The Field is the World (Matt. 13:38)

June 30 : Even the simple can be made wise by opening God’s Word to them. (Ps 19:7; 119:130 ) Unfortunately, Solomon seems to have neglected this in the case of Rehoboam. The Pharisees thought of themselves of people who knew the Law, and yet, they were even worse off, in that they obscured it to themselves through their tradition. Am I doing anything like this? In what ways do my ignorance and tradition obscure my understanding and keep me and my son from wisdom? 1 Kings 11-12 : What was Solomon’s reaction to God’s third speech to him in 1 Kings 11:11-13? Does his banishment of Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:40) indicate that he connected the two? What instructions did he give to Rehoboam, the man who was the answer to his worry in Ecclesiastes 2:19? There doesn’t seem to be any record of this.  (Or are we to assume all of the “my son” instructions in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes  apply  to Rehoboam?)  With 700 wives, how many sons did he have? Did he appoint Rehoboam? Or was R...

June 29 : Again in these three readings I see the paradox between the will to awaken and the need to be awakened by God. Solomon had so much leverage at his disposal, every advantage of having seen the outcome of David’s faithfulness; yet his life became a downward slide despite his wisdom. It’s not just the power to see what is right or the power to do what is right that is needed, but the will, which is also part of God’s work within us. (Philippians 2:13) 1 Kings 9-10 : These two chapters continue the magnificence of Solomon’s kingdom. His annual income was the equivalent of 1.4 billion in today’s dollars. Israel enjoyed peace and wealth. Like people who follow England’s royal family, they were probably pleased that Solomon’s throne was so unique and spoke of such wealth and power. The grandeur of the Temple spoke of the high regard for God, and Solomon’s prayer was being answered in that people from other nations sought the Lord because of the fame of Solomon and his kingdom. God e...

  June 28 : What if David and his descendants had fully seized upon the Davidic Covenant and made Zion the shining city on a hill that it was supposed to be? Could it have been possible that, as Solomon had longed to happen, ALL the people of the earth could've been drawn to know the God of Israel? How would Messiah have come to holy "one-world Israel?" With full knowledge of Who He was, would they have willingly sacrificed Him, knowing it was the only way everyone could be saved? It seems like the dispensations and covenants are all designed to teach us about our fallenness, but is there not an ideal for each? At any rate, we're so well-provisioned for bridging from felt needs to real needs with the narratives, the songs, the parables, and clear teachings of God's Word. 1 Kings 8 : Eleven times, "toward" appears in this passage. Solomon stretches his hands toward heaven, asks God to take notice of him and the Temple, to listen to his prayer toward thi...

June 27 : In Matthew 18:7 Jesus says, "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" It then goes on to speak of things that cause offenses as if they are our own hand, foot or eye. I see a potential double application in the way it's done: the offenses most often come from our own walk, our own hands or our own temptations, and we'd do better to excise them than indulge them. The church is also a body with many members; and offenses come through those members, even to little ones. It'd be better if we were thrown in the ocean that for us to do so. Far better for Solomon, for instance, to live more modestly. Far better for us to take no offense than to endure greater affliction due to our own susceptibility. 1 Kings 6-7: In the transition from 1 Kings 6 to 1 Kings 7, is there an implication in the statement that Solomon's own house took him 13 years to build? With all the op...

June 26 : The quality of faith is a tremendously winsome one in another person. It causes us to have an attitude of abundance, which allows others to trust us and see us as established by God. When we're territorial or adversarial, selfishly-ambitious, we're suspect. Self-release and trust in the Lord at the risk of status and reputation has the opposite effect. 1 Kings 4-5 : Does 1 Kings 5 hint at the difference Solomon's wisdom has made in his kingdom's foreign policy? Solomon says God has given him "rest on every side" in contrast to the wars which were about David on every side (vv. 3-4). Yes, it is God's gift, but was it God's gift through Solomon's statesmanship? His magnanimity to Hiram seems to imply shrewdness in dealing with other nations. Does not some of the competition and mistrust among nations have to do with concern that an unstable and/or untrustworthy government is in place? One way God established Solomon was to cause surroundi...

  June 25: Even at the height of Israel’s glory, there was so much carnality. The Pharisees wanted to be seen as a contrast to carnality. They believed the right things and purported to do the right things: yet their bankruptcy was sealed when they rejected Jesus, the embodiment of what their Scriptures declared. How are believers in today’s more morally compromised age to be better prepared to see what God is doing? Only through maintaining an ongoing connection to the Mind of Christ, who loves us and wants to show us what He is doing. The Psalms are worship, so they reveal Him in ideal form. Dwelling on His perfections is one way of avoiding any thought of our own. 1 Corinthians 14:20 tells us, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” Although children have their own form of malice, it takes sophisticated pharisaism to rationalize such direct opposition to the Christ of Scripture while utilizing the Scriptures to...

 June 24 : How we need the work of the Spirit in our lives! Like our surface understanding of the Old Testament narratives, without God arresting us, giving us insight and empowering us, we can oversimplify events in our own life, at once setting ourselves up for disappointment with a too-optimistic expectation of “victory unto victory” or a too-hopeless picture of unrecoverable failure. Our limited knowledge of the Northern Kingdom makes it difficult to picture faithfulness among them: Idolatrous calf-worship at the extremities of the land, all wicked kings, rebellion and captivity. Yet it was the Northern Kingdom about which God said, “I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18) Hopeless as any situation may sound, God can make a way. 1 Kings 1 : David is in sharp decline as 1 Kings begins, and we see something of the intrigue going on in his kingdom as a result. Was Adonijah tr...

  June 23 : It’s ironic that the Old Testament accounts of God look so vengeful to people today and their own ways so enlightened and merciful. The truth is that we’re living in a time of greatly reduced sympathy for others. The rule of man apart from God’s input ends up endorsing selfishness and hedonism. These pursuits don’t end in happiness for the pursuer and inevitably result in a wake of wounded people following a person, as they take advantage of one another. 2 Samuel 24 : Does 1 Chronicles 27:23 give more insight into exactly what sin David committed in numbering the people? Was he “checking up on God” to see how well He was keeping what David saw as His end of the bargain? Joab seems to understand that his heart isn’t in the right place, (2 Samuel 24:3). Yet even in this incidence of impulsiveness, David changes course and acts wisely again in confessing and repenting and throwing himself on God’s mercy. Psalm 119:17-32 : How does God’s Word “transform” us “by the renewi...

 June 22 : We’d all like to be admired, and thought to be a better person than we are. But what is most important? That God gave us promises we can claim; we can only claim them if we hear His voice and look deep down inside ourselves and admit, yes, I’ve been a sheep that has gone astray; that describes me. And then, in faith, seek His certain promises for that. This becomes a sure and certain hope, an anchor for the soul, (Hebrews 6:19), a foundation for one’s life, (Matthew 7:24), that God loved the world so much, including me, that He sent His only begotten Son to be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness, so that whoever believes on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.  2 Samuel 23 : Who wrote these last words of David? Was it Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud? (2 Samuel 20:24) There’s a great deal of awe aroused at the recounting of the exploits of the heroes who walked with David; but what is in the first person? What did David want to be remembered for? Th...

June 21: Although the sin which so easily besets me and weighs me down grieves me, I am assured by such unconditional promises as John 3:15-18. At the same time, I’m greatly troubled about those who are so unable to forgive themselves that they end up constructing anti-biblical frameworks to blame God for their sin, or worse, redefine their sin to claim it is acceptable to God despite his explicit condemnation of it. In simple form, we have the rebellion of Cain after being discovered: am I my brother’s keeper? My depravity is more than I can bear. What had been God’s counsel? “If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Through these besetting sins, satan means to master us; we must learn to subdue them instead. 2 Samuel 22 : This chapter parallels Psalm 18. Verses 21-25 (Psalm 18:20-24) are jarring, given what we’ve just gone through with David and his family. He claims his righteousness and cleanness were the reaso...

June 20 : "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) We learn as much, maybe more, from the mistakes and missteps of others in Scripture as from their heroic successes. The Bible thankfully shows its characters warts and all, which makes the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish, shine that much more brightly. 2 Samuel 21 : In this passage, David has to deal with the fallout from Saul having attacked the Gibeonites, (an Amorite tribe) , breaking the treaty Joshua and the Israelite elders made with them in Joshua 9. In that passage, the text's editorial comment is that they sought not the Lord's counsel. (Joshua 9:14) What if they had? There wouldn't have been this famine in David's time, there wouldn't have been a gentile tribe living in  Israel. Going back further, the events at the conclusion of the book of Judges might have have shaken out ...

June 19 : Like Adam’s rebellion against God, Absalom’s rebellion couldn’t be put down by just the death of the rebel. Sin cost everyone; yet God’s enduring mercy kept manifesting itself to David, as He had promised, until ultimately his greater Son completely satisfied the debt we all owed because we could not do so. 2 Samuel 20 : Absalom’s death seems to have defused a a chaotic situation before it could really cause too much destruction. How can you continue a rebellion when the rebellious heir has been extinguished? Sheba shows us how: find a way to express the core thought of every dissatisfied person in Israel. It ends with Amasa slain by Joab’s treachery and a city in Israel barely escaping destruction through the giving up of Sheba as he takes sanctuary there. Psalm 118:1-16 : What does it really mean to say the LORD’s mercy endures forever? This Psalm begins by urging the reader/worshiper to give the LORD thanks for His goodness and everlasting mercy. Then it begins with the ...

June 18 : One comedian we recently saw joked that God allows us to feel what He feels when we raise a child in our own image who grows up and rebels against us. It’s cute but true in a way that God allows us to feel something of the pain of broken relationships with the children we produce. We long for reconciliation but we can’t violate our own principles and know that there are boundaries we must maintain, though we would die for a restored relationship with our children. 2 Samuel 18-19 : David’s lament over his lost son hits the reader in a visceral way: why? You’re all wrapped up in the scandal of the rebellion. You’re feeling concern that David will be destroyed and the kingdom will be divided. Then all of a sudden there’s deliverance, but you realize the cost: the deep pain David felt over his son’s death. He was so careless about the death of Uriah the Hittite, though he had been among David’s elite guard, the mighty men: “Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devou...

 June 17 : As Ecclesiastes 7:29 says, “God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” (The word is used for weapons of war.) We find, if we are unwilling to humble ourselves and seek God’s face, that all we’ve done is aim our catapults at ourselves. Why did Adam and Eve cover and hide? Why did Cain flee from God’s presence? Why did Ahithophel choose the death of one accursed of God, the death of Haman and Judas? (Deut. 21:23) Why did Jonah oppose God but then turn and repent? The promise of God is clear: the worst of sinners can humble themselves, seek God’s face, turn from our wicked ways and call on His name, be healed and find rest. 2 Samuel 17 : Why does Ahithophel so quickly lose hope? He was wise, but not faithful. He was bitter and unforgiving over David’s great fall, because it was a personal offense and a great shame, for he was the father of Eliam, the father of Bathsheba, (2 Samuel 23:34, 11:3). He was wise enough to see the hand of the LORD in the...

 June 16 : We walk in such a hostile and deceptive world; and we need good counsel. Everyone has a bold critic like Shimei in their lives, and a subtle flatterer like Ziba. There are always opportunities to be drawn aside into a false way. It’s why we need to be in the Word daily, seeking counsel of the Lord, and the wisdom to apply it to life. 2 Samuel 16 : In chapter, we see David passively accepting the cursing of Shimei, taking it that it is God’s judgment on him. Is he right in this assumption? How about the assistance of Ziba? Is it genuine? When we come to know a little more about the story of Mephibosheth, it seems Ziba is currying favor with David. In 2 Samuel 9:2-12, it appears Ziba had taken over everything that belonged to Saul, and David restored it to Mephibosheth and made him a servant again. We find in 2 Samuel 19:24-30 that it was a slanderous report, and Mephibosheth was very grieved that David had gone into exile. If Hushai the Archite had remained with David, wo...

June 15 : What keeps us from hearing God? Self. Sometimes it’s apathy, passivity, laziness, as it seems was the case with David until God’s judgment came upon him. Sometimes it’s stubbornness, rebellion and bitterness over our circumstances, as it was with the Hebrews of the Exodus in the wilderness. Sometimes, as Isaiah says in 6:9-10, it’s a chastisement of God, that we have a fat heart, heavy ears and closed eyes; but it's a "giving over to" type of judgment—letting us alone that we may do what we already want to do. (See Matthew 13:14–15; Acts 28:26–27; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; Romans 11:8) May God send a desperation to hear Him to our hearts. 2 Samuel 15 : At the time of Absalom’s conspiracy, David’s passivity vanishes. He knows God’s chastisement has come on him, and it’s time to move without questioning. (2 Samuel 15:14) Where does he get the faith to pray that Ahithophel’s counsel to Absalom be turned to foolishness? (2 Samuel 15:31) It must be God’s determination to...

June 14 : When Jesus restricted His personal ministry to only Israel, He was fulfilling the promises made to the Patriarchs and laid down in prophetic Scripture. But His interest in the “other sheep…not of this fold” showed how deep His love went: to the most defiled, in the dust and dunghill. In His self-humbling, His love and wonderful grace is shown. 2 Samuel 14 : The drama and intrigue of David’s court is of a very sophisticated sort. We have David’s General putting a wise woman up to act out a parable to David? Was it a manipulation, or was it according to God’s perfect will? Amnon deserved to be put to death, according to Deuteronomy 22:25-27, but it should’ve been according to the law, with an official trial. Should Absalom have done it? No, but David wasn’t doing it. Still, taking matters into his own hands made him liable to civil judgment, and David was obviously unsure of what to do when Absalom fled to Geshur in Syria. So Joab conceived a way for him to be reunited with the...

 June 13 : How much pain and offense could be saved if we consistently lived by the principle of self-restriction in light of every man’s susceptibility to temptation and sin? We’re so frequently shamed into indulgence by the claim that we’re strict, suspicious or legalistic. What if we were better at confessing our faults and making no provision for the flesh? 2 Samuel 13 : The drama that continues to play out according to God’s prophetic word through Nathan has to do mostly with Absalom and David. But what about poor Tamar? What happened to her after these events? She “remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house. Was it perpetual? Psalm 112 : This Psalm is making me think of the Romans 7 passage: "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not… I delight in the law of God after the inward man…” (7:18,22) I can recognize the greatness of God’s commandments - how even in the tr...

 June 12 : Diligence is an important part of our essential nature. It was corrupted by the fall, but it reflects God's own nature (John 5:17) to want to know new things, to assume logical, orderly construction and components to things, and to try to increase order and usefulness. We make ourselves more useful to God when we know our own limits, are able to have a good grasp of the resources available to us , and can subdue and resource them to do helpful, useful things. If it is judging in the bad sense to observe the "field of the slothful" (Proverbs 24) and to "take instruction" then much of the Bible's wisdom literature is vain. It's possible to raise fruitless questions and provoke controversy to gain advantage by manipulation, and it's also possible to be apathetic and passive and fall prey to temptation as a result. Instead, a key part of trusting that God exists and rewards those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6) is to live as if diligence,...

June 11 : As we approach the day Christ returns, if we could only be revived and act according to the power of God, with conviction and evangelistic fervor and righteous living, how many could be saved? So many of the enemies of God use our carnality as “great occasion… to blaspheme” (2 Samuel 12:14) and disbelieve. It’s clear that our failures have consequences and we have much to answer for at the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Samuel 10-11 : Joab’s instruction to the messenger was to tell him about Uriah only if “the king’s wrath arise” but the messenger got to that part of the message rapidly without any mention of David’s anger. Did the messenger know what was going on? Maybe not why it was important that Uriah was dead, but that some kind of conspiracy to ensure his death had taken place. As good a man as David had been, there’s no way to whitewash this chapter: it’s deep selfishness, corruption and treachery against an honorable man. That it is recorded in the Bible tells us somethi...

 June 10 : Have we been doing it wrong? Conservative leaders in the USA have tended to be less vocal about the gospel until recently. It left a vacuum into which leaders espousing policies that are antagonistic to God's revealed will in numerous places. David was vocal about his ventures in faith, his zeal for the worship of the Lord, and God's blessing followed as a signal of God's approval. The Apostles opposed wicked government actions against them and prevailed. 2 Samuel 7-8 : In these chapters, David is moved to build a Temple and God responds by giving him the Davidic Covenant, which points to Messiah’s eternal throne. He then begins to establish David in earnest, allowing him to subdue Israel’s enemies in preparation for the time of peace enjoyed under Solomon. What is the significance of a Temple vs. a Tabernacle? Why the rhetorical questions to David, “Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I broug...

  June 9 : From God’s “breach” on Uzzah, to the imprecations against Judas the false apostle, to the ideal of thorough surrender, from the inside out, today’s passages remind me of Matthew 3:12: "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 2 Samuel 5-6 : Is it significant that the Ark was at the threshing floor when Uzzah was smitten? The threshing floor figures prominently in the stories of Ruth and of Gideon, and later after David numbers the people, it’s at the threshing floor of Araunah. Such a place is where the wheat is divided from the chaff. Uzzah’s presumption is certainly a warning to us all, but is it an indication that he was not what he seemed to be? Psalm 109:1-19 : It’s hard to read this Psalm, knowing that we’re to love those who hate us and pray for those who despitefully use us. (Matthew 5:44) How is such a request for vengeance, even that satan ...

 June 8 : David's unwillingness to execute his rivals and patience in awaiting God's promised exaltation give us such a good model: he's been criticized for allowing Abner to do his dirty-work, but most kings would've gladly done worse. He gives us hope that God will vindicate us without our having to manipulate a situation. Ultimately, Isaiah 63 shows us what "vengeance is mine; I will repay" really means; and we should be motivated to deliver people from such a fate. Let us overcome ruthless evil, not with more ruthlessness but with good. 2 Samuel 3-4 : David is bold in executing the men who murder Ish-bosheth, but what about the murderers of Abner? Even if the guilt for the murders of Abner and Ish-bosheth is not on David’s hands, it seems that as civil authority, it’s his responsibility to punish those murders, and he’s inconsistent in his justice here, protesting his weakness and their severity in 3:39. He does command Solomon to deal with Joab in his las...

  June 7 : As Psalm 107 concludes, “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.” In the end, that’s the most important thing for me to glean from these three passages: that, in contrast to my desire to understand history as a way to better understand what’s coming , it’s better for me to understand history as a (another) way to understand God. It takes wisdom to see God’s mercy and wisdom in accounts that can sometimes appear to be brutal and senseless. I know that He is all-wise, all-powerful and merciful. I need HIs divine interpretation of events to help me see how the plan worked out according to that kindness. 2 Samuel 2 : Things could’ve gone very differently in Israel’s history. What if Saul’s son Ish-bosheth had ultimately reigned over all Israel instead of David? What if tribes or groups of tribes had their own king, like David over Judah and Ish-bosheth over Gad, Asher, Ephraim, Issachar, (Jezreel), and Benjam...

  June 6 : I’m seeing how the people of God experienced both God’s goodness and His severity because of His covenant relationship with them. As Tevye in “The Fiddler on the Roof” says, “I know we’re your chosen people, but once in a while, couldn’t you choose someone else?” And yet, it is this very covenant relationship by which God has obligated Himself to show them mercy when they meet certain conditions and call on His name. This track record of God’s with Israel is what we base our trust in Him upon, and also take instruction on the importance of the conditions. David saw the honor in the love of the son for him, and the TRUE King would have loved him for the sake of His Son. And yet, Saul does still picture God in a way, for Jonathan did experience Saul’s wrath for David’s sake. Israel has experienced a judgment that the Gentiles’ fulness may come in. Even the church has been appointed to persecution, suffering and affliction for His sake—just not, thankfully, the wrath of God...

June 5 : The uniting principle among these three passages seems to be that faith moves us to utterly trust God’s mercy even when it doesn’t look like it’s being extended to us. Hopeless as it looked, David sought the word from God; the Psalmist is urging God’s people finding themselves in the same position that existed under the rule of the oppressors in the Judges to ask for deliverance. Paul evangelizes the pagans even as he hopes his own people see that the word of salvation was always being extended to them and all they needed to do was turn and believe. 1 Samuel 30-31 : What is the decisive contrast between these two chapters? David experiences a great defeat, if not in direct combat; in that his city is destroyed, his wives are taken and some of his men want to stone him. Saul leads Israel to great defeat, in which he and his sons are killed. Saul is in the predicament he’s in because he couldn’t get a word from the Lord so he sought a medium. Why wasn’t he hearing from the Lor...

  June 4 : In Job 34:14 and Psalm 104:29, the authors make the point that if God withdraws His Spirit, we die and return to the dust. In today’s three passages, I see how crucial His continual presence is in my life. He withdrew His Spirit from Saul, and it upended his reign and legacy. He sent leanness to the souls of the Israelites in response to their repeated concupiscence and whining at Him about what He was providing. The religious leaders in Israel by the New Testament times had been purified to some extent of yearning for carnal pursuits and of literal idolatry by the captivity’s exposure to a carnal and idolatrous culture, but they had become religious relativists, taking their extreme fastidiousness about the Law as evidence of their holiness, while ignoring the purpose of the Law, which was to make them dependent upon God, to be ready for His salvation, to long for the true holiness they couldn’t find in themselves. As Paul has said, I have to avoid the ever-present temp...

 June 3 : These three passages raise some deep theological questions when carefully reflected upon. A simple story of conversion followed by "victory unto victory" is not exemplified by most Bible characters. Ezekiel presents Noah, Daniel and Job as prime examples (Ezekiel 14:14). Elsewhere we're told that Abraham was the "friend of God" to whom He spoke as one speaks to a friend (Numbers 12:8; Exodus 33:11). He was the meekest of all men on earth (Numbers 12:3-5), and was in some ways, as a spokesman for God, prototypical of Christ's ministry. (Deuteronomy 18:18) David was a "man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14/Acts 13:22). And yet Noah seems to have fallen short in his drunkenness, (Gen. 9:20-27), Job justified himself at God's expense, (Job 32:1-2), Daniel confessed his sin along with his people's sins, (Dan. 9:20), and David turned aside in the matter of the wife of Uriah the Hittite. (1 Kings 15:5) Chapters 3-9 of Romans dec...