Week 17 Devotions

April 23 - - We may not always understand why God tells us to do the things He does (Isaiah 55:8&9 ), but the God who knows all and sees all can be trusted in all things He has commanded us to do. God had given very specific instructions for moving the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 4: 8,15). The Levite priests were to insert the poles made for the Ark (Exodus 37:1-5) and carry it from one place to the next without ever touching the Ark itself. Whether David was unaware of those instructions, or he knew them and carelessly ignored them, the first time he attempted to move the Ark of the Covenant, resulted in disaster. Instead of carrying the Ark by the poles made for that purpose, and instead of the Levite priests carrying the Ark, David and all the people of Israel participated in moving the Ark. Furthermore, they placed it on a cart and when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled, a man named Uzzah reached up to keep the Ark from falling to the ground and the Lord struck him dead for touching the Ark (I Chronicles 13:1-11; II Sam. 6:1-11). Maybe that seems harsh to us. It certainly did to David. But, God has His reasons in all He does and we must trust Him even when we don’t understand (Isaiah 55:8-11). When David eventually chose again to move the Ark to Jerusalem, he did so this time in the way that God had prescribed (I Chron.15:11-28; II Sam.6:12b-15), and all Israel rejoiced. There was music. There was celebration the likes had not been seen in a long time. Even the great King David joined in the festivities. But, there are always those rigid, stuffy, and unhappy people who think that misery is a spiritual gift. Because it is hard for them to be happy, they don’t think others should be either. One of David’s wives, Michal, who was the daughter of Saul, found it disgustful that David should be dancing, celebrating, and rejoicing with the people in the way that he was. Perhaps, it was because David was so transparent and that he acted like one of the people that they loved him so much. It was more important to David that he please God than it was for him to please his wife and in the end she was punished for her failure to worship God ((II Sam.6:23). As Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the last time, the people celebrated and worshipped him. But, the religious leaders were indignant and disgusted with the whole thing. In fact, they told Jesus that he should rebuke his followers for behaving in the manner they were. Instead, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for remaining silent. “If they kept quiet, the stones along the roads would burst into cheers” (Luke 19:40). When it comes to worship of the Lord, are you more like David or more like the Pharisees? April 26 - - It is amazing how all of us can be so right on in many areas of our walk with the Lord and, at the same time, be so dead wrong in other areas. You may know a Christian from church who is the epitomy of unselfishness and kindness at church, but who cusses like a sailor at work. Or, another Christian may have very strong opinions upon the value of human life and lobby to pro-tect the lives of unborn babies, but the same person thinks nothing of living immorally by sleep-ing with many partners. David is described in scripture as, “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22; I Samuel 13:14). Indeed, while Saul would charge ahead into battle before consulting the Lord (I Samuel 13:7-14), David constantly sought God’s will before going to battle (II Samuel 5:17-25; I Chron. 14:8-16). God blessed David and God caused all the nations to fear David (I Chron.14:17). “David became more and more powerful, (precisely) because the Lord God Almighty was with him” (II Sam.5:10; I Chron.11:9). But, even David had his weaknesses and his faults. He must have known that having sexual relations with Bathsheba when she was married to Uriah, was wrong. Otherwise, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant and that David was the father, David wouldn’t have tried so diligently to cover up his sin (II Samuel 11:2-27). But, like so many of us, David probably rationalized that his sin wasn’t as bad as other people’s sins. He was obviously oblivious to the guilt that was his by arranging for Uriah to be killed in battle. Therefore, when Nathan, the prophet, confronted David with a sad story about a master taking his servant’s only lamb to feed the master’s guests, David was infuriated. His sense of justice took hold of him and he said to Nathan, “as surely as the Lord lives, any man who would do such a thing deserves to die” (II Sam.12:5). When Nathan pointed out to David that was what he had done, David was deeply convicted. It was at that time David wrote Psalm 51 to describe how terrible he felt. “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). Our outward actions mean nothing unless they are truly motivated by our heart. If we are only going though motions because we think that’s what God wants, we are wasting our time. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). David was crushed when confronted with his sin and God forgave David for it (II Sam.12:13), but there were still consequences to his actions, as there always are (II Sam.12:15-23). While God will definitely forgive those who repent of their sins, as He demonstrated in David’s situation, it would be far better for ourselves and others around us, to consistently know God’s will and consistently do God’s will in every area of our lives. So, make every effort to know and do God’s will (Matthew 7:24-27).