Devotions

Those Who Proclaim the Gospel

by  • 

The church in Corinth has not supported Paul in his work as the one that brought them the gospel or as an apostle. He gives them examples from life in the world, they would feed an ox working for them. Or, if they plowed someone’s field they would expect a share of the crop, or if the helped with the harvest by threshing they would expect a share. Then he asks in 1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too great a thing if we reap material things from you? Of course not, in fact, why are they not offering? But Paul is not laying claim to the things he needs for his own life, instead, he has given, he has enslaved himself as it says in 1 Corinthians 9:19 “I have enslaved myself to all, in order that I may gain more”. Paul then uses the example of one running in a race which would have been well known to them through the Isthmian games, held near Corinth the first and third year of every Olympiad which happened every four years. Using this familiar example of running a race, Paul encourages them to run to win. But it is not to win the crown that perishes in 1 Corinthians 9:25 And everyone who competes exercises self-control in all things. Thus those do so in order that they may receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

There Is One Lord, Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 8:1–13 

You Must Not Muzzle an Ox While it is Threshing

1 Corinthians 9:1–9
Paul asks questions about how those serving the Lord as ministers should be treated. In the law of Moses, the Levites had no land, their entire job was the ministry of the things of God as servants to the rest of the tribes. They were about a tenth of the people and the other tribes were all to give a tenth to the Priests and the Levites.

Is it different in the new covenant with Jesus Christ? All of us are children of God. All of us are anointed by the Holy Spirit. All of us have work in our lives for the Lord. But most are to live godly lives in the world, to raise their family, to prosper in the work of their hands that in

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to cause all grace to abound to you, so that in everything at all times, because you have enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work.

Paul was called by Jesus Christ to take the gospel to the Gentiles in

Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.

Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were called for a work in

Acts 13:2 And while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

And as Paul continued his missionary work, he went to Corinth and established the Church in

Acts 18:11 So he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

If anyone had a right to claim some benefit from his work in the ministry, it was Paul. And his message to them is that they ought to know this and volunteer to provide his support. They would not think to require an ox to work without food but what is the answer to the question, if God is not concerned about the ox, then what is it that “God is concerned” with? in

1 Corinthians 9:9 For in the law of Moses it is written, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.” It is not about oxen God is concerned, is it?

 

Those Who Proclaim the Gospel Live From the Gospel

1 Corinthians 9:10–17
In this world, we have need of food and shelter and these come as we do work. As he has just said “You must not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.” Paul reminds them of their own expectation in

1 Corinthians 9:10b the one who plows ought to plow in hope and the one who threshes ought to do so in hope of a share.

But it isn’t just that it is right for us each to prosper by the work of our hands. He goes on to now make the connection with “spiritual things” and they out to already know it is not too great a thing in

1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too great a thing if we reap material things from you?

Corinth was a Roman city primarily Greek that had temples to many gods and these temples were attended. There were also Jews among them that would understand the place of the Priests and the Levites, that they were provided for as he describes in

1 Corinthians 9:13 Do you not know that those performing the holy services eat the things from the temple, and those attending to the altar have a share with the altar?

It is right for a minister of the gospel to live by the support and the gifts of those they minister to in

1 Corinthians 9:14 In the same way also the Lord ordered those who proclaim the gospel to live from the gospel.

 

I Have Enslaved Myself to All

1 Corinthians 9:18–27
Paul has made the point that he has every right to claim support from them for the work he has done among them. But Paul is first the servant of Jesus Christ, his work is to “gain more” as he says in

1 Corinthians 9:19 For although I am free from all people, I have enslaved myself to all, in order that I may gain more.

Paul has chosen to “offer the gospel free of charge, in order not to make full use of my right in the gospel” in 1 Corinthians 9:18. He has denied his claim for support from them to make the gospel free to them. The reason he has done this is in

1 Corinthians 9:23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, in order that I may become a participant with it.

or as he said in 1 Corinthians 9:19 to “gain more” and he admonishes them also to run as if in a race and in 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Run in such a way that you may win”.

Our Fathers Were All Under the Cloud

1 Corinthians 10:1–13

The Cup of Blessing Which we Bless

1 Corinthians 10:14–22

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
  • 1 Corinthians 9:1-27
  • 1 Corinthians 10:1-22
Devotions

The Saints Will Judge the World

by  • 

Paul brings correction, first reminding believers of their position with God in Christ in 1 Corinthians 6:2 “do you not know that the saints will judge the world?”. Even more than that, in 1 Corinthians 6:3 “Do you not know that we will judge angels”. The challenge is, that our bodies are the connection between the kingdom of God and his will in the earth so he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 6:20 “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body”. Our demonstration of this glory of God in our bodies happens in the most common event, the joining of a man and a woman together. But our culture, as did theirs, has perverted this relationship from the simplicity of Gods design that the Lord presented in Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh”. This is where we begin to learn to have harmonious and even vitalized relationships because here, we must also face ourselves and learn to love ourselves so that we can, as Jesus said in Matthew 22:39 ‘… love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

The Saints Will Judge the World

1 Corinthians 6:1–11
Paul has presented to the believers “the hidden wisdom of God” in 1 Corinthians 2:7 and has said “all things are yours” in 1 Corinthians 3:22. And, now he asks them three times in this section, “do you not know”, beginning in

1 Corinthians 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if by you the world is judged, are you unworthy of the most insignificant courts?

This is a reminder of the position we have in Christ. So, then why would we “go to court before the unrighteous” in 1 Corinthians 6:1.

Then again he asks in

1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention ordinary matters?

so why would you bring your issue before them? None of these will have part in God’s kingdom and he asks again in

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners, 10 nor thieves, nor greedy persons, not drunkards, not abusive persons, not swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Glorify God With Your Body

1 Corinthians 6:12–20
He has told them that “all things are yours” and he has said “the saints will judge the world”, now he says in

1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are permitted for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be controlled by anything.

If God has made me to be above in Christ Jesus, why would I yield myself to the base things of the world? This may mess with your religious thinking, but he did just say “all things are permitted”, I have free will, there is no condemnation to me, yet he goes on now, and again asks three times “do you not know?” in

1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Therefore, shall I take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!

Our body is “for the Lord” in 1 Corinthians 6:13. Our body is the connection between the spirit realm where God and his kingdom are and the things of this world and he asks again in

1 Corinthians 6:16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For it says, “The two will become one flesh.”

We are not to join ourselves to the things of the world, but we are to bring the will of God, the kingdom of God into the world by who he has made us to be and again he asks in

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

So, I am free, I am permitted, but with a purpose, to show forth the glory of God in my life, to glorify God through my actions, through my body in

1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body.

 

Let Each Have Their Own Spouse

1 Corinthians 7:1–11
There is a natural order in God’s creation for a man and a woman to join together, yet this relationship has been misunderstood, perverted, and not just in our age. Paul states what seems obvious in

1 Corinthians 7:2 “let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband”.

but he has put a qualifier in front of this statement, “But because of sexual immorality”. He wouldn’t need to clarify “his own wife” and “her own husband” if they had understood the simple grace that God designed. Then he goes on talking about obligation and authority in

1 Corinthians 7:3–4 The husband must fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does.

but wouldn’t this be understood in a loving and caring relationship? Yes, but in their day, in their culture, the relationship between husband and wife was misunderstood. In God’s eyes, it is one man and one woman, that become “one flesh” in

Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

The Unbelieving Is Sanctified

1 Corinthians 7:12–24

I Want You to be Free From Care

1 Corinthians 7:25–32

One Who is Married Cares for the Things of the World

1 Corinthians 7:33–40

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
  • 1 Corinthians 7:1-40
Devotions

Speak the Hidden Wisdom of God

by  • 

Paul wrote to the believers about a wisdom, not the wisdom of this world, but in 1 Corinthians 2:7 “the hidden wisdom of God”. This wisdom, in 1 Corinthians 2:10 “God has revealed them through the Spirit”. And though he also writes that he was only able to give them milk, and not the fullness what God had for them, he also said God, in 1 Corinthians 3:7 “is causing it to grow”. He then reminds them that in 1 Corinthians 3:22 “all things are yours” and in 1 Corinthians 3:23 “you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s”. We can get caught up in the sensual drama of the moment, and that is just where our adversary would like us to be, but in 1 Corinthians 3:21–22 ” … all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things are yours”. 

Speak the Hidden Wisdom of God

1 Corinthians 2:6–16
Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 2:6 “Now we do speak wisdom”. But the wisdom he is talking about is not the wisdom of “this age” which would be the learning of man about himself and his environment, the world we live in. And, it is not about the “rulers of this age” which would be about people and their social interactions in government and business as a society that is to be managed by these elite rulers. Paul says these are perishing.

There is another wisdom in 1 Corinthians 2:7 “the hidden wisdom of God”. This wisdom is wrapped up in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ because he says in 1 Corinthians 2:8 “if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”. And, this wisdom is described in

1 Corinthians 2:9 But just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.”

Man on his own, through his natural carnal nature, cannot comprehend these things that God has prepared because in

1 Corinthians 2:10 For to us God has revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

Just as Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and began his ministry on the earth, so we have received this same spirit in

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

and by his spirit we are taught in 1 Corinthians 2:13 and in 1 Corinthians 2:16 “we have the mind of Christ”. 

God is Causing it to Grow

1 Corinthians 3:1–11
Paul has just said that he is speaking “wisdom among the mature” in 1 Corinthians 2:6. And this wisdom is a mystery in God, revealed by his spirit. Now, he says he was not able to speak to them as “spiritual people” in

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to fleshly people, as to infants in Christ.

He says they could not receive what he had to give them because they were living only in their own carnal, natural nature, the nature that cannot know God in

1 Corinthians 3:2–3 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to eat it. But now you are still not able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and do you not live like unregenerate people?

What they are saying in 1 Corinthians 3:4 “I am with Paul … I am with Apollos” he says is them being “merely human”. They are not seeing the spiritual truth that it is “God who is causing it to grow” in 1 Corinthians 3:7. So, whatever we see as the church only matters because it was built on the foundation, Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 3:11. 

The Spirit of God Dwells in You

1 Corinthians 3:12-23
This spiritual wisdom is for a purpose, it is to build the kingdom of God. There is a reward for that work that will come in the final day of judgment. We can build natural things that will be destroyed, “wood, grass, straw” in 1 Corinthians 3:12 or we can build things with eternal value, described as “gold, silver, precious stones” which are our eternal salvation, our obedience, and fruitfulness in God’s calling for our lives, and the souls of others we bring with us.

That kingdom begins in us as each of us are God’s temple in

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

but “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” in 1 Corinthians 3:19 and then he says “For all things are yours” in 1 Corinthians 3:21 and he names every leader and the world and life and death and the present and the future and then again he says “all things are yours” in 1 Corinthians 3:22 and in

1 Corinthians 3:23 “and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s”.

Servants of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1–5

We Have Become a Spectacle to the World

1 Corinthians 4:6–13

Become Imitators of Me

1 Corinthians 4:14–21

Christ our Passover Has Been Sacrificed

1 Corinthians 5:1–13

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
  • 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
  • 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
  • 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
Devotions

The Cross is the Power of God

by  • 

We often hear about Paul and his missionary journeys and he was active in planting churches and they grew. But we find here that Paul is admonishing them in 1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing … and that you be made complete in the same mind and with the same purpose. This admonition is not just so they will be kind to one another, Paul’s purpose is that they fulfill the mission of the Lord, “of “glorifying God’s name among the nations” (Mal. 1:11)”1. And they will do this, not with the wisdom of the world, but with, in 1 Corinthians 2:4 “a demonstration of the Spirit and power”, that, in 1 Corinthians 2:5 “your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”.

The Thirty Seven Mighty Men of David

2 Samuel 23:24–39

Count the People

2 Samuel 24:1–12

Let Us Fall Into the Hand of Yahweh

2 Samuel 24:13–25

To the Church of God

1 Corinthians 1:1–3

God is Faithful

1 Corinthians 1:4–9 

Be Made Complete

1 Corinthians 1:10–17
There have been reports to Paul of “quarrels among you” in 1 Corinthians 1:11 and Paul says, “there should not be divisions among you” in 1 Corinthians 1:10. But Paul is not interested in the cause of their division and quarrels, it doesn’t matter who baptized them or who they are now following. Paul has one message for them in

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing … and that you be made complete in the same mind and with the same purpose.

Here is the message: Follow after Jesus Christ. Say the same thing. Be made complete in the same mind. Be made complete in the same purpose.

But it is more than just agreeing together, “Paul is seeking to redefine the Corinthians’ identity1 … To achieve this goal of “glorifying God’s name among the nations” (Mal. 1:11)”2. 

The Cross is the Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18–25
There is natural knowledge, a “wisdom of the world” in 1 Corinthians 1:20. There is a “wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent” in 1 Corinthians 1:19 but in 1 Corinthians 1:21 “the world through its wisdom did not know God”. And, in our day, there is simply more of the “wisdom of the world”.

Now, Paul says, there are three things people will seek, two of them are in

1 Corinthians 1:22 For indeed, Jews ask for sign miracles and Greeks seek wisdom

The third is in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “Christ crucified” and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. To us, in 1 Corinthians 1:24 “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God”.

The Foolish Things of the World God Chose

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 

Jesus Christ and Him Crucified

1 Corinthians 2:1–5
Of all of the people of his time, Paul started his life with the strongest credentials, he “was among the most educated Jews in the first century. He was the star pupil of Gamaliel, the leading rabbi in Jerusalem … Not only was Saul learned and accomplished, he was highly passionate. He was a zealot. He described himself as “extremely zealous … for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal. 1:14b) and as a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5)”.3

But as he writes to the believers in Corinth, the church, he doesn’t depend on any of his past credentials or training. Instead, Paul says in

1 Corinthians 2:1–2 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Paul came with this message and this message only to bring, in 1 Corinthians 2:4 “a demonstration of the Spirit and power”. And this was in

1 Corinthians 2:5 in order that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 2 Samuel 23:24-39
  • 2 Samuel 24:1-25
  • 1 Corinthians 1:1-31
  • 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

References

  • 1. Ciampa and Rosner, “1 Corinthians” and Hays, The Conversion of the Imagination.
  • 2. Ciampa, R. E., & Rosner, B. S. (2010). The First Letter to the Corinthians (p. 74). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
  • 3. Sproul, R. C. (2010). What Does It Mean to be Born Again? (Vol. 6, pp. 39–40). Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing.
Devotions

He Delighted in Me

by  • 

David has lived his life as the anointed king over Israel and now recounts his experience. At the anointing in 1 Samuel 16:13 “the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day on” and enabled David to rise to the position the Lord intended for him. This came, not because of anything David did, but in 2 Samuel 22:20 “because he delighted in me”. David though had his part and that was to live in righteousness, to humble himself before the Lord. David learned in 2 Samuel 22:26–27 With the loyal, you act as loyal, and with the blameless, you show yourself blameless. 27 With the pure, you show yourself pure, but with the crooked, you appear as a fool. And, David heard the word of the Lord, in 2 Samuel 23:3–4 The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; ‘He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God’. And David understood that it is by doing righteousness we are established by the Lord. 

He Delighted in Me

2 Samuel 22:11–20
The Lord comes from his abode, which is above in

2 Samuel 22:14 Yahweh thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.

The Lord comes in the demonstration of his power, not only as a show but as a defender in

2 Samuel 22:15 He sent arrows and he scattered them, lightning, and he directed them.

The Lord comes not only as a defender but also as a deliverer in

2 Samuel 22:17–18 He sent from a high position and took me; he drew me from mighty waters. 18 He delivered me from my strong enemies, from those who hate me, for they were mightier than I.

And why would the Lord act on my behalf? Because he wants good for me because he loves me in

2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out to a spacious place. He delivered me because he delighted in me.

 

According to the Cleanness of My Hands

2 Samuel 22:21–30
There are many ways that people describe who God is. David gives his experience as he has had a relationship with the Lord in

2 Samuel 22:21 Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.

and David repeats this statement in

2 Samuel 22:25 Yahweh has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before his eyes.

So, what is it that David was doing that was “my righteousness, according to my cleanness”? In 2 Samuel 22:22-24 he says, “I have not acted wickedly against my God … I did not turn aside from his statutes … and I kept myself from my iniquity”. If we read about the life of David, he sought the Lord for what to do, he refused to raise his hand against Saul even though Saul sought to kill him. He didn’t always know in himself, the right thing to do but he repented when Nathan the prophet spoke to him and he recognized his sin with Bathsheba. He was saved from the retribution he intended and the bloodguilt that would have followed by the actions of Abigail. He walked away from everything in Jerusalem and put it all in the Lord’s hands when Absalom rose up against him. And there are more examples we could recount, and it is clear, he sometimes was helped to come to the right place with the Lord, but he was not too arrogant to listen and he humbled himself before the Lord and as it says in

2 Samuel 22:28 Humble people you will deliver, but your eyes are on the haughty, whom you bring down.

How have you experienced the Lord? David says that the Lord is a mirror and will reflect who you are in

2 Samuel 22:26–27 With the loyal, you act as loyal, and with the blameless, you show yourself blameless. 27 With the pure, you show yourself pure, but with the crooked, you appear as a fool.

He Has Fully Opened My Way

2 Samuel 22:31–40

He Shows Loyal Love

2 Samuel 22:41–51 

He Made an Everlasting Covenant for Me

2 Samuel 23:1–7
In David’s last words, he declares the difference between righteousness and evil. Though David was not a prophet, he says these words were spoken to him by the Lord and it is the word of the Lord that he is now speaking in

2 Samuel 23:3–4 The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; ‘He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God. 4 Like the light of the morning when the sun rises, shining with no clouds, bringing vegetation from the earth apart from rain.’

Then David interprets this word, the Lord exalts the righteous and establishes them forever in

2 Samuel 23:5 Yet not so is my house with God, for he made an everlasting covenant for me, arranging everything. He has secured all my deliverance, and all my desire he will cause to happen.

Here, David’s “not so” recognizes that “the beginning of David’s kingdom, was unlike the clear brilliant dawn of an Eastern day but was overcast by many black and threatening clouds … although great crimes and calamities had beclouded his family history … yet it was to him a subject of the highest joy and thankfulness that God will inviolably maintain His covenant with his family, until the advent of his greatest Son, the Messiah, who was the special object of his desire, and the author of his salvation”.1 but the evil cannot be held as we might want to take them by the hand and help or comfort, but they must be dealt with using great strength, “the shaft of a spear” to keep them at a distance until they come to destruction in

2 Samuel 23:6–7 But evil persons are like thorns cast aside; all of them, because they cannot be picked up in the hand. 7 And if a man wants to touch them, he must use an iron instrument or the shaft of a spear; then they are consumed entirely with fire on the spot.”

He Took a Stand in the Middle

2 Samuel 23:8–14

At the Risk of Their Lives

2 Samuel 23:15–23

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 2 Samuel 22:11-51
  • 2 Samuel 23:1-23

References

  • 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 210). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Devotions

Yahweh is My Rock

by  • 

David begins a beautiful expression of the faithfulness he has found in God in 2 Samuel 22 and says in 2 Samuel 22:4 I call upon Yahweh who is praiseworthy, and I am saved from those who hate me. David has faced enemies from the outside and subdued them. David has also faced rebellion on the inside and the challenge of confronting evil to remove the evil-doer from the land. David has also faced the challenge of bloodguilt where reparations were required. These things are not easy for us but we can in Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed! Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow! and it is still true that when we call, he answers as in 2 Samuel 22:7 In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and to my God I called. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help was to his ears.

A Man of Wickedness Was Found

2 Samuel 20:1–3

Take the Servants of Your Lord and Pursue After Him

2 Samuel 20:4–13 

Listen to the Words of Your Servant

2 Samuel 2:14-26
There are times when people are disenfranchised as the Berites were in 2 Samuel 20:14. And there is always someone that will tell them what they want to hear so they will follow them as Sheba did in 2 Samuel 2:1. Their rebellion, their bad attitude, their actions affect the people around them as happened in

2 Samuel 20:15 And they came and besieged him in Abel Beth Maacah. They threw up a siege ramp against the city, and they stood against the ramparts. And all the army who were with Joab were battering to cause the wall to fall.

Most of the people reacted as most people do when an evil person is around, they try to stay out of their way. So, there was not a man in the city that stood against Sheba. But there was a woman, “a wise woman” in 2 Samuel 20:16 who spoke out seeking protection for the people of her city in

2 Samuel 20:19 I am one of the faithful representatives of Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow the inheritance of Yahweh?”

This woman went to the people of the city and they stood together in 2 Samuel 20:22 and as she had told Joab in 2 Samuel 20:21 “Look, his head is being thrown down to you over the wall.”

They might have waited and let Joab and his army take Sheba, but at the cost of much collateral damage. Instead, they removed the evil (see Deuteronomy 17:6-7) and they were all spared their own lives and their city around them.

Is it any different today? Who will testify against the gangs, the cartels, the evil in the street for fear of their own lives? And no, I am not talking about vigilante justice, these we have read about acted on the authority of the community and executed justice for the safety of their people.

The Bloodguilt

2 Samuel 21:1–7 

God Was Entreated for the Land

2 Samuel 21:8–14
Saul had broken a covenant with the Gibeonites (see Joshua 9:15), even worse than that, Saul committed what today we would call genocide in 2 Samuel 21:2 “but Saul tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah”. As David had inquired of the Lord, about the protracted famine in the land, he found that there was this bloodguilt in 2 Samuel 20:1. This concept of bloodguilt was not new to them in

Deuteronomy 19:10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance and thereby bloodguilt would be on you.

The penalty for shedding innocent blood was death and “The famine was, in the wise and just retribution of Providence, made a national punishment, since the Hebrews either assisted in the massacre, or did not interpose to prevent it; since they neither endeavored to repair the wrong, nor expressed any horror of it;”1

but now it is raised to David’s attention as leader and king and he must make restitution. Those of Saul’s descendants pay the price with their lives and in

2 Samuel 21:14 “They did all that the king had commanded, and afterward God was entreated for the land”.

Do Not Quench the Lamp of Israel

2 Samuel 21:15–22 

Yahweh is My Rock

2 Samuel 22:1–10
David expresses his emotions, his faith, his experience as he has lived his life for God. This wasn’t written as he fled from Saul’s spear or in the cave of Adullam where David was hiding from Saul’s army or any number of times when he was in a battle with others and his life in the balance.

David says, “I take refuge … I call … and am saved” in 2 Samuel 22:3-4, “I called upon Yahweh … He heard my voice” in 2 Samuel 22:7-8.

And what was it that he was saved from? in

2 Samuel 22:5–6 For the breaker waves of death engulfed me; the currents of chaos overwhelmed me. 6 The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

These are the descriptions from a man who had been to war. Few of us will ever experience the “breaker waves of death” or being completely overcome by opposing force, “chaos overwhelmed” where confusion is all around with complete disorientation, “ropes of sheol” so constrained and trapped that there is not any place to move, and “the snares of death” that prevent any hope of escape.

David did not write it then, but he writes it now “on the day Yahweh delivered him”. It is written in celebration of the goodness and faithfulness of God to deliver and we can also say, as David did in

2 Samuel 22:2 And he said: “Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 2 Samuel 20:1-26
  • 2 Samuel 21:1-22
  • 2 Samuel 22:1-10

References

  • 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 209). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.