Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 23:1–24:25, Jude 17–25, Ps 148:1–150:6

Today’s Theme: Praise the Lord

Today’s theme is about praise, praising the Lord in the good and bad times, praising God in the battle, swinging the sword of praise, building our faith through praise and affirmation of the truth and the shear pleasure and joy of praise.

2 Samuel 23:1–24:25

The weapon of praise

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time. 2 Samuel 23:8 (ESV)

We read today about the 3 mighty warriors from Davids men
1. Josheb-basshebeth who killed 800 at one time with his spear.
2. Eleazar who struck the enemy until the sword stuck to his hand while Israel withdrew.
3. Shammah who took his stand while others retreated to defend the field of lentils, striking down the enemy.

These men showed remarkable bravery, skill and determination We can learn form their example, we do not turn back, we never retreat, we stand and fight as we studied yesterday.

As we stand, our very stand will bring praise to Gods name. Praising God in the midst of the battle is like the 3 mighty warriors standing and swinging their swords.

We need to swing the sword today through praising God according to his word.

No retreat, no surrender, take your stand, hold your sword (the bible) so tightly that it becomes a part of you and swing, swing the sword of the Spirit through praise and see the enemy slain and flee from you.

If you are under attack in your mind, swing the sword of word based praise to our great king, God. Praise the Lord.

Be like Benaiah

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 2 Samuel 23:20 (ESV)

As a side note from our theme of praise, we must not forget the example of Benaiah and his exploits for his king, lets show his faith, courage and loyalty in our lives for our king, Jesus.

Pastor Dennis brought a life changing message from the character of Beniah, clips and reflections can be found on our website.

here https://www.wwmf.org/2012/08/04/resources/benaiah-the-heart-of-the-king/

and here https://www.wwmf.org/2013/01/05/media/video/the-heart-of-the-king-dvd/

Jude 17–25

The affirmation of praise

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 24–25 (ESV)

Today’s new testament passage begins by Jude encouraging us to build ourselves up in the faith we have been called to contend for by doing two things, 1) praying by the leading of the Holy Spirit 2) Keeping in the love of God.

If we live lives led by the Spirit and walk in love as we wait on God’s mercy which leads to eternal life we will show mercy on others too.

God wants us to live our lives on mission and we can only do that if we are filled with and led by the Holy Spirit and live a life of sanctification, obedience and service which keeps us in the love of God.

All of this leads to the final doxology, a praise of affirmation. We know we can’t keep ourselves or live for God without his help.

We can make the affirmation of our Spirit filled, living faith through praise today. Declare God to be who he is, it will build your faith and encourage you as you proclaim the truth that God can and will keep you from stumbling.

To him be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority.

Psalm 148:1–150:6

Praise the King

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. Psalm 148:13 (ESV)

God’s majesty is far above the earth and the heavens, he is the great king, worthy of our praise

The Pleasure of God

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Psalm 149:4 (ESV)

God takes pleasure and gets enjoyment form his people as they walk in humility, be humble today to bring God pleasure.

The joy of praise

Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Psalm 150:3 (ESV)

As we praise God lets do it with joy, our praise of our great God should bring God and us pleasure we should both enjoy it as we celebrate God. We praise him with all sorts of music, shout praise to God today for his great deeds.

Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 22:1–51, Jude 1–16, Ps 147:1–20

Today’s Theme: FIGHT!

Today’s theme is all about us fighting for the glory of God, using the weapons of humility, praise and truth. We have all been called to contend for the faith.

One of the best ways’ to fight spiritually is to declare the truth about who God is.

2 Samuel 22:1–51

I only pull out the odd verse here and there, however there are wonderful depth to plunge in this song of David if you have time to read and meditate on it today.

God, my stronghold

He said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. 2 Samuel 22:2–3 (ESV)

As believers we are constantly at war and always under attack. We begin the study of the fight we must engage in from the only place we should, hiding behind God as our fortress, shield and stronghold.

David was a man of war and knew how important a good fortress was in a battle, he likens God to a fortress and a rock because God is steadfast, dependable and does not change, he is well able to protect his people collectively when they come under attack.

As a warrior David knew how crucial a shield was to fend of personal attacks, a weak shield would not do the job of saving the fighter. We hold our faith up against the attacks of the enemy. God is our shield. Ephesians 6:16

David makes this song of praise personal by always saying my, he can’t speak for anyone else he just knows this is true in his own life and we should be the same, knowing who God has proven and declared himself to be to us.

God is my stronghold, this is so powerful in the fight, 2 Corinthians 10:4 tells us a stronghold is a way of thinking, a thought, belief, philosophy or idea. So the truth of God’s word becomes a stronghold in our minds in a positive way which is where we retreat to, refuel and attack from.

God’s arrows

And he sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. 2 Samuel 22:15 (ESV)

David gives an amazing and striking image of God as the great warrior of the heavens, the mighty God who fights and responds to his plea for help (7 – 14).

Here David speaks about God sending down arrows to scatter the enemy, now we must remember this is a poem and so the imagery should be taken in that form, which means the arrows are not mere arrows, they represent something.

The previous verse told us that God uttered his voice and in the book of revelation we read about Jesus fighting against the enemy with the sword of his mouth, Revelation 19:15.

So the arrows that God sends and scatters the enemy with are his words found in the bible and his voice heard through the Holy Spirit.

God’s word as the king of all creation are so powerful that they go and accomplish all that God intends them too. We can rely on God’s word today as we fight.

God, my rescuer

He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 2 Samuel 22:18 (ESV)

We are not stronger than all our enemies, in our own strength we would surely fail in the fight.

We need to humbly depend on God to rescue us from enemies that are too strong for us.

We will go on to read in Jude that even the Angels did not contend with Satan, knowing that Satan is an accomplished and strong enemy and held the regal office of the cherub that covers.

We must not be presumptuous as we fight and have a false sense of confidence. We should not really address Satan in our prayers other than to do what Michael did which is to say the Lord rebukes you.

We address our prayers as we fight right past the enemy to the God who is stronger than all our enemies and is able to rescue us from them and defeat them.

Humble people

You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. 2 Samuel 22:28 (ESV)

God has called us to be a humble people.

Humility is the attitude we must have as we fight, if we are proud, arrogant, harsh and unteachable then God will look to humble us himself and may even need to fight against us.

This is why we must humble ourselves like David did, then we will see God come through for us.

When we are in humble submission to the Lord then we can say with David that by God’s power we can run through a troop of attackers and leap over the enemies walls of defence.

Fight with humility. Philippians 2:3

God, The Rock

“For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? 2 Samuel 22:32 (ESV)

God alone is God, one of God’s unique attributes is that God is immutable or does not change, this is where the rock imagery comes from. We also see God as dependable, stable, enduring and strong as the rock.

Jesus said that the revelation that he was the Christ the Son of the Living God was the rock on which he would build the church. Matthew 16:18

Jesus also said that those who obey his commandments are like those building their house on a rock. Matthew 7:24

So we see the unchangeable God has an unchangeable word that we can totally rely on as we fight.

You can stand today in the assurance that God by his very nature as faithful and unchangeable, will come good on his word. We can boldly put our faith in God, our rock as we fight

Jude 1–16

We only have time to look at one verse here, there’s lots more to dig into if you can.

Contend for the faith

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 3 (ESV)

The body of Christ cannot be passive, we are called to fight for what we believe. We are constantly at war with false teaching, false believers, the influence of the world etc.

The faith handed down to us must be preserved personally but more importantly corporately as a church.

Jude is moved by the Holy Spirit to call the church to spiritual and mental arms against the onslaught and schemes of the enemy.

We should embrace apologetics and the studying of God’s word so we can stand and defend the truth of our faith, we are not post modernist or relativist, we have a firm, absolute, central, single, historical faith which can be articulated and defended consistently from age to age.

Our faith is not novel, it is old and true, it was handed down and must be preserved so beware of strange or new teachings. Jude spends time describing false teachers who come to challenge to truth and lifestyle of the gospel.

Contend for the ancient, pure and true faith today.

Psalm 147:1–20

A wonderful and encouraging Psalm, take time to mediate on this today, we again only have time for one verse in our study.

Hope in God’s love

but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Psalm 147:11 (ESV)

We watched the moving and inspiring account of Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh who were imprisoned for their faith in Iran but were used by Gods grace to lead many to the Lord and have now been released.

The Lord takes pleasure in his people who like this two women fear him and put their hope in him.

As we hope in God’s love, we bring God pleasure and win the battle as we humble ourselves before him.

Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 20:1–21:22, 2 Pet 3:14–18, Ps 146:1–10

Today’s Theme: Procrastination vs Action

Today’s theme will explore the many pitfalls of procrastination which is putting off what should be done today (delaying or postponing necessary action) and is synonymous with laziness, idleness and sluggishness. On the other hand we will look at the alternative to procrastination which is action.

2 Samuel 20:1–21:22

The deadly danger of delay

So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. 2 Samuel 20:5 (ESV)

Amasa was given an allocated time to gather the men of Judah into an army to pursue Bichri, he did not use his time wisely. He foolishly delayed and went beyond the set time.

Procrastination is an enemy to our own lives and our kings kingdom, it rots purpose and godly success like decay.

Amasa in his first task as the head of the army fails miserably. His procrastination and carelessness lead to his untimely death later in verse 10.

We need to be alert and have hearts ready to go into action today. Do not delay, do not be lazy, do not just chill we are at war get moving today, stand still and you will die, be active.

As we mediate on the dangers of procrastination consider the following New Testament passages:

Delaying the Lord’s call: Matthew 8:21–22 and Luke 9:59–62
Five foolish virgins parable: Matthew 25:2–13
Excuses!: Luke 14:16–21
Now is the day for salvation: 2 Corinthians 6:2

Don’t delay, be active for the king today.

Be alert

But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 2 Samuel 20:10 (ESV)

Joab murdered Amasa, but is should not have been so easy, Amasa should have been alert and able to defend himself, his sluggish character betrays him to his quick, violent and untimely death.

In one sense Amasa dies for committing high treason against king David which is what his procrastination amounts to.

We must not allow ourselves to become guilty of treason through procrastination, we should love and fear our king, carrying out his will with swiftness.

The bible calls us to be sober and alert, we need be like an expert solider in the spirit, soldiers who are at war will be alert, their senses will be heightened and their reaction will be quick.

Paul warns us in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” and in 1 Peter 5:8 we are told “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Be alert, don’t get caught out, don’t let the enemy catch you slipping, if he does he will strike and you will fall so lets be alert today.

Speak up, do something

Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’ ” 2 Samuel 20:16 (ESV)

This wise woman saved the entire city by calling out to Joab, reasoning with him and without delay beheading Bichri and throwing his head over the wall.

This woman was a hero, she saved an entire city, if she was a lazy procrastinator she would not have been concerned with the welfare of the city or bothered herself to do something about it.

Don’t keep thinking that someone else will do it, they won’t. It is up to you to make a plan and execute it.

Jesus told us to be bold, open and deliberate about our good works in In Matthew 5:16 “the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

If you see a problem today be willing to be used by the Lord to solve it or to add to the solution, get up and say something, get up and do something.

Do good today, don’t be a selfish procrastinator, here is some encouragement from the New Testament Galatians 6:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:13 and Hebrews 12:3

Get organised

Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; and Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest. 2 Samuel 20:23–26 (ESV)

David reorganises his government putting in place faithful men who are all men of action with track records of pressing through and getting the job done.

Joab with all his faults is a leader of men a man who will lead in battle with courage, quickness and wisdom and so is reinstated as the General of the army.

One of the reasons for procrastination is a lack of organisation. Without adequate organisation in our personal lives or in a team a task can seem insurmountable.

Jesus has not called any one of us to be the body on our own, we are all members of the body, like we studied yesterday, we need to know our position in the wider body and hold that position in honour to all other members, this is how we will be well organised as a people. 1 Corinthians 12:20

Ask God to guide you by his Spirit to organise your own life and show you how you can bring better organisation and administration to the ministries you are involved in which will deal a deathblow to one of procrastination’s favourite hiding places.

Be active but honourable

But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 2 Samuel 21:7 (ESV)

David needed to take action in the matter of the Gibeonites, but he was not just driven by the need to be active, he was able to show restraint and was honourable towards Jonathan’s son and later see’s the house of Saul is given a good burial.

We need to make sure that in our desire to not procrastinate that we do not become callous active people. We must be active but must be led by God the Holy Spirit too, living with his fruit showing in our lives and actions. Romans 8:14

Kill the giants

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.” 2 Samuel 21:17 (ESV)

David was saved by Joab’s brother who killed the Giant for him and as we read to the end of the chapter we see Goliath’s 4 brothers are all killed by David’s faithful, active men.

We need to take action to kill the giants in our lives. As we battle each day we will face giants, one of the giants is procrastination so kill it today.

Here are a few things to consider today while slaying the giant of procrastination:*

Procrastination Robs You of Opportunities for Service
Procrastination Robs You of the Opportunity to Be Successful
Procrastination Robs You of the Opportunity for Salvation
– Consider the Identity of the Procrastinator
– Consider the Instruction of the Procrastinator
– Consider the Impact on the Procrastinator
– Consider the Intention of the Procrastinator
Procrastination’s Two Big Problems
– Procrastination Produces a False Sense of Control
– Procrastination Ignores the Uniqueness of Conviction

*taken from the contents page of David Jeremiah’s Facing the giants in your life

2 Peter 3:14–18

Grow in grace and knowledge

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 (ESV)

This is a great summary of the Christian life, we should not be inactive, lazy, lawless or selfish, we should be active members of the body of Christ, growing everyday.

This is not theoretical, head knowledge, this is personal and experiential knowledge from the truth of Gods word which informs our relationship with God.

The gift of God in the truth of the scriptures and the gift of grace will keep us stable as we grow and keep us from error. Thank God for the gift of true knowledge and grace today.

Psalm 146:1–10

Our help is the Lord

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, Psalm 146:5 (ESV)

We don’t need to let fear cause us to procrastinate, we can move forward and take action because the Lord is our help

Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 19:1–43, 2 Pet 3:1–13, Ps 145:1–21

Today’s Theme: Knowing your position

Today’s theme is about us knowing and staying within our position in Christ, the church and the world. We also look at God’s position toward us.

2 Samuel 19:1–43

Speaking out of position

Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and your concubines, 2 Samuel 19:5 (ESV)

Joab was again completely out of line, he had no right to come so boldly before the king and rebuke him. This all goes back to Joab’s sedition which had him thinking of himself more highly than he should have and has made him lose perspective on his position and so speak out of turn. Romans 12:3

David listens to Joab in wisdom but later in the same chapter replaces Joab with Amasa.

Paul warns that we should not rebuke those who are older than us and in higher positions of authority than us in 1 Timothy 5:1. He goes on to give further instruction in 1 Timothy 5:19.

We must not allow ourselves to be caught out by our emotions or unbalanced view of ourselves or our leaders. We need to know our and their positions before God and so walk in humility and not the hot headed folly of Joab.

Do not rebuke those in positions of leadership in your life, don’t even do it in your mind as you allow seeds of sedition to be planted which are your own undoing.

Do not speak out of turn, know your position and behave in accordance with that.

No insecurity

But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” 2 Samuel 19:22 (ESV)

King David did not suffer from the same insecurities as Saul.

Insecurity is often a hiding place for pride so don’t nurse insecurity, reject those thoughts and feelings in Jesus name.

We must have the same attitude as David, we do not need to prove anything to anyone else or ourselves we need to know who we are in Christ and walk in that confidence.

Paul encourages us in Ephesians 5:8 “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” Mediate on that fact today to dispel the clouds of insecurity.

Our position before God is secure in Christ.

Know your calling and place

Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him go over with my lord the king, and do for him whatever seems good to you.” 2 Samuel 19:37 (ESV)

Brazillai was no opportunist, was not insecure and had a pure and loyal heart. He did not get caught up with the superficial aspect of the Kings kind offer, he knew his position in life and before God, so knew how to say no.

We need to be able like Brazillai to say no, even to good offers that are made to us if they are not in God’s will and plan for us.

God has placed us in certain positions and places in life and we need to know the place and scope of our calling.

As you seek to emulate Brazillai’s balanced attitude and thinking consider these verses from the new testament; Acts 17:26, 1 Corinthians 12:18 and 2 Peter 1:10.

It is significant that our youth conference has come to an end and Brazillai sought to give the king’s opportunity to his young servant, we too must have a heart to see the upcoming generations used to the glory of God.

Quarrelling and arguments

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. 2 Samuel 19:43 (ESV)

James said in James 4:1 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? “

Paul mentions quarrels at that start of his letter to the troubled church at corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:11 “For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.”

We should not be fighting over positions, and living to feed the appetites of our flesh or pride as this will lead to quarrels and fights.

We must confidently live in the position we have in Christ and not be green eyed little monsters always wanting what someone else has.

The tribes of Israel are on the brink of entering a pointless battle over where the king should live. We all have king Jesus, lets not be tricked by the enemy and go to war with each over in pride.

Avoid foolish arguments today, be confident in your position before God.

 2 Peter 3:1–13

The king will return

that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,2 Peter 3:2 (ESV)

It is amazing that we read about king David returning to his kingdom in the OT today and now we read about the return of The King, Jesus.

As a church we must always be in a position where we are already for the Lord’s return.

We do not need to get caught up in sings of the times although they are important. We should instead aim to have our hearts focused and expectant of the Lord’s imminent return or of his decision to call us home.

Live in a ready position for the return or call.

God’s salvific stance

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

God’s position before the world is a salvific one, he stands and offers salvation to all and does not desire that anyone should be lost but that all should repent.

The atonement is sufficient for all and effective for the God’s elect. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross is sufficient for anyone to be saved and fully effective for those chosen by God who repent and put their faith in Jesus.

This is why we need to maintain and confirm our position as the heralds of his kingdom bringing the good news of the gospel to everyone, calling all to repent.

Psalm 145:1–21

Take time to read over and mediate on this psalm today, the following are just two point from a very rich psalm which includes verse relevant to praying to our youth in light of our recent youth conference.

God’s kingdom

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] Psalm 145:13 (ESV)

God’s position is as a merciful king, showing goodness to all. He has called us into his everlasting kingdom. Mediate on your position in God’s kingdom today and more importantly on God as your king.

God’s near position

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18 (ESV)

God has positioned himself near to all those who call on him in truth, call upon the Lord in truth today.