Blessings and Obedience (1)

1 Kings 2:3

"And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:"

At first glance it may appear that David is promising Solomon the blessings of God in his life if he does all these "good works". In this New Testament of grace that we are blessed to live in, this idea seems repugnant since we all know it is by grace that we are saved and receive God's favor. We know all our righteous works are like filthy, disgusting rags compared with God's true righteousness.

But take a closer look and it will become apparent that this is not what David means at all.

In this" game of life " that we all play, who made the rules? God did of course. He laid out commandments and judgments for us to follow. And just like any game, those who follow the rules will succeed. Can an unbeliever reap the benefits of honesty? Of course. What about faithfulness? Or compassion? An unbeliever can exhibit these qualities, following God's rules, and gain benefit from doing so.

So as a believer, doing good, following God's commands, is not done to curry favor, but out of love, and rewards are reaped. An unbeliever, perhaps even unwittingly may follow a command of God and also reap these benefits, not even knowing why.

continued...

They Were Not With Adonijah

1 Kings 1:8

"But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah."

The easy choice would be to go with the young, charismatic leader that everyone seemed to love and flock to. But instead these men stood firm in loyalty to what they believed was right. They were not with Adonijah and history sees them as heroes.

Who am I with? Who am I not with? My heart and life is a kingdom with a king. Someone will rule me. Who will I choose to be king of my heart? Myself? Selfish desires? Money? Or perhaps the True King of kings?

But no one can serve two masters. I must make a conscious choice. It cannot be that I mentally acknowledge that God is my King. A subject obeys, respects, loves his king and serves Him willingly.

Who is king of my heart and life?

The Cost of Obedience

2 Samuel 24:24

"And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver."

What costs little often means little. A sacrifice is not a sacrifice unless it costs something.

Obedience is a kind of sacrifice and an offering that means more to God than physical sacrifices. Obedience is not usually easy, in fact it is more often than not painful and hard. Why is that? Because it is a sacrifice of selfish desires. Basic obedience happens when my desire is opposite of God's command and I choose to obey His command versus my selfish desire.

However this is not the purest obedience. The purest obedience comes when before the command is given, I have already sacrifices my selfish desires and surrendered to God's will. Then when the command comes I willingly obey with a glad heart. Not from compulsion or fear of punishment, but out of love.

What does my daily obedience look like? What is my attitude behind my obedience?

Bravery and Self-Sacrifice

2 Samuel 23:12

"But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory."

The praises of David's mighty men is spoken of here and we see that they were truly remarkable in their feats of bravery and valor. Yet the Lord is ultimately given the glory.

Bravery and valor do not come from within. Think of your own heart, your deepest feelings and thoughts. Are they, at the core and center, selfless, or selfish? All of us look out primarily for ourselves. Sometimes even our selfless acts are done for selfish reasons (glory, fame, recognition, etc.).

So if we are basely selfish, how can we ever be brave? Bravery is selflessness and love in tangible action. Those qualities come from one source - Jesus Christ. Only when He invades our lives, takes over completely, can we ever hope to be truly brave.

Do I desire to be brave? Do I desire it enough to surrender? Let Christ take over, it is an essential first step we each must take.

Justice and Fear of the Lord

2 Samuel 23:3

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God."

In David's time, God chose out the rulers Himself. To this day He still governs in the affairs of men and rulers rise and fall at His behest. But to us privileged citizens of America, He has granted the freedom to make a choice in our leaders. However, He gives two conditions, leaders must be just and rule in the fear of God.

What does it mean to be just? Justice is equality under the law. Justice is blind to partiality, weighing only the facts. Not respecting persons, great or small, justice does what is right and true.

What does it mean to rule in the fear of God? This means a belief in eternal rewards and punishments. A good leader will realize that what he does on this earth in a position of leadership will have repercussions. And he will be answerable to God Almighty, the King of kings, for those repercussions. Therefore his actions are done in light of eternity, not for temporal, personal gain.

God calls each of us to be a leader in one way or another. Whether it be in government, in the home as a father, or as a parent to children, or simply a leader to an unbeliever showing them the true path, we are all called to lead. What kind of leader am I? Am I just? Do I walk everyday and make my decisions in the fear of the Lord?

Give Thanks Among the Heathen

2 Samuel 22:50

"Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name."

Praising God with other Christians is part of the weekly worship of most believers. Most enjoy getting together, sharing prayer requests and answers to this prayers. Most like singing songs of praise with fellows in the faith. But how many of us know what it is like to praise God among the heathen?

There are countless lost souls that we encounter throughout our lives. And to some of them we might be the only ray of God's sunlight they ever see. Do I ever think to tell them of the love God has given me, an unworthy, wretched sinner?

If you truly consider what the modern, evangelical concept of "witnessing" is, you'll find that boiled down to its main component, it is nothing more than a form of praising God. A witness tells of something he has seen or experienced. A witness for the Lord is telling others of the love, grace and mercy that they have had from Christ. Praising God, thanking Him, singing His worth to the heathen.

Am I praising God among the unsaved, those who are lost and on their way to Hell?

Iniquity Within

2 Samuel 22:24

"I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity."

As Christians we realize that the Spirit and the flesh war against each other in our bodies. The flesh is constantly, incessantly pulling us toward wickedness and iniquity while the Spirit calls us to the light of righteousness and truth.

David recognizes this war in his own life. And he did view it as a war, as must we. The words used here are very telling.

First, David acknowledged the iniquity as belonging to him personally. "Mine iniquity". He didn't see it as an outside force attempting to corrupt something good, but rather as something within him. Our flesh.

Second, David took an active part in resisting the fleshly draw of iniquity. "I have kept myself ". David didn't just pray and trust God (though he did do those things) and then hope it worked out. Instead he actively worked to keep himself away from the iniquity that lay coiled in his own heart.

Am I actively resisting with the grace and power of God's Spirit the iniquity that hides within me?