July 20-24

“Return the Ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then He will bring me back again and show me both it and His habitation. But if He should say thus, ‘I have no delight in you,’ behold here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.” II Samuel 15:25-26



Monday
I once wrote a proverb that said, “If faith is in our mouth, we will find our foot there less often.” If ever there were a man who exemplified that truth, it would be David! Our week begins with David’s escape from his son Absalom. Absalom has worked hard at stealing the hearts of the people and usurping his father’s authority. One can only wonder how and why this young man had drifted so far. There are some hidden clues that can give us a bit of insight.

1. He had lost respect for his father.
Since the prophecy given to David after his sin with Bathsheba speaks of a sword in his family, and Absalom is the fulfillment of that word, could it be that God saw something in Absalom’s heart that caused Him to single Absalom out? Could it be that Absalom held his father in contempt and took on the role of David’s judge? Obviously, he didn’t trust his father to deal righteously with his sister Tamar’s situation.

2. He took on the appearance of authority he didn’t have.
A chariot, horses, bodyguards, all spoke of kingly authority. All of it was self-proclaimed!

3. He portrayed himself as the man with all the answers.
“If only I were judge, I would do what is right!” How often do we find that attitude? How often is it found in ourselves?!?

4. He portrays himself as one of them.
His false humility gave the people the sense that they were his equal and therefore understood their problems more accurately.

5. He used religion when it suited his purpose.
He told his dad that he was going to Hebron to offer sacrifice to the Lord to fulfill a vow.

Insubordination, which is the fruit of rebellion, is always at the heart of insurrection! And yet David doesn’t rise up to his own defense. He leaves his judgment to God. Now that’s real faith!!! Even when Shemei is throwing rocks and cursing David, he is willing to wait and see if there is any truth to his judgment. David knew something extremely important in regards to cursing! Curses can only come in where there is an open door. Listen to David’s words.

“Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses today.”

There is a principal regarding cursing that is found in this account that we would do well to remember. A curse spoken on someone who is righteous will not take hold, but will return upon the one who spoke it! There are times that God will have someone speak bitter word against the righteous, not because they deserves it, but God knows the curse will come back on the on speaking it. They are literally cursing themselves!!!

Tuesday
We have two Psalms on the agenda today. There is no question in my mind that Psalm 3 belongs in this part of our journey, but I am certain that Psalm 63 does not. It belonged with David’s exile in the wilderness when he was avoiding Saul. Once you have finished your reading for the day, go back to Psalm 63 and see if you can find the reasons this is placed incorrectly.

Wednesday
Today we watch a father’s grief. Obviously Joab was not a grief counselor and did not understand why David was so overwhelmed. Joab was correct in his words that David needed to pull himself together and address his men properly, but his rebuke brought no healing to David. I’m not sure anyone’s words could have done that. David is seeing the fruit of his deeds. Nathan the prophet had spoken God’s judgment several years earlier – the son of his infidelity would die as an infant and the sword would take the other. I am certain that this was David’s inspiration when he ordered his generals to deal gently with Absalom. He realized that this was a result of his doing. May we always remember that some sins have long-lasting consequences!

Once again we see Joab take the life of someone he felt threatened by, and this time it was his own cousin. If you have never done so, I would encourage you to go back to I Chronicles 2:12-17 and make a family tree of David’s relatives. It will be a great aid to understanding why David made some of his decisions.

Thursday
Once again, we hear David sing a song to his God, his Judge, his Defender, his Refuge! Time doesn’t begin to allow me to dissect the story of the Gibeonites. As many of you recall, I’ve written a book on that one!!!

The battles with the 4 Philistine giants give us a glimpse into David’s waning strength. The whole ordeal with Absalom had taken its toll. Until that point, we had observed a very robust David, but there are some things that can age a person. Fortunately for David, God gave him rest from his adversaries and the fear of David and the strength of his kingdom spread to the nations.

Friday
David’s song of salvation brings our very busy week to a close. May its words of declaration and praise sweep over your soul and bring you peace. I’m sure they did that for David!