Devotion Time: 1 Samuel August 15 Augsst 27, 2011

DEVOTION TIME: 1 Samuel August 15 – Augsst 27, 2011 1

MONDAY, AUGUST 15 Contrast this to what Abner does in making Ish-Bosheth, PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT son of Saul, a king over Gilead. What is the fundamental I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my difference in their view towards power? hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Reflect on the damage Abner caused by operating on (Psalm 130:5-6) tribal loyalties. What loyalties in my life have the BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 1 potential to dull my spiritual discernment and cause me to take actions that are contrary to God’s will?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS Reflect on David’s response to the men of Jabesh Gilead. 2 Samuel 1:1-10 What does this response reveal about David? There is a good chance that the Amalekite wasn't telling the truth (see 1 Samuel 31:4-5), but lied, thinking that this would earn him a reward. Think about the degree to 2 Samuel 2:12-31 which the Amalekite misread the values of David and the What wisdom about human relationships can be rest of the fugitives with him. What was the Amalekite’s discerned from Abner’s statement when he was cornered: worldview, and what is David’s? “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness?” Might there be some such worldview dissonance between the ways of God and certain life strategies and Reflect on Joab’s response to Abner. Have there been assumptions that I have adopted? times when I, like Joab, pursued something over- aggressively, not realizing that I am failing to see some larger picture? How responsive am I to words of wisdom 2 Samuel 1:17-27 and caution when I am out to pursue a certain path? If I had been in David’s shoes, what would have been the first several things on my mind upon hearing of Saul’s death? PERSONAL PRAYER Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent Saul’s death means immediate practical relief for David, events in your life. and a dramatic reversal in his fortunes. Yet, none of these seem to impress David. What did the death of Saul mean to David, according to these verses? WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17

PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT What can I learn from David about what it takes to transcend my narrow concerns and not always view life Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister from purely the angle of how it affects me? by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion. (Psalm 134:1-3) PERSONAL PRAYER Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 3 either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life. REFLECTION QUESTIONS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 2 Samuel 3:6-11 What is tragic about Ish-Bosheth? PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I 2 Samuel 3:1-21 do not concern myself with great matters or things too What kind of person is Abner? wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 2 Samuel 3:26-27 (Psalm 131:1-2) Why was it wrong for Joab to kill Abner, even though BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 2 Abner killed Joab’s brother Asahel?

Are there some inappropriate grudges that I am holding REFLECTION QUESTIONS on to? 2 Samuel 2:1-9 What can I learn from David in that even after Saul is dead, he still inquires of the LORD if he should go up to 2 Samuel 3:22-39 one of the towns of Judah? What kind of person is Joab? DEVOTION TIME: 1 Samuel August 15 – Augsst 27, 2011 2

take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me How must King David have felt in having a general like not eat of their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me—it Joab under him despite the fact that Joab was a great is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My warrior? head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers. (Psalm 141:3-5) What lesson does this have for me as I serve Jesus? BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 5

PERSONAL PRAYER REFLECTION QUESTIONS Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession 2 Samuel 5:1-5 either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent Imagine how David must have felt after becoming king events in your life. after all these years since the day when Samuel first found him as a shepherd boy and anointed him as a king. THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 Reflect on God’s faithfulness over David throughout that entire time. PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT How has the LORD been faithful to me over the years O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know despite all the ups and downs of my life? when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are 2 Samuel 5:6-12 familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you V. 12 may express one of the key differences between know it completely, O LORD. (Psalm 139:1-4) David and Saul. Reflect on David’s view of the purpose BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 4 of God’s blessing upon his kingdom. Do people who seek exaltation, or riches, or fame do so for the sake of other REFLECTION QUESTIONS people?

2 Samuel 4:1 To what extent do I see my life, and the blessings God has What kind of man is Ish-Bosheth? given me, as being “for the sake of his people”?

What is the source of my courage? 2 Samuel 5:17-25 What can I learn from the fact that David was not done with fighting even after he became a king? What are some ways in which people take refuge in things that cause them to be enslaved by fear? What are some things in my life that I need to continue to be vigilant towards and battle against? 2 Samuel 4:2-8 What kind of men were Baanah and Recab? PERSONAL PRAYER Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession Is there any way I am like them? either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

2 Samuel 4:8-12 SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 Once again, we see David responding very differently from the norms of the world. He does not see Ish- PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT Bosheth’s death as the removal of the final obstacle to the Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD, for I hide myself in throne. Instead, what does he see in this incident? you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.(Psalm 143:9-10) How is it that David responds this way? REFLECTION QUESTIONS Reread the passages from this week and review your DTs. What can I learn from David? Consider the themes in the text, and what lessons emerged for you, and write a personal reflection based on PERSONAL PRAYER this week’s DT. The questions below are provided as prompts to help you. Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent Did the text provide: events in your life. - a truth, wisdom or lesson I need to affirm or apply? FRIDAY, AUGUST 19 - some aspect of the Gospel or God’s salvation plan that I learned in a fresh way? PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT - a biblical norm, standard or value? How do I Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the measure up to it or what is my response to it? door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to DEVOTION TIME: 1 Samuel August 15 – Augsst 27, 2011 3

- a picture of God’s heart that I need to appreciate When this happens, what is going on in my heart? What or more deeply embrace? are some dangers of being in such a position? - a description of folly, sin, or relational problem that I need to address? What caused Michal to “despise [David] in her heart”? - a mirror that shows me an aspect of my life that is contrary to God’s word? What does Michal’s caustic comment to David in v. 20 - a promise that I can claim and place my trust in? reveal about her sphere of concern, and the extent to which the opinions of others mattered to her? - a corrective to ideas or tendencies in today’s culture? Notice that Michal was actually anxious to protect the - a course of action I need to commit to? dignity of her husband, and felt that he was undermining his own image as the new king with his public dancing PERSONAL PRAYER (and the manner of it). Why was her concern not Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession conveyed? either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life. What can we tell from v. 23 about what happened to their marital relationship after this incident? MONDAY, AUGUST 22 Reflect on the power of hurtful or disdainful words to PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT destroy relationships. How careful am I with my words, O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man especially towards people close to me? that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. (Psalm 144:3-4) PERSONAL PRAYER BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 6 Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent REFLECTION QUESTIONS events in your life. 2 Samuel 6:6-8 “In a way that seems especially foreign to present-day TUESDAY, AUGUST 23 readers, the unfortunate Uzzah illustrates the holiness of God present in the ark. ‘To touch the ark is to impinge on God’s PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT holiness, to draw too close and presume too much.’ The Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide Israelites have not taken his power and holiness seriously me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, enough, and now David is left with the question (6:9): ‘How and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5) can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?’ The text implies BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 7 that the ark (and hence God’s presence) can and will come into David’s life, but his power and holiness come with it. Such warnings are healthy, indeed needed, in order to protect REFLECTION QUESTIONS 1 God’s people from tendencies to trivialize God’s holiness.” 2 Samuel 7:1-13 What was offensive about Uzzah’s act of taking “hold of the ark of God”? “Startlingly, God reverses David’s proposal. David cannot build a house for the Lord; the Lord will build a house for David. Using the potential for multiple meanings in the word What might be the significance of Uzzah being the son of bayit (“house”), God rejects ‘temple’ but promises ‘dynasty.’ Abinadab, at whose house the ark had been kept? The grace shown to David in the past will now extend into the future. This promise is not simply for David, but for the What are some ways in which I lack appreciation for line of David that will come after him.”2 God’s holiness? Reflect on David’s sentiment in v. 2 and what this reveals about David’s heart. What facts has he noticed, and found to be incongruent? To what extent am I aware of 2 Samuel 6:14-22 my own comforts as out of balance with the state of God’s What can be discerned about what kind of person Michal honor in the world, and other godly people around the was from the fact that she was merely looking down from world and history? What might be David’s response if he her window while the “entire household of Israel” were in my shoes? celebrated the arrival of the ark?

Are there times when I find myself on the sidelines, 2 Samuel 7:14-16 watching, but not fully participating in some meaningful “The oracle of Nathan in 2 Sam 7:4-16 locates God’s grace spiritual event that others are experiencing collectively? toward Israel in an unconditional and everlasting promise to the line of David. This was a new theological understanding

1 Bill T. Wilson. NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Samuel. (Grand 2 Thomas B. Dozeman. The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume II. (Nas Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 458. hville: Abingdon Press, 1998). 1257. DEVOTION TIME: 1 Samuel August 15 – Augsst 27, 2011 4 in Israel and stood in tension with the conditional ‘if’ of the victory wherever we go? It means that God has already won Mosaic covenant at Mt. Sinai. […] Obedience to covenant the victory and has promised to strengthen us for the tasks we requirements is still demanded. Judgment, even of Davidic are called to perform in the church and in the world. As kings, is still the consequence of covenant disobedience David defeated Israel’s enemies, so today’s believers can (7:14b), but the commitment of God to steadfast love toward expect to accomplish successfully our God-given and God- David’s line and the Davidic kingdom is everlasting and ordained tasks, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This cannot be broken (7:15-16).”3 catalogue of military victories should inspire confidence in What is the picture of God that emerges in this passage? all believers that God is at work fulfilling his Word through his people.”4 How have I experienced this kind of covenantal and In what sense is the statement “The Lord gave […] personal God in my life? victory wherever he went” true of my life?

Has my response been “doing what is right and just” for 2 Samuel 7:18-24 the God-given tasks in my life? What feelings are expressed in David’s statements, “Who am I….and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?...What more can David say to you?....And who is 2 Samuel 8:16-18 like your people Israel…whom you redeemed from What is the significance of the list of the people in vv.16- Egypt?” 18 after stating that David had many victories? To what extent can I share in David’s sentiments? PERSONAL PRAYER How have I experienced the awesomeness of being part of Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession God’s people as expressed in vv.23-24? either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life. PERSONAL PRAYER Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life. PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. (Psalm 119:29) WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24 BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 9 PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin REFLECTION QUESTIONS against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. (Psalm 119:11-12) 2 Samuel 9:1 What can I learn about David searching for anyone “left BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 8 of the house of Saul to whom [he] can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake”? REFLECTION QUESTIONS 2 Samuel 8:1-15 2 Samuel 9:2-8 In light of David’s many victories and the growing How must Mephibosheth have felt as he was being blessings in his life with wealth, position, and fame, what summoned by the king? is inspiring about David’s response to these blessings and how he continued “doing what was just and right for all How must Mephibosheth have felt when he heard David his people” (vs. 15)? say, “Don’t be afraid…for I will show you kindness… I will restore to you all…and you will always eat at my What is the significance of David dedicating all the table”? plunder and treasures he had acquired to the LORD? Why is Mephibosheth’s response to David’s kindness so What are the “plunder” and “articles of silver and gold right and appropriate? and bronze” in my life that I need to dedicate to the LORD? What does this mean for me practically? 2 Samuel 9:11-13 Reflect on this picture of Mephibosheth, crippled in both feet, eating “at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.” 2 Samuel 8:14-15 In what ways have I been the recipient of this kind of “This chapter illustrates that God is faithful to his Word and incredibly undeserved grace from God? strengthens his servants for the task to which he has called them. So what can it mean for today’s believers to have

3 Thomas B. Dozeman. The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume II. (Nas 4 Arnold, Bill T. The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Samuel, (Gr hville: Abingdon Press, 1998). 1255. and Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003) p. 502 DEVOTION TIME: 1 Samuel August 15 – Augsst 27, 2011 5

What has been my response to God’s grace? What perspective does this give me regarding my decisions and the way I view setbacks?

PERSONAL PRAYER Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession PERSONAL PRAYER either based on today’s text, or upon reflection over Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession recent events in your life. either based on today’s text, or upon reflection over FRIDAY, AUGUST 26 recent events in your life. SATURDAY, AUGUST 27 PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. PRAYER FOR TODAY’S DT (Psalm 119:18) Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders. (Psalm 119:27) BIBLE TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 10 REFLECTION REFLECTION QUESTIONS Reread the passages from this week and review your DTs. 2 Samuel 10:1-4, 13-18 Consider the themes in the text, and what lessons Have there been times when I’ve interpreted people’s emerged for you, and write a personal reflection based on expressions of kindness as something sinister? In what this week’s DT. The questions below are provided as ways have I missed opportunities to connect with the prompts to help you. people God has placed in my life as a result of suspicions Did the text provide: and fears? - a truth, wisdom or lesson I need to affirm or apply? What did the Ammonite nobles’ misinterpretation of David cost them? - some aspect of the Gospel or God’s salvation plan that I learned in a fresh way? In what ways do people misinterpret God’s kindness in - a biblical norm, standard or value? How do I the same way that Hanun did? Are there some ways in measure up to it or what is my response to it? which people of this world respond like Hanun did to - a picture of God’s heart that I need to appreciate those who try to share the message of God’s love? or more deeply embrace? - a description of folly, sin, or relational problem that I need to address? 2 Samuel 10:6 What can I learn about human nature from the fact that - a mirror that shows me an aspect of my life that the Ammonites prepare for war when they “realized that is contrary to God’s word? they had become a stench in David’s nostrils”? - a promise that I can claim and place my trust in? - a corrective to ideas or tendencies in today’s What could they have done differently at this point? culture? - a course of action I need to commit to? Have there been times when I respond like the Ammonites when I realize that I have sinned against someone? PERSONAL PRAYER Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text, or upon reflection over 2 Samuel 10:11-12 recent events in your life. How is vv.11-12 a beautiful picture of how we are to function in the body of Christ?

Reflect on Joab’s statement in v. 12. What is the relationship between Joab’s pledge to “fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God” and his confidence that “the Lord will do what is good in his sight.”

2 Samuel 10:19 Although the sending of the delegation could have been interpreted as a poor decision by David, given their humiliation, it proved to be the trigger for Israel’s domination of the region. What does this reveal about how God can work good out of painful situations, or out of decisions that initially result in a bad outcome?