KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Chapters: II Samuel 23-24, Psalms 97-99
Message: A Pure Heart And Holy God
Hello My Friend,
Holy; Properly, whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in heart, temper; free from sin. Because God is holy it is important that we be holy, and while none of us are perfect, we can be perfect in Christ as long as we know Him as our Saviour. Since it is Christ who completes us and makes us whole, we can live a pretty good life, free from sin, we just need to have a pure heart in order for that to happen. While we will never be sinless until the day we go home to be with the LORD, we can sin less by living a holy life, God preserves our souls because of our faith and trust in Christ, let us rejoice that He truly is holy. “Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O LORD. For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” – Psalm 97:8-12.
“and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments,” Because God is Holy, we can expect that He is going to perfect His people by placing judgments on us as well as His love, He loves us too much to let us suffer in our sin. We can rejoice at His judgments because they are just and make our heart pure as we learn to fear Him. David had his share of judgments placed upon him, but he was still loved by God. As David comes to the end of his life he remembers just how merciful God was to him, and the importance of fearing God at all times.
“Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.” – II Samuel 23:1-7.
“and the sweet psalmist of Israel,” David knew that as much as he tried to rule his home in the fear of God, he messed up, but he never forgot the covenant God made with him. You know, as Christians we do mess up every day, and I am not talking about living in sin, but we do not always do everything we do with a pure heart, and that will always bring righteous judgment. However, because we are His, because He made a covenant with us that if we believe on His Son’s for our salvation, He will never leave nor forsake us. We are going to face judgment, saved or not, but at least there is hope for the saved.
“A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” – Psalm 98:1-4,7-9.
“and the people with equity.” Equity; Justice; right. In practice, equity is the impartial distribution of justice, or the doing that to another which the laws of God and man, and of reason, give him a right to claim. God is not a respecter of persons, He judges each and every one of us according to His law, and if you stop to think about it, He truly is merciful to all of us for none of us have gotten what we truly deserve. David was no exception, he faced judgments from God not only for his sin, but others sins, and sometimes for just being a faithful servant. Just as things settled down over the famine that God placed upon Israel for the way Saul mistreated the Gibeonites, David makes another bad decision, that would bring judgment to Israel.
“And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.” – II Samuel 24:1-2,10-13.
“and he moved David against them to say,” This was not God encouraging David to sin, this was the devil (we learn of this in I Chronicles). Just as we begin to live with a pure heart for God, and all is well, here comes the devil putting things in our head to get us to do something else against God. It is actually God that allows the devil to tempt us, we do not really know what prompted David to want a census done, perhaps he was so proud of his powerful army that he wanted to know exactly where he stood. The problem with that was that they were not to trust in their own power because it was God who gave them that power. As soon as David has the people numbered, he realized what he did was wrong, and he seeks forgiveness from God. This time David’s sin had repercussions on the entire nation, and David had to choose the punishment himself. We may not always agree on how God handles things, but He never makes one decision without serious thought, and He judgments do not last. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” – Jeremiah 29:11.
As Christians, there are times in our lives where we know that God is against something, and yet we do it anyway, even if it was not sinful it becomes sin the second we go against Him. Instantly, after we have done the deed we are reminded by the Holy Spirit that we just sinned against God, and there is something humiliating about realizing that we betrayed God. However, there is also something comforting in knowing that while God is just He is right there for us when we call on Him, and that He truly is Holy.
“The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.” – Psalm 99:4-9.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” – Psalm 24:24. Jesus bought our souls with His blood.
Today’s Prayer: God, Every day I am amazed that no matter how many mistakes I make You still love me, You have not forsaken me, and I still have a place in heaven with You. Lord, let me never lose hope of the day that Your Son comes to get me, not for the good that I have done, but because I am protected and preserved by His precious blood. Thank You God for everything You do for me, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad, You are always there guiding me in the right direction. Lord, open my heart, give me a pure heart that leads me to a holy life. Give me Your power to live in obedience to Your commands so I have less suffering in my life, and let me be a testimony of Your great love on this sinner saved by Your grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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