Month: September 2021

God gives us free will to make decisions and our choices often reveal our hearts (God already knows our hearts).

Some of us dislike having to take decisions but we all have choices to make and they shape our lives. David had to take an unexpected decision (no warning was given) and flee from Jerusalem with his whole household. One minute he was the King ruling over the nation and the next he was living rough in the Judean countryside with a whole company of people. HE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO ARRANGE EVERYTHING AND TAKE ALONG ALL THEY NEEDED, IT WAS A FORCED EXIT. David had lived trusting God in the wilderness, usually leading a company of people. He was thrust out again without warning and had to leave at once and trust God. Some of us may suddenly find ourselves in very unexpected situations, but don’t despair God is still with us. It may be difficult for a time and we may be uncertain what to do, but He’s with us. 

WHEN WE DON’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS THAT’S WHEN WE LEARN TRUST!

¹⁵ Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s confidant, went to Absalom and said to him, ‘Long live the king! Long live the king!’ 2 Samuel 16

Ahithophel was a key man, he was the only one named of all those who entered Jerusalem with Absalom. Then we have Hushai, David’s confidant, sent to frustrate Ahithophel’s advice.

²⁰ Absalom said to Ahithophel, ‘Give us your advice. What should we do?’

²¹ Ahithophel answered, ‘Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened.’

After David sinned with Bathsheba, God told him that what he’d done in secret and tried to cover up, God would do to him before all the people. 2 Samuel 12:11, 12 So Absalom followed Ahithophel’s advice and God’s word was fulfilled.

Then Absalom asked Ahithophel how he should attack David and those with him.

Ahithophel said to Absalom, ‘I would choose twelve thousand men and SET OUT TONIGHT in pursuit of David. ² I would ATTACK HIM WHILE HE IS WEARY AND WEAK. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would STRIKE DOWN ONLY THE KING ³ and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.’ 2 Samuel 17

The advice was good, but for some reason Absalom sent for Hushai and asked for his advice. He gave conflicting advice, as David had instructed and Absalom and the elders accepted it instead of Ahithophel’s.

We need to be careful who we take advice from and more importantly we need to pray and ask God to direct us. It’s so easy to follow the Majority, but often they don’t have the leading of the Spirit.

¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, ‘The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.’ For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

God didn’t let Ahithophel’s advice stand, it would have been too dangerous for David and those with him. No matter how clever the wicked, God and God’s man will prevail.

God bless and keep you and make His face shine upon you today and give you Peace.

How we react in difficulty may reveal who we truly are inside. Will we retaliate/lash out in anger or endure abuse? 2 Samuel 16

David had fled Jerusalem, once more the opposition was too strong for him, but he’d live to fight another day.

The first man mentioned in 2 Samuel 16, was Ziba, Saul’s servant and his grandson, Mephibosheth’s steward. Ziba arrived with welcome supplies as David was beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives. This must have been a great encouragement for David and those accompanying him.

He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.

² The king asked Ziba, ‘Why have you brought these?’

David was a king who questioned those who came to him; people’s motives were exposed in his presence. (When Samuel went to anoint Saul’s successor, God told him not to look on the outward appearance, for God looks at the heart) David wanted to know why people had behaved as they did, their heart motives.

The next man to appear was Shimei, a man from the same clan as Saul’s family.

His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out (he was so angry that he was cursing coming out) ⁶ He pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David’s right and left. ⁷ As he cursed, Shimei said, ‘Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel! ⁸ The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul,

Ziba came with supplies to refresh those fleeing from danger and soon after Shimei came cursing, throwing stones and dirt. Jesus said, ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone’. John 8:7 Will you and I be known in the Kingdom as those who encouraged and supplied the weary OR as stone and dirt throwers? Will we like Ziba or as Shimei? The difficult situation revealed them both. Are we seeing this playing out in the world around us now?

David the man after God’s own heart refused to allow Abishai, a leader of his troops to cut down Shimei. He made an interesting remark,

¹¹ David then said to Abishai and all his officials, ‘My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjaminite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. ¹² It may be that the Lord WILL SEE MY DISTRESS AND REPAY ME WITH GOOD FOR THE CURSING I AM RECEIVING TODAY.’

David bore the curses and the humiliation alongside all his other difficulties, but he also looked to see if God would bless his forbearance. David didn’t retaliate, he just let the man curse. God may see and bless us too if we react as David did under duress.

God bless and keep you today.

Many times David had to choose ‘Flight not Fight’ because of stronger enemies, but he knew God would restore him if He was pleased with him. 2 Samuel 15

In the world today many have a ‘gung-ho attitude’, we’ll sort it or them out, no matter how big the problem. This attitude is present in the Church as well, but we often see David asking God SHOULD HE GO UP AND FIGHT? He always wanted to be sure God was with him (¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. Exodus 33:15)

Absalom began to actively promote himself among the  people;

And Absalom would add, ‘If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.’

… and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

Absalom mounted a huge charm offensive and the people began to turn to him, but it was all for himself, he wanted the throne. In listening to many speakers today, including some in the Church, we will often hear the words ‘I and me’. It’s their ego speaking, demanding praise and honour for themselves. My wife Anne (it’s her birthday today!) had an elderly spiritual mentor, Ruby, who spent many years ministering to the poor in Dundee, Scotland. She had a close with walk with the Lord and gave ‘straight talk’ when needed. She once said after listening to someone on a phone, ‘Me, me, bloody me’, she knew their real interest was themselves. BEWARE OF THOSE WHO TALK TOO MUCH ABOUT THEMSELVES, EVEN UNDER THE GUISE OF RELIGION!

⁷ At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, ‘Let me go to Hebron and fulfil a vow I made to the Lord.

Absalom made a religious pretence of worship but was about to make His move to seize power.

¹⁰ Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, ‘As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, “Absalom is king in Hebron”.

He also tricked 200 men into accompanying him to Hebron and sent for Ahithophel, David’s counsellor to join him. Absalom had planned his move carefully and after a four wait he moved to take his father’s throne.

David seemed to have been caught unawares and had to flee with his family and those remaining loyal to him.

¹³ A messenger came and told David, ‘The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.’

¹⁴ Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, ‘Come! WE MUST FLEE, or none of us will escape from Absalom. WE MUST LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.’

David told everyone with him to get up and leave at once, no time to pray or debate. The enemy was too powerful and David was still looking to the Lord and later said;

29 If I find favour in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling-place again.

Believers in many countries today have had to work in secrecy and flee when pursed by anti-Christian forces. David lived to fight another day and regain his throne because he followed the Lord. It’s very dangerous to follow anyone obsessed with increasing personal power, in place of the Lord’s Kingdom.

God bless and keep you today.

Though David had become undisputed King of all God’s people, he still faced personal and public challenges. We shouldn’t think that one day everything will function perfectly as we wish. God has not made us to be independent but rather dependent upon Him and one another. David faced challenges until the end of his reign.

Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. ² So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, ‘Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. ³ Then go to the king and speak these words to him.’ And Joab put the words in her mouth. 2 Samuel 14

Joab knew the King longed for his son Absalom. He may have been a favourite, or maybe David was was regretting that two of his sons were no longer with him, we don’t know. Once again we see someone close to the seat of power plotting to influence the situation around the leader. Today people often pay lobbyists a lot of money to promote their cases to those with influence in government, to get their own way.

Joab had this unnamed woman stand before the King and present a fictitious case about her two sons. One son had killed the other and some people wanted to take the life of the remaining son, ‘They would put out the only burning coal I have left’. 2 Samuel 7 David told her that he would see that no one harmed the surviving son. But then she spoke further, about the King’s own situation;

¹³ The woman said, ‘Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?

She said that David had granted her son mercy, but hadn’t done anything to help his own son, Absalom. A powerful verse follows in the conversation;

¹⁴ Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. BUT GOD DOES NOT TAKE AWAY LIFE; INSTEAD, HE DEVISES WAYS SO THAT A BANISHED PERSON DOES NOT REMAIN ESTRANGED FROM HIM.

God will do everything He can to bring even the most wayward people back into relationship with Him – He is not a vengeful tyrant. Think about the thief on the cross with Jesus, or the Parable of the Prodigal Son. God devises ways to bring people back to Himself, not always the way with His Church.

David realised that the whole situation had been contrived by Joab and eventually agreed that his son Absalom could return to live in Jerusalem after three years in exile.

²¹ The king said to Joab, ‘Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.’

²⁴ But the king said, ‘He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.’ So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.

It would be a further two years before Absalom would be welcomed into his father, the King’s presence. Disputes, even within families, or between close friends can take a long time to be settled.

God is still looking for ways today to draw people back to and closer to Himself. Remember the price Jesus paid for everyone to have relationship with God – the reconciliation after man’s sell out in Eden.

God bless and keep you today.

Jonadab’s crafty scheme and Amnon’s sin against Tamar, opened the door of violence within David’s family and throughout the kingdom. 2 Samuel 13 & 14

²² And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar. 2 Samuel 13

²³ Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 NASB

Whatever we continually dwell on in our hearts, our inner beings, will eventually surface in our lives. Absalom carried hatred for Amnon in his heart and was determined to get revenge on him.

²³ Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep-shearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. ²⁴ Absalom went to the king and said, ‘Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?’

Absalom asked the king to join him at shearing time but David declined; then he asked for Amnon and the king’s sons to come. David consented and the trap was set (just as it had been for Tamar, two years before). Absalom told his men to wait until Amnon was intoxicated and then kill him, which they did. He’d kept his anger hidden for two years and now he took revenge. His inner life must have been full of anger and bitterness throughout this time. Another verse from Proverbs 26:27 reads,

²⁷ Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;
    if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them. NIV

²⁷Malice backfires, spite boomerangs. MSG

Basically, we’re going to reap what we sow. Don’t let destructive things/thoughts take root in our hearts, because sooner or later they’ll manifest in our lives.

David initially believed all his sons were dead (we shouldn’t accept important things without checking them, very relevant today!) but the crafty man Jonadab told the king it was Amnon who’d died.

³⁴ Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.

³⁷ Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son.

³⁸ After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there for three years. ³⁹ And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.

Absalom fled to his mother’s father and stayed there for three years; reminiscent of Jacob fleeing to his mother’s brother, Laban, after stealing the blessing. He’d got his revenge but his whole life had been disrupted, he had to leave his family and his home. He probably didn’t care because he was so bent on getting revenge on Amnon. David had really lost two sons, Amnon was dead and Absalom was gone. God is always ready to forgive, may be hard for some to accept, and He alone is the giver of life.

For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ Hebrews 10:30

Keep your heart free from bitterness and malice, THEY BEAR BAD FRUIT.

³⁸ Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you. AMPC

The Lord has promised to bless those who bless and with the same measure that we bless. Why not sow into Father’s Love Ministry today and reap His blessing, it’s a sure promise. Donate now on our webpage;

fathersloveministry.co.uk

We are also available to seek the Lord for personal words of encouragement and direction for those who want them. A donation is normally required for this service. We can also provide counsel online for those who want it.

God bless and keep you today.

Illegitimate longings can land us in deep trouble if left unchecked. 2 Samuel 13

The account of Amnon’s desire for his brother Absalom’s sister, Tamar, is such an example. He was lovesick for Tamar and it was noticed by his friend Jonadab, ‘a very shrewd man’. Amnon explained his dilemma and Jonadab suggested a ruse for Amnon to see Tamar. He pretended to be ill and when his father, King David, visited him, he asked that Tamar be sent to make him some food. The trick worked and Tamar was sent to his house to feed him as he’d requested. From the outset Amnon used lies and trickery, suggested by Jonadab, to have Tamar sent to his house. Just because a scheme gets us what we desire, doesn’t mean it’s valid. There’s much scheming and plotting in our world, but someday God will call Time on it all.

⁷ David sent word to Tamar at the palace: ‘Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.’ ⁸ So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. ⁹ Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.

Amnon never wanted the bread Tamar made for him, he desired Tamar herself and she was alone in his house.

‘Send everyone out of here,’ Amnon said. So everyone left him…¹¹ But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, ‘Come to bed with me, my sister.’

Tamar resisted and told Amnon to ask the King for her hand in marriage, but he wouldn’t wait and so he forced himself on her.

¹² ‘No, my brother!’ she said to him. ‘Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing… Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.’ ¹⁴ But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

Tamar should never have been alone with Amnon, but she’d obeyed King David’s command. A shrewd man had devised a scheme and unfortunately David hadn’t seen the danger to Tamar. This incident was the start of God’s judgement on David for the illicit taking of Bathsheba and killing Uriah, her husband. Now Amnon, another member of his house had committed a similar sin and David was unwittingly part of it.

As soon as Amnon had taken Tamar, he didn’t want her anymore.

¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, ‘Get up and get out!’

Amnon threw her out of his house, he no longer wanted her. How fickle our feelings can be, full of desire one minute and loathing the next. How many times this has happened in relationships today. That’s the reason why people getting married in church have to verbally commit to each other in public and before God. We live in a society that has been corrupted in many areas, but God’s love still reaches out to help us.

May we find His love and forgiveness in our lives today.

We can ‘burn with anger’ at the sins of others and be guilty of the same things ourselves. 2 Samuel 12

The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to confront David – his sin with Bathsheba had to be exposed. Nathan told David a tale of a rich man (David, with Much) and a poor man (Uriah, one pet lamb). The rich man had taken the poor man’s only lamb (Bathsheba) for himself.

⁵ David BURNED WITH ANGER against the man and said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.’

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, ‘YOU ARE THE MAN!’

David was judging injustice, but IT WAS HIMSELF. Sometimes God has to send others to reveal to us what is in our own hearts. The prophecy wasn’t exactly what had happened but contained the truth, God may speak in parables to us.

Nathan then pronounced God’s judgement on David AND HIS HOUSE (sin always affects those around us!).

⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you despised me (All sin is ultimately against God!) and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’

Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die (God was merciful to David). ¹⁴ But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.’

David confessed what he’d done and God was able to forgive him and remove his sin, but there were still consequences for him.

The child became ill and David pleaded with the Lord for him. He fasted and spent the nights lying on the ground before God, but on the seventh night the child died.

‘Yes,’ they replied, ‘he is dead.’

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

David ‘got up from the ground ‘, it was time to move on. Some of us may need to acknowledge God’s Sovereignty and release our situations into His hands. David STOPPED MOURNING, washed and refreshed himself, worshipped and moved on. Verse 20 may be important for some of you reading this.

David explained his reasoning to his servants;

²³ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

God blessed David and Bathsheba with another son, Solomon, David’s successor (the Lord named him Jedidiah, loved by the Lord!) The Bible says the first son V15, borne by Uriah’s wife, but V 24, David comforted his wife, the scriptures confirmed Bathsheba was now David’s legitimate wife and Solomon was born his son.

God bless and keep you today.

A Cover-Up gone wrong! David took a wrong path while he was alone and not leading his men. 2 Samuel 11

A brief summary might read something like this;

Saw (Bathsheba bathing)/ Slept with her/ Silenced or Slew Uriah, her husband.

It was Springtime and David sent Joab and the army out to make war; the Ammonites (see yesterday’s blog) were defeated and their capital city, Rabbah, besieged. (Amman in Jordan today)

There are two important ‘Buts’ in the first and last verses of chapter 11.

1 ‘But’ David remained at Jerusalem.

David, for once, didn’t go out with his men. He was alone, out of his routine and environment and he looked at something he shouldn’t have. David’s palace overlooked the houses below and he saw a beautiful woman bathing. So begins the Bible’s account of David and Bathsheba, God didn’t cover the truth about his servant.

From the roof he saw a woman washing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her.

However, in the course of time, Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant. David’s infidelity with Bathsheba would now become known and he had to decide what he was going to do. There’s always a ‘Key Moment’ in any situation where we are faced with taking a decision that will determine the course of our future, good or bad! OFTEN WE WILL BE DRAWN TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT, OR THE QUICK SOLUTION. THAT MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT WAY FOR US AS BELIEVERS. It wasn’t for David!

David decided to try and arrange the Cover-Up, but he only compounded his guilt. He commanded Bathsheba’s husband to be sent to him, hoping that he would sleep with her and that the child might be passed off as his. Uriah was an honourable man and wouldn’t go to his wife while the troops were on the battlefield. He was also one of David’s Mighty Men, a trusted servant of the King. David got Uriah drunk but he still wouldn’t go to be with his wife. David then wrote a letter to Joab, to arrange for Uriah to die in battle. Uriah carried his own death warrant back to the battlefield.

Joab carried out David’s order and he was killed during the battle, along with some other troops.

²⁴ Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’

Uriah had been killed as David commanded and his wife, Bathsheba mourned for Him. After the period of mourning was over, David took her as his wife, it seemed all would be well. However, there was a second ‘But’ in the tale, an ominous one.

²⁷ After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. ‘But’ the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

Even on the human level we believe the Cover-Up has worked, but actually more people may know the facts than we’re aware. The old saying, ‘Truth is the best policy’, is often right today.

God bless and keep you always.

Stand Firm, don’t give way to fear and anxiety, God knows you and loves you. He will help you, turn your face to Him.

The battles that should never have been fought – when friends turned to foes. 2 Samuel 10

The death of an ally, Nahash, the King of the Ammonites was to lead to Israel fighting two major battles, against various foes. David had thought to show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as Nahash had to David. Kindness usually begets kindness, but on this occasion, a well intentioned action led to major battles. The cause of it all was ‘Misinformation’ from the new king’s advisors. He may not have had enough experience to realise what he was getting into, but following the spiteful advice he received was disastrous. What we sow today we will surely reap tomorrow, one of the Laws of the Kingdom.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7

David sent a delegation to Hanun with his condolences, but the nobles advising him accused David of spying on the city and greatly humiliated the men.

⁵ When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, ‘Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.’

David showed sympathy to his men, who had been mistreated through no fault of their own. Sometimes we too may be unjustly treated and it might be good to take some time to pause and recover our composure, rather than reacting at once, in anger. We may avert a much greater conflict by taking time to consider.

This situation quickly escalated into major warfare. I once heard a speaker in a meeting saying that, ‘war costs money’ (and lives). The Ammonites hired/paid for;

‘they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob‘.

Joab and his brother Abishai, the leaders of Israel’s armies were the next people David sent to Ammon, it could have been so different, but now they prepared for battle. Israel were confronted on two sides, so Joab divided the army between his brother and himself. Right before the battle began, he made an interesting comment;

¹² Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.’

Sometimes we don’t have a choice, we are faced with the battle. There’s no time to consider what to do, we have to GO TO ACTION AND TRUST THE LORD FOR THE RIGHT OUTCOME. That was the position in which Joab found himself – but God gave Israel victory.

Ammon withdrew into their city and Joab returned to Jerusalem, however, Ammon raised another army and faced Israel once again.

¹⁵ After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped.

¹⁷ When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. ¹⁸ But they fled before Israel,

David himself was finally drawn into the conflict and crushed the Arameans;

¹⁹ When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them.

So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.