Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 108, 2 Samuel 7
I love using scripture as a starting point for my prayers. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, Who am I, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far? You saw me when I was running far and fast away from You, and You drew me to You. And yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord God. Nothing is impossible for You. No heart is too hard for You. No one is too far from Your reach. You know my heart and You have brought me to know Yours. You are indeed great! There is none like You. There is no God besides You. You are not like idols made up in human minds or fashioned with human hands. You are eternal. You are infinite. You are almighty.
I pray that Your people Israel would confess Messiah Jesus and be saved. I pray that You would open the eyes of each Jewish person living in Israel and around the globe. May Your Name be magnified forever, saying, “The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,” and God over all creation, and Jesus Christ is Your Only Begotten Son and the Only Savior of the world.
O Lord God, You are God and Your Words are true. Please bless my home. Bless my husband. Bless my children. Bless my parents and my siblings, my aunts and uncles and cousins. Bless my church. Bless my city and state and nation. Bless us that we might glorify Your Name as we humble ourselves before Your almighty throne. Use us, Your people, Your servants, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do all that You have commanded. It is in the Name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 107, 2 Samuel 6.
Have you ever been mad at someone, not just for a few minutes, but for hours or days? Have you ever allowed your anger to stew like a 8-pound chuck roast left in a crockpot to bubble all day, causing a seed of bitterness to take root deep in your heart?
How did that effect your relationship with that person? How was your attitude toward them? Did that bitterness ever make it hard for you to think kind thoughts or speak kind words about them?
Now, how about your feelings toward God? Have you ever been mad at God for days or weeks? Have you ever felt like He didn’t treat you or a loved one the way He should’ve? Did you ever let that anger plant a seed, no matter how small, of contempt toward God?
How did that effect your relationship with or your attitude toward God? Did it make it hard for you to meet with Him or submit to His commands?
In my life, I’ve noticed that often my bitterness toward a person is intimately tied to my disappointment with God.
Maybe a friend, a parent, a sibling or even a spouse has hurt you deeply. They’ve let you down. They’ve attacked you and disappointed you. They’ve done you wrong. Maybe it’s substance abuse or pornography. Maybe it’s lying and deceit. Maybe it’s an emotional or physical affair. Maybe it’s a lack of regard for your thoughts and feelings.
How has that relationship with a human being effected your relationship with God?
How have your feelings toward a person effected your feelings toward God?
In today’s passage in 2 Samuel 6, we read about Michal, King Saul’s daughter and David’s first wife, who despised David in her heart when she witnessed his joy before the Lord. Michal had been hurt again and again by David, a man she had loved. David had taken other wives and then had allowed her to be sent away, only to be brought back after she’d married another man. I don’t know that Michal ever trusted in God. In fact, Michal may have been a pagan idol-worshipper, but we do know that it grieved her deeply to see David dancing with reckless abandon in the presence of God and all the house of Israel. Click here to read through an overview of Michal’s life in the scriptures.
Thinking through Michal’s response to David’s joyful worship, I asked myself these two questions:
When have my feelings of disappointment toward a fellow human being resulted in me treating them with disdain and contempt rather than love and forgiveness?
When have my feelings of disappointment with my Heavenly Father resulted in me turning my back on Him rather than turning my face toward His open arms?
Heavenly Father, Your ways are certainly not our ways. You are always holy and righteous and good, and we are not. You have told us what You require of us, yet we have disobeyed You again and again. We have shunned Your scriptures. We have mocked Your Words and Your workers. We have treated Your Creation and Your commands with contempt. We have blamed You for circumstances that we have brought upon ourselves. We have turned our backs to You instead of our faces. Please, Father, forgive us. Remove the root of bitterness from our hearts, bitterness toward our fellow sinful man and bitterness toward You, our perfect Father. Renew a right spirit in us. Give us a new heart, a new mind, and a new soul. Strengthen us to love others as You have loved us. Help us to love You, our Lord and God, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Help us to cast all our cares upon You and to trust that You care for us. Help us to fully believe that You are at work, working all things together for good for those who love You and have been called according to Your purposes, bringing beauty out of the ashes of our lives. In the Name of Jesus Christ who died in my place I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 106, 2 Samuel 5
Today as I asked God what I should write about in today’s blog post, I couldn’t shake the thought that I was supposed to write on the topic of genders. So, in fearful obedience, here it goes.
Growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, the thought that there were anything beyond two genders never even entered my mind. My sister and I were girls. My mom was a girl. My dad was a boy. My cat, Bandit, who I’d adopted off the streets as a stray was a boy, too. I always wished that my mom and dad would have another baby, a boy, so I could have a little brother to play with and boss around. My world was made up of two genders: boys and girls, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, men and women, males and females.
Though I wasn’t a Christian and though I believed that the world and everything in it had evolved through a series of random events, it was still clear to my rational , scientific brain that everything that reproduced was either a male or a female. Roosters and hens, bucks and does, worker bees and queen bees, males and females.
In today’s chapter, 2 Samuel 5, verse 13 says, “And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David.” David was a male, and every single one of David’s concubines and wives were female. All of David’s sons were male, and all of David’s daughters were female.
My dad and my cat both had operations that prevented them from fathering babies, but they were still male. In fact, my dad could have grown his hair long, and worn a mini skirt, heels and a stuffed bra, and it wouldn’t make him female. He could even have changed his name to something more neutral or feminine, and left my mom for a guy, but my dad would still have been a male. Why? Because that’s how he was born. Dare I say, that’s how he was made by His Creator? When my father was knit together in his mother’s womb, he received an x chromosome from his mom and a y chromosome from his dad, and he was born a boy.
This issue is especially personal for me for a whole myriad of reasons. I won’t go into all of them now, but one of them is this: when my sister and I were young, my parents usually kept our hair cut short and dressed us in very simple gender neutral clothing. I liked climbing trees and getting dirty. I didn’t like playing with Barbies. Most of my years growing up, my best friend was a boy. But did those things make me a boy? No, they didn’t. I was a girl, whether I liked it or not. That’s how I was born. That’s how I was made by my Creator. When I was knit together in my mother’s womb, I received an x chromosome from my mom and an x chromosome from my dad, and I was born a girl.
Back in the “rad ’80s,” when I was teenager, it was shameful to admit that you had homosexual desires. A person was said to “come out of the closet” when they confessed to homosexual tendencies.
Now here we are in the “roaring 2020s,” and it’s shameful to stand up for Biblical gender identities, but today I’m taking a stand. I refuse to hide in the closet, ashamed of the Bible’s very clear teaching that God gave David sons and daughters. David’s sons were boys and his daughters were girls. God created them male and female just like He’s been doing from the beginning of time and to say anything else is a lie, a lie that hurts both the Creator and the creature.
Will you join me in prayer?
Heavenly Father, I come to You with the deepest gratitude for making me to be me. Thank You for making me a girl and granting me the gift of being a mom. Thank You for giving me sons and daughters. I pray that You will encourage the people of this generation to love You as their Creator by accepting themselves for how they’ve been made – their hair color and skin color, their height and their gender. You don’t make junk. We do. We take what You have made and we ruin it, hurting others and hurting ourselves. And hurting You in the process. Forgive us, Lord. I pray that You will also encourage the people of this generation to stand up for what they know is true, what the Scriptures so clearly state, that You are the Creator and that You create male or female. Help us not to be ashamed of the gospel and not to be ashamed of the truth of Your Word. Please, Father, help us to defend our faith with gentleness, respect, and humility, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your creation. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 105, 2 Samuel 3-4
Reading today’s passage about the murders of both Abner and Ish-Bosheth, I was reminded of Ezekiel 33:11.
“As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
Ezekiel 33:11a ESV
1 and 2 Samuel are both so full of sin and death, jealousy and deceit, immorality and corruption. I have sometimes found myself cheering for whoever is the bad guy of that chapter to “get what he deserves,” forgetting that I’m just as bad as him.
Without the Holy Spirit constraining me, that would be me. Apart from God’s grace, I’m just as selfish, just as cruel, just as spiteful as any of them. So, today, I want to reflect on God’s mercy and pray that I could be merciful toward others as He has been to me.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your grace and mercy, poured out for me on the cross, and continuing to flow over me day after day. My sins are beyond number. I deserve death more than Abner and Ish-Bosheth. I deserve Your judgement as much as Joab and Rechab and Baanah did. Each of those men were selfish sinners, and so am I. Help me daily trust Your hand of judgment rather than trying to take vengeance into my own hands. You are perfectly just and I am not. Help me to be grateful for Your grace and not to take pleasure when the people in our world today get what their sin deserves. The wages of sin is death, but Your gracious gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank You, Father. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 104, 2 Samuel 2
Even now in my fifth decade of life, I’m still learning every day. I’m definitely still learning about history and science, but I’m also still learning to be a better human. One thing I’m actively trying to learn is to ask questions. Maybe that sounds like an odd thing to need to learn, but in my sinful nature I find myself prone to pride and talking more than listening.
I’m not only learning to ask questions when I’m with my family, friends, or strangers, but I’m also learning to ask questions of God. I want to be like David who inquired of the Lord, “’Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Go up.’ David said, ‘To which shall I go up?’ And he said, ‘To Hebron.’” (2 Samuel 2:1)
Father, What do You want me to do today?
Spirit, What does this verse mean?
Lord, What should I say right now?
Spirit, How can I apply this passage to my life?
Father, What do You want me to write about from this passage?
I want to be a better asker and a better listener. I want to heed the inspired words of James 1:5.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James 1:5 ESV
Heavenly Father, thank You for always being faithful to give wisdom and guidance when I come to You humbly in need. Help me to learn to ask, and help me to learn to listen. And, then, Father, help me to obey. I fear sometimes I don’t ask because I don’t want to obey. Forgive me and change me. I want to be more like Jesus who faithfully asked and listened and obeyed. I love You, Lord. You are worthy to be obeyed. Grow my faith. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 103, 2 Samuel 1
Before reading 2 Samuel 1, I took some time to review and reflect on 1 Samuel – the life and death of the prophet-priest-judge Samuel and the life and death of the first king of Israel, Saul. I was reminded again of how fleeting life is and how brief both the joys and the trials of life really are. When I find myself smack in the middle of the latest disaster, it’s hard to remember that this too shall pass, but today I’m reminded that it will. Someday every one of my tears will be wiped away. Someday all my questions will be answered and my faith will be as sight. Someday I will sit at the feet of Jesus and everything will be made right. Someday there will be no more goodbyes.
As we enter the holiday season, take some time both to reflect back on the previous year and to look forward to what the new year has in store. In this looking back and looking forward, I want to remind myself (and you) of all that is unchanging – God’s Word, His love for His people, and man’s need for forgiveness. I pray that in the new year my heart would stay focused on these truths, so that my life would reflect the eternal wisdom of God rather than the temporal wisdom of man. He is enough. His grace is enough. Whatever He has prepared for me, it is enough and it is good.
Heavenly Father, Turn my eyes upon Jesus. Help me to look fully in His wonderful face, so that the things of this earth will grow dim in the light of His glory and grace. Help me to remember that Your grace is sufficient for me, that the things of earth are all passing away, that in Christ I have been granted life eternal and abundant. Help me to fix my eyes on You, on Your love, on Your mercy and power and wisdom. I pray for love to cover a multitude of sins – sins of my own and sins of others. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Come Unto Jesus – Keith, Kristyn Getty, Laura Story
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 102, 1 Samuel 29-31
1 Samuel 29-31 meets 1 Corinthians 12-13.
Heavenly Father, help us to love one another and to recognize that everything that we have is a gift from You. Make us active members of the body of Christ here on earth, willingly sharing our time, talents, treasures, and testimonies, with all who need them. You are the only all-powerful One and You alone are worthy. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 101, 1 Samuel 28
A fall 2024 Pew Research Center survey found “that 30% of U.S. adults say they consult astrology (or a horoscope), tarot cards or a fortune teller at least once a year, but most do so just for fun, and few Americans say they make major decisions based on what they learn along the way.”
Friends, listen to me, astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards, and fortune tellers are not fun. They’re dangerous and demonic. Stay away from them! Listen to the Lord’s words to His people as they’re preparing to enter the promised land.
“There shall not be found among you … anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.
Deuteronomy 18:10-14 ESV
Maybe you’d never dream of going to a fortune teller or necromancer. Are there other cultural norms that you have made part of your life? Gluttony? Cussing? Sex outside marriage? Pornography? Drug use? What about wasting countless hours of your brief life playing video games, watching TV, or scrolling through social media?
Heavenly Father, please forgive us for the many ways we have gone the way of the world, following the pagan culture of entertainment and selfishness. We want to worship You in Spirit and Truth. Help us to put to death what is earthly in us and to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, forgiving and loving others, and following You with all our hearts for all our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 100, 1 Samuel 27
Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”
1 Samuel 27:1 ESV
Be careful what you allow yourself to say to your heart, those things that are too dreadful or foolish to speak out loud, things you’d never utter to your husband or sister or parent or pastor because you know they’re not true and not right.
Some of us are prone to saying discouraging words in our own hearts. We need to remember what the Lord said in Deuteronomy,
“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out.”
Deuteronomy 7:17-19a ESV
Some of us are prone to saying boastful words in our own hearts. Again, we need to remember what the Lord said in Deuteronomy,
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘Mypower and the might of myhand have gotten me this wealth.’ (Deuteronomy 8:17 ESV)
Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, “It is because of myrighteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,” whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. (Deuteronomy 9:4 ESV)
Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, “I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.” This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. (Deuteronomy 29:18b-19 ESV)
Remember the warnings of Psalm 10. The wicked man says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity,” renouncing God and saying inhis heart, “You will not call to account”? while the helpless man says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
Rather, let us say to our hearts these words of David’s son, Solomon, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding,” and “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.”(Proverbs 3:5, 29:25 ESV)
Heavenly Father, help me to be careful what words I say aloud, but also what words I say to my own heart, those things that no human being will ever hear. You know them, and I know them. You know my thoughts before I speak them. Help me to guard my heart for it is the wellspring of life. Help me to think about what is good and excellent and true and praiseworthy. Help me to take sinful thoughts captive and make my thoughts obey you. I recognize that I am unable to do this on my own. I need Your strength. Please help me do it for Your glory and for my good. In the name of Jesus Christ who saved me and redeemed me and rules over me, I pray. Amen
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 99, 1 Samuel 26
Imagine for a moment being in David’s shoes. Your very life is in danger, as you’re being hunted down by the father of your best friend, a man who had once been your advocate, and was now your king.
I’ve been in some tough spots before, but never anything like that! Talk about fighting against the wicked.
But David handles this battle with patients, faith, humility and kindness. Once again David overcomes evil with good – like he had earlier against Saul and like Abigail had in the previous chapter.
Next time you find yourself locked in a battle with an enemy, whether with or without a spear, try killing them with kindness, try showing them grace, and see what happens.
Today’s reading in 1 Samuel really reminded me of Psalm 37. Hope this reading blesses you – or better yet, go read it for yourself!
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