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(The following are reflections from the writer’s personal journey through The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble – a Bible reading plan to read the Bible chronologically in one year. To learn more about The Bible Recap, visit thebiblerecap.com. Find more posts from this series at lifeword.org/thebiblerecap.)
Day 127: Read 2 Samuel Chapters 6-7 & 1 Chronicles Chapter 17
My Takeaways:
Oh, the first part of this reading makes me think of the song: “Celebrate good times, come on!”
After moving the ark irreverently and suffering the loss of a person who touched the ark, David took a time-out on Operation Bring the Ark Home. He was afraid. (I mean, we all might be!) Our David, who fought the giant Goliath, was afraid of God and abandoned the mission…that is until he hears that God is blessing the house of the people he left it with. (This makes me smile…I wonder if this family was scared to death initially to have the ark after Uzzah died?!)
Then, he decides to bring it home and let me tell you, he does it respectfully and jubilantly. He does it in style.
Every 6 steps, a sacrifice was made!
David danced with all his might!
They shouted!
They played instruments!
David blessed the people after it was placed in its tent.
He gave all of them food.
I mean, friends, can you ever imagine what this was like?! People were celebrating being God’s presence back home! Amazing!
Well, except for Michal. She definitely had some things going against her. She was Saul’s daughter and she was married to another man. And this man loved her so much that when David arranged for her to return back to him, her husband followed Michal weeping as she left! That’s tough! (Not to mention that her still-husband David married a significant amount of other ladies.) I am willing to guess she was pretty bitter against David.
When she gave him a hard time about his celebrating, I love his response: “I will dance before the Lord.”
Not only this, he follows it up with: “I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this.”
Friends, this is what a man after God’s own heart looks like. He will dance before his God as king and would do even more acts that could potentially make him look bad just to show his love and respect for God.
Just to celebrate his God.
And he was so passionate about honoring God’s name that his prayer was that he would build a house for God’s ark.
And though God’s answer was “no”, God did bless David with peace and a promise—a promise that blew David away: a promise that David’s son would build God a temple on earth.
And instead of getting angry and upset with God, David praised God. He wrote a beautiful song of thanks to God, saying, “And that is why you are great, Lord. There is no one like you, and there is no God besides you…”
Wow, friends. What an answer to a “no.” Not only does David push me to celebrate my God more, but he also pushes me to respond better on God’s “nos” to me.
Because when He says “no,” I tend to react differently.
I get fussy.
I question.
I accuse.
I get emotional.
And yet, David trusts God’s “no” and still praises Him.
I want to be like David and trust God that much.
Day 128: Read Psalm Chapters 25, 29, 33, 36, & 39
My Takeaways:
Oh friends, if you have ever been the direct target of the enemy’s attacks, Psalm 25 can be your prayer.
It’s a beautiful, heart-wrenching confession and plea for the Lord to “turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am alone and afflicted.”
It’s confessing that your trust is in God, despite the unwarranted attacks. It’s begging God to make His ways known to you during this time, for Him to teach you through His Word. And it’s a declaration that you will “wait for Him all day long” though you are slayed in the wait.
It’s depending upon the Lord by saying “my eyes are always on the Lord, for He will pull my feet out of the net.”
It’s your battle cry, friends.
But, I love what Psalm 33:18-22 had to say as well. Remember how “fearing God” has been a strong theme in the Old Testament (and honestly, the whole Bible)? In verse 18, God is especially attentive to those who fear Him, those who depend upon His faithful love to rescue them. It seems to activate His intervention.
Friends, our good deeds don’t grab our Father’s eye like fearing Him and depending upon Him can!
And because we fear God and we depend upon Him, we will wait for Him (verse 20). We will trust Him so much, we will follow His lead in dealing with our enemies. Because we know He is faithful, this gives us hope in the waiting room of life.
Oh, who needs to hear this today? Friend, our study has shown you the character of God. Fearing Him is following Him and fearing life without Him. Waiting activates our trust and hope in His character! That is why this study is so important! It helps us trust and wait well…when everything else says to give up.
Day 129: Read 2 Samuel Chapters 8-9 & 1 Chronicles Chapter 18
My Takeaways:
Remember a couple of days ago when God said “no” to David’s desire to build a house for the ark? Well, God said “yes” to other things! God built a house for David to rule, and his son will build a house for the ark.
And today, we see that God also blesses David with victory against his enemies. Basically, David is a stud in battle and wins them all with God’s help.
Not only that, he honors a vow he made to Jonathan (and Saul) years ago: he shows kindness to his family. He brings Mephibosheth into his house and gives him a seat at his table to eat. This is especially beautiful because Mephibosheth is crippled in his feet and has to rely upon others to take care of him. Plus, David gives Mephibosheth all of Saul’s fields and puts a man in charge of them for Mephibosheth.
What a beautiful picture of the love of God to us, friends. We too are crippled…crippled by sin in our lives, and our God shows kindness to us, kindness and mercy and grace. We have done nothing to earn it. He desires to show us love, even in our most unlovable states. He desires to bless us and help us. It’s what a Father does.
If you too are crippled by sin, know that you have a Father who desires to love on you, help you, and bless you. Turn to Him, surrender the things holding you back from a deeper relationship with Him, and trust in Him. You have a seat at His table as well. And He will sustain you there.
Day 130: Read Psalm Chapters 50, 53, 60, & 75
My Takeaways:
Actions speak louder than words.
That’s my thought on these readings today. God didn’t just want the Israelites’ actions of sacrifices, He wanted the heart behind them. A Thanksgiving sacrifice shows the heart—it showed that they were thankful and grateful for the Lord’s intervention in their lives.
God says, “The sacrifice that honors me is a thankful heart. Obey me, and I, your God, will show my power to save.” (Psalm 50:23)
Whomever remembers the Lord and acknowledges His presence in their lives will experience God. He will save us with His right hand and answer us. (Psalm 60:5) He will help us perform valiantly and He will trample our foes (Psalm 60:12).
Remembering tenders our hearts to be grateful.
Remembering humbles us and reminds us we aren’t in control.
Remembering points us back to God.
Remembering compels us to trust in God and surrender all to Him.
Oh friends, while the world lives opposite of our faith, let us be ones who stand out and stand firm in our faith! Let our words and actions speak louder than theirs. Let us be ones to say “But God…” Let our trust in God catch their attention in such a way, it inspires them to do the same.
It’s not easy, friends. But, it’s worth it.
Day 131: Read 2 Samuel Chapter 10, 1 Chronicles Chapter 19, & Psalm Chapter 20
My Takeaways:
Today’s takeaway is a little different. Psalm 20 grabbed my heart, and I wanted to turn it into a prayer for you.
David experienced God in many ways in his life…but the most common was in battle. May you experience God too in the battles that go on in your life. I don’t know about you but the last month’s battles for me have been pretty intense. If you are doing this study, I suspect they have been for you as well. Because anytime we are diving into God’s Word, living out our faith, or start growing spiritually, we hit the “spiritual radar” and the enemy starts taking notice.
So, I wrote this psalm as a prayer for you when you have a battle going on. May we be men and women who rise up in this battle and stand firm amid the battle and in our faith.
******Psalm 20*******
May God answer you when trouble comes (and it will come). May the Lord of Armies protect you, help you, and sustain you. May He remember the times you made sacrifices to Him from a pure heart.
Oh friend, may He give you the desires of your heart and fulfill your purpose on earth. And when you feel forgotten, may you find purpose in the mundane routine of life and know that even there, you have a deeper role to live out—a light to shine that someone needs to see.
Friends, shout when the Lord gives you victory! Raise the roof with your celebration! May God fulfill all your requests.
And may He give you the heart to accept the ones he says “no” to.
While some may look around and put their trust in things they can see, may we look up and put our trust in the Lord.
May God fight your battles, beyond what your eyes can see, and may you experience victory over your foes. And when you feel like you are on the losing side of the battle, I pray God strengthens your spirit to keep fighting. Sometimes, the victory is the perseverance we gain when we don’t give up.
While others may fail and fall, may we rise up and stand firm in our faith…because we know, when we cry out to our God, the Lord of Armies, He will answer us.
It’s what love does.
Day 132: Read Psalm Chapters 65-67 & 69-70
My Takeaways:
There’s something about a desperate prayer, a prayer amid insults and lying and persecution and shame, I get.
Psalm 69 was that for me. Verses 13-18 are my prayer today:
“But as for me, Lord, my prayer to you is for a time of favor. In your abundant, faithful love, God, answer me with your sure salvation.
Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink. Let me be rescued from those who hate me and from the deep water.
Don’t let the floodwaters sweep over me or the deep swallow me up; don’t let the Pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, Lord, for your faithful love is good. In keeping with your abundant compassion, turn to me.
Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!
Come near to me and redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies.”
Yes, Lord, do it.
And I love the ending of Psalm 70:5:
“I am oppressed and needy; hurry to me, God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay.”
This study gives us much hope and joy as we read it, but there are just some days you need the strength to keep going and facing the hard stuff of life. These psalms, turned into prayers, can help us do just that.
Day 133: Read 2 Samuel Chapters 11-12 & 1 Chronicles Chapter 20
My Takeaways:
“…the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.”
2 Samuel 11:27b
Our fighter, our warrior, our praise and worship leader, and our psalmist, David, fell into sin. Grievous sin. And he didn’t just “fall” into it…he deliberately walked in it.
In the spring, when he should have marched out to war, he stayed behind.
He saw a woman bathing.
Instead of looking away, he continued to look, even though he suspected who this woman was—Bathsheba, married to Uriah.
Even knowing this, he brought her to him and committed adultery.
This always gets me. He is a man after God’s own heart! Where did this come from?!
Well, we have been seeing it for awhile, almost from the beginning of his story: David took many wives and had many children.
David’s weakness was women…it was perhaps the one area he hadn’t surrendered to the Lord.
But, I can’t throw stones at him…because though I have surrendered much to God, I still have those bad habits with faulty mindsets I know aren’t good for me and yet, I don’t surrender them to the Lord.
Because that would involve that inward look at me and what drives me in those areas…and it would involve hard work to combat those areas. And, I am kinda used to them.
One we open the door to those sneaky areas of sin, it only continues to open wider and wider with every head nod we give, every moment we don’t take a stand on it. And maybe it’s something accepted in the world (like kings having multiple wives), but God’s kingdom rules are different. He holds us to His standard, and if we aren’t proactively living life His way, we too can fall into the world’s way.
The world tempts us through our 3 main avenues:
OUR EYES: we guard the things we allow our eyes to gaze at. Things on our phones, TVs, places we go, things we read—it all falls into this category. I have often heard it’s not the first look at something tempting…it’s the second look back at it. Hook, line, sinker.
OUR EARS: we must protect what we allow our ears to hear. What are those saying around you? Who are you listening to? What people do you surround yourself with? What music/podcasts do you listen to?
OUR HEART: what we allow through our ears and through our eyes affects our hearts. Those gateways can change us and our thinking and our actions. They are sneaky areas of potential sin.
David didn’t just sin big in our story today—he had been taking steps in this area all throughout our readings.
Oftentimes, we don’t fall into one big act of sin, we have been entertaining it in our minds. We have opened the door to it, centimeter by centimeter.
And the enemy knows. He studies us all the time. He knows our pasts—our history with sin. He knows our family’s past with sin. He knows our propensities. He knows what grabs our eyes when he puts it in front of us. He knows what we like to listen to.
And just at the right time, he presents it to us, hoping we will take the bait.
David took it. I have, too. Perhaps you have as well? And sometimes, He convicts us in creative ways (like Nathan’s story about the lamb), but conviction always comes to His kids.
The key is this: be willing to look at your sin, friends. Be willing to look at the hard stuff. Be willing to look at your bad habits and faulty mindsets. Because you know, there is forgiveness there. There is healing there. There is restoration there.
And sometimes, our worst mistake can become our best mistake when we allow God to change us through it.
David’s mistake doesn’t remove him from the throne, but as we will see, there is a steep cost to his sin. There are consequences he must bear. The same goes for us too, friends. But, when we turn to God amid our sin, we will have spiritual strength to face it and overcome it. The victory is for the taking if we want it bad enough.
All it takes is a willing heart.
Copyright © 2022 by Amber Spencer @ Lioness Legacy Facebook Group No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org