2 Samuel: A Rock And A Lamp
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 22 (Psalm 18) Someone once said, “There are two main things we need to learn . . . how to live and how to die.” Having conquered the fear of death, in Christ, sometimes it is life which defeats us . . . namely the multiplied sorrows, sicknesses, emotional turmoil, losses, anxieties we all experience. David knew the strains of life intimately. In his song in 2 Samuel 22:5,6 he describes his trouble in the following way . . . “waves of death ... torrents of destruction … cords of Sheol … snares of death." David’s experience was filled...
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1 Chronicles: The Glory of the Temple
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 29:10-20 Near the end of his reign, King David desired to build a temple for the Lord. For 400 years, since the exodus from Egypt, the central place of worship in Israel had been the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent which the Jews carried through the wilderness. Now David wanted to build a permanent structure as the main place of worship for Israel. His desire was denied by God. David could make the plans, but could not be the builder of the temple because his reign had been characterized by the bloodshed of war (1 Chr 28:2-6). ...
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2 Samuel: Sin's Bitter End
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 18 When David gave way to his lust for Bathsheba and his pride to cover his act through murder, there were some things he had not considered, namely the long term consequences of sin. Sinning against the living God is a more serious matter than we usually think it is and the dark effects of sin are both sure and destructive. David’s sin had terrible effects that he had not considered in the passions of his heart. First, his sin had an effect on God’s name. “. . . by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to...
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Psalm 3: Salvation Belongs to the Lord
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: Psalm 3 (2 Samuel 13-16) Sometimes we can read the stories behind our hymns, like the loss of Horatio Spafford’s four daughters before he wrote “It Is Well With My Soul.” The stories enrich our understanding of these songs. One of the things that makes Psalm 3 interesting is the superscription before verse 1, which tells us the background behind the Psalm. It reads “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom, his son.” The story is found in 2 Samuel 13-16 and it is the heartbreaking account of rape, revenge, and an extremely strained...
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2 Samuel: God Defends His Name
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 12:26-31 With the daily reports of warfare in almost every corner of the world, we may not expect or desire to come to the Bible and read about wars. But the stories of Old Testament Israel are filled with accounts of the fierce fighting between the Israelites and their enemies. This is especially true of the reign of King David, who was described as a “man of war” (1 Chron 28:3). 2 Samuel 12:26-31 describes the battles between Israel and the Ammonites. It was the Ammonites that Israel was fighting when David committed his sin of adultery...
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Romans 3: Not Even One
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: Romans 3:9-20 This paragraph in Romans forms the climax of the argument of the first major section of the book. The thrust of the first section of Romans is that the entire human race stands guilty before a holy God. The pagan man is guilty (Rom 1:18-32); the moral man is guilty (Rom 2:1-16); the Jewish man is guilty (Rom 2:17-29). What we have in Romans 3:10-20 is a string of Old Testament quotations which, in unambiguous statements, concludes that every human being stands guilty before God’s awesome judgment. "None is righteous, no, not one; . . ....
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John 11: Lazarus, Come Out!
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: John 11:17-44 One of the most memorable of Jesus' miracles is His raising Lazarus from the dead. And the story includes one of Jesus' most magnificent declarations … "I am the resurrection and the life" (Jn 11:25). Certainly, this display of authority and power is meant to be an encouragement to believers, reminding them of their own resurrection one day. In addition to the idea of resurrection, the stunning promise of John 11:26 both takes our breath away and takes away our fear of death … "Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." ...
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2 Samuel: When God Says No
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 12:13-21 In 2 Samuel 12:13, David heard the words he longed to hear more than any other words ... ”The LORD has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” This statement is a display of the indescribable mercy of God. But the next verse is a display of the holiness of God. In order to demonstrate that sin carries consequences and that God is a God of justice, David heard the following words ... “However, because by this deed [adultery] you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall...
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Psalm 32: The Glory of God's Forgiveness
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: Psalm 32 It is not a pleasant task to look at ourselves as we really are. It is so difficult to do it honestly that, in fact, we usually do not do it at all, except when we are forced to. Our natural tendency is to deny anything within ourselves that is uncomplimentary. But confession of the darkness of our hearts is absolutely necessary. It is not only necessary for emotional health (even secular psychiatrists would tell us that), but for spiritual life. There is no forgiveness with the living God unless there is a sincere acknowledgment of...
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2 Samuel: The Destruction of Lust
Bethel Baptist Church
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11, 12 The story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah cries out to us with great warning. If David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14), could get to the place in his life that he was capable of such blatant and rebellious sinning, then none of us is immune to the lure of lust and hatred. We tend to think that we will never be guilty of something like adultery or murder, but we all struggle with lust and hatred. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus said, “I say to you, that everyone who looks at a woman...
info_outlineScripture Reading: 1 Samuel 23:1-14
We see in this story of David’s flight from Saul an interesting and very significant dynamic. David was doing everything humanly possible to elude King Saul, who was bent on putting an end to David’s life. He hid in the wilderness and in the hills (1 Sam 23:14) . . . he received information from Saul’s son, Jonathan (1 Sam 23:16,17) . . . his men were carefully monitoring Saul’s movements (1 Sam 23:24,25).
The human means for David’s safety are clearly displayed in this story. But above these human means there was an invisible hand that ensured David’s security . . . the hand of a sovereign God. The last sentence in 1 Samuel 23:14 draws back the curtain shrouding God’s movement in this circumstance, so we can see what is going on beyond the characters in the story. “And Saul sought him [David] every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.”
The Bible reveals a mysterious interaction between human actions and divine sovereignty. Men are responsible for their lives and the decisions they make and God governs His universe for His purposes. “The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Prov 16:9). “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand” (Prov 19:21). “. . . work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:12,13).
Let us pray and plan and work diligently in our lives, all the while seeking the Lord . . . knowing that our Father is the One who works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11).