In our reading from 2 Samuel we start off with a reminder of who King David is,
Verse 1: ".... the utterance of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, the hero of Israel’s songs"
He was anointed by God, can you have a higher position? This beats anything that we see today on TV or online, where positions of power in politics or well known celebrities seem to be looked up to. But these positions today fall far short of being anointed by God like David was.
And yet, we see a few examples of how King David humbled himself and put others before him.
In 23:17 we see how some of David's men risked their lives to bring him water out on the battlefield when David mentions how thirsty he was. David says:
"“Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it...."
Later on because of David's sin, a pestilence came upon Isreal that killed 70,000 men, and David felt he should be punished and not anyone else,
24:17 "When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family"
And lastly, when David wishes to set up an altar to God, a man named Arauna offers to give him everything for free to set up the altar,
24:24"But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing .”
King David could have thought only about himself many times, and the people around him wouldn't have thought anything of it because he was the king, but King David was a man of God and lived out his life that way. He wasn't perfect and sinned like any of us, but his true character came out as well in his unselfish behaviour. This truly showed where his heart was at.
In our reading from Colossians I am again struck by how invested Paul is in his ministry. He puts everything into it and cares deeply how the church is doing. My prayer would be that I would be more like Paul and care more about how others are doing around me.
3 comments:
"I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing."
It wouldn't have been meaningful if David had offered God something that he didn't pay a cent for. Our offerings must cost us something or they will offered carelessly, or with the wrong motive, or thoughtlessly. Just like we feel better after getting paid for putting in a hard day's work, we will also feel better after giving God something that we had to pay for or give up in order to give.
Corinthians 1:10 stood out to me - "so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
To walk in a way that is fully pleasing to God, bearing fruit in everything I do, and to increase knowledge in God. That should be our goal!
16 For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
When we think about how scientists and researchers are still discovering some of the "invisible" things that God has created it is hard to wrap our limited brains around it. I also thought about how this recent election was determined and that God already knew what the result would be. Through all things God can use the significant and the insignificant in ways to make Himself known.
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