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.

     After the death of Abner those parts of Israel that looked to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, as king became disheartened. Two of Ishbosheth’s captains killed him and took his head to David, thinking that David would be grateful to them for doing so. They were wrong. David had them executed for killing Ishbosheth. After the death of Ishbosheth the leaders of the tribes of Israel (besides Judah, over which David was already king) come to David and request that he become their king. I noticed reading through this time that David only made one overture to become the king of all Israel and that was after the death of Saul and before Ishbosheth was made king. After that it was others who took the initiative. Once he has control over all of Israel, David begins taking control over the surrounding peoples. He starts by taking Jerusalem from the Jebusites. As David is consolidating his power he receives a gift of friendship from the king of Tyre. During this same time the Philistines muster their armies to attack David. David defeats them twice.
     David then brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem from where it had been since its recovery from the Philistines at the beginning of Samuel’s Judgeship. David makes this a major celebration which is cut short just as they get near to Jerusalem when one of the men guiding the cart carrying the Ark is struck dead when he touches the Ark to steady it. David was angered by the death of this man. We are not told why the man was struck down. However, in the Law God gave the Israelites instructions on how the Ark should be transported. He told them that it should be carried using poles put through the rings put on it for that purpose. In this passage, David was transporting the Ark on a cart. When three months later David had the Ark taken the rest of the way into Jerusalem, that is how he had it moved. Again the Bible tells us that David made this move a great celebration. He had a sacrifice made and gave gifts of food to all of those present. The passage tells us that David danced before the Lord with all of his might. David threw himself into his worship and made no attempt to guard his dignity. When confronted by his wife Michal, King Saul’s daughter, over his lack of dignity, David expresses a willingness to look foolish even to the point of being humiliated in his own eyes in order to worship and celebrate before God. We need to have the same attitude. We must be willing to abandon our dignity in order to worship God. David did not let anything distract him from his worship of God, neither should we.

     Jesus tells the disciples that He is going somewhere that they cannot follow. He continues by telling them that they should love each other as He had loved them, that the world will know that they are His disciples by their love for each other. Peter wants to know why he can’t come with Jesus, since he is ready to die for Him, so he says. Jesus tells Peter that not only is he not ready to die for Him, but that Peter will deny that he even knows Him before the rooster crows the following morning. Jesus immediately follows this by telling them not to let their hearts be troubled. He tells them that He will return for them and besides that they know the way to where He is going. Thomas and then Philip ask questions which demonstrate that the disciples do not yet understand what Jesus has been teaching them. Jesus explains to Thomas that He is the way and that there is no other way to the Father. Then Jesus tells Philip that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father. Jesus continues by telling the disciples that those who believe in Him will do the same works and even greater works than He has done.
     This is a very powerful passage. It tells us that Jesus is the only way to the Father. There are no other paths that lead to God. One cannot be a Christian and believe that people can find other ways to God. It also tells us that we can ask anything in Jesus name and He will do it. I do not fully understand this because it does not seem to actually work out that way. However, I think it is like my understanding of the passage where Jesus says that if we have faith like a mustard seed we can say tell a mountain to move and it will move. I believe that the reason that works is because if we truly believe that it is God’s will that a mountain be moved from where it is to somewhere else, we will grab a shovel and start filling a wheelbarrow. I think that is the key to understanding how prayer and faith work together. If we believe that a certain result is in God’s will for this world we will start taking action to accomplish that result, even if we know there is no way that we can accomplish the end we seek. If we ask for something in Jesus name it means that we believe that something is in service to God. If we believe that some end is in the service of God, we will take action to make that end occur, even if we are well aware that our actions are entirely insufficient to accomplish that end. I believe that as we work to accomplish Godly ends, others will join us and the power of God will move until those ends are accomplished.

     God’s instructions are wonderful truths. They will encourage us when we are experiencing sorrow. If we strive to learn and obey God’s commands our wisdom and understanding will grow. Yesterday’s two stanzas each ended with thoughts that I made my prayer, today’s end with thoughts that I wish to make the center of my thinking today:

     Listening to criticism is the only way that we can grow and become wise. Refusing to listen when others tell us that we have done something wrong, or less well than we could have, hurts no one but ourselves. When we listen to correction we can improve ourselves. These lessons in these proverbs seem obvious, yet how often do we fail to heed them?