OT DAY 472 - David Knew How to Seek God's Face, How About You? (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

       For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
            and sing to your name.

         Great salvation he brings to his king,

           and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
            to David and his offspring forever.

                                     Psalm 18:49-50

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 21:1-22)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=撒+母+耳+記+下+20&version=ESV

       

        Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?” 
                                         2  Samuel 21:1-3

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"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

    My Listening

          If there is something wrong for sometime, do you think you would ask God like what David did? Do you think God would give you an answer like what he told David what did Saul do to cause the calamity?  

    Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

           The Old Testament recognizes that trouble such as a failure of the harvest(like personal disasters or sickness) is often "just one of those things" but that it can be God's chastisement for some wrongdoing. Either way it means you turn to God, but in doing so you do have to ask the question whether some wrongdoing is the explanation for the calamity. In this case it is when the famine goes on year after year that David realizes the need to ask that question. "Seeking an audience with Yahweh" )literally, "seeking Yahweh's face") suggests going to the meeting tent, as Moses used to do, though doing so would not exclude also asking questions of his staff (including his prophets) about possible explanations for what had happened, and/or utilizing Urim and Thummim. 

John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.163-164.

       For why Israelites cannot kill the Gibeonites, please read Joshua 9. The point here in today's passage is not the why and how to amend Saul's wrong doing but that why David knew how to ask God in the right time using the right method. And because of that, God took the famine away and His blessing came back to the Israelites.

       Do you think you are able to ask God in the same way like what David did? 

Dear Lord Jesus,

    Help us to know how to seek your face each day and not until having trouble.  In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Reflect on these questions:

   1. Do you think when something bad comes up, you should have to talk to God so that you know how to repent and renewal?

2. What kind of inspiration have you got from today's passage?

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

Praise and Thanksgiving

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

四十天的"破. 立"靈修:

http://www.breakbuild.blogspot.ca/

如果你有 Android cel. 請按此處上載程式,可直接一按收聽最近之十次廣播:

Discipler123: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideal.rec.app

破.立 Break.Build: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideal.bb.app

歡迎你使用三年三個月讀完新舊約聖經blog: 

     http://discipler123.blogspot.com/ 

    Today is our 125 days non stop Morning Prayer Monday through Friday 6:30a.m. to 7:30a.m. Saturday 8a.m. to 9:45a.m., Sunday 7:30a.m. to 8:30a.m.

     The offering of our First Fruit every morning have changed lots of things: unity, lifestyle, character …and many more!

Pictures today's morning at 6:30a.m.-7:30a.m. Prayer Meeting: