I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or my understanding of them, please leave comments.
The book of 2 Samuel begins with a man delivering word to David that King Saul and Jonathan are dead and the army of Israel is defeated. the man claims to have killed King Saul at Saul’s request. David and his men mourned and fasted for a day over the death of King Saul and Jonathan and the defeat of Israel’s army. Then David summoned the man who brought the news and had him killed for killing King Saul. It is not clear to me why David killed the messenger. The man claimed that he had only killed King Saul because Saul asked him to and because he could see that Saul was going to die from his wounds eventually any way. However, David’s stated reason is consistent with his actions on those occasions when he had had the opportunity to kill King Saul himself. David then composes a song in which he both praises Saul and Jonathan and mourns their deaths. The contents of the song are consistent with David’s continued loyalty to King Saul even when King Saul was seeking his death.
The story tells us that again David seeks God’s guidance before taking the apparently obvious action of moving back to Judah. When he receives affirmation of that decision and guidance as to where in Judah to go, he does so. Once David is back in Judah the leaders of Judah come to him and anoint him their king. When David hears that the men of Jabesh-gilead had retrieved Saul’s body and given it a proper burial he sends then a message praising them for their action and requesting that they accept him as king. However, Abner, who was King Saul’s cousin and the commander of his army, had already declared that Saul’s remaining son was king of Israel. I think it is interesting that once again, David seeks God’s guidance before taking what seems to be the obvious decision. I think that this should be a model for all of us. We should seek God’s guidance before making any of life’s major decisions, even ones where the answer seems obvious. We have a tendency to think that obvious decisions do not require us to spend time in prayer. The story of David’s life make clear that this is not the case.
This passage begins by saying that some Greeks who had come to the Passover celebration wanted to see Jesus so they approached Philip. Philip went to Andrew and together they went to Jesus. Jesus then begins a short sermon about His coming death. It is not clear if these were Gentiles who had chosen to convert to Judaism, or if they were Hellenized Jews. I am also not sure what the connection between these Greeks requesting to see Jesus and the message that He preaches here. Jesus tells us here that it is only through His death that others can come to salvation. I believe that this is the first mention of Jesus’ struggle between wanting to avoid the suffering He knows is coming and wanting to fulfill His mission and serve God through His death. Again we have the metaphor of light. Jesus says that we must walk in the light while we can so that we can become children of the light and darkness will not overtake us. While Jesus was certainly talking to those listening to Him and telling them that He would only be among them for a short time yet, I believe He was also talking to us. I think He was saying that we only have a limited time to listen to God’s word and if we do not heed God’s call during that time we will lose our opportunity. On the other hand, if we do listen to God’s call, we will become a light shining God’s will and call to others.
The writer tells us that despite the miracles that they had witnessed most of the people did not believe in Him. However, he also tells us that many did believe in Jesus, even among the religious leaders. But those religious leaders would not admit it for fear of being cast out of the synagogue. There is a subtext in this passage that we should not allow the fear of what others will think of us to keep us from proclaiming the gospel and our faith in Jesus. This passage ends telling us that in the end we will be judged by the words of God that we have heard and the degree to which we have followed them or not. If we reject God’s message to us, we will be judged. If we accept God’s message we will receive eternal life.
I want to say with the psalmist, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” I want that to be my mantra every day. I want to praise and thank God in all aspects of my life every day.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
This is my prayer today.
The clipart today is of another verse in proverbs, but it is still appropriate to today’s proverb as well. Here we have a proverb which tells us that greed leads to trouble for both the greedy individual and to their loved ones, while those who avoid bribes will prosper. I believe that the second part applies to both those in a position to receive bribes and those who are tempted to give them (whether because they believe their path would be smoothed by the giving or because they believe their path is being obstructed for not giving). The second proverb tells us that we should think carefully before we speak. That we should chose our words with care. Speaking hurtful words is evidence of not listening to God.