KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2018
Chapters: II Samuel 1-3
Message: And Such Were Some Of You
Hello My Friend,
As Christians, we can expect that God is the giver and taker of life, and that He judges us in our works, yet it is not our works that saves us from death and hell, but our faith in Christ’s finished work that saves us. What few expect is that God sees every life as soul that needs to be saved, we are all sinners that need to be saved. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” – I Corinthians 6:9-11.
The Book of II Samuel contains twenty-four chapters, it is probable that David wrote it because it only contains his life, and it was first addressed to Israel. The timeline for these events took place approximately 1056 BC to 1017 BC. The purpose of the book was to record David’s forty year reign as king and how God dealt with him and all His people during that time. What we are to learn from the book is that God carries out His plan through those who are obedient to Him despite their occasional mishaps. We are to remain in the will of God through all our walks of life, but even if we are not, God is still with us and will get us back on track as long as we call upon Him. II Samuel continues where I Samuel left off, it had been three days since Saul and three of his sons were killed in a fierce battle with the Philistines. A man, whom quite clearly seeks some sort of reward, finds David and tells him the news of his and Jonathan’s death and got a response that he was not expecting.
“Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD’S anointed? And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD’S anointed. And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:” – II Samuel 1:11-17.
“for thy mouth hath testified against thee,” This man lost his life because he lied in hopes of receiving some kind of compensation as if it pleased David to see Saul dead. You know, as much as we would like to believe that God picks certain people to be saved, the truth is, we would all be in hell if we stood before God without Christ. We are all sinners, and since the punishment for a liar and a murderer is the same when we die, our mouths would testify against us. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” – Romans 2:9-11.
With God, all things have to be done in the right time, something that may be in God’s will for us in the future just is not His will currently, but it is God who decides when that will be. It would have been easy for David to take the throne as God’s anointed king after Saul died, but instead of taking it full force, David asked God what he ought to do.
“And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite. And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul. But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.” – II Samuel 2:1-4,8-9.
“and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.” You see, before David would be accepted as king over all of Israel he first had to win their trust, otherwise there would have been a revolt. By David beginning within his own people it allowed the rest of Israel to see what he was capable of. God does the same thing with us, He uses our good works to show the world what we are capable of since having Christ live within us. There is no better way to get people to follow you than showing them. “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” – Titus 3:8.
Time and time again we learn why it is important to do things in God’s way and time, way too many people have lost their lives because they attempted to take things into their own hands. Now, Abner did not want Ishbosheth to be king because he would have rightfully been the only living son to reign in his fathers steed, it did so in some sort of attempt to make his name in the world, but he was cunning and immoral. In an attempt to find out Abner’s plan, Asahel, a promising young man in David’s was killed by Abner. Now, after Ishbosheth confronted him, and fearing for his life, he ran to David trying to escape death, deceiving him also. However, nothing was able to save him, determined to get vengeance on his brother being killed, Joab, Asahel’s brother, killed him the same way he killed his brother. Abner’s death was brought to David’s attention, and yet David had the same response as he did when it was told of Saul’s death. David did not condone what the man did, but he knew that it is God who gives and takes life, not man.
“And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down. And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.” – II Samuel 3:33-39.
“Died Abner as a fool dieth?” Here is the thing, of course, these men had judgment coming to them, but it is not for us to be the judge, God is the judge, and if we take things into our own hands they will always result in more problems, and it will certainly do no good for us. Those who seek prosperity by wickedness lose by wickedness, Joab also suffered for taking things into his own hands. When we allow God to handle things, we save ourselves a lot of pain, suffering, and perhaps even premature death. None of us are worthy of salvation because we are all sinners, therefore, we are not to be the judge of no one, but ourselves. “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” – I Corinthians 11:31-32.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:” – II Samuel 1:17.
Today’s Prayer: God, When we come to You regarding the situations that we don’t quite understand or have no personal ability to change we find peace and stability in our lives. Lord, help me to let go and let You handle all the situations in my life, all I am doing is hurting myself and hindering You from showing me the blessings of these situations. When I seek You I will find peace and an end to my suffering, it is so difficult, but I know You can show me something mighty as I trust and depend on You to take care of these things for me in Your time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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