Thankfully, there weren’t only kings and priests, but prophets, too, who kept on speaking for God. The volumes we call 1 and 2 Kings are the third and fourth parts of a narrative beginning in 1 and 2 Samuel. They continue the saga of the kings who ruled over Israel from the dying days of […]
Read More… from February 12, 2024 — Introduction To The Books Of Kings
“Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,…and…you were bought at a price” (1 Cor 6:19-20). As we come to the end of 2 Samuel, it’s time to connect some dots. When David looked out his palace window to the north and saw the destroying angel, where was he standing? […]
We’re usually very poor at counting what really matters. Wise people let God keep the score. Thank the Lord for the Chronicles! How they can clarify things! Here’s an example. “The anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah’” (2 Sam 24:1). […]
Why is this chapter vital? Real people are involved! Real challenges are faced! Real victories are won! There are four catalogs of outstanding people in the Bible. Hebrews 11 emphasizes walking in faith. Nehemiah 3 records those working in faith. In Romans 16, we have Paul’s gospel co-laborers witnessing in faith. Here (with 1 Chron […]
Last words should be intensely meaningful, a distillation of the lessons that life has taught us. “These are the last words of David” (2 Sam 23:1). Being uniquely positioned to describe how a shepherd boy became a king, David pinpoints the characteristics of a man after God’s heart. He is a man who understands both […]
We might not expect a soldier to also be a songwriter, to lay down his lance and pick up his lyre. David always understood the spiritual dimensions to the battles he faced. Notice in this song of deliverance his understanding that God was there for him in every skirmish. Yes, He “always leads us in […]
Read More… from February 5, 2024 — David’s Song Of Deliverance
Someday, beloved, the last of those monsters that bedevil us will be laid low. Count on it! Did you think we had heard the last of the Philistines? No, some enemies just keep rearing their heads. David, now well on in his 40-year reign, “grew faint” in battle (2 Sam 21:15). Enter Ishbi-benob (meaning, “his […]
Today’s episode provides a great opportunity to audit our own spiritual records for unpaid bills. Here are some unresolved accounts in David’s life. First, we read of “a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord” (2 Sam 21:1). Why did it take him three […]