1 Kings 3-4 – May 31, 2021

I am amazed to see the humility of the beginnings of such a great man and example in the Bible.

3:7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

 

Solomon’s humility gained him even more blessings than he asked for.

It will be interesting also, to see how fame and fortune encouraged self-reliance, which is the opposite of humility.  When we can trust in our own abilities to provide, we may lose the need to trust in God for provisions.

 

Matthew 18:4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 

Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Psalm 139 – Wednesday, May 26

Just this last Sunday, one of my biggest desires was to convince someone that their prayers were taken very personal. It is often too easy to view God as a distant Diety rather than an intimate Father. This causes our prayers to be more like a task rather than relational. There is value in the confidence of God’s desire for personal relationship.

 

That is why I love passages like Psalm 139. Apply these phrases to yourself and your Father God.

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me - You understand my thought from afar - And are intimately acquainted with all my ways - If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me”

 

Bonus result:

When I am convinced of God’s proximity, I then expect Him to take advantage of momentary encounters with those around me.

1 Chronicles 23-25 – Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Well, as expected, I love seeing the importance of musicians in the temple worship of God. Not only that, but the fact that they were “trained” and “skillful” (1 Chronicles 25:7). (I use this scripture when somebody wants to play tambourine in the audience but doesn’t want to come to rehearsal, haha!)

 

But what I really want to bring attention to is this verse: 25:3 …six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun with the harp, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising the Lord.

 

The phrase “prophesied in giving thanks” gave me pause.

 

Definition and translation for “prophesied”:

Naba - speak or sing by inspiration (e-Sword)

Naba - to flow, pour out, gush forth, spring, bubble up, emit, belch forth (Bible Study Tools Lexicon)

 

This is how “naba” is used in other scriptures in the Old Testament:

 

Psalm 119:171 Let my lips utter (naba) praise, For You teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 59:7 Behold, they belch forth (naba) with their mouth; Swords are in their lips…

Proverbs 15:28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

      But the mouth of the wicked pours out (naba) evil things.

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;

    The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling (naba) brook.

 

It seems that many Christians (myself included) had, at some point, a misconstrued understanding of the word “prophecy”. Because according to Proverbs 15:28, even the wicked prophecy (naba).

 

But it does seem to be an almost uncontrollable urge to proclaim something from our depths that can only originate from the supernatural.

 

I like how Vine’s Expository explains prophecy from the New Testament word “propheteia”: “Though much of Old Testament prophecy was purely predictive, … prophecy is not necessarily, nor even primarily fore-telling. It is the declaration of that which cannot be known by natural means, Matthew 26:68, it is the forth-telling of the will of God, whether that be past, present or future”.

 

Now let’s reapply that word in this verse 1 Chronicle 25:3.

Their musicians prophesied with thanks and praise to the Lord!

So, the next time you are in your praise and worship service, recognize when your musicians begin to prophesy the wonders of our God and join them and the angels of heaven in unified worship.

2 Samuel 16-18 – May 17, Monday

2 Samuel 18:7-8 The people of Israel were defeated there before the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, 20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

 What a story this has been of lives in our history. But this phrase really stops me, “the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured”. I am a very visual person and after reading this phrase, I immediately think of the tree people in “Lord of the Rings”.

Maybe God AND the forest trees were so upset with the Israelites who not only turned on God, but warred once again within itself. Okay, that maybe a stretch, but this is another reason I am hoping for a true live action video of our history when I get to heaven.

Psalms 32, 51, 86, 122 – May 14

In chapter 32, isn’t it interesting to hear David’s thoughts about his sin, keeping it secret, and then being freed from it?

:1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

 And remember, when David speaks of his sin being covered, he is talking about a much more involved process than we have today. He had to go to the high priest, confess, bring a sacrifice, etc.

 We also have a sacrifice of life and blood made for us, but it was done so perfectly that (thankfully) we have a much easier and greater way to achieve forgiveness and reconciliation. What an awesome, loving Father we have!

 

2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 20 – May 13

2 Samuel 12:24-25 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

 

What still amazes me about our Father is that even through our bad decisions, God works things out for good, if we’ll let Him. Bad decisions may come with a cost, but when we turn to God, like David did, He just may raise up a Solomon from it.

 

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 

Psalm 65-67, 69-70 – May 12

 Psalm 67:2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.

 

I have seen this phrase a few times now in our readings, especially in Psalms – “Your way”. (ie. “Teach me Your way, O Lord” - Psalm 86:11)

“Way” comes from the Hebrew word “derek”. When used figuratively, it means “a course of life or mode of action”.

 

I remember reading that Moses prayed this prayer.

Exodus 33:13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight.“

And now I am seeing it often in Psalms.

 

For some reason, I am finding it more interesting than before. It’s not simply wanting to know what to do right now and specifically, but it’s more about wanting to know God’s methodology – His process. It is what a great follower does in order to become a great leader. Don’t just teach me what to do each time, but teach me why You make that decision. Teach the “why’s” and I will be better at partnering with You to accomplish bigger things. Teach me Your ways, God.

 

I had to find other instances where this phrase was used to understand it better. Here are just a few.

 

Deuteronomy 10:12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him,

 

1 Kings 2:3 Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways,

 

2 Chronicles 6:31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live

 

Psalm 25:4 Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

 

Psalm 27:11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,

 

Psalm 77:13 Your way, O God, is holy;

 

Psalm 86:11 Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.

 

Psalm 119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.

 

It actually seems like a huge responsibility and request! It’s like God training you for a leadership position! If God said, “We’re expanding our business and I need for YOU to be a store manager. Let Me teach you how We do this.”

Gulp! Hang on and pray this dangerous prayer with me today!

 “Teach me Your ways, God.” – Jeff Donaldson

2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 19, Psalm 20 – Tuesday, May 11, 2021

1 Chronicles 12-13 He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13 Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

 As a church staff, we are reviewing the book “Extreme Prayers” by Gregg Pruett. Today, when discussing our prayers and our faith and the progression of both, and the responsibility that we feel for the result of our prayers, the verse was quoted, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). God is teaching us to just be obedient so HE can take care of the results. “You, simply do what I told you to do”.

Why does it sometimes seem so difficult to simply obey and allow God to manipulate the results? It is not up to you to heal anyone. It is up to you to pray. Don’t worry about explaining why a prayer didn’t get answered. It is not your responsibility to answer prayers, why should you justify it?

 That’s what I get from this passage. This is a message to me as much as it was to Abshai.

“Be strong! Show yourself courageous for the sake of your people and the kingdom of God – let the Lord do what is good in HIS sight!”

 “Father, give me the strength to be recklessly bold – give me the wisdom to simply obey – give me the faith to leave the results in Your hands.”

 

2 Samuel 6-7, 1 Chronicles 17 – May 7

I love it when God says this to David, 1 Chronicles 17:7 “… I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.”

Think about the space between following sheep and leading people. It seems too vast an expanse, but only God can fill that space to get us from sheep followers to leaders of people.

I also find it interesting that when Jesus spoke of Himself as a Shepherd in the New Testament, sheep follow Him.

 

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

Psalm 89, 96, 100-101, 105, 132 – Thursday, May 6, 2021

 

Challenge:

In today’s reading plan, I noticed that the Psalmist ascribed attributes of praise to God from the perspective of nature. For example:

89:12 “Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.” (Mountain tops near Nazareth and Lebanon)

96:11-12 … “Let the sea roar, and all it contains; 12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.”

So, my challenge is this: think of a part of nature that you love and ascribe it with praise to God.

My example: The deep colors of an Oklahoma sunset sing praises to God.

Psalm 1-2, 15, 22-24, 47, 68 – Wednesday, May 5, 2021

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9phNEaPrv8

1 Chronicles 13-16 – Tuesday, May 4, 2021

15:13, 14 – I thought that it was interesting that David learned his lesson about how careful to be with the ark of the covenant. The Levites were not assigned to carry it the first time (13:5-8), God was angered, and someone wound up dying.

The Levites were called, anointed, and trained to handle tabernacle related situations. They should be the ones to handle the Ark. We see it again in 15:22 “Chenaniah … gave instruction in singing because he was skillful”. Hey, anyone can sing (and should), but that doesn’t mean they should sing on stage, or lead a congregation, or/and especially teach others how to sing.

Maybe what we learn from this is that there should always be a reverence when handling our covenant with God. No matter how personal we get with God, He is still Sovereign and Holy. Our covenant and relationship with Him should always encompass the highest quality and standards.

 

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Psalm 106-107 – Monday, May 3

“We are beset by troubles of our own choosing or making, but God rescues us from them all”. (Zondervan Handbook to the Bible, 2002) Zondervan also continues to explain a 4 word-picture example of this truth from the viewpoint of a traveler (4-9), the captive (10-16), the sick man (17-22), and the sailor (23-32). As different as all these individuals may be, as well as their circumstances, they all share a common theme. When they cry out to God, He hears them and helps them.

Regardless of your past or how different and out of place you feel about yourself, God is always willing to lead you to victory.