Inside Out Living

Ever since the kingdom of Israel became divided under Rehoboam (1 Kings 12), the kings of both Israel and Judah led God’s people through a downward spiral of idolatry and disobedience. This had resulted in Israel no longer being a major player on the world political scene as it had been under David and Solomon. We see in Jeremiah 37 that the only relief Israel had from the Babylonians was when Egypt threatened to attack. While this gave Judah some hope, Jeremiah was quick to point out that trusting in Egypt was a false hope.

False hope can be quite devastating. As we see in the Old Testament, anytime God’s people trusted anyone or anything other than the Lord, it resulted in a false hope. I think this is a key lesson for us to glean from the Old Testament. Anytime we trust someone other than the Lord, including ourselves, for our salvation or for the strength to battle temptation, it will result in tragedy.

Solomon inherited a peaceful kingdom from his father David. Early in his reign Solomon and his people enjoyed living in peace (1 Kings 4:24-25). In all his wisdom, Solomon did not realize that the success of his Kingdom and the peace that he and his people enjoyed was dependent upon his obedience to the Lord.

As we read today, Solomon’s life and reign as king became increasingly more complicated as his heart wandered from the Lord. He was constantly building new and different shrines and altars as he attempted to keep his many wives happy. Then there were the political issues and the Lord raised up different adversaries to Solomon.

Instead of chasing religion like Solomon, we ought to be more like the blind man in John 9, who experienced healing at the hands (and spit) of Jesus. When he was questioned about the one who healed him, he said, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner, but I know this; I was blind, and now I can see” (John 9:25).

Psalm 22 is another psalm of David or the beloved one and, once again, it is prophetically speaking of the Messiah. This psalm is so interconnected in the life of the Messiah that the first line was spoken by Jesus as He hung on the cross.

The four gospel accounts give us information on the details of Jesus’ crucifixion, but Psalm 22 allows us to enter into His emotions as He hung on the cross. And as we look, we see an overwhelming trust in the Father’s will and a dependence upon Him for deliverance.

You may be wondering, how does this relate to me? Remember that Jesus possessed full humanity, including emotions and free will. The crucifixion was when Jesus was at His lowest point. He was physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually drained. He was dying a criminal’s death having done nothing wrong, and yet we see Him continuing to praise the Father and trust in Him. How do you respond when you are at your lowest? Will you still trust and praise God when all hope seems lost?

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given, they all died anyway…” (Romans 5:12-14a).

Absalom’s death was tragic and unnecessary. It deeply impacted his father, David, as is obvious from the narrative. Had either David or Absalom made some different choices, this tragedy could have been avoided.

The reality is that this instance of death and pain is representative of human life and history. Death was not a part of God’s perfect creation. Rather, death was introduced into the human race as a result of Adam’s sin. Death is wrong and this is why we grieve when it happens.

The hope that we have in Christ is because He defeated sin and death through His redemptive work on the cross (Col. 2:13-15).

We have all been there. We are at our lowest moment and someone says or does something to make it even worse. This must have been how David felt as he was fleeing Jerusalem and endured the insult from Shimei. How tempting it must have been to let Abishai kill Shimei. However, David exercises self-control and humility in not retaliating against Shimei. Not only did David exercise restraint at this moment, but he practiced forgiveness when Shimei met him at the Jordan River as David returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 19:18b-23).

How do you respond when you are wronged? Jesus forgave those who put him on the cross (Luke 23:34). Stephen forgave those who stoned him (Acts 7:60). Scripture teaches us that there is a connection between receiving forgiveness and extending forgiveness (Luke 6:37; Mark 11:25; Matt. 6:15).

So how do you feel about forgiveness? Are you willing to forgive like David and others did? Would you rather take revenge and even the score? Do you trust in God’s ability to judge rightly and work it out according to His will when you are wronged?

“Don’t be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows “ (Galatians 6:7).

David loved the Lord, but he also made his share of mistakes. Even though he was quick to confess his sin, that did not remove the consequences for his sin (2 Samuel 12:14).

Now, from this point on, David’s kingship takes a downhill turn especially within his family. As is apparent from today’s reading, David was no longer in control of his sons and had failed to instill in them a fear of the Lord. David’s mistakes were catching up to him, not just his sin with Bathsheba, but other sins related to fathering and mentoring his sons were having an impact now.

Sin has real consequences. While we cannot blame our sin for everything in life, much of the pain and grief we experience results from our own sinful choices and actions. Are you living with the consequences of past sin? Pray and ask God for strength and wisdom to deal with those consequences appropriately.

“If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1 John 1:9).

King David sinned. It wasn’t just a simple sin, but a messy one of lust, sexual immorality, deception and murder. It was the kind of thing that anyone would look at and agree was wrong. How is it that a man who did all of this can still be referred to as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) in the New Testament?

Confession.

David was not perfect and neither was Saul. However, the way that each responded to being confronted for their sins was markedly different. Saul was defensive and blaming others, but David responded with a soft heart and quickly confessed.

Practicing regular confession is a key element to a healthy relationship with Christ. How do you respond to the realization that you have erred in some way? Remember David’s words in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.”

The devotional from last Saturday (9/13) was about how David fulfilled his covenant promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to his son, Mephibosheth. Today, we have been reminded of this act in the reading. As we think about this today we are going to consider David’s treatment of Mephibosheth in light of God’s treatment of us.

Mephibosheth had done nothing to deserve the kindness that David showed to him. It was an undeserved gift. Mephibosheth was the benefactor of David’s decision to fulfill his commitment to Jonathan.

God is not contractually or morally bound to save anyone. Based on our actions, we are all deserving of his judgment. For our sake, God has chosen to extend grace to all who come to faith in Jesus Christ. “God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The theme for this week is sin. I know it is not very glamorous and not so fun to think about, but it is a reality that we all live with. This week’s readings have us right in the heart of David’s kingship. We will see him at his highest point and his lowest point during this week.

Some of the topics we will think about are judging, depravity, confession, forgiveness, consequences and death. Because of our broken nature, sin permeates our lives. We live with the impact of sin all around us. I hope that through the devotionals and Bible reading this week, you will have a better handle on how to manage the impact of sin in your life.

Today's Devotional

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2).

Making judgments about others comes natural to human nature; broken, fallen, sinful human nature that is. While, as Christians, we are not to ignore sin in the lives of our brothers and sisters, this action is always to be done in love (Eph. 4:15), aiming towards repentance (Gal. 6:1), and after proper self-reflection (Matt. 7:3-5).
In today’s reading we see David’s wife, Michal, make a quick judgment against David on an issue that did not involve sin. Unhappy with how David chose to worship the Lord before the Ark, she condemns David for this action.

These are the types of judgments that scripture teaches are not for us to make. When we pass judgments on others’ actions that are not clearly defined as sin by scripture, we are usurping God’s role as the righteous judge and ruler over all humanity. Instead of judging, we are to leave room for God to work.

Jonathan and David had a special friendship. Chapter 20 gives us a little insight into how close the two were. Unlike his father, Jonathan was not jealous for the throne of Israel, but recognized that the Lord was with David. Thus, as part of their covenant of friendship, Jonathan asked David to continue to show “faithful love” to his descendants even if Jonathan died. David accepted this responsibility as part of their covenant.

Have you ever made a promise without thinking the consequences through? I think all of us as parents have done this at some point. So, how many of our promises are we to keep? If the Lord is the standard for righteousness, then we are to keep them all, for “the LORD is faithful to all His promises” (Psalm 145:13 NIV).
What did David do about the promise he made to Jonathan? 2 Samuel 9 tells us that David, in fact, kept his promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to his son, Mephibosheth.

Are you willing to keep your promises like David did? What about when no one is watching? Do you still keep your promises then?

David never did wrong against Saul, but he was constantly the object of Saul’s jealousy. Saul made multiple attempts to kill David or to have him killed by others. However, we recognize that David was innocent in all of this and never lost his integrity. So why the constant attacks? Why did David have to call out to the Lord for help and protection when he was innocent?

The reality is that innocence and integrity don’t always protect us from personal attacks and accusations from people. Our innocence and personal integrity will eventually come under attack as no result of our own.

How are we to respond to such attacks? David did not take the opportunity to exact his revenge against Saul (1 Samuel 24:1-7), but rather allowed the Lord to take care of His enemies. He called out to the One who judges rightly to deliver him out of the situation.

May you, like David, seek God first when your innocence and integrity come under attack.

Saul was caught red-handed. He had again disobeyed the Lord and was confronted by Samuel for his actions. His response to Samuel’s confrontation was worthy of an Academy Award. In verses 15 & 21 Saul declares that ‘the people’ are the ones who spared the animals, and then he further justifies the sin by adding the spiritual benefit of sacrificing the animals to the Lord. It takes Saul three times before he admits to Samuel his wrongdoing.

You do not have to be perfect in order to maintain integrity. This is what the discipline of confession is for. Saul was unwilling to admit his sin and to ask for forgiveness. A person of integrity does the exact opposite. David was a prime example of this. David was not perfect, but when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his affair with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah, he confessed immediately. Both Saul and David made mistakes just like you and I. Are we going to respond like Saul, denying the sin and blaming others? Or will we respond like David with a soft heart that is quick to confess?

This morning I was watching the Today show and they had an interview with the mother of the little girl who submitted a false essay to win a contest for Hannah Montana tickets. Turns out the mother actually helped the daughter write the essay. They now claim that they didn't know that the essay had to be factual and that they didn't intend to mislead anyone. Are you kidding me?

Now I don't really care about the tickets what really bothers me about this is the dishonesty and the unwillingness to just admit that they were wrong and got caught. For crying out loud she had a lawyer with her on the Today Show interview. There isn't even an ethical delimma here, there is no grey area for this mother to hide in. Even those among us that live in a land of moral relativism can clearly see that this deception was wrong regardless of their intention.

The Bible is very clear that this type of deception is wrong and is not approved of by our heavenly father. We are to let our yes be a yes and our no be a no. Basically meaning that we are not to deceive. You can also look at Ananias and Sapphira in the NT to see how God feels about deception. Another great example is King Saul in the OT when he spared the king of Amalek and some of the animals when God commanded him to utterly destroy everything. He reluctently took responisibility but it was too late. Compare Saul with King David who later when he deceived the nation by his sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah the Hittite was immediately repentant when confronted by the prophet Nathan.

Ethical standards are important for every person but especially so for Christians because we represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is also clear in scripture that God has an expectation of ethical behavior. Bear in mind that there is grace and forgiveness when we sin, but we need to acknowledge that sin and ask for forgiveness.