July 15, 2010 (I Chronicles 23-29)

Wow, last post July 9th? Not good. Up until a couple of days ago I could have said I read every day, but didn't blog. I said, 'up until a couple of days ago'. But I missed reading the last two days. I know God doesn't love me less for it, but I also know I miss my time in His Word. Today's reading was a lot of boring stuff at first, followed by lots of gems.

David gives his parting words to his son, Solomon:

^{I Chronicles 28:9} “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and understands and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.”

What fitting words for us all. May we know Him intimately.

I saw something that I don't remember reading before:

¹⁹“Every part of this plan,” David told Solomon, “was given to me in writing from the hand of the Lord.”

Talk about a supernatural letter! Because of the instructions regarding the temple given to David by God, he was motivated for his work. What about the instructions given to us by God? We have instructions 'given to us in writing from the hand of the Lord'. Are we that careful to obey them?

And then encouragement when we seem overwhelmed:

²⁰ Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

And then some nuggets from David's final prayer of thanksgiving before his death:

^{I Chronicles 29:11} Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. ¹² Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.
¹³ “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! ¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! ¹⁵ We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.
¹⁶ “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! ¹⁷ I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.
¹⁸ “O Lord, the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes. ¹⁹ Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, laws, and decrees, and to do everything necessary to build this Temple, for which I have made these preparations.”

There is a lot of insight and wisdom in that prayer. May God make us to always want to obey Him. May He examine our hearts and find integrity there. May our love for Him only grow.

July 9, 2010 (2 Samuel 13-18)

^{I'll repeat the haunting words to David from yesterday's reading:}

¹⁰ From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. ¹²You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

Today's reading begins with King David's son, Amnon, raping his half sister, Tamar. (Tamar was Absalom's 'full' sister). The condensed version is that when David found out about it, it says "he was very angry" - but he did nothing about it. Two years later, Absalom ends up killing Amnon because of what he did, and he fled the country for 3 years before being invited by David to come back to Jerusalem. But even though he was allowed to come back, David did not want to see him. Another two years goes by and finally, David was convinced to meet with him, but by this time the seeds of bitterness were full grown. Absalom had a daughter - he named her Tamar. It shows me he was still harboring what was done to his sister. Absalom stole the hearts of the people and stirred up a rebellion against his father. When David found out what was going on, instead of fighting, he ran, and took all but ten of his concubines with him. I think because of his sin, he had lost his confidence in God. And it seems as if he would rather leave than kill his son.

As part of that rebellion, here is what Absalom did:

^{2 Samuel 16:21} Ahithophel told him, “Go and sleep with your father’s concubines, for he has left them here to look after the palace. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted your father beyond hope of reconciliation, and they will throw their support to you.” ²² So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s concubines.

So bottom line, the two armies fought each other and David's words to his commanders were "Deal gently with the boy, Absalom." But when they found Absalom, they killed him, and instead of returning from war as heroes, they returned in shame. They had killed the King's enemy, but in doing so, had gone against his commands. David was in mourning when he found out, and his commanders told him he had better change his tune and go out and congratulate his army, or they would all leave him.

Just a sad, sad picture of disfunction. We see the prediction of God's judgement happened. And this all started because "at the time when king's go out to war" David stayed behind and allowed his sexual impulses to overtake him.

God, help us to really recognize what sin does, and live lives of purity to You.

July 8, 2010 (2 Samuel 11-12, I Chronicles 20, Psalm 32, 51, 86, 122)

Today's reading was about David's 'big sin', and the story starts out with:

"The following spring, the time of year when kings go to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to destroy the Ammonites."

That little phrase "the time of year when kings go to war" - David was king. He should have been with his men. But he chose to stay home - not fulfill his duties as king. It goes on to say, "Late one afternoon David got out of bed after taking a nap...." - What's the saying? Idle hands are the devil's workshop? There are all kinds of problems with what David is doing. And I think it all started with him being in a 'spiritual slump', that grew to a bigger problem. And it stems back to unfaithfulness. He was unfaithful to his 'kingly duties' - he should have gone to war with his men. Sometimes we don't "feel" like doing what we are supposed to do. But we need to do it anyway. But he chose not to and suffered the consequences. You know the story - He was walking around on his roof, saw a beautiful woman, knew she was married and her husband was fighting the war, called for her, slept with her, she became pregnant, he tried to cover it up by calling her husband back to give a report to him about the progress, her husband wouldn't go home because he was too honorable to sleep with her while his men were sleeping in tents (a direct slam against David), David had him fight on the front lines, he was killed, David married his wife, the baby was born, God sent Nathan the prophet to tell David how displeased He was about all David did, God punished him by making the baby deathly ill, the baby died, David recognized the error of his ways and repented.

But the story doesn't really end there. Not only was Uriah (the husband) killed in the fighting, other men died as a direct consequence of them being ordered to fight up front. And not only did the baby die, but here are the other consequences from God:

^{2 Samuel 12:7} Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. ⁹ Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. ¹⁰ From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. ¹²You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

God cannot and will not be mocked. For those who know His requirements, there are consequences for sin. And our sin not only affects ourselves, it affects others.

And then, on a positive note, ANOTHER Psalm that has now replaced the others:

^{Psalm 86:1} Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;
answer me, for I need your help.
² Protect me, for I am devoted to you.
Save me, for I serve you and trust you.
You are my God.
³ Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for I am calling on you constantly.
⁴ Give me happiness, O Lord,
for my life depends on you.
⁵ O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
⁶ Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord;
hear my urgent cry.
⁷ I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble,
and you will answer me.

⁸ No pagan god is like you, O Lord.
None can do what you do!
⁹ All the nations - and you made each one -
will come and bow before you, Lord;
they will praise your great and holy name.
¹⁰ For you are great and perform great miracles.
You alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
that I may honor you.
¹² With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
¹³ for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death.

¹⁴ O God, insolent people rise up against me;
violent people are trying to kill me.
And you mean nothing to them.
¹⁵ But you, O Lord,
are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry
full of unfailing love and truth.
¹⁶ Look down and have mercy on me.
Give your strength to your servant;
yes, save me, for I am your servant.
¹⁷ Send me a sign of your favor.
Then those who hate me will be put to shame,
for you, O Lord, help and comfort me.

July 7, 2010 (2 Samuel 10, I Chronicles 19, Psalm 20, 65-67, 69-70)

My heart's desire is to be faithful to God. He has been so faithful to me - faithfulness is His very character - and He deserves nothing but faithfulness from us. I'm looking forward to vacation in Wyoming. I'm looking forward to some real "down" time - fishing and relaxing and napping and spending quality time with God and family. I feel "rushed" right now. I feel like I'm doing my reading to 'check off the box', and not to really connect with God. But I know this - I need Him. I can't "do life" without Him. I love His word. I love the wisdom and the promises I find there. But too often I find myself just 'doing life' without considering Him at all. That is so wrong. He deserves our devotion, love and obedience. God help me to honor You with my life. To bring glory to Your name by living in dependance upon You.

^{Psalm 66:5} Come and see what our God has done,
what awesome miracles he does for his people!
⁶ He made a dry path through the Red Sea,
and his people went across on foot.
Come, let us rejoice in who he is.
⁷ For by his great power he rules forever.
He watches every movement of the nations;
let no rebel rise in defiance.

Over and over He has delivered me. I have seen His faithfulness in so many ways. He has been with us through this year long deployment. He has sustained us. He has surrounded us with good people, sometimes in spite of ourselves. As I read the following I thought of how often I just cry out to Him for help without praising Him, but today I want to praise Him. I think the true test of faith is to praise Him when things aren't going as we want. When we feel overwhelmed, to praise Him for His promise to sustain. To praise Him that our lives are in His hands. To truly trust that. May a song of praise be on my lips all day today, and then after that, all day tomorrow. One day at a time until it is so deeply ingrained in me that I can do nothing but praise Him for His goodness. May I live my life differently because of my love for Him.

^{Psalm 66:16} Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
¹⁷ For I cried out to him for help,
praising him as I spoke.
¹⁸ If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
¹⁹ But God did listen!
He paid attention to my prayer.
²⁰ Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.

July 6, 2010 (2 Samuel 7-9, I Chronicles 17-18, various Psalms)

I keep finding whole Psalms that I want to print out to keep before me. Today I found another one - Psalm 33:

Psalm 33

¹ Let the godly sing with joy to the Lord;
it is fitting for the pure to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre;
make music for him on the ten-stringed harp.
³ Sing a new songs of praise to him;
play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.
⁴ For the word of the Lord holds true,
and we can trust everything he does.
⁵ He loves whatever is just and good;
and his unfailing love fills the earth.

⁶ The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
⁷ He assigned the sea its boundaries
and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
⁸ Let everyone in the world fear the Lord,
and let everyone stand in awe of him.
⁹ For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command.

¹⁰ The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations
and thwarts all their schemes.
¹¹ But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.

¹² What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord,
whose people he has chosen for his own.

¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven
and sees the whole human race.
¹⁴ From his throne he observes
all who live on the earth.
¹⁵ He made their hearts,
so he understands everything they do.
¹⁶ The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
¹⁷ Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory—
for all its strength, it cannot save you.

¹⁸ But the Lord watches over those who fear him,
those who rely on his unfailing love.
¹⁹ He rescues them from death
and keeps them alive in times of famine.

²⁰ We depend upon the Lord alone to save us.
Only he can help us, protecting us like a shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we are trusting in his holy name.
²² Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
for our hope is in you alone.

And then this reminder from Psalm 39:

⁴ “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
and that my life is fleeing away.
⁵ You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
human existence is but a breath.”

⁶ We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
⁷ And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.

And then Psalm 50 talked about the people and all their sacrifices that they brought Him. But this is what He truly wants:

¹³ I don't need the bulls you sacrifice.
I don't need the blood of goats.
¹⁴ What I want instead is your true thanks to God,
I want you to fulfill the vows you made to the Most High.
¹⁵ Trust me in your times of trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory.

²² Repent, all of you who ignore me,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will help you.
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.

July 4, 2010 (Various Psalms)

Today's reading encompassed various Psalms. This will be a little bit different of a post. First of all are some verses that I've highlighted, but I'll end with a Psalm that I have personalized and printed off so that I can read it at various times throughout the day. I am a perfectionist. That is a curse because one can never be perfect. I want things perfect when my husband arrives home. That puts pressure on me, but since that is the way I am 'wired', that's the way it is. And perhaps God has 'wired' me that way so that I will learn that I must trust Him to accomplish all that is on my heart. But I also have to keep in mind the Psalm that says:

² It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.

But I don't work "for food to eat" - and I don't work until late at night. I do get sleep. So anyway, I digress. First of all, the verses:

^{Psalm 101:2} I will be careful to live a blameless life—
when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity
in my own home.
³ I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
I will have nothing to do with them.

^{Psalm 105:19} Until the time came to fulfill his word,
the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

And now, the one I have personalized. There are some segments that don't really apply. I don't feel like I have 'enemies' (but maybe I'm just kidding myself!):

Psalm 25

A psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, I give my life to you.

² I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
³ No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

⁴ Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
⁵ Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
⁶ Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love,
which you have shown from long ages past.
⁷ Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth.
Look instead through the eyes of your unfailing love,
for you are merciful, O Lord.

⁸ The Lord is good and does what is right;
he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
⁹ He leads the humble in doing right,
teaching them his way.
¹⁰ The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
all those who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

¹¹ For the honor of your name, O Lord,
forgive my many, many sins.
¹² Who are those who fear the Lord?
He will show them the path they should choose.
¹³ They will live in prosperity,
and their children will inherit the land.
¹⁴ Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear him.
With them he shares the secrets of his covenant.
¹⁵ My eyes are always looking to the Lord for help,

for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies.

¹⁶ Turn to me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone and in deep distress.
¹⁷ My problems go from bad to worse.
Oh, save me from them all!
¹⁸ Feel my pain and see my trouble.
Forgive all my sins.
¹⁹ See how many enemies I have
and how viciously they hate me!
²⁰ Protect me! Rescue my life from them!
Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge.
²¹ May integrity and honesty protect me,
for I put my hope in you.

²² O God, ransom Sandy
from all her troubles.

July 2, 2010 (Various Psalms)

I've been swamped lately. Overwhelmed actually. And my handling of it, for the most part, has been just like "anyone else's" handling of it would be - but I'm not like "anyone else". I'm a child of the King. He tells me not to worry about things. He tells me He's in control. He tells me He loves me and He wants me to trust Him and to praise Him. But lately I've been 'grumbling'. As I read the following this morning, I was convicted.

^{Psalm 106:24} The people refused to enter the pleasant land,
for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.
²⁵ Instead, they grumbled in their tents
and refused to obey the Lord.

I have been doing a lot of "grumbling" lately. A lot of complaining actually. In that regard, I've been acting just like the 'pagans' act - You wouldn't be able to tell any difference from me and anybody else. God, please forgive me. Help me to act like Your child - one who is secure in Your promise to care for me.

My next reading was Psalm 1. Another reminder that God wants my undivided attention:

¹ Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
² But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
³ They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.

And then a reminder of how God wants us to act. Again, conviction, as I think about how easy it is to 'slander' others:

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

¹ Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
³ Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
⁴ Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
⁵ Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.

And then, as I was flipping through to Psalm 68, this was highlighted from Psalm 50:

²² Repent, all of you who forget me,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will help you.
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.

July 1, 2010 (2 Samuel 5-6, I Chronicles 11-16)

I read about the stubborness of the Israelites and think "how stupid" and yet when I look closely at my life, I do the same things. I guess it's because it's hard work to really seek God. I think I just "assume" He will guide me, even without asking Him. Today's reading covered transporting the Ark of God - a good thing, but done in a bad way. God instructed Moses as to the correct way of transporting it, but I guess David forgot, and did it his own way. Because of that, one man lost his life. As David prepares to move it again, he does it the right way and says "We failed to ask God how to move it in the proper way". How many times do I fail to ask God for His direction and just go off and "do my own thing"? Will I ever learn? I ended this reading by writing in my journal "God, would you please guide me today to accomplish all that must be accomplished - always mindful of Your presence with me?"

I am doing this blog the next day - July 2. So, what happened yesterday? We have been looking for a truck for Chris for well over a month now - he emailed me on May 28th with all the specs/requirements. Last month I went to see one and it "sold right under my eyes" to someone else. A couple of days ago we saw another one and when I called about it, the salesman said, "We've had it for 3 weeks with no activity, but today someone bought it." There was another one that I called on yesterday and was prepared to drive to Denver to see - but on a whim (I feel looking back that I was led by God to do this, based upon my prayer for His direction) I emailed another Denver rep I've been dealing with who's been watching for a used truck all this time for us to no avail, and asked him what a 2010 would cost since the 2011's are now coming out. This weekend Honda is doing a great promotion and we can get a 2010 at a price that blew the used truck I was going to go up to see out of the water. So, bottom line, this weekend I'll be driving to Denver to pick up Poppy's new truck. One thing off the list, and one more faithful 'deliverance' of God. Thank you Lord Jesus for taking care of me.