Tag: David

Do You Feel Like You Are Drowning?

July 8, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

My two youngest boys are grown and have families of their own. When they were ten and twelve, we took them to the beach on an uninhabited island at a Texas State Park. At one point, I looked up and they gone. I found them far from the beach; they were to my eyes but specs in the water. They had been wandered far from shore. When I called, they struggled to return, fighting a riptide. I swam towards deeper water, yelling for them to swim at an angle towards me, instead of straight to the beach.

In the Bible water is often synonymous with chaos, sin, or evil. In the beginning, the earth was formless, void, and full of darkness… Chaotic.

When the nation of Israel escapes Egypt, God not only defeats Pharaoh, he defeats the waters. For Christians, the next generation crossing of the Jordan symbolizes the passing of life and entering life eternal.

Baptism took on new meaning for us with the resurrection of Christ. It came to symbolize our death and burial with He who saves us and our subsequent resurrection.

In the psalms, water represents our enemies, physical or spiritual. In the Psalm 69, the enemy is represented as deep waters, mire or muck, a raging flood, and an abyss. David has come to an end of himself. He is helpless, powerless, outnumbered, accused, and (vs. 19) guilty.

We too must come to the end of ourselves before God may act in His fullness. Paul says it best in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Do you feel like you are drowning, like you are ready to die? Give it up. Surrender to Christ, and He will make you alive. For when you are weak, He will be strong for you.

Fear Not 365, For God Will Show Us Kindness For Christ’s Sake

April 25, 2017 by ChristianHolinessDaily Leave a Comment

Mephibosheth was born into the royal family of King Saul in ancient Israel. To be precise, he was Saul’s grandson. His father was Jonathan. He was only five years old when his grandfather gravely sinned and fell from power. During the transition of power from King Saul to King David, nearly every one in Saul’s family was killed, including Mephibosheth’s father. The boy had been hidden away by his nanny, but he was injured when they fled – the nanny fell with him – and Mephibosheth spent the rest of his life unable to walk.

Jonathan and King David had been close friends, and, while it was out of David’s control, the death of his friend greatly disturbed him.

Years later, in God’s perfect timing, David approached a man who had been one of King Saul’s aids. He asked the man if Saul had any descendents remaining.

The man told King David about Mephibosheth, who was now grown, and still unable to walk.

David asked the man to bring Mephibosheth to see him.

When he came before David, Mephibosheth fell on his face.

David called him by name.

“Here am I,” said Mephibosheth, “your servant.”

David adopted him into his own family. He welcomed him to his table, the king’s table.

Like Mephibosheth, you and I were hurt by a fall. In our case, it was not the fall of our nanny, rather the fall of all mankind through Adam. Mephibosheth could never walk again, while you and I are unable by our own strength to walk in righteousness.

Like he, we were exiled, unworthy to sit at the King’s table.

Because of the covenant that David had made with Jonathan, David went looking for even just one descendent who remain alive and found Mephibosheth. Because of the Covenant of Christ, God went looking for and found you and I.

When Mephibosheth entered the presence of King David, he bowed before Him, knowing that he was worthy of Death because he was in the line of Saul. He felt that he did not to deserve to be in David’s house because he could not walk. He knew that he had no standing in the court. You and I, of our own merits, are unworthy to be in God’s presence and humbly bowed before Him.

God called Mephibosheth by name. He calls us by name. He calls us to repentance.

Because of David’s love for Jonathan, Mephibosheth was adopted into the family of David. He was given a place at the King’s table for a long as he should live. We, too, have been adopted into the Family of the King. We have a place at His table.

So David said to [Mephibosheth], “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake…” 2 Samuel 9:7

Fear Not, for God will surely show us kindness for Christ’s sake.

Fear Not 365 -For God Hears…

February 25, 2017 by ChristianHolinessDaily Leave a Comment

Not long after King David turned his throne over to his son, Solomon, along with the job of constructing the temple, he died.

God appears to the young King Solomon and says, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

God is no magic genie that we should ask anything of Him, but, in this case, He does exactly that: He offers Solomon his heart’s desire.

You and I could probably not be trusted with such a wish, but Solomon had learned well from watching the failures of his father. He does not ask for wealth, or power, or love. He knows that riches may lead to evil, and excessive power could lead to abuse. Lust leads to infidelity, and sometimes to death. Instead, he asks for wisdom.

If we look back to 1 Chronicles 22:12, we read that David had prayed that God would grant Solomon wisdom and understanding. In chapter 1 of 2 Chronicles, God answers David’s prayer and grants great wisdom to King Solomon.

Much of Solomon’s wisdom was eventually recorded in the Bible, in the book of Proverbs. One proverb that catches my attention is 15:29, which reads,

The Lord is far from the wicked,

But He hears the prayer of the righteous.

– NKJV

I wonder what Solomon thinking when he wrote that proverb? Did he think of that prayer, the prayer of his father, asking God to give Solomon wisdom? Was David perhaps the righteous man Solomon thought of when sharing that piece of wisdom?

If you’ve stayed with me to this point, you may see a paradox here. In one paragraph I suggest that Solomon learned from his father’s failures, and in another I propose that David was the model for the righteous man praying.

This is really no paradox. Both may be true. You see, there exists no truly righteous man but Jesus Christ. Not David, not Solomon, not Peter, not Paul; none are righteous. With a broken heart and true repentance, David sought forgiveness for his sins. By faith, he learned to trust in God, and by faith, through the sacrifice of the Son of God, he was found righteous in God’s sight. In the same way, you and I, through faith in Jesus Christ, can be counted righteous in God’s eyes.

It took David most of his life to develop the faith necessary to live a holy life. I can relate. I’m not there yet, but I am finally headed that direction.

By the way, James refers to Solomon’s proverb, and his thoughts contain sound advice for the Christian journey:

…confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

– James 5:16 NIV

FEAR NOT, for God hears the prayers of the righteous.