Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
– Zephaniah 3:14-17 ESV
Verse 14 tells Zion to rejoice and exult with all her heart, and then verse 17 says that the Lord rejoices and exults over Zion. Rejoice, rejoice. Exult, exult. I understand “rejoice,” but what does “exult” actually mean??? (Am I the only one who doesn’t use or understand this word?)
I looked it up in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, as well as Etymology Online and Strong’s Concordance I learned that the English word “exult” comes from the French word “exulter” which means to rejoice exceedingly, or literally to leap about. And I learned that the Hebrew word שָׂמַח śāmaḥ means to rejoice and be glad. Ok, so “exult” means to rejoice!
Exult means to rejoice exceedingly.
So today when I read 1 Kings 1, the word “exalt” jumped out at me, “Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him” (1 Kings 1:5 ESV) So I was off again to check the dictionary as well as Strong’s Concordance and Etymology Online. According to Merriam-Webster, exalt means to raise in rank, power, or character, to elevate or glorify. It can also mean to raise high or enhance or intensify the activity of something. That specific Hebrew word מִתְנַשֵּׂא miṯnaśśē’ is only used one other place in the Bible, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11 ESV) In studying the etymology of the word, I latched onto the Latin word root, altus which means high because it reminded me of the word altitude.
Exalt means to elevate, glorify, or lift high.
Jesus and his disciples had quite a lot to say about who exalts whom. I am certain that Jesus would have some harsh words for Adonijah exalting himself as king, getting for himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him (like his brother Absalom had done before him. (See 2 Samuel 15:1) It reminded me of Proverbs 27:2, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips.”
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11 ESV)
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (Hebrews 5:5 ESV)
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10 ESV)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, (1 Peter 5:6 ESV)
So, I’m asking myself, “What am I exulting in?” and “Who am I exalting, myself or my Lord?”
Heavenly Father, You are the source of my joy. I rejoice in You and the power of Your might. My hope and joy are in YOU. Help me, Father, to exalt YOU, to lift you HIGH, to elevate Your name, to honor You with my life. I pray that I will heed Paul’s words from Philippians 2, that I will do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count other more significant than myself, looking not only for my own interests, but also for the interests of others. For this is the example that Jesus Christ, the God-man, has given to us, that He humbled Himself even to the point of death on a cross. Therefore He was highly exactly and bestowed with the Name that is above every name, that someday ever knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We lift You high, Father. We exalt You and magnify You for You alone are worthy of our praise. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Have you ever had those days when you want to say to your growing children, “But, honey, it was me who changed your diaper. It was me who got up with you in the middle of the night. It was me who bathed you and dressed you. It was me who sang to you and rocked you to sleep. It was me who washed your skinned knees when you fell down in the driveway. It was me who brushed the knots out of your hair. It was me who taught you to sing the ABCs and count to ten. You should listen to me.”
God has those days with us, too.
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.
Hosea 11:1-4
God hasn’t given up hope for His children, and we shouldn’t either.
Heavenly Father, please, draw our hearts back to You. Discipline us with Your rod of kindness and woo us with Your love. Lead us with the cords of kindness and hold us fast with Your bands of love. And Father, please, draw our children back to You. Discipline them, too, with Your rod of kindness and woo them with Your love. Lead them with the cords of kindness and hold them fast with Your bands of love. Teach us how to parent them with love and grace and humility and gentleness and courage and firmness and truth. Make us parents after You. Teach us how to be godly mommies because You are the perfect daddy. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Perfect Example of all things we pray. Amen.
The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built;
as his country improved, he improved his pillars.
Hosea 10:1 ESV
God has given us every good gift to enjoy. He has blessed us with heat and sunshine and air to breathe. He has given us homes to live in and children to fill them. He has blessed us with abundant food and wealth. He has given us eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds to comprehend. Yet, what do we do with all of these gifts?
Do we enjoy them or neglect them? Do we praise Him or take credit for them?
When was the last time you thanked God for the children sitting around your table or clinging to your legs?
When was the last time you took a leisurely walk outside and thanked God for the blue sky and warm sun?
It seems that the more full our homes and lives become, the less interested we become in the Lord. Why is that?
Why would the Lord bless us with more if it will just turn our hearts away from Him? It is His mercy that keeps us begging for our daily bread. It is His mercy that makes us hunger for the gift of a child. It is His mercy that keeps us dependent on Him for a roof over our head and money in our bank account.
My word for 2024 is “Enough.” Is the Lord enough? YES! He is! Has He given me enough? YES! Yes, He has! My cup overflows with His love and grace and goodness.
Heavenly Father, Help me to be faithful in the little things that You might entrust to me more things. Help me to be thankful for every single little gift, the birds that sing before the sun rises, the wind that blows gently through the trees, the sound of trickling water. Thank You for giving me eyes that see and ears that hear. Thank You for giving me a mind and heart that know You. Thank You. You are enough. You are more than I need. In the Name of Jesus Christ who redeemed and delivered me. Amen.
If I asked a class of third grade students, “Raise your hand if you love ice cream.” I bet every hand would shoot up. 🙋🏿♀️🙋🏻🙋🏽♂️🙋🏼♀️🙋🙋🏾♂️
But if I then said, “Raise your hand if you love Brussel sprouts,” I’m quite sure I’d get a very different response. Even if I followed it up with words like, “They are really good for you! They’re high in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.” Still, it’s a no. 🙅🏽♂️🙅🏼♀️🙅🏻🙅🏿♂️🙅🏻♀️🙅
It is only logical to love ice cream. It’s sweet and creamy and delicious.🍦😋 But Brussel sprouts … They are more of an acquired taste, suited for a more refined palate. 🥬 😝
I’m afraid that I sometimes think I’m naturally easy to love. I’m afraid sometimes I forget about all my prickly, hard to love spots. I’m afraid I see myself as ice cream, rather than Brussel sprouts.
When God tells the prophet Hosea to go love Gomer, a woman who chases after other men, refusing to remain faithful to her husband, I’m afraid that we all think we’re Hosea, not realizing that we’re actually Gomer. We are that adulteress, that whore, that woman who abandons her true love to pursue idols, and God is Hosea, the faithful One who again and again chases after His bride, pulling her out of the pig slop. 🥴🐖
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10 ESV
Love covers a multitude of sins.
Love is not irritable or resentful or rude.
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love forgives.
Love never ends.
Love is steadfast and patient and faithful.
God loved us while we were sinners, and He calls us to go and do likewise.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your steadfast, patient, faithful love toward me. Thank You for pursuing me, though I didn’t deserve it, though I don’t deserve it still. I’m not worthy, but You are. You deserve better. You deserve chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry on top. And yet You have demonstrated Your love by sending Your own Son to be the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice, the substitutionary offering, for my sin. Praise Your Name forevermore. Amen.
Had they stopped observing the feasts and Sabbaths?
They had forsaken Him by making Him one god on a buffet of gods. They had forsaken Him by worshipping both Him and Baal. They had forsaken Him by offering themselves to other lovers in addition to the Lord God.
Friends, we can have a dozen coworkers, a dozen children, and a dozen friends, but we can only have ONE husband and he can only have ONE bride.
A good husband refuses to share his bride with other men, and our good God refuses to share His bride with other gods.
It is not enough for us to make God the biggest god in our life, or the most valuable idol that we have. He can’t be our “favorite” husband. He wants to be our ONLY husband. He wants ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He wants to be our everything. He is either Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all.
God despises adultery of all forms, especially adultery toward Him. God wants our whole heart. He is a jealous God. He will not share His glory with another.
Exodus 34:14 ESV — (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV — For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Isaiah 42:8 ESV — I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
Heavenly Father, You are a good husband who loves His bride and refuses to share her with another. I pray that we would be a loving bride, rejecting all other things who vie for our attention. I pray that You would be the apple of our eye, the center of our attention, the singular focus of our lives. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our redeemer, Amen.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”
Amos 8:11 ESV
Would I rather worship or wander through Wally World?
Would I rather scroll through the truth of the Word or the foolishness of Facebook?
Would I rather skip my daily dose of carbs or the daily bread of the Lord’s presence?
Would I rather sit in a pew or sit on a couch?
Would I rather be in the front row of a church or the front row of a concert?
Would I rather listen to the correction of a wise counselor or the consolation of a foolish friend?
Would I rather miss a dinner date with my BFF or a breakfast date with my Heavenly Father?
Would I rather miss my morning cup of java or my morning cup of living water?
Would I rather have an empty belly or an empty mind?
“Sabbath days and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts, that are always afraid of doing too much for God and eternity.
Can we spend our time better than in communication with God?
And how much time do we spend pleasantly with the world? Will not the sabbath be gone before we have done the work of it and reaped the gains of it? Why then should we be in such haste to part with it?
They were fond of market-days: they longed to be selling corn and setting forth wheat. When they were employed in religious services they were thinking of their marketings …
Those are strangers to God, and enemies to themselves, that love market days better than sabbath days, that would rather be selling corn than worshipping God.”
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Amos 8
Heavenly Father, Align our hearts with Yours. Make us love what You love. Break our hearts for what breaks Yours. Give us a holy hunger. Make us hunger for what is healthy and right, what is pure and true. Make us sick over what makes You sick. Give us discernment to recognize what is truly lovely and what is a joy stealer. Help us spot the counterfeits, the deceptions, those things that masquerade as beautiful and give us hearts that hunger and thirst for righteousness for Your Name’s sake. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, the One who meets our every need, the well that never runs dry, the unending source of living water and the eternal bread of Your living presence, we pray. Amen.
Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
Amos 7:14-15 ESV
God chose fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. God chose shepherds like David, Moses, and Amos. God chose tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus.
It’s not what you do from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, or what family you were born into, that matters. It doesn’t matter how educated you are, or how much money is in your bank account. God calls and chooses whom He will according to His own plan and purpose.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ESV
God chose Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a prosecutor of Christians, to write these words,
“[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”
Titus 3:5 ESV
And to the church at Ephesus,
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10 ESV
Heavenly Father, You didn’t choose me because I was rich or powerful or good. I wasn’t. I was a simple college student, a blasphemer and opponent of the gospel. I was Your enemy, slandering You and hurling insults at Your children, yet You plucked me out of the miry clay and planted my feet on the rock. You called me in spite of myself. Thank You. Thank You. Father, please, help me to love and pursue others like You loved and pursued me. Help me to love my neighbor as myself, loving them even while they’re drowning in sin. For the glory of Your Name and the growth of Your kingdom, in the name of Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord, Amen.
At the end of last year we read in 1 Samuel 25:3 that Abigail was both beautiful and discerning (or sensible, intelligent, of good understanding, depending on your translation). Then, earlier this week in 2 Samuel 14:17, the woman of Tekoa flattered King David saying, “my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil.” Next month we will dive into 1 Kings and read about David’s son, Solomon, who asked God to give him an understanding mind that he might discern between good and evil so he could rightly govern the nation of Israel.
How desperately we need discernment! We are indeed surrounded by so many liars and deceivers, men and women who call light dark and dark light, who call good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13). As my pastor said two weeks ago when he was teaching through 2 Corinthians 11, Satan disguises in order to deceive, and I might add he deceives in order to devour. (See 1 Peter 5:8)
Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. He disguises himself in order to deceive us. He deceives us in order to devour us. We must be discerning, distinguishing rightly between good from evil.
We must be wise. Not with the wisdom of the world, but with the wisdom of God. Remember Paul’s introductory words in his letter to the Corinthians, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19 ESV)
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
– Hebrews 5:7-14 ESV
Let me ask you, when did you first receive Christ?
Last week?
Last month?
Last year?
Last night?
Oh, baby Christian, enjoy the sweet, pure milk on the gospel. It has been given to you to help you grow up to full maturity.
But, sister, were you born again years ago, even decades ago? It’s time to grow up into maturity, training your powers of discernment by constant practice.
In today’s passage, 2 Samuel 16, David isn’t a baby believer any more. He’s a grown man who knows God and the truth of His Word. He knows that he ought to inquire of God. God has proven Himself faithful. David needed to listen to the Holy Spirit’s counsel that he might know the way that he should go and who he should believe … and so do we.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word and filling us with Your Holy Spirit. Give us wisdom and lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Help us to discern what is good and right and true that we may run toward it. And help us to discern what is foolish and wicked and false that we may flee from it. In the Almighty, Holy Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer we pray. Amen.
In reading 2 Samuel 12, I noticed how quick David was to say, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,” not realizing that Nathan’s story about a rich man who stole a poor man’s little lamb was about him. How easy it is for me to see sin in others while willingly overlooking it in myself. That reminds me of one of my favorite parts of C. S. Lewis’s book, “Mere Christianity.”
I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man’s actions but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner. …I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man?
But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life — namely myself.
However much I might dislike my own cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself. There had never been the slightest difficulty about it…
Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery. We ought to hate them…. But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere, he can be cured and made human again.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Heavenly Father, Forgive me for being quick to judge and slow to serve. Forgive me for being quick to see the speck in my brother’s eye while being slow to see the log that is in my own. Help me, please, to labor diligently to dig that log out, so that I can help my brother and glorify You, my perfect king. Help me to heed the words of Galatians 6, that I would restore with gentleness my brothers and sisters who are caught in any transgression, helping to bear their burden with humility and wisdom. Give me wisdom to talk to my Christian sisters and brothers with boldness, compassion, love, and empathy, remembering the words of Titus 3 that I myself was once foolish, disobedient, and led astray, a slave to various passions and pleasures, passing my days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another, that I was not saved because of my own righteous works but according to Your own mercy. Help me to remember that apart from Your incredible grace, I could fall as hard and far and fast as David did. It is by Your grace that I stand and by Your grace that I pray. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Have you ever gone to a corn maze (or a sorghum maze if you’re in the south)? I’ve taken my kids a few times and discovered I really don’t like them. I hate how easily one wrong turn can lead you down the wrong path, forcing you into another wrong turn and another, until you finally find yourself at a dead-end where you then have to try retracing your steps to get back where you were 30 minutes ago. I’m just not a fan. How about you?
In reading 2 Samuel 11, I couldn’t shake how many times someone could have made a different choice and changed the whole course of events. Chapter 11 begins with the words, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”
What if David simply had gone to battle instead of staying home?
Then David “arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of his home late in the afternoon.”
What if David had been commanding his armies or counseling his people?
What if David had spent the afternoon in prayer and Bible study?
So often in life it’s how we spend our leisure time that really trips us up!
When we’re worn out, worn down, and trying to relax, what do we do? What do we turn to? Food, Facebook, or the phone? Sex, shopping, or scrolling? How differently things could’ve been in David’s life if he’d spent his afternoon differently.
Then David sees a beautiful woman bathing.
Accidentally seeing someone bathing is not a sin, but what if this wasn’t the first time David had gone up to his roof and noticed Bathsheba.
Had David made an intentional choice to go up on his roof, hoping that he would see Bathsheba?
And what about Bathsheba? Was it really just an accident that she was bathing in the afternoon in such a place that the king who lived nearby would see here?
We don’t know, but how different things could’ve been if Bathsheba had bathed somewhere else or had been more careful to shield herself from David’s view.
And then David sent a messenger to find out more about the woman, and he is told that she is the wife of one of his mighty men, Uriah the Hittite.
Why did David send someone to find out more about her? Was he planning to take her as another wife or maybe a concubine?
But then, I wonder, how did David not know who she was? Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, one of his chosen mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8-9) the daughter of Eliam, also one of David’s chosen mighty men, (2 Samuel 23:34) the granddaughter of Ahithophel, one of David’s chief counselors (2 Samuel 23:34, 2 Samuel 15:12), and she lived near enough to David’s home that he can see her clearly from his roof. Did he really not know who that bathing woman was?
What if David had never inquired of her? David had more than enough wives already. Surely he didn’t need to find out anything about this beautiful young woman.
Next David sends someone to take Bathsheba to his palace and she becomes pregnant.
What if the messenger had refused to help David?
What if Bathsheba had refused to come, preferring shame, imprisonment, or even death to breaking her marital vows?
What if she had fled like Joseph had when Potiphar’s wife tried to get him to lie with her and he ended up in prison? (Genesis 39)
By the way, this phrase, “David sent messengers and took her,” reminded me of 1 Samuel 8 when the Lord warned the Israelites through the prophet Samuel about the troubles that a king would bring upon them. This same Hebrew word for “take” is used again and again in 1 Samuel 8. The king will take their sons and their daughter, their fields and their grain, their servants and their donkeys. And here, David, the king, has taken even the wife of one of his most valuable warriors.
Then David asks Joab to bring Uriah back home, hoping that Uriah would spend some time with his wife, so no one would find out how she had become pregnant.
Like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden after they had taken the forbidden fruit, David chose to hide his sin.
Maybe David was afraid of hurting his friend, Uriah.
Maybe David was afraid of losing his position as king.
Maybe David was simply afraid of losing face.
What if David had come clean at this point and repented of his sin?
What if David had brought Uriah home so that he could confess his sin to him and seek his forgiveness?
Proverbs 28:13 ESV says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Think of how differently this story would’ve ended if David had confessed his sin and sought mercy from Uriah and Bathsheba.
Next when Uriah refuses to go home to be with his wife, then David tells Joab to “set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down and die.” (11:15) and Uriah was killed in battle.
What if Joab had refused to be a party to this?
People might say, “Joab HAD to obey the king,” like they say that Bathsheba had to obey the king.
Don’t believe those lies. You DON’T have to do it. You don’t. Sure, you might get in trouble. Yes, you might face some embarrassment or other consequences, even severe, or life-threatening consequences, but no one ever has to choose sin.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3) because they refused to bow down to the king’s golden idol.
Daniel was thrown into a den of lions (Daniel 6) because he refused to stop praying.
God will always provide a way of escape (even if it’s death) that you may be able to withstand temptation. Read 1 Corinthians 10 for more on this.
David’s sin hurt lots of other people: Uriah, Bathsheba, the child Bathsheba bore, not to mention David’s other wives and David’s other children, as well as Joab and the Israelite army and the list goes on and on. But so does ours.
When we lie or cheat or boast or complain, we hurt other people.
When we think malicious thoughts about others and make plans in our minds to hurt them, we are hurting them as well as ourselves and others. We have got to remember that those people were made in the image of God and when we put our desires above them, it hurts them and it hurts God.
David knew that what he was doing was wrong. David knew the Ten Commandments. He knew it was sin to covet his neighbor’s wife and commit adultery, but he did it and then tried to cover it up. He knew God had said DO NOT MURDER. That’s why he had Joab arrange the murder for him.
Your sin might not look like David’s sin. Maybe you will never get another man’s wife pregnant or have anybody killed, but your sin separates you from God just as much as David’s sin did.
“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Mark 7:21-23
God was displeased with David’s sin, and God is displeased with our sin, too. God made a way for David to be saved, and God made a way for us to be saved, too.
As we will read tomorrow, David’s innocent son died, but so did God’s. God sent His own Son in the flesh, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, to be born as a human baby, to live a perfect and sinless life and to die on the cross to pay the punishment that our sins deserve. And He promises to us eternal, abundant, new life in Christ – AS SOON AS we trust in Him His Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, to be our ever-present help, our ever-present counselor … and for all eternity to dwell in heaven with Him.
David needed to repent, to turn away from his sins, and so do we. The only way we can do that is to place our trust in the Lord and seek Him for strength to overcome temptation moment by moment and day by day. David fell because he had stopped seeking God; his eyes were on earth instead of on heaven.
Let’s pray and ask God to help us to resist the devil and submit to Him.
Heavenly Father, I need Your help. I can’t do it on my own. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. Help me to trust You moment by moment. Help me to be so careful how I spend my leisure time. Help me to get the rest I need so I can be strong in the moment of temptation. Help me to resist the devil and submit to You. Help me to see that way of escape that You will provide for me each and every time. Help me to be in Your Word day after day, remembering that it is my weapon to fight against the devil. Help me to hold up that shield of faith so I can extinguish all the flaming darts that the evil one throws my way. Help me to fasten the belt of truth firmly around my waist and strap the breastplate of righteousness tightly to my chest. Give me the strength and courage I need to stand firm and fight this battle, so that I will not bring shame to Your name. I love You, Lord. You are worth the fight. Death is not the worst thing. Denying You whether in word or deed is. Help me, Lord, for the glory of Your Name. Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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