like a Rock

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 22

mark this: 2 Samuel 22:2-4 --
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.


In the Bible, relationship with God is life: those who are saved will forever be with God!

The unsaved don't die in the sense that they cease to exist. They continue to exist forever, but they die in the Biblical sense--they are forever separated from God.

Life, then, does not consist of breath or consciousness. Life consists of God.

When we have a right relationship with God restored through faith in Jesus Christ, we are enabled to really live.

David, the great poet, recognized God in all the experiences of life. Our chapter today--nearly word for word the same as Psalm 18--celebrates David's deliverance from his enemies and from death:
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Through faith in Christ, we also have been rescued from spiritual death at the hands of our enemies.

The more we study the Bible, the richer and deeper its words become. "The LORD is my rock" has some poetic meaning to the person unfamiliar with scripture; a rock is permanent, unmovable. But the Bible student who has followed the Rock, Jesus Christ (1), as He rolls all the way through the Bible--from Genesis to Gethsemane to Golgotha to glory--is blessed with a richness of meaning far, far beyond the mere natural understanding of a physical object.

So call upon the LORD Jesus Christ, the Rock. Build your life upon Him (2). So shall you be saved from your enemies.

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(1) see 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; (2) see Matthew 7:24-25

no respecter of nations

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 21

mark this: 2 Samuel 21:1 --
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, "There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gib'eonites to death." (2Sa 21:1)


I don't fear what other nations might do as much as I fear what God might do.

What I fear in America are the choices of Americans--choices in lifestyle; choices in the voting booth. I fear our choices concerning God's standards, God's Word, God's Son.

America in so many ways has chosen to withdraw from God. What I fear is that God, no longer able to acquiesce to our choices, will have to withdraw His hand of blessing and protection over our nation.

What I fear is that God will keep His Word. In fact, I know He will.

Our scripture today indicates that God deals with nations. God judges nations. God holds nations responsible--it does not make any difference what nation it is. God judged Egypt. God judged Babylon. God judged Assyria, Greece, and Rome. And God will judge America.

His judgment, as indicated in our passage today, need not be dramatic. It wasn't lightning and thunder, fire and brimstone, earthquake or plague which overtook Israel. It was not something at all. It was a famine--a lack of something--which overtook Israel. God had withdrawn His blessing.

I certainly do not know if God's hand of blessing over America has been withdrawn. What I know from scripture is that God is no respecter of persons (1): if he judges Sally, he'll judge Sue. And He is no respecter of nations: if He judges Israel, He'll judge America, too.

He judged His very own Son--the apple of His eye (2)--when my sins were placed upon Him at the cross.

Any sins--personal or national--not placed upon Jesus through faith will be judged. God's Word says so.

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(1) Acts 10:34; (2) Zechariah 2:8

Jesus only

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 19:40 -- 20:26

mark this: 2 Samuel 20:11--
"...whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!"

You follow Jesus, but do you follow Jesus only?--
When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only (1).

People have a tendency to link Jesus with political or social issues. Beware of linking Jesus with anything or anybody. This bad linkage might take the following forms:

"Real Christians are Republicans. Jesus would have been a Republican."
"Speaking in tongues is the true evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit."
"(My denomination) teaches the truest doctrine."
"Any disciple of Jesus must reject evolution."
"How can you drive a Hummer and call yourself a real Christian?--they are environmentally irresponsible."
"Jesus hates rap and rock 'n roll."
"No real Christian would ever smoke, drink, go to movies, hunt deer, wear make-up, etc., etc."

Whether the statements above are true or not is beside the point. The question is, do you link Jesus to anything other than Himself?

Don't fall for nations or denominations; preachers or teachers; bloggers or loggers; trends or friends; schools or rules; fashions or passions; FOX or CNN; Republicans or Democrats; Limbaugh or Obama; Protestants or Catholics; labor or management; capitalists or socialists...

Read your Bible. It is the only way to get to know Jesus. But even the life-long Bible student is often surprised by something Jesus does or says in scripture. We learn never to presume what Jesus would think on any issue unless it is explicitly stated in scripture.

"What would Jesus do?" I'm not always sure. But God has sent his Holy Spirit to guide us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake (2)--the very same Spirit who guided Jesus out of Nazareth into the desert, through Cana to Capernaum, through Samaria to Judea, to Jerusalem, to Gethsemane, to Golgotha, to glory.

Along that pathway we will get to know the real, the only, Jesus.

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(1) Matthew 17:8; (2) Psalm 23:3

the King is more than enough for me

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 19:9-39

mark this: 2 Samuel 19:24-30



[If you haven't met Mephibosheth, look here.]

Remember, Mephibosheth is you and I. All the time David was gone, Mephibosheth was sad. He longed for the King to come back.

The redeemed, purchased out of the slavery of sin by the blood of Christ, miss Jesus and we long for his return.

While the King is gone, the world will slander us--as Ziba slandered Mephibosheth. Ziba lied when he told David that Mephibosheth wanted to rebel against him (1). Nothing could be further from the truth.

When David tells Mephibosheth to divide the land with Ziba, we see the same wisdom that David's son Solomon will display. When two women came before Solomon with one living baby, both claiming the baby as their own, Solomon said, “Divide the baby. You may each have half.” It was the real mother who said, “No! Let her have it. I give up my rights so that my baby might live” (2).

So when Mephibosheth said to David, “I don’t care about the land. I’m just glad you’re back" (3), David knew it was Mephibosheth who had been telling the truth all along. It was the fact that Mephibosheth desired the giver more than the gifts that showed his true allegiance.

Mephibosheth: crippled, forgiven, restored, showered with blessings; the King even gave him a permanent place at his table--honoring him as one of his own sons!

This is precisely the position that those who trust Jesus find themselves in.

Let's be grateful, like Mephibosheth. Let's look forward to the King's return. And let's say to our King, "I don't care about gifts. I just want You."

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(1) 2 Samuel 16:3; (2) see 1 Kings 3; (3) 2 Samuel 19:30

O my son, my son!

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 18:1-19:8

mark this: 2 Samuel 18:2b, 3--
And the king said to the people, "I also will surely go out with you myself." But the people answered, "You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city."

mark this: 2 Samuel 18:33--
Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: "O my son Absalom--my son, my son Absalom--if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!"


David's lamentation over the death of Absalom is the most touching expression of grief in the Bible or in any other literature.

I study the Bible and I write Bible courses. Then I teach the courses I've written. I am teaching the 18th chapter of 2 Samuel right now. But sometimes I am simply stopped. I can't go on anymore as if this were some kind of classroom, concerned with ideas and words on paper.

For we are on holy ground here, where the noble heart of God cracks and we can see inside. We can see inside, right to the core of God's heart. We can see through the crack into the genesis of love.

The Trinity is revealed through the Son. We see Jesus on the cross and we see what love means. We begin to sense what love cost.

What did love cost? I believe we glimpse it in the lament of a Father who--due to cosmic necessities beyond my ability to grasp--could not Himself go to the cross (1), but would gladly have gone rather than watch his Son die there (2).

I don't think a Roman soldier's flail, nor his lash; nor his fists, nor his hammer--nor the spikes driven through the flesh and into the wood--killed Jesus.

I think Jesus died of a broken heart. Listen to the last verse of chapter 18. Listen very closely and you'll enter into the sublime realm, into the depths of the oneness of the Trinity:

Jesus died of his Father's broken heart.

Echoing backwards and forwards through time from the cross, we hear:
Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: "O my son--my son, my son--if only I had died in your place! O my son, my son!"

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(1) application of 2 Samuel 18: 2b, 3 (printed above); (2) application of 2 Samuel 18:33 (printed above)

God's answers are better than our requests

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 16:15 -- 17:29

mark this: 2 Samuel 17:6-11


Ahithophel, one of David's closest friends and advisers, had deserted him to join forces with Absalom.

So David prayed that Ahithophel would give foolish counsel (1). Ahithophel’s counsel, however, was brilliant. He advised that Absalom's forces should strike quickly. Had Absalom followed this advice, he almost certainly would have defeated David's fleeing forces.

But God took control of the situation through the counsel of Hushai (a double agent, secretly loyal to David, who had infiltrated Absalom's inner circle of advisers.) Hushai's advice was brilliant as well--in David's favor. It bought David time to recover, replenish, and reorganize.

Hushai also advised Absalom to personally lead the battle against David, thereby appealing to Absalom's arrogance. It was this appeal to arrogance which made Absalom favor the advice of Hushai over the advice of Ahithophel. Thus, it was Absalom's pride which brought about his fall.

Begin to notice how God answers prayers. He answers them in his own way--not always the way we presume he should.

Jesus taught us to pray: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done (1). Jesus prayed to the Father, saying, Not my will, but yours, be done (2).

Let's pray to Our Father. Then let's watch him work things out in his time, according to his will, in his way. That's the best way.

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(1) 2 Samuel 15:31; (2) Matthew 6:10; (3) Luke 22:42

pictures of Jesus

The Word for today:
2 Samuel 15:1 -- 16:14

mark this: 2 Samuel 15:10-14


The Bible is highly prophetic. Much of Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled--exactly as foretold by scripture.

Some biblical prophecy awaits fulfillment. When it is fulfilled, we can expect it to be fulfilled in the same way--exactly as foretold by scripture.

So the concept of the prophetic Word is readily understood by many.

But prophecy is not only announced in words. Much of the Bible's prophecy is announced via "pictures"--the actions and events in your Bible. In this way, the Bible is highly cinematic. The Bible is as much a movie as it is a book.

In our passage today, God's choice as king--David--will be rejected and forced from the city. The people's choice--Absalom--will for a brief time be hailed as king, but the trappings of his own beauty--the source of his pride--will entangle him and defeat him. Thereafter, the rejected King will return to his rightful place.

There is so much in the previous paragraph which is prophetic of Jesus Christ and his kingdom that it is beyond the scope of this blog to convey. But the Bible student will start to recognize what that stern old preacher, or that wild-eyed teacher, or your mom used to say as she taught you the Bible: Jesus is on every page, every chapter and verse, in every jot and tittle (1) of scripture. He is prophesied in word and in picture.

As you seek his heart and come to know him better and better, the movie unfolds before your very eyes. You'll begin to find Jesus in every scene, every frame!

Just a quick peek at the parallels...

Absalom embodied perfection: There was no blemish in him. (2).
Lucifer was created perfect in all his ways, but iniquity was found in him (3). It was not put there by God. Lucifer created it.

In all of Israel there was none to be so much praised for his beauty as Absalom (4).
Satan was lifted up because of his beauty. (5).

Later, the mark of Absalom's beauty--his long hair (6) would literally ensnare him, entangling him in a tree (7). Absalom, like Satan, was literally lifted up because of his beauty (8). His beauty, the source of his pride, would be his demise and death.

Voices were planted to proclaim on signal that Absalom reigns in Hebron! (9)
The voices prevailed as they rejected God's King, Jesus--shouting, We have no king but Caesar! (10). In both cases, the same people who had welcomed the rightful king turned against him.

Ahithophel, one of David's closest friends and advisers, deserted him to join forces with Absalom (11). One of Jesus' seemingly closest friends would turn him over to the religious leaders (12).

After a time in exile and rejection, the anointed king, David, returned. God's anointed--Messiah Jesus--will return in just the same way he left (13).

And these are just surface parallels. They are upheld by a foundation of spirtual parallels which run deep beneath them.

If you will, reread today's passage of scripture. Look up the footnoted scriptures provided at the bottom of this blog entry. You will see prophecy. You will see Jesus.

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(1) Matthew 5:18/KJV; (2) 2 Samuel 14:25; (3) see Ezekiel 28:15; (4) 2 Samuel 14:25; (5) see Ezekiel 28:17; (6) 2 Samuel 14:26; see Ezekiel 28:17, as in 5 above; (7) 2 Samuel 18:9; (8) Ezekiel 28:17; (9) 2 Samuel 15:10; (10) John 19:15; (11) 2 Samuel 15:31; (12) Matthew 27:1-5; (13) Acts 1:11