2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 20 The story of David and Bathsheba is a confusing one.  I can’t help but feel such sympathy for Uriah, who was killed simply because he was loyal to his king and would not go home to be with his wife (who was pregnant with David’s child).  I can only presume that Uriah had been out fighting for a long time…that must have been why David sent for him, never realizing that Uriah would not go be with his wife. David was not thinking.  He was simply reacting…and he certainly wasn’t asking God to illuminate … Continue reading For His Purposes

Psalm 65-67; 69-70 I confess being distracted this evening as I read through these Psalms.  I’ve been laid up today with pain and have become engrossed in a novel…so much so that I feel as if the characters are real.  That’s the problem I have sometimes with reading.  I get “into” them so much that I tend to walk around for awhile in my real life in a fog, going over the novel life in my thoughts. I’m struggling with this tendency especially since I am re-reading a book that I once put down — it’s the fourth Harry Potter … Continue reading Mining the Word

2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19; Psalm 20 The message today gives more insight to the way the Lord was with David. Those nations that insulted him ended up being completely routed…the Bible says that David killed forty thousand foot soldiers in one battle! Forty thousand is nearly four times the number of people who live in my small town! I like this verse from Psalm 20: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand … Continue reading In God We Trust

Psalm 50, 53, 60, 75 Don’t turn your back on the Lord and His teaching.  That is the message I take from today’s reading. The wording is so vivid: 17 You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. God is talking to those who do evil. Have I ever “cast” the Lord’s words behind me?  Search  my heart and my life, Lord.  Help me to see if there is any evil thing in me, and help me cast it aside.  Let all the “casting” that I do be to remove those things that keep me from you.  Let … Continue reading Casting

2 Samuel 8-9; 1 Chronicles 18 These two passages are almost identical, and they tell of more of David’s victories over the surrounding kingdoms.  The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went. Then chapter 9 of 2 Samuel records David’s act of kindness towards his friend Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet.  Because of his loyalty to his old friend Jonathan, he found out that one of his sons was still alive, although crippled.  David brought him to Jerusalem and let him live and eat with him. Some men would have been threatened — kings have been … Continue reading No Impossibilities Allowed