best for our children spiritually in a certain situation. I have fallen into this myself, and shouted at my kids in front of others, which only humiliated them and didn’t help their repentance at all. Rebuking and correction are part of parenting, but they are best done in private. When we do it David’s way, we risk alienating the child, and this, of course, is counter productive. In David’s case, it was even worse, because his son then attempted a coup. That may not happen in our family but it might – the son might make the mother to feel that the father is “so unfair” and gang up with the mother against the father, causing the father to feel that he is no longer “king” of his own castle… Read Teenproofing by John Rosemond for a fantastic book on dealing with teenagers in a way that prevents fights, and teaches responsibility and mutual respect.

Now Absalom may not have been such a bad guy in the beginning - it is impossible to know – he at least cared for his sister. However, after he had nursed a grudge for two years, which developed into hatred, malice, murderous plotting and then actual first-degree murder and add to that that he then felt that he was treated unjustly by his father (since he probably viewed his sin as justifiable whereas Amnon’s was certainly not), he became a full-blown hard-hearted mass of justified bitterness and overweening arrogance! This is a dangerous place for any of us to get spiritually, and it usually happens when we feel we have been slighted, overlooked, or the victim in a case of injustice, where the perpetrator is “getting away with it”. The “bad guy” is usually a person or institution we have trusted, such as a boss, a close friend, a parent, a church leader, a whole church, the government. In Absalom’s case, he was bitter toward his father, and his father also happened to be the king, so he decided to usurp his father’s throne. By this time, he had probably justified himself by thinking that he was the smartest, most handsome and most popular of all the princes, so why shouldn’t he be the next king, and, after all, it was clear that his dad was getting too old to care about things, since he had let Amnon off so easily. Yes, it was time for Israel to have a truly wise and good king who would act for the people’s benefit, and he was just the man to do it. How true it is that there is nothing new under the sun…how often this has happened over and over on the planet…A son rebels against his father. An embittered employee rebels against his boss. A citizen rebels against the government. A Christian rebels against a church leader. And it may be a quiet rebellion. “I’ll never trust another leader again,” along with negative thoughts, cynicism, and snide remarks which occasionally come out in the form of gossip. Yes, it is easy to justify such actions, since the slight has been real enough, but the reaction is unspiritual, of the devil and very expensive, because it will cost the person his soul. Fortunately, some people have Nathan-type friends or a patient and spiritual spouse helping them to get their David-heart back. In Absalom’s case, his friends egged him onto rebellion, and they all went down with the ship. How tragic. The bible says in more than one place that pride comes before a fall, and it’s hard to not think of this when we picture Absalom getting caught in the tree because of his long thick hair. Such a senseless and tragic waste of life. PARENTS – bring your children up to fear the Lord, and let them know that you are not perfect and you will make mistakes, but God never does, and they must not take revenge into their own hands. Teach them with your words, with the bible, and with your life that they must resolve relationships and not allow their hearts to become bitter. Look now at Hebrews 12:15 “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” If Absalom would have talked to someone spiritual to deal with his hatred before he even murdered his brother, or if he had talked to his father after the incident, the eventual civil war would have possibly been prevented.

If you are young and following a leader who is “on the rise”, make sure that he is not an Absalom. The Gene Edwards’ book mentioned earlier, A Tale of Three Kings, is the best discussion of the three different kings and their hearts that I have ever seen. If you are ever tempted to think that you have been “hard done by” in terms of how a leader has treated you, or if you think that you always get the short end of the stick compared to others, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!! It describes Saul as the first “bad guy”, and he is obviously so, seeing as how he throws spears at his servants. But David doesn’t take it upon himself to bring down the “evil leader”; instead he waits upon the Lord in humility, knowing that God’s true desire will be done. Absalom THINKS that his dad is an “evil leader” but takes matters into his own hands and tries to get him removed, which, of course, was NOT God’s will, and Absalom ends up getting himself removed, permanently. Absalom became the opposite of his father, so much so that if you refer to someone as being an “Absalom”, you are implying a younger guy who betrays his mentor with treachery, hides his true self with smooth speech, and stops at nothing to gain power. Not a very nice description. No wonder that millions of people have named their sons David, but I’ve never heard of anyone naming their son Absalom. ANYWAY, READ THE BOOK!!

In 2 Sam 15:14, we see David telling his officials to flee right away after hearing the first news of Absalom’s rebellion. This tells me that David had known that something was brewing – he had a hunch, but again, he didn’t act on it. Ineffectual parenting! And now it was too late!!

Later in 15:25-29, David is so sweet and humble – when the priests want to bring the ark along with him into exile, David says, “Take the ark back into the city. If I find favour in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.” WOW! What a heart! Later in chapter 16, when he is cursed by Shimei (one of Saul’s remaining relatives), who also pelts him with stones, David refuses to let his men kill him. Instead, he again replies in humility, “If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’ My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! 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.”

WHAT HUMILITY AND SURRENDER!!!!!

In 16:14, we see that David and his men arrived at their destination exhausted, not just from fleeing into exile to escape Absalom, but also because of Shimei’s constant shouts and the dirt and rocks he was throwing at them along the way. Persecution is exhausting! But David had the right attitude and God protected and refreshed him.

About this time, he probably wrote the third Psalm.

PSALM 3 This must have been a painful prayer for David – he was praying against his enemies but his enemy in this case was his son. Maybe he was hoping that his son had been led astray by bad advisors and would repent. At any rate, David was surely heavy-hearted at this point. In my own quiet time, I sometimes sing a song from this psalm: “I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me; Arise, arise, deliver me, O my God”. I don’t usually feel that there are tens of thousands of people against me (praise God) but I do know that there are spiritual forces at work and there are certainly that many demonic servants of Satan against all Christians.

2 SAMUEL 16:15 - 2 SAMUEL 20 This section starts off with Absalom following the advice of his father’s once trusted advisor, Ahithophel, who told Absalom that one of the best ways he could lay claim to the throne would be to take David’s ten concubines (kind of like servant-wives) and literally have sex with them on the roof of the palace in front of all Israel. Now as bizarre as that sounds to you and me (GROSS!!), it was basically a political move - a kind of statement of rebellion – “I am now the king and you are not. In fact, you are so far gone that I have slept with your wives in front of the whole country! IN YOUR FACE!!” This was a horrible thing, but the whole Absalom saga was a kind of “you reap what you sow”-consequence for David after the Bathsheba incident and this part of it is a definite fulfilled prophecy. Remember what Nathan told David in 2 Sam 12:11-12? “Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.”

Once more we see the impact that sin has on our lives. We can be forgiven of sin, but the SCARS of sin remain, and the unforeseen consequences can be devastating. How many women are surprised when they discover that their husband is having an affair, but the husband had been feeling neglected and in second place to the children for years? How many men are shocked when their wives demand a divorce because they have felt abandoned and lonely as their husbands put their jobs first? Please don’t get me wrong – I am not saying that we should blame wives for their husbands’ adultery or blame husbands every time their wives leave. However, there is something to be said for the principal of Reaping What You Sow, or, as the Boundaries books authors would state it, “The Law of Sowing and Reaping”.

Look at the cost of disunity and arrogance – 20,000 men died in a senseless battle and Absalom himself was killed. Why why why don’t we see the danger of pride before it is too late? Why is it so hard for us to humble ourselves? Why does it bother us so much when we think that we have been slighted or overlooked? Why do we want to advance ourselves at such a cost? There is a reason that Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Take some time now to read these verses: 2 Chronicles 26:16-21; Psalm 36:1-2; Prov 3:34; Prov 11:2; Prov 18:12; Isa 2:17; Isa 66:2; Dan 4:37; Zeph 2:3; Luke 1:52; 2 Cor 12:19-20; Ephesians 4:1-3; Philippians 2:1-11; Colossians 3:12-15; Titus 3:1-2; Jas 3:13; Jas 4:10; 1 Pet 3:8; 1 Pet 5:5-6. These verses are several days worth of quiet times on humility, and well worth the time spent looking them up and meditating on them! (By the grace of God, I was moved to study “humility” off and on for a whole year in my early years as a Christian – and that was BEFORE I received any challenges on pride – those came later. Thank goodness I had already started! Otherwise I would have been even more scary!)

(Speaking of arrogance, note that in 2 Samuel 18:17-18 we are told that Absalom had erected a monument to himself!)

David’s mourning for his son is really too little, too late (2 Samuel 19) because he should have helped his son spiritually before he got into sin rather than sit back and watch it happen. PARENTS – take note!! This hurt his leadership, as well, because he then discouraged his men with his long face instead of encouraging them for their hard work and victory in battle. Joab, who wasn’t always known for his good advice, gave very good counsel at this point, and he persuaded David to give honour to the men. 2 Samuel 19:14 says, “He won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man.”

In terms of LEADERSHIP LESSONS, there are several here. FIRSTLY, don’t withhold encouragement from the people you are leading. Everyone appreciates appreciation!! When we don’t feel appreciated, we lose steam. Truthfully, we are supposed to be unworthy servants doing our duty (Luke 17:7-10), but it sure never hurts to get a pat on the back!! SECONDLY, take advice from the people you are leading. Not all of the time, because you can’t please all of the people all of the time and you will get torn apart and be rendered ineffective trying to please everyone. However, if you are not in the habit of asking folks for their feedback and opinion, change this now and do it. In David’s situation, it saved his crown! By the way, this is especially important if you are leading people who are older Christians. If you are leading a mission team or leading a group of young Christians or even young people, it is still respectful to ask their opinion occasionally, but you can be more authoritative because they have generally signed up to be led. However, once you are dealing with a “more mature audience”, you will lose points for not seeking out others’ thoughts. This does not mean we should lead our churches by democracy or a vote system – that is unbiblical and worldly wisdom. Respect and appreciation for one another combined with devotion to the word of God and being strong and courageous are our guidelines. THIRDLY, be approachable. If Joab hadn’t felt comfortable bringing this up to David, the king would have been in big trouble because his army would have staged a coup. How many leaders have gotten themselves in big trouble because they gave off the kind of vibes that said, “Think long and hard before you bring anything up to me.” David didn’t give off such vibes, but rather encouraged input, as seen above. FOURTHLY, show mercy. We all need forgiveness. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” says Jesus in Luke 6:36. David was so merciful to Shimei, the guy who had been cursing him on his way out of town. Shimei met David on his way back into Jerusalem and begged for forgiveness. Some of David’s men wanted to cut off his head, but David’s grace prevailed. (2 Samuel 19:15-23) How do we feel when someone who has been mean to us gets their comeuppance? Do we revel in it and feel justified? Do we sometimes wish for more to happen to them? Do we humiliate others in order to teach them a lesson? David had such a godly heart in the matter. David similarly extended mercy to Mephibosheth and to Ziba. No wonder the people loved him. When you as a leader are godly and righteous, known for loving the word of God and displaying this kind of treatment to your people (appreciative, respectful, approachable and merciful), you, like David, will be an effective leader and you will win the hearts of your people. It is said that people may not remember what their leader has said, but they will remember how their leader made them feel. David lifted people’s spirits and brought them closer to God. We would do well to do the same.

Of course, not all of the people under David are as merciful or humble as he, so we see the Absalom sage ending with Joab murdering Amasa and Sheba declaring war on David, only to be defeated and killed. Such bloodshed all because of arrogance, unforgiveness, jealousy and revenge. If you think I keep harping on sin, you are right! This is so crucial for us to all grasp so that we are motivated to lead righteous lives for God! Eph 4:22-24 says that we were taught to put off our old corrupted selves and to put on our new selves, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” As we rebuild and refashion our fellowship of churches, let us keep this at the forefront of our hearts and motives.

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ENTRY FIFTY-SIX – APRIL 17, 2008

56 – Two Major Calamities plus Preparations for the Temple and Succession

2 Samuel 21; 24; 1 Chronicles 21-29; Psalm 30

The beginning of this entry, which covers three days of reading, deals with the two major calamities which struck Israel during David’s reign - the first was a famine and the second was the death causing pestilence brought on by David’s decision, which was somehow incited by Satan, to number his army. The rest of the entry focuses on David’s last public acts and words as king, and is especially filled with insights about THE HEART OF A LEADER, PRAYER, and GENEROSITY.

2 SAMUEL 21 – The Famine God told David that the famine struck on account of “outstanding debts”, so to speak, owed to the Gibeonites. Back in Joshua 9, Joshua had forgotten to consult the Lord and had inadvertently offered peace to a nearby nation which he was actually meant to annihilate. Once Joshua swore peace to them, however, God took it seriously and expected all future leaders to abide by the same rule. Saul had apparently NOT kept Joshua’s vow of peace and had mistreated and killed some of the Gibeonites, who had served the Israelites faithfully as manual laborers. Therefore, God, who expects us to keep our oaths even when it hurts (see Psalm 15:4), sent a famine to alert David to the necessity of making good Joshua’s promise. David rectified things in a way that fit in with the culture of the day (even though it sounds barbaric to us). In addition, he used the situation as an opportunity to further show honour to Saul, even though Saul was the one who had brought trouble on the nation in the first place, once again exhibiting his merciful nature.

2 SAMUEL 24, 1 CHRON 21 – The Pestilence of Death This is a fascinating account of another of David’s blunders. (Don’t you just love the bible? It shows us the heroes weaknesses and doesn’t try to whitewash anything!!) Apparently, the heady wine of power had finally gotten to David and he wanted to number his troops, which even Joab knew was an affront to God. The 2 Sam text says that God’s anger burned against Israel and he incited David to take the census. The 1 Chron text says that Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take the census. One religion that frequently strives to disprove Christianity claims that this is a contradiction in the bible and that it is proof that the bible has been tampered with by men and isn’t infallible. Christian apologists take it as saying that since David was about to listen to Satan’s temptations, God was angry with him and allowed Satan to tempt David, since God himself doesn’t tempt anyone. Amidst all this, I decided to read the chapter dealing with 1 Chronicles from the book, Hard Sayings of the Bible by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce and Manfred T. Brauch (Intervarsity Press, 1996). Below is an excerpt of what they had to say on the matter:

“Let us first establish why census-taking could be sinful (since we know that God had directed Moses to conduct two). The census acted as a draft notice or a mustering of the troops. Some conclude that David sinned by numbering those under the age of twenty, which was illegal. Others see that numbering as doubting God’s promise that David’s descendants would be as measureless as the sand and stars. The best solution is that it was motivated by presumption. God had given David no objective or reason to go out to battle. Only David’s pride and ambition could have brought on such an act.

This brings us to the second difficulty here – was it God or Satan who tempted David to sin? The thought that God instigates sinners to evil is incorrect. In no sense could God author what he disapproves of and makes his whole kingdom stand against. However, he may impel sinners to reveal the wickedness of their hearts in their deeds. And, according to Hebrew tradition, whatever God permits, he commits, so if God permits Satan to tempt someone, he is ‘committing’ it, after a fashion.”

At any rate, we’ve definitely got David doing something wrong. He apologizes for it after the fact (see v 10), and God demands that there be retribution. God graciously gives David a choice as to what kind of punishment he wants and David answers wisely. However, when the full brunt of what has happened hits the king, and when he realizes that 70,000 men will die because of his hubris, he falls on his knees in despair and cries out to God, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.” This kind of heart is surely what endeared the king to God and to his people.

The vision of the destroying angel drawing his sword against Jerusalem is an amazing picture! How frightened everyone must have been, and how this should put “the fear of God” into us modern-day types who so often err on the side of “cheap grace” and quickly dismiss our sins as “weaknesses” or “pooh pooh” the idea that God holds his people guilty of corporate sin. WE MUST ALL PAY ATTENTION! The next section is a poignant statement about sacrifice as well – David isn’t willing to give something as a sacrifice that costs him nothing. I am convicted by his attitude and hope that this will make me think twice each time I am feeling like I am sacrificing - is it REALLY a sacrifice? Again, David’s heart here is so inspiring.

Lastly, 1 Chron 21:30 is the first time I have noticed David being afraid to pray!

The next section of scripture is about David making preparations for the building of the temple, a task which God has decided that David’s heir will do, not David himself. The site he chooses, THE simple threshing floor mentioned in the previous chapter (1 Chron 22:1), is not a surprising one considering in view of his recent experience – what an awe-inspiring site to have seen the angel of God at any location – no wonder he wanted to build the temple there!

1 CHRONICLES 22 God had already told David that He wouldn’t allow him to build the temple (see 2 Sam 7/1 Chron 17) – but He never said that David couldn’t PLAN for it! He was too old for battles, and he loved his God so much, he just couldn’t contain himself!! He charged Solomon and the leaders with the task of actually constructing the building, and as he handed over the sacred duty, David issued the same plea that God issued to Moses, Moses issued to Joshua, Joshua issued to those entering the land of Canaan, Samuel issued to the people – follow the word of God, be strong and courageous, and follow God with all your heart and soul. In keeping with David’s sacrificial nature, he was the first to donate to the effort, and he called upon Solomon to do the same. As leaders, we should be models of generosity and sacrifice. At this point, perhaps he sang Psalm 30.

PSALM 30 David knew that as sinful as he had been at different times, God had not allowed his enemies to gloat over him, and he was sure grateful for that, as well as for the forgiveness he had received. This gratitude welled up in an overflowing of thanks and praise. When we count our blessings, we will always be grateful! David also truthfully acknowledges that when things were going well in his life, he felt great, but that when life became hard, he felt that God wasn’t there. When things start going differently than we planned, we get worried, but sometimes God has a better plan, or he is humbling us so that we feel our need for him and don’t get too far from him. Then, when we do cry out to him, he answers our prayers! This psalm fit David’s life so well. I can’t help but think of the Ron Kenoly worship song taken from this passage: “You turned my mourning into dancing again; you lifted my sorrow. I can’t stay silent; I will sing for your joy has come. Your anger lasts just a moment in time, but your favour is here and will be with me for all my lifetime. You turned my mourning into dancing again; you lifted my sorrow. I can’t stay silent; I will sing for your joy has come.” I love to sing this in my prayer time!

1 CHRONICLES 23-29 In his last years as king, David wanted to provide a smooth transition for Solomon. Realizing Solomon’s youth and experience, he took great pains to appointment of government officials and religious leaders. He then called for a National Convention and addressed their need for unity, mutual support and more instructions re the building of the temple, as well as publicly presenting Solomon as the king-designate.

1 Chonicles 23-27 David changed the Levites’ duties, now that they would no longer be needed to move the Tabernacle or the ark. He divided the priests by lot, appointed singers, gate keepers and treasurers. (See 26:14 – one of the gatekeepers was known to be a wise counsellor!) He also appointed military commanders and tribal leaders. 1 Chron 27:23-24 tells us that he didn’t make the same mistake twice – he didn’t number the fighting men this time!! David then saw to it that there would be trustworthy overseers of the possessions of the kingdom, and made sure that there were trusted advisors in place.

1 Chron 28 – Chapter 28 and 29 is one of my favourite passages of scripture! When David gave his closing address to Israel as their king, he naturally shared the most important things in his heart. He put the burden on Solomon to be a righteous king as he told him in front of all Israel: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with WHOLEHEARTED DEVOTION and with a WILLING MIND, for the Lord your God searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” (28:9-10). Wow! Someday when both of my children are baptized, I would like to read this passage to them, the first part anyway. Such inspiring words! As usual, David was concerned with the heart. I must ask myself, when I am doing things for the Lord, is it with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind? What a great reminder. And David’s motivation for living this way? He knew and feared and loved God, and he knew that God examines every thought and motive! At least Solomon got this point long enough to write Prov 4:23, even though he blew it later on. David ended his charge with the plea once again to be strong and courageous. Now this is interesting for today’s leaders – how often do we tell our leaders to be strong and courageous? We want them to be pure hearted, righteous, serving, honest, compassionate, but we are missing out if we don’t encourage them to be strong and courageous – every leader we’ve seen in the Old Testament so far as received these words of encouragement, and we shouldn’t stop doing it today, even when we have seen leaders who were “too strong”. (As my mother used to say, “Two wrongs don’t make a right!” i.e., Don’t ask your leaders now to not be strong just because you saw some leaders be too strong!)

1 Chron 29 is a great chapter on having a godly heart when giving financially, or giving to God in any way (time, talents, etc). Look at how David first set the pace, and he did it with such a wonderful attitude – he saw his sacrifice as giving to “My God”. When we see our giving as giving to “My God”, then we can be cheerful givers (2 Cor 9:7)!! David ends his public giving, which was very inspiring, by calling on all others who were willing to consecrate themselves to God by giving to him as well. Again, what a great attitude! Giving is an act of consecration, of making yourself holy, of worship. The willingness is important, because it reflects the motives that God sees anyway. If your motives aren’t right, don’t rejoice so that you don’t have to give but rather pray and fast and study the word until you have the right heart! Because of David and the other leaders giving with such willing and joyful hearts, we told in verse nine that the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders when they saw them giving freely and wholeheartedly. You get the feeling that this was a wonderful time to be in God’s kingdom!! Giving isn’t supposed to make you sad; it is supposed to make you happy!!

I can honestly say that in 27 years of being a Christian, I have never been able to out give God!! There is no telling how much money I have given, and I don’t say that in a boastful way, but in a factual acknowledgement that is the same for most disciples. I am so grateful for all that I have given, for all that has been accomplished in the kingdom, and for the legacy of generosity and worship that has been passed down to me from my ancestors (my great-grandfather sold his farm to keep a Church of Christ university in the USA from going bankrupt back in 1912, my grandparents were known for their generosity to the church and to charities as well as for being absolutely not materialistic, and my parents are EXTREMELY generous.) I don’t believe in the “prosperity gospel” that teaches people to give lots of money to church so that God will make you rich. Sometime what comes back is not material gain. However, when you sow generously, you will absolutely reap generously (2 Cor 9:6) in some way or another. And I can’t imagine a better life than I have right now. (Someone recently asked me what I would buy if I wanted to spend lots of money and I wasn’t worried about giving sacrificially. I laughingly shocked them with the news that I would buy a farmhouse with a huge backyard - which is unthinkably expensive in tiny land-scarce Singapore - so that I could grow my own organic veggies and raise goats for their milk! My, how our priorities change when we get older!)

1 Chron 29:10-20 is one of the most beautiful and moving prayers in the bible. If you don’t know what to pray, pray v10-13!! This will get you going. In my prayer time, I often follow the pattern of P.A.R.T. which stands for:

P = Praise A = Admit R = Request T = Thanks

I find that praising God is the hardest to do – the one that comes the least naturally. Therefore, I had to use the scriptures (and still do sometimes) to teach me to praise God. 1 Chron 29:10-13 is one of the best passages to use to learn to praise God!

v14-19 are great verses for the Request part – David knew that everything he had, as well as what all his people had, was from God, and he knew that without God our lives are without hope, and that we cannot boast about anything we do for God, since he is the one who enabled it in the first place! He also prayed, as usual, about the heart, about integrity, about willingness, and wholehearted devotion. These themes come up all over the Old Testament, but it is especially moving to see it in the prayer of a king, whose life backed it up. Oh that we will all have hearts that are loyal to God and that desire to follow him every day in every situation!!

David overflowed with praise and thanksgiving – this, combined with the atmosphere of sacrifice, made for a pretty joyful assembly (v21-22)! Let’s pray to be this kind of people led by David-type leaders who inspire the people to be willing and joyful servants of the true king, Jesus! Next up, we begin a study of the Psalms. See ya then!

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For the introduction and index to all the chronological studies, see http://www.dtodayarchive.org/content/view/1224/240/.