Today's reading is 2 Samuel  12:1-15; Psalm 51: 2 Samuel 12:16-31

2 Samuel 11&12

There is a Lot of That Going Around Today

 God took the shepherd boy David, and made him king. He is now the shepherd over God’s people. God describes His people as sheep and God expects His leaders, whether church leaders or kings, to be shepherds not lords. In Chapter 11 we see that David, the shepherd king, has become like the lamb in Luke 15:1-7 that wandered from the true and living King and has lost his way. There is a lot of that going around today.

For whatever reason, David could not sleep. Whether he is bored or has an emotional hunger going on inside we do not know. What we do know is that he was not where he should have been which was shepherding his army, and he was not staying close to his Shepherd. He is going to attempt to satisfy his hunger by feeding the lust of the flesh. There is a lot of that going around today as well.  So, like the lamb that has wandered from the shepherd, David makes one poor decision after another. He has now married the woman whose husband he had killed because David got his wife pregnant and he couldn’t trick the husband into thinking the child was his.

So now it seems like the crisis is managed and David tries to move on like nothing has happened. He even looks like he has had compassion on a poor widow woman whose husband was killed in battle and who is pregnant. That’s the problem. David, the lamb, has wandered off to the world where adultery, murder, lies, and deception riddle the landscape but we find the Chief Shepherd looking for His lost lamb in Chapter 12.

In Chapter 12 God sends the prophet Nathan to confront David. David, thinking he now has everything covered, is in big time denial so Nathan tells him a story about how this rich man took this poor man’s sheep and served it for dinner rather than serve one of his own sheep. The story pierces the wall of defense David has erected and he gets angry to the point where he says that man should die but he catches himself and pronounces the penalty given in the law. The man must pay back fourfold.

 At that point, with David now engaged in this story of injustice, Nathan says, “You are that man,” and as He did in 2 Samuel 7, God reminds David through the words of the prophet, of all He had done for David.

In God’s kingdom the leaders and kings are sheep who God has called to be shepherds or leaders of the flock. In the world’s kingdom the kings and leaders are lords who think they are free to exercise power often using power and pride to take advantage of and feed on the flock.

Israel was to be a witness to the world of the kingdom that was blessed because they had and followed God’s law. God was using Israel to show the world how blessed they would be if they committed themselves to the Lord and his ways.

In Psalm 51 David says that he had sinned against the Lord and that is true. He took the Lord’s name in vain by his worldly actions. He compromised Israel’s witness to the world which had given the nations they were to witness to a reason to resist and blaspheme God. Having been confronted by the prophet, David realizes there is nothing he can do to fix this mess. In fact, everything he tried made the mess bigger. He is backed into a corner where there is no escape. His only hope is to turn back to God. What is interesting is that he doesn’t have to go very far. As he turns in repentance he finds that God is right there. God has been looking for his lost sheep. When we find ourselves caught in the trap having wandered off on our own, know this, God is searching for you. When you turn and seek Him you will find that He is right there ready to forgive.

  Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”   KJV

 The verse is true. We have all gone astray from God and His plan for us. We all have sinned and there is a penalty for sin. Jesus has paid the price for our sin. God wants to forgive and restore us to a right relationship with Him. If you have gone astray like David, turn back in repentance and you will find His love for you as He expresses His mercy and grace through His forgiveness and brings peace to your life as you let Him lead.

 Have you gone astray? Like I said, there is a lot of that going around today.

Be blessed. Repent! Jesus is closer than you think.

Pastor Dave

Today's reading is 2 Samuel 9-11

Making a Difference

 As David continues to establish his kingdom he remembers the covenants he made with Jonathan and King Saul. David starts a search for anyone of Jonathan’s family that was still alive and finds that there is a crippled son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth, living on the east side of the Jordan River in the area of Gilead next to Ammon.  Mephibosheth is essentially living in exile, staying at the house of Machir.

 In those days when a kingdom was taken by another king, everything the previous king had, including his wives, land, and possessions, became the property of the conquering king. Any remaining male family members were killed. David, however, remembers the covenants he has made and shows the mercy and grace of God. He not only returns all that belonged to Saul’s house to Mephibosheth, sets a place at his table for Mephibosheth, but he also gives him a permanent invitation to dine with the king. David’s actions here demonstrate why he is called a man after God’s heart. He is practicing his faith in a very practical way by going against the cultural norm and demonstrating through his actions the heart of God. Mephibosheth, having been sought out by the king, expects to be killed and called himself a dead dog, but instead he was blessed.

 Romans 6:23 declares, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” KJV

 Mephibosheth was born into the wrong family and the cultural norm was that he must die when a new king came into power. We were born wrong as well. We were born, crippled with a sin nature and it didn’t take us long to live according to that sin nature. We, like Mephibosheth, made our home away from God living in fear that one day we would be found out, but God came looking for us so He could extend grace, mercy, and peace. He wants to bless us and extend to us an invitation through His Son Jesus, to a place at His table in His kingdom.

 David made a difference in the life of Mephibosheth.  Jesus has made a difference as well. He has changed the cultural norm of death to the offer of new life in Him. Have you allowed Him to make that difference in your life by accepting His gift?

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you.

Pastor Dave