Thursday, April 28, 2016

OT DAY 467 - Fail as A Father, Fall as A King, but God's Faithful Servant (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

       He made my feet like the feet of a deer
             and set me secure on the heights.
        He trains my hands for war,
               so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
                                     Psalm 18:33-34

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (2 Samuel 14:25-16:23)


       
      13 And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” 14 Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” 16 So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house. 17 And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.
18 And all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.     2  Samuel 15:13-18

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

    My Listening

          Have you heard of this kind of ridiculous tragedy before? And, it is David! David's son took David's seat as king and David had to run away! Why God allowed that to happen to David?

    Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

           Despite the fact that David's moral faults are huge, he becomes a standard against which to evaluate a king in comments on whether he did "what was upright in the eyes of Yahweh his God, like his ancestor David" (2 Kings 16:2)…For all David's faults and for all the cluelessness about the way he relates to Yahweh and the way he lives his life, he is resolute in his commitment to Yahweh. The fact comes through in the story of Absalom's coup. At one level the coup issues from God's judgment on David for killing Uriah and taking Bathsheba, but at another level it issues from David's incompetence as a father. Likewise his response to the coup contrasts with the decisiveness of his reactions in other political contexts. It deepens the mystery of who David is. There may be a positive point about telling the story in a way that suggests David has lost his groove. It parallels another strand in the earlier stages in David's story. He trusts God and leaves the outcome of things to God. 
   
John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.156-157.

       Yes, David failed as a father and a king. But, he had never lost his faith and commitment to God. If you were David, would you leave God, angry with God or even against God?


       How could David's weaknesses as a human but strong in faith with God inspire you to admit your weaknesses and failure but to be faithful to God knowing that He will act in His time?

Dear Lord Jesus,
    Help us to admit we are human and to acknowledge our weaknesses. Lead us to be totally faithful and commit to you trusting you will take care of our troubles in your good time. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Reflect on these questions:
    1. How can you identify with David's weaknesses and to follow his example of faithfulness to God? 

2. How can you be a better father or mother, better than David

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

Praise and Thanksgiving

10,000 Reasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E


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