Monday, May 23, 2016

Monday, May 23: 1 Kings 8:54-66, 2 Chronicles7:1-10, 1 Kings 9:1-9, 2 Chronicles7:11-22, 1 Kings 9:10-28, 2 Chronicles8:1-18 by Pamela

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is

Scripture: 1 Kings 9:4-7  
And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,  then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

Observation: God can, and will, use us despite our shortcomings and failures.

Application: God says to Solomon "as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness," Really??!! Did David ALWAYS walk with integrity of heart and uprightness??? No. Not always. Probably one of David's most famous examples of not waling with integrity of heart and uprightness was his relationship with Bathsheba.  This commentary suggests that David made five major mistakes during his interactions with her.
1. His first mistake was that he shouldn’t have even been where he was to see Bathsheba.
2. He looked at Bathsheba and didn’t immediately look away.
3. David ignored him and “sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
4. He sent word to Joab to have Uriah come to Jerusalem and have him be with his wife to thing that he got her pregnant instead of David.
5. David finally conspired to have Uriah killed by sending a letter to Joab, the commander of the forces, to have Uriah placed in the forefront of the battle and then have the forces drawn back to ensure Uriah would be killed

 And yet, despite David's failures and mistakes, God promises Solomon that if he walks like his father David did then he will gain all the things God promised David. Even though David was in the wrong place at the wrong time, even though David submitted to lust over logic, even though David ignored warnings and pursued what was not his, even though David tried to cover up mistake, and even though David planned and executed a murder plan, God still calls Solomon to walk in the way David walked.

So just how did David become someone that God called out as an example for Solomon to follow? David repented. David admitted his mistake. David asked for forgiveness and then tried to live in the way God called him to. God used David's mistake to provide the opportunity for the birth of Solomon and through Solomon and his descendants came Jesus. God used David's sinful lust and mistake to create a genealogy of sinful, and yet forgiven people, for Jesus.

However, like father, like son Solomon too in all his God given wisdom fell short and sinned and had 700 wives and 300 concubines that he allowed worship other gods and build temples to those gods. God is a God of promise keeping and when He said: But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,  then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. He meant it and Solomon became the last king to rule a united Israel. This summarizes it:

According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon is the last ruler of a united Kingdom of Israel. He dies of natural causes[16] at around 80 years of age. Upon Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, succeeds him. However, ten of the Tribes of Israel refuse to accept him as king, splitting the United Monarchy in the northern Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, while Rehoboam continues to reign over the much smaller southern Kingdom of Judah. Henceforth the two kingdoms are never again united.

We can't escape the consequences of our sin but we can an example to others by the way we live after repenting. Unfortunately, despite our example and our warnings people are free to make their own choices. They too, however, are not free from the consequences of those choices.

Prayer: Lord, we are imperfect people in need of a Saviour. Remind us often that our sinful nature is not the end of the story and that we can be an example and an important part of your plan in spite of our shortcomings. Thank you for your plans and using us to fulfill your purpose. Amen.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:

1 comment:

Tammy said...

So true that repentance is the difference, and yet also will not spare us certain consequences. Sin and it's effects, are never trivial.