Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines – Training for Holiness

From the Sports Ministry blog on August 12, 2013.

“Nothing was ever achieved without discipline; and many an athlete and many a man has been ruined because he abandoned discipline and let himself grow slack.” – p.22 – Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. - 1 Timothy 4:7-8


Discipline is the act of deliberately undertaking a set of actions with the purpose of improvement. Discipline is required in ANY endeavor to develop the skills necessary to excel - whether it’s becoming good at a sport, mastering a musical instrument, developing one’s writing ability, or becoming fluent in a new language.

As a personal example, I have a friend that is doing a surgical residency and though he is 'only limited to 80 hours’ of residency training per week, he may spend up to 100 hours studying and learning on his own to hone the skills and knowledge necessary to become a proficient surgeon.

Or take our own NH athlete Quang who won 3rd place in the Men’s Mile at Sports Fest. As a requirement to be on his high school’s Cross-Country Team, Quang runs up to 5 miles daily to develop the speed, stamina, and conditioning needed for his competitions.

Or maybe some of you will go on a diet for your wedding! It requires discipline to stay with the regimen and follow any diet!

Let’s contrast this to a life without discipline. Perhaps the most well-known undisciplined man in the Bible is the cautionary tale of the sluggard:

Proverbs 24:30–34 - I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

As the warning above states, a life without discipline - a life of idleness, of doing nothing, of having goals but merely dreaming of them - leads to no where. You won't complete that project you started. You won't accomplish that goal you set. You won't advance in your education or career...

Now it’s evident that there’s much to gain in our personal and professional lives from having discipline in one’s life. But just as elite athletes or musicians aren’t simply born, but rather are made and developed through nearly 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, neither will Christians become mature in their walk by just doing the bare minimum such as attending church once a week. For if that were the case, then after all these years of watching volleyball games at Sports Fest I’d actually have some kind of volleyball “game,” but I don’t. Therefore osmosis or ‘just being there’ for church on Sundays doesn’t work if one wishes to grow as a Christian. We have to do something. We have to take action to grow our faith.

Undoubtedly it’s hard in our culture and world today for discipline. Ours is a culture eager for quick and easy solutions without any hard work. And we live in world with numerous distractions at our immediate disposal such as the Internet, smart phone games, or Twitter/Tumblr/Facebook etc to keep us from being disciplined.

Paul acknowledges this. Prior to his appeal for us to pursue godliness he calls us to ignore the world and its endless chatter, because the world does not follow Christ: 1 Timothy 4:7a – Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales.

Instead, Paul calls us to be more like Christ by training ourselves which requires work and discipline: 1 Timothy 4:7b - Rather train yourselves to be godly.

For Paul, the pursuit of holiness was the aim of this marathon life. Not his career. Not being disciplined in school to earn good grades. Not being disciplined to learn a new skill. Rather Paul disciplined himself to pursue holiness - to be more like Christ - which has both value on earth and eternally. 1 Timothy 4:8 - For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”


I hope we have the same attitude as Paul. For most of us, every year it seems that we are growing in our education, learning new things at school like Economics, Microbiology, Anatomy, Physics, or learning new skills at work (ie Excel). And we put a lot of time, energy and effort into our work training/certifications/professional developments for our jobs/careers. We advance in our educational and work lives....yet after years of being a Christian, I don't know how much we have seriously grown in our knowledge and relationship with Jesus.

Do we merely repeat the same Bible stories year after year? If I were to ask you the last time you read the Bible, would you state the passage in which you heard at church last Sunday? When was the last time you took a major leap of faith in your walk by trusting in Him and depending on Him alone?


My prayer is that this year, we will adopt Paul's attitude. To value discipline in our personal lives yes, but to pursue godliness and holiness because of our hope now and anticipation of our future lives to come.

We'll be going through the book: Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. Here is its list of Spiritual Disciplines which everyone can exercise to train themselves to become mature Christians:

Bible Reading
Bible Verse Memorization
Bible Meditation
Prayer
Worship
Evangelism
Serving
Stewardship
Fasting
Silence and Solitude
Journaling
Learning

Class handout notes:

What are spiritual disciplines?

Spiritual disciplines are spiritual exercises to grow our spiritual lives towards Christ-likeness. They will require work and discipline.

Why do Spiritual Disciplines?

1. They are the means to godliness. "Think of the spiritual disciplines as ways we can place ourselves in the path of God's grace and seek Him."

2. They are expected by God. They are commanded in 1 Timothy 4:7b, and as Christians purchased by Christ, we are commanded to be holy or set apart.

3. They produce freedom. - The more you do the spiritual disciplines, the more you will achieve spiritual freedom by doing them naturally.



Bible Verse: 1 Timothy 4:7b - Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.

Wisdom and Divine Providence - Another Way God Speaks to Us

Opening Discussion: Give an example of an experience that has humbled you...that you thought you were ready for, yet afterwards you realized you weren't and you ended up looking like a fool?

1 Samuel 25 – David, Nabal, and Abigail

The story of David, Nabal, and Abigail is a short story (only 1 chapter) but a quick read through may leave the reader not grasping the full weight of God’s providence. I had to read it multiple times plus do extensive research – reading commentaries and reading the surrounding chapters to see the context of the story - to fully grasp the meaning of this story and the importance lessons that it conveys that all of us can gain.

It is really a story of God’s providence in a young, soon-to-be Israel king, as David, only a few years older after killing Goliath where he was referred to as a boy, is still developing into the man of God to lead Israel. 

This is a story of two fools, a wise person, and God’s sovereignty in the midst of it all. It teaches an important lesson for a young David to learn as the future King, and for all of us as we continue to grow and mature in our walk with God.  

Context:

We begin the story with a bit of context. In the 1 Samuel narrative, David is on the run from King Saul, who is trying to kill him. In this chapter, v. 1 states the climate of our story, as it’s declared that Samuel has just died. Remember it is Samuel who has anointed David as the next King and was his trusted advisor during Saul’s pursuits to kill him. Therefore this passage marks the transition not only in Israel’s history, but also David’s life for where and whom he will seek counsel to get ready to be King. 

Story:

Anyways after Samuel’s death, David moves to the Desert of Paran and this is where our study takes us. David and his men settle near the property and sheep of Nabal, protecting them day and night (v. 16). Nabal we learn is “very wealthy”, “had property”, and “had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep” (v.2). 

We also learn of our next character: Abigail who is the wife of Nabal. What’s unique about Abigail is her description: she is beautiful and intelligent (v. 3). Beautiful is a rare description in the Bible. Only 3 Christian women are described as having beauty: Rachel – whom Jacob worked for 14 years but “they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her (aww! – Genesis 29:20) and Esther – which we demonstrated her beauty during VBS by having the 1^st ever VBS Beauty Contest (this actually happened in ancient Persia for King Xerxes– see Esther 2). However, for this story we’ll focus on Abigail’s intelligence and wisdom.

So we learn that it’s sheap-shearing time, and this is when David sends a request to Nabal to ask for a payment for his services of protecting Nabal’s sheep as was customary during that time. Nabal’s response is where it gets juicy and shows how Nabal lives up to his translated name of "Fool," as he is our 1^st fool.

Nabal’s responds to David’s request by insulting his name (v. 14). He says rhetorically to David’s request: “Who is this David, …son of Jesse?” and calls him a runaway servant from a master (vv. 10-11)

Well enter fool #2, David. David’s men report word for word what Nabal called David and he immediately gets offended by the insults and calls 400 men to “put on your swords!” for battle. This foolish David is getting ready to wage war against Nabal because his honor had been offended! Simply put, David is doing what many of us do when we get offended or someone calls us something – we react emotionally and impulsively to attack – evil for evil!.

So we’ve established our two fools: Nabal and David. Now comes the heroine of the story.

A servant tells Abigail what has happened and warns how David will respond. The servant says specifically: “disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household.”(v.17) – He is terrified of David’s wrath against Nabal, Nabal’s family, and everyone that serves Nabal’s household (including his own life). This servant probably has heard of David’s previous victory over Goliath, as word of that victory has spread throughout the land (1 Samuel 18:7).

Wisdom Exemplified.

Abigail lost no time (v. 18). She quickly assessed the upcoming destruction of her family and reacted immediately, without haste, to gather the appropriate peace offerings (v18).

We catch David talking to his men saying that Nabal has “paid me back evil for good.”  And David is ready to pay back evil for evil by raiding Nabal’s household.

Here we see God’s divine providence with Abigail’s encounter with David.

Abigail arrives at the precise time David is about to attack. But, before David is able to do so, she calls David to remember how God has protected and fought for David (v. 26), reminds David of God’s covenant with Him and of his offspring’s (v. 28), God’s promises to make him king (v.30). She stops David by reminding God’s faithfulness to David! But she also advises him to “let no wrong doing be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master [David] will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God.”(v.31)

Abigail offers biblical counsel to David. Abigail is telling David to not fight petty battles and to let God deal with those small battles. Furthermore, she reminds David that God has appointed him leader over Israel, and to not have on his conscience the “staggering burden of bloodshed” – basically to not as a future King of Israel to go after pointless battles. Besides God's Word, this is another way God speaks into our lives. To have community with other Christians and have them remind you of God's faithfulness, of His promise and love for you, and of His sovereignty in all things. Biblical counseling uses God's Word to counsel others in time of need.

Here's another definition to guide you:

Biblical Counseling is the process where the Bible, God's Word, is related individually to a person or persons who are struggling under the weight of personal sin and/or the difficulties with suffering, so that he or she might genuinely change in the inner person to be pleasing to God. 

(source: http://www.faithlafayette.org/counseling/about/what_is_biblical_counseling)

God’s divine providence of allowing David to meet Abigail during these critical developmental years led David to grow and depend on God, and to not be like his predecessor Saul who feared man (ie what his men though of him) rather than fear God. Though David's honor was attacked, he didn't have to prove to the men around him that he cared what they thought. David learned a valuable lesson in leadership: to fear God and not man.

David redeems himself. Though he was a fool, he becomes wise by obeying this wise instruction. David listens to this counsel and exclaims to Abigail – “ Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands” (vv. 33-34). There we have it, wisdom and divine providence.

Conclusion:

After Abigail tells Nabal, the fool, her encounter with David and his men, Nabal too realizes his error and “his heart failed him and he became like a stone.” Unfortunately for Nabal, his error was realized too late as he died 10 days later. May we not be like Nabal who was quick to insult, not having the wisdom of restraint of his words to know their full weight and harm they may cause to himself and others.

David sends word for Abigail to be his wife. She obliges. And now our story goes full circle, as David once again has a source of Biblical counsel, (a wife, someone whom you will confide in, part of your inner circle, a life partner and a great source for Biblical counsel!) to replace Samuel, who will be there to remind him of God's faithfulness, wisdom and sovereignty in all things.

Something to think about...

This story is sandwiched between 2 accounts of David sparing Saul's life. 

1 Samuel 24 - David Spares Saul's Life

1 Samuel 25 - David, Nabal and Abigail

1 Samuel 26  - David Again Spares Saul's Life

The author presents this as if letting the reader distinctly taste and notice the growing pains of David's journey to become Israel's king. The author places a striking narrative of David's willingness to murder Nabal between two sweet accounts of David's willingness to trust in the sovereignty of God and spare Saul's life.

Addendum.

The book of Proverbs is written for those that seek wisdom. Personally, it’s one of my favorite books in the Bible. I encourage you to read it to grow in wisdom – especially to know what wisdom is (Proverbs 9:10).

Some Proverbs on the fool and the wise:

Proverbs 12: 15 – The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 12:16 – A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. 

Proverbs 19:11 – A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

 

Reflections

Spend some time looking back in your own life. Looking back today, how was God preparing you in the past

Be mindful of this experience during your present circumstances. God may be preparing you for something in the future!

Silence and Solitude – Our God Who Whispers

Silence and Solitude Intro: 

“Think of Christopher Nolan as a man trying to write a novel while the neighbors – in this case, the rest of the world’s population – won’t keep the noise down. The filmmaker doesn’t own a cell phone, has no e-mail account and, in recent weeks, he’s been hiding out at the Paradise Cove trailer park in Malibu to focus on a new script while growing a Hollywood hermit’s beard.

“I don’t really look at the Internet,” the 40-year-old said with an old-soul sigh, “because if I don’t, it gives me more time to think….”

We live in a noisy, distracting and busy world. A world in which nearly everyone has a smartphone; a world where my 2 -year old cousin knows how to operate an Ipad; a world in which twitter chirps, text message alerts, and the constant staccato of our thumbs tapping on our smartphones fill and distract us. 

Then there's the demands of work and school, family obligations, and an attempt of a social life with friends.

Our world is loud. Our world is full of toys and gadgets that keep us entertain. Our world has incessant work demands, expectations, and obligations. And because of our today's world, it is difficult to hear God.

With the ease of access in our world, we have been trained to expect an obvious or immediate SIGN from God. A clear revelation of what He telling us to do with our lives. Unfortunately, that's not the way God reveals Himself anymore. Instead, to seek God's will requires the unfashionable discipline to quiet the noise in our lives and hear God speak to us....in a whisper.

Where Are You God? 

There was a time in history when God revealed Himself through clear, grand spectacles such as signs and wonders. In our class study, we compared and contrasted Exodus 19:16-19 and 1 Kings 19:11-12. Both accounts happened at Mount Sinai.

Exodus 19:16-19 -  On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.  As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

1 Kings 19:11-12 - The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” 

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

God revealed Himself through dramatic revelations in the past as with Moses. There was a reason for that type of revelation (mainly to reveal to Pharaoh and the world that He alone is God [Exodus 14:4]). However, God doesn’t have to speak through grand, spectacular signs and miracles. In Elijah’s account, God teaches Elijah that He also speaks in a whisper.

Our world is different today than the world of Moses and Elijah. Those where the days of prophets, in which God spoke through prophets. In today's world, we have something much more valuable than Moses and Elijah.  Today we have the Bible, the full revelation from God; the actual Word of God.

And because we have the Bible, we don’t need prophets to hear God’s voice. Today God speaks through His Word. But it's our job to [spiritually] discipline ourselves to read it, study it, and apply it to our lives and reflect in silence and be still before God to hear His voice.

It is very important that we study the Bible in order to know God's Word and discern His will. To the extreme, people will claim to be prophets today (false!) and say that they have direct revelation from God. To the extreme, some of them will even say that God told them to hurt someone.

And if we don't do our part and study the Bible God has given us, we may fall victim to their charlatan. If they're charismatic enough or appeal to our emotions, we may actually believe that God really did tell them to hurt someone or that God told them to commit a sin. But let's look at God's word as our authority. In James 1:13-14 we find:  "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed."

Perhaps this illustration will help clarify:

We hear His voice when we spend time in Bible study and quiet contemplation of His Word. The more time we spend intimately with God and His Word, the easier it is to recognize His voice and His leading in our lives. 

Employees at a bank are trained to recognize counterfeits by studying genuine money so closely that it is easy to spot a fake. We should be so familiar with God’s Word that when someone speaks error to us, it is clear that it is not of God.
(Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/voice-of-God.html#ixzz3RvyxoXfG )

If you believe God is speaking to you today through His Word, during a sermon, or through other Christians in your life (we'll talk more about this in our next class!), just be firm and uncompromising in that it must be in accordance with His Word. For surely it would be nonsense for God to contradict Himself!

Definitions (Whitney p. 184)

Silence – the voluntary and temporary abstention from speaking so that certain spiritual goals may be sought.

Solitude – the voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes.

Application - Turning off the Noise…following Jesus’ example

One way to practice Silence and Solitude is to learn from Jesus:

Mark 1:35 – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Luke 4:42 – At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.

In both accounts, Jesus leaves at dawn, when it’s silent, to spend time with God, in solitude, away from the busyness and demands of his life and ministry. Our lives today are busier than ever. Much is expected with our work, school, families, and even ministry obligations. We can learn from Jesus and discipline ourselves to get up early to practice silence and solitude before the noise and demands of life drown us. For those in serving in ministry, and are familiar with its demands, silence and solitude before God are necessary to restore us so I suggest........

Daily Retreats

To the extreme we can simply get away and grow a hermit beard like Christopher Nolan. What’s more practical is to plan a get-away retreat to spend time alone with God.

Elijah was spiritually burnt out when He ran to Mount Sinai. He was so burnt out, that Elijah asked God to end his life:

1 Kings 19:4b - 5: He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

For anyone who's served in ministry, you will experience burn out. While we didn't focus on the burn out aspect (I encourage you to read more about it in 1 Kings 19 and spend time in silence and solitude in prayer as Elijah did), we too also experience burn out with life's demands.

One solution with burnout is to take a daily retreat. Go to a park or experience nature away from the demands at school or work to be alone with God. Be honest with God. Tell Him about your stress. Your burn out. Be vulnerable as Elijah was before God.

Ultimately, we need these times of silence and solitude to restore our spirits. We take vacations from work to recover from the stress and demands of our job; we should take spiritual vacations or retreats to replenish our soul or strengthen our relationship with God. As Donald Whitney put it: “As sleep and rest are needed each day for the body, so silence and solitude are needed each day for the soul.” 

Personal Example:

In my experiences, God works through the normal every day things - a small voice or feeling from the Holy Spirit -  which we can easily miss because life is busy, noisy, and distracting. However God is speaking to you, don't forget it has to be in accordance with His Word. I shared how He answered my prayer, in a series of unexpected events, that lead me to become your Sunday School teacher.

And when God tells you to do something or answers your prayers for a certain direction in your life, don't expect it now will be a simple, easy, or smooth path. That you will now just cruise through God's plan for your life. It still will require work. There still will be trials. But in the end, just as with Elijah's burnout, God is faithful. (spoiler: God at the end of 1 Kings 19 instructs Elijah to find Elisha, an aide and successor.)

Our faith journey will demand a lot. We will experience burnout and despair and often wonder where is God. But learn from Elijah's account.  That God is present in our trials. That God hears our prayers. That God is faithful. That God answered Elijah's burnout by giving him necessary help.  And that, this same God is working today in your life, amidst all the noise.

I hope you too would practice Silence and Solitude. I’ve shared it before, but I grew the most in my walk with God when I was in grad school. I lived in Michigan and because it wasn’t as noisy and distracting as Los Angeles, I was able to spend a lot of time in silence and solitude; in prayer, in Bible study, and reflecting on God. Those disciplines grew my faith. They might just grow yours too!

Other Examples of God working in Silence and Solitude in the Bible

We were fortunate to have the Call of Samuel taught by Josiah’s dad. It’s a good study to see how Samuel prepared himself to hear God’s voice. I encourage you to read and study it on your own in 1 Samuel 3.

Another example of God working in silence and solitude is the Call of Moses in the wilderness – Exodus 3. God prepares Moses in the barren wilderness, not the chaotic life of living in an Egyptian palace.

Application/Music Example: Spend some time in Silence & Solitude and watch this great video. The lyrics and video are appropriate for our lesson! Mercy Me - Word of God Speak

End notes:

Christopher Nolan Silence & Solitude Link

The Consequences of Sin – When We Neglect to Read, Memorize, and Meditate on Scripture.

 

Intro video clip:  What Sin is Like (from Spiderman 3)

David is one of the most complex characters in the Bible. A man after God’s own heart and a man who displays impressive faith in the midst of trials; yet, David is not perfect and his reign as Israel's king can also be characterized by bloodshed, insurrections, and personal tragedies. Let’s look at David’s life and study one incident in particular that will dramatically change his life and the lives of those around him.

We studied 2 Samuel 11 – David and Bathsheba. 

From class, we learned that David’s encounter with Bathsheba was not a single incident of sin; rather it was a series of sins. David 1^st sin was that he did not lead Israel’s army to war as kings do (v. 1) (Note: this is also the sin King Saul committed when he sent David to fight Goliath). This sets up David’s covetousness and adultery with Bathsheba, resulting in her pregnancy. David tries to cover up his transgression by calling her husband, Uriah the Hittite, home from war. David urges Uriah to visit his wife by first giving him a gift to take home and when that doesn’t work by getting Uriah drunk. Yet Uriah remains a faithful soldier and doesn’t go see his wife, rather he yearns to get back to war for "the ark of Israel and Judah are staying in tents....how could I go to my house to eat and drink.." (v. 11). With his acts of deception not working, David then sets up the murder of Uriah by sending him to the fiercest parts of the war without backup. Uriah gets killed and David has Bathsheba brought to him to become his wife.

I chose this lesson to illustrate the importance of the 3 Spiritual Disciplines we have studied: reading God’s Word, memorizing Scripture, and Bible meditation. This is the temptation of David. But unlike the temptation of Jesus, David does not answer temptation with "It is written....". David should have recalled and quoted these commandments:

               You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…covet your neighbor’s wife.

               You shall not commit adultery.

               You shall not give false testimony.

               You shall not murder.

               You shall not steal.

David's sins illustrate the venomous nature of sin. Sin is venom. Sin may start small, but the more we sin, the easier it is for us to commit more sins. Notice that it's David’s first sin of being in the wrong place (not at war) that leads to him being tempted with Bathsheba, which then leads David to quickly commit more and more sins.

Besides being poisonous to our lives, sin affects those around us. Like that ABC show “How to Get Away With Murder”, David’s sin with Bathsheba will change the course of the lives of everyone involved.  

               Uriah, one of David’s great warriors (2 Samuel 23:39), gets murdered.

               Bathsheba becomes unclean (v. 4) because of David and mourns for her husband.

               Joab, the accomplice to Uriah’s murder, will ultimately kill David’s beloved son Absalom.

               Finally, there’s David. It’s clear that the Lord is displeased with David (v. 27b). In the Bible this chapter marks the beginning of the end of David’s prosperous reign as king. As with the past leaders of Israel (ex. Moses), God will punish leaders for their disobedience. God will discipline David and all of Israel will suffer because of his sin. Here’s a timeline of the reign of King David.

Notice King David’s reign before and after his incident with Bathsheba.  

Quick Timeline of the reign of King David

2 Samuel 5 - David becomes king over all Israel, David conquers Jerusalem, David defeats the Philistines

2 Samuel 6 - The Ark is brought to Jerusalem

2 Sameul 7 - God’s promise to David (very significant, one day we will have a class on this chapter!), David’s Prayer

2 Samuel 8 – David’s victories

2 Samuel 9 – David shows kindness to Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 10 – David defeats the Ammonites

2 Samuel 11 – David and Bathsheeba

2 Samuel 12 – Nathan rebukes David

2 Samuel 13 – Amnon and Tamar, Absalom kills Amnon (David’s sin results in a broken family and the murder of one of his sons by his older 1/2 brother)

2 Samuel 14 – 15 – Absalom returns to Jerusalem; Absalom’s conpiracy against David; David flees for his life (David’s sin leads to a civil war in Israel)

2 Sameul 18 – Absalom’s death, David mourns (the aftermath of David’s sins lead to his son's murder by Joab)

So, does David really get away with murder? 

The problem of sin is that it entangles and enslaves you. Sin starts small, acts slowly but then quickly takes control over you. It changes you. Sin's like a drug; it makes you act different. Did you notice that in this chapter, David behaves like Saul? He's not "a man after God's own heart", rather he's a sinful man who is worried about his reputation if people find out that he is having a child with a married woman. Like Saul, David gives the orders for the murder of an innocent man.

Sin is toxic. It ruins your life, your goals, your dreams, and everything you’ve worked for. But sadly sin doesn't only affect you. The worse thing about sin is that its destruction is far-reaching - it also harms those around you. Sin damages your relationship with your families and loved ones. Sin breaks up friendships at school and at work. Sin destroys a community. Sin, as it says in the Bible, is death. (Romans 6:23)

Therefore don’t let sin ruin your life. Battle temptation. Be like Jesus. Equip the sword of the Spirit. Read, memorize, and meditate on Scripture.

Contemplative Psalm: Psalm 119:1-8

 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
    who walk according to the law of the Lord. 

 Blessed are those who keep his statutes
    and seek him with all their heart 

  they do no wrong
    but follow his ways.

You have laid down precepts
    that are to be fully obeyed. 

 Oh, that my ways were steadfast
    in obeying your decrees! 

 Then I would not be put to shame
    when I consider all your commands. 

 I will praise you with an upright heart
    as I learn your righteous laws. 

 I will obey your decrees;
    do not utterly forsake me.

Next Week: Silence and Solitude.