Romans 13

WEEK  23                                            Romans 13

THURSDAY  Reflections

Obey the law of the land and love your neighbor. The second command is understood by most in Christian circles. The first is more debated. If you like the laws then you are more inclined to say we need to obey and disobey if you don't like them. However, this command has to be taken in tandem with what Jesus said about giving to God what is God and Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mark 12:17).

The revolutionary isn't the Christians role. There may be times for civil disobedience and even fighting against authority but it should be very reluctantly done. If we do the command for loving has to be our guide. If you disagree that is fine, but you still have to love me.

Rom 13:1-14
(1)  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
(2)  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
(3)  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
(4)  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
(5)  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
(6)  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
(7)  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
(8)  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
(9)  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(10)  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
(11)  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
(12)  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
(13)  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
(14)  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

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Psalm 60

WEEK  23                                              Psalm 60

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

This chapter is a great companion to 2 Samuel 8 and some scholars believe it was written about the same time. David and Israel were seeing victory after victory. During this time David was trying to serve God faithfully. They understood "Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies" (verse 12 KJV).

Let us never forget our victories as Christians are a result of God, not ourselves.

Psa 60:1-12
(1)  To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
(2)  Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
(3)  Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
(4)  Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
(5)  That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.
(6)  God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
(7)  Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
(8)  Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
(9)  Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
(10)  Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?
(11)  Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
(12)  Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

2 Samuel 8

WEEK   23                                     2 Samuel 8

TUESDAY  Reflections

If you were in a battle and captured a thousand tanks would you destroy nine hundred if you could use them? This is what David did when he made all but a hundred war horses useless for battle. This may seem strange but God in Deuteronomy 17:16 commanded that a king not keep too many horses. Horses in battle were the tanks of their day but God wanted Israel to depend on Him and not their army. Also, in accordance with Deuteronomy 17, he dedicated the silver and gold to God. David seems to be beginning his reign just as God commanded.

2Sa 8:1-18
(1)  And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
(2)  And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.
(3)  David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.
(4)  And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.
(5)  And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
(6)  Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
(7)  And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
(8)  And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.
(9)  When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
(10)  Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:
(11)  Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;
(12)  Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
(13)  And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.
(14)  And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
(15)  And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.
(16)  And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
(17)  And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
(18)  And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.

2 Samuel 7

WEEK  23                                              2 Samuel 7

MONDAY  Reflections

I can appreciate that David seeing he had a wonderful palace wanted to make a place greater for God. God, as he reminded David, doesn't need a house but rewards David for his thoughts by saying He would make David a house. David's son will build a house for God but not David. God promises not just a kingdom but that his kingdom would never end.

God was with the kings that followed blessing some and allowing men to chastise them when they disobeyed, but God never forsook the line of David. Jesus is the final fulfillment of this prophecy as he is from the line of David.

David is humbled that God would do this for him. As we should be too when we come to God. We don't deserve to be part of a kingdom that will never end but it is the blessing we have when we come to Christ. Let's never stop praising God for his great mercy shown to us.

2Sa 7:1-29
(1)  And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
(2)  That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
(3)  And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.
(4)  And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
(5)  Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
(6)  Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
(7)  In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
(8)  Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
(9)  And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
(10)  Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
(11)  And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
(12)  And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
(13)  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
(14)  I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
(15)  But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
(16)  And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
(17)  According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
(18)  Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
(19)  And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?
(20)  And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant.
(21)  For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.
(22)  Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
(23)  And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
(24)  For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God.
(25)  And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.
(26)  And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.
(27)  For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
(28)  And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:
(29)  Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

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Jeremiah 34

WEEK  22                                           Jeremiah 34

SATURDAY  Reflections

God promised Zedekiah though Jerusalem would be conquered, he would not die by the sword but of old age. He would even be given honor as previous kings. 

Zedekiah after this told the people of Judah to release their fellow Israelites who they had made slaves. At first, they did this but then went back on their word. God, it seems to me, is more upset that they started to do good and then returned to doing what they did before than if they hadn't changed in the first place. They did well and then took it back. Let's never be like this to God.

Jer 34:1-22
(1)  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
(2)  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
(3)  And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
(4)  Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
(5)  But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
(6)  Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
(7)  When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
(8)  This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
(9)  That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
(10)  Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
(11)  But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
(12)  Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
(13)  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
(14)  At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
(15)  And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
(16)  But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
(17)  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
(18)  And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
(19)  The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
(20)  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
(21)  And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
(22)  Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

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2 Samuel 6

WEEK  22                                        2 Samuel 6

FRIDAY  Reflections

The biggest complaint I hear from people about 2 Samuel 6 is the death of Uzzah. He was, after all, trying to help. It might have just been a natural instinct not a conscious act of disrespect. Why would God be so unfair? But is that the whole story? 

NO!

To explain I often start with the proposition that good intentions action don’t prevent injury. If you try to move a live high-voltage electrical wire away from a child, you may mean well, but those intentions don’t save you from the current in the wire. However, this being the case, that isn’t what is happening here. What is happening is the ark is being moved by the same method the Philistines used and not the way God commanded the Israelites to move it. If the priest would have been carrying it the way God intended, then this would never have taken place. What we see is not the illustration I used above. A better picture would be someone wiring a house wrong. While trying to plug something into the outlet. A person dies. Who is responsible in this later illustration? The person doing the wiring, not the person plugging in.

 

What we do not know is if Uzzah was both the person who should have known better than to put the ark on a cart or just the person trying to do right. The truth is in this world actions have consequences even if the person has the right motive and the actions of others can affect you. They can even kill you.  God wasn’t being mean he was following the rules he set in place. God’s rules like electricity don’t change because people have a good motive.

 

Good motives can’t undo wrong behavior. Perhaps that is a lesson we can learn here. Motives and attitudes can influence our actions and behavior. We might wish that our motives can undo bad behaviors, but they never do. Certain behaviors result in certain outcomes no matter our motives. It is a truth we need to remember.  

2Sa 6:1-23
(1)  Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
(2)  And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.
(3)  And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
(4)  And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.
(5)  And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
(6)  And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.
(7)  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
(8)  And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day.
(9)  And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
(10)  So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.
(11)  And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household.
(12)  And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.
(13)  And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
(14)  And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
(15)  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
(16)  And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
(17)  And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
(18)  And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
(19)  And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.
(20)  Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!
(21)  And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD.
(22)  And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.
(23)  Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

Romans 12

WEEK   22                                           Romans 12

THURSDAY  Reflections

What I want to point out in Romans 12 is Paul calls us to think of ourselves sober-minded or in a right mind. Though there is the obvious warning about not being high-minded or proud, there is also a sense that we shouldn't think too lowly of ourselves.

 

This is borne out when Paul goes on to talk about the body and each person doing what they are called to do with the grace God has given them. There is no idea that some people doing their best are just not going to hit the mark or somehow fall short. The idea is we should think of ourselves as God thinks of us.

 

We need to remember, we are all one body and we need each other. We each have different gifting and different abilities but no one is more important than the other. 

 

On another point, look and consider verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Can you rejoice with someone? Can you weep? And can you not fall into the trap of talking when you should be silent and just be rejoicing or weeping?

Rom 12:1-21
(1)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
(2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(3)  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
(4)  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
(5)  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
(6)  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
(7)  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
(8)  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
(9)  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
(10)  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
(11)  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
(12)  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
(13)  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
(14)  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
(15)  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
(16)  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
(17)  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
(18)  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
(19)  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
(20)  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
(21)  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.