Category: Old Testament

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day five)

David was a good king but not a perfect king. There was still sin and depravity in his life.  Part of God’s plan is to convince Israel (and us) that what we really need is a king to lead and love us perfectly. To restore and rescue us. (Pointing to Jesus) God is showing us that only Jesus can lead and love us perfectly. There’s a small narrative before our Re:Verse text that demonstrates the difference and need (2 Samuel 14).

After rebelling and publicly humiliating his father, Absalom returns back to Jerusalem. Yet David (the father), refuses to see his son. David could have met Absalom at the gates, forgiven and restored him.  But he chose not to do so. Jesus tells the story of a rebellious son who returns to his father. And the father runs to meet him (at the gates) and forgives and restores him.

We can rejoice that in spite of the fact, like Absalom, we have rebelled against and humiliated a Holy God with our sin, our Heavenly Father loves and leads us perfectly, taking the initiative (thru Christ) to restore us into a right relationship with Him.

I’m thanking God for His wise and patient plan to show us our need and provide for us, a king to lead and love us perfectly!!

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day four)

If there was ever a perfect snapshot of the human condition, it’s this one. This story doesn’t have a clear hero or villain, but rather a host of imperfect people working out the results of their sin in a high-stakes arena. David is a poor example of a parent and lets his personal affairs nearly destroy the nation of Israel, but he loves his son regardless of his actions. Many of us have had the experience of caring for someone to a fault. Absolam is vain and conspiratorial against his own father, but he is fueled by righteous anger over things in his past. Trauma can put a dark lens over our worldview. Joab is disloyal to the king and seems to have a thirst for revenge, but he makes a decision to end a war that could have taken more Israelite lives. We’ve all experienced the burden of a conflict of values.

Life is a like this much of the time – right and wrong are made blurry by sin and trying to find the path forward is like trying to see through mud. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” The path forward looks murky now, but have hope. There is no amount of sinful mud that will stop our God from making all things new.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day three)

“Why then did you not strike him there to the ground?”

Was Joab loyal to David? Or was he instead opportunistic? Sure seems like the latter. Joab’s cold calculus left no room for the emotional dimension of the human experience. Joab left emotion to David – who was plenty emotive – while he himself had apparently decided a long time ago that the acknowledgement of his own emotions produced a vulnerability that was too risky for him. David, on the other hand, embraced emotion but excluded empathy and curiosity, so others around him – family or not – found themselves on their own without any support. David would feel, and Joab would fix. The arrangement worked very well from a political standpoint. But the price was high for David. David’s fixer broke his heart. This is how it goes when the only pain you feel is your own.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day two) For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Vs. 8

Before and after our filming of re:vlog last week the three pastors discussed this verse. The forest devoured more people than the sword. That is incredibly vivid language, which gives rise to incredibly vivid imagery. One of the things that I love about scripture is its ability to inspire the imagination. Countless songs, pictures, novels, and every other conceivable art form have been born out of a love and knowledge of scripture. To be clear, the scripture is set apart from these works. Scripture alone is sufficient. But God has created us to imagine, create, and dream. He has redeemed our whole selves, including our imaginations. It is no wonder that Tolkien took inspiration from this passage and created Fangorn Forest and the Ents for his Lord of the Rings epic. Have you ever let scripture inspire you to write, sing, or paint? It is NEVER too late to start.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day seven)

“And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.’ And David took them off.” 1 Samuel 17:39

We usually revert to what we know or are comfortable with. The Israelites reverted to fear because their enemy was stronger than the Israelites. Saul reverted to his use of armor to protect David. For both the Israelites and Saul, they reverted to trusting in themselves or in what they could physically do. David reverted to his stone and slings. But David also reverted to his trust in the Lord.

David had spent so much time trusting and learning from God that the Lord was the point he reverted to. I’ll say it again: we tend to revert to what we know and are comfortable with. When trials of faith come or when attacks threaten to knock you down or defeat you, who is it that you revert to? Do you go to yourself, trusting that you can overcome said trial on your past or on your skills? Do you trust that you will be alright and that this will be something you can handle without going to God first? Or, do you revert to the Lord and to trust that He can do anything, no matter how small and no matter how big? My prayer is that you are ready this week (and all to come!) to gird yourself first with the Lord in all things. We need Him!

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day six)

The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!- David, 1 Samuel 17:37

Tempered steel is so strong because it has been repeatedly heated and cooled just before its boiling point. This kind of stress on the steel hardens it beyond its original composition. David’s faith is like tempered steel.

I am amazed by David’s faith in God; his trust in God’s provision. This faith didn’t come by way of acquiring knowledge but by tempering. Over time, as a goat herder, he had increasingly entrusted himself to the Lord. Can you imagine the first time he had to defend his goats against a lion or bear? David had to decide at that moment, is God good for this? Each crisis put his faith under fire and strengthened it, hardened it for battle.

This made me wonder how often my faith is tested. Do I have a risky faith that heats it up just right before its boiling point? Do I allow my faith to be tempered, like David’s? If I am going to be hardened for battle in facing Goliaths, then I must entrust myself to him when I face the lions and bears along the way.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day five) “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.”
What David did was incredible. No doubt about it. Killed Goliath with a sling and a stone. We know from reading 1 Samuel 17, that what actually happened was that God used David to kill Goliath. VS 46.
The biggest battle David fought (that day and often) was his inner fear (that the Israel armies had succumbed to). To them, Goliath seemed larger than God (fear). To David, God was larger than Goliath (faith). So, where did David’s faith come from?  I believe it came from “repeating and remembering”. Repeating God’s promises. And remembering God’s power. Something the Israelites failed to do. Just 3 chapter earlier in 1 Samuel, many of those same soldiers saw God use Jonathan to defeat a Philistine garrison. Yet, they forgot. That experience had left their minds.  Not David. He repeated God’s promise (anointed as king) and remembered God’s power (bear and lion). It was a constant battle and discipline for David. Read the first 25 Psalms. Fear creeps in. David prays (repeats and remembers). Finds faith. Should be for us too. Daily repeating God’s promises found in scripture. Remembering God’s power working in, around, and through us.
Being thankful to God helps shape these disciplines. When we can’t be reminded of God’s promises and God’s power, we most likely are in a place of great despair and fear. (Israelite Army) We should learn from David’s example. We find faith and courage. For the Glory of God!!

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day four)

When the Lord calls us to face something big or start something new, we often convince ourselves that our current condition is not enough. We think we need to somehow add to ourselves in order to be up for the task, so we feign a confident persona, or look to worldly ideas for self-improvement, or try anything to appear as the person we think we should be, rather than who we are. We convince ourselves that we don’t have what it takes, and we try to fill in the gaps, often in vain.

David didn’t fall for this lie, though. He knew that winning this battle had nothing to do with his ability, and everything to do with God’s presence. When Saul told him that he was inadequate, he tried on the clunky armor and realized it would hinder him, not help him. David walked confidently in the knowledge that he had all he needed – the Lord was with him, and the Lord had already gifted David with all the abilities he needed to take down Goliath.

When you’re staring down your next giant, don’t turn to those clunky strategies of the world. Turn to the Lord, he has already given you all that you need.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day three)

“And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead.”

Saul and the army of Israel saw a physically imposing battle-hardened vanguard of the Philistine juggernaut. David saw a Philistine military vulnerable enough to present as their best move an over-confident blowhard past his prime and unprotected against severe head trauma. If God does not see as man sees, and if David was a man who followed that pattern — “after God’s own heart” — then this is what that looks like in action. May we learn from God to see like that.