KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Chapters: I Samuel 25, Psalms 140-141
Message: The Importance Of An Intercessor
Hello My Friend,
Christianity today is on a steady decline, in fact, many who call themselves Christians do not even know Christ as their Saviour let alone acknowledge that the sinful lives they are living are, in fact, sin. You see, the worldly Christian loves to proclaim that Christ is love, but deny that He is also judge. The worlds view on Christianity is that God loves the world so much that He sent His only Son that none should die who believe in Him, but fail to acknowledge why and what they need to believe in. This is why it is important that we who know the truth not also teach that For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, but also that “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” – Matthew 10:32-34.
Everyone believes that Christ exists and some even believe that He died on the cross, that does not mean they are willing to admit they are sinners and need to receive Him as their Saviour to avoid hell. In fact, take a look at some of the modern “Bibles” out there today, they have omitted that there is a punishment for sin, and that that punishment is hell, in fact, they have omitted hell all together. Keep in mind that while true Christianity is the best life we will ever live, it also comes with many challenges as the world tends to reject those who a living the truth. David, as he faced many challenges before becoming king, but never failed to acknowledge that he needed God’s direction. In fact, he even asked for his help in making sure he did not follow those who would cause him to sin. “A Psalm of David. LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” – Psalm 141:1-5.
“Let the righteous smite me;” While we have no right to judge people for their sin, we do have a right to make good judgment if we see someone living in sin to explain to them that what they are doing is wrong. However, we must be careful how we approach them, we are not the judge, God is, as much as we think that we have the power to get persuade someone to change their ways, only God has the power to do that. By now, all of Israel knew who David was, whenever he came into their town they were afraid because they knew he was a great man of war. David knew a man named Nabal, he had problems with the Philistines and asked David to help him drive them away, and as a result he became a very rich and successful man. When David heard that Nabal was out shearing sheep in the area where he and his army were camped he tried to get his help to feed the men that were with him, but Nabal refused, David became so angry that all he thought to do was get vengeance.
“And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.” – I Samuel 25:2-3,9-13.
“Gird ye on every man his sword.” David was ready to fight, perhaps he was exhausted and tired of being chased, or perhaps he was tired of being the one who helped anyone who came to him, but no one helped him in his need. David did not always think clearly, even praying for God’s wrath upon his enemies at times. “I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah. As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.” – Psalm 140:6-10.
“lest they exalt themselves.” We do not need to go after those who wrong us because one, God will do it for us, and two, they will do it to themselves because they are too arrogant to ever admit their wrong. Nabal’s name means, a fool, and he lived up to his name, There are a lot of Nabal’s in life, they only want you around when they want something, expect people to constantly help them prosper, yet shun you when you need something. When Nabal’s wife got word of the way her husband treated David, she bravely confronted David, and also brought provisions for him and his men and got their just in time.
“Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.” – I Samuel 25:18-20,23-26.
“upon me let this iniquity be:” Intercede; To pass between. To act between two parties with a view to reconcile those who contend. Contend; To strive in opposition; to punish. When you think about this story it gives a picture, God, who is at war with sinners, man, who are sinners, and Jesus who intercedes to reconcile the sinner with God. The gift that Abigail sent was an atonement for Nabal’s behavior, her humbleness and submissiveness to David was able to give him a chance to think about what he was about to do.
“And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.” – I Samuel 24:32-33,35-39.
“and hath kept his servant from evil:” No matter how badly we are treated we must not let our anger get the best of us as we are much better than that. While it is the Christians duty to help and lift up those in need, there comes a time when we must realize we are hindering our blessings by continuing to help them. There are also people who help us from becoming a fool by retaliating due to anger or impulse. “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” – Proverbs 26:4,5,11,12.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.” – I Samuel 25:23-24.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to not only die for us, but also arise to give us hope of a resurrected life before and when He returns to get all of His. Today, we have the victory over sin and death because we are trusting in Your Son’s sinless death, burial, and resurrection, and only by Your grace. Lord, I want to live a resurrected life until You bring me home, LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties. I ask these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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