2 Samuel 15; Psalm 114; Romans 15

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 show him He has not abandoned him, for Hushai, God’s agent to answer the prayer, shows up immediately afterward. (vv. 32-37)

Psalm 114: Was it necessary for Israel to be saved out of Egypt for there to be such miraculous manifestations in the natural world? No; so why do it in such a dramatic way? So that the salvation of Israel would be unforgettable and result in praise to God forever.

Romans 15: As Paul has indicated, his life was full of miraculous events, including smiting Elymas with blindness, (Acts 13:8-11), rising after being stoned, (Acts 14:19-20), raising Eutychus from the dead, (Acts 20:9-12) and surviving the snakebite, (Acts 28:3-5). How did Paul hear from the Lord? Sometimes it was through a vision (Acts 16:9, 18:9), sometimes an appearance of Jesus Himself, (Acts 23:11) or an angel (Acts 27:23). Here in Romans 15, do we have evidence that he was also being given special, personal application of the Scriptures as he read? I think so. He’s justifying his ministry by quoting the Bible, as in Romans 15:9’s quote of Psalm 18:49, but also his call to preach the gospel where no one had yet heard of Jesus, by referencing Isaiah 52:15. Interestingly, this passage is clearly talking about Christ as the Suffering Servant, as the verse before pictures Jesus in his marred visage; but Paul sees the next verse as the outcome of what Christ as done, and is called to be the agent of that. In a similar way, I’ve sensed such personal application when I am moved to be desperate to hear from God, and seen the application of the call to a work or a clarification open for whoever is willing. In many cases, I think the call is open to the willing.

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