David is cold, can’t get warm. What his attendants do to help him is a shocker. (Or is it?) – 1 Kings 1—2, Part 1

My wife recently purchased a new comforter for our bed. The floral print on the comforter is very nice, and the comforter stuffing is fluffy. It’s a great-looking comforter. It is not a warm comforter.

We heat our home with a wood stove, which is located in our living room. We love our wood stove. It’s not large, but it does an amazing job heating our home. Heat, though, travels in a particular way, right? It rises. Because the staircase leading to our second and third floors is in the living room, the heat from the wood stove flows right up that staircase. The heat does not travel laterally, from our living room into our dining room and kitchen. And the heat most certainly does not travel around corners laterally. Our bedroom is on the first floor around a corner. Our bedroom also has two exterior walls, one of which faces the front side of our which gets slammed with winds blowing west to east. Tonight, the windchill is to be below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

In other words, our comforter will not keep us warm.

This week on the blog, I conclude the life of David sermon series in 1st Kings chapters 1 and 2.  1st Kings 1, verse 1, we learn that David is old and cold.   David’s body is aging and breaking down, and he is at the point where he cannot hold his temperature.

Can you identify?  I know I will be cold tonight and the next few nights, all of which are to be in single digit temperatures. But my wife and I have extra covers. We have a space heater.

What about David? What will his attendants do to warm him up?  Warm up his room with a huge fire?  Put ancient hot water bottles under the covers? 

Nope.  They come up with a solution, and it is perhaps surprising.  Then again, given what we have learned about David’s vices throughout his lifetime, maybe it is not surprising.  Look at verse 2,

“So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”

What do you think about that idea?  David is an old man who has loads of wives, but instead they propose a young virgin to care for him, and her care for him will include lying beside him to keep him warm.  This is crazy, right?  This does not seem to be a God-honoring idea.  We’ve seen in the past that David has a struggle honoring God’s ways when it comes to treatment of women.  As a result he had numerous wives and concubines. Maybe that is why his attendants thought David would be okay with this idea.  We just don’t know for sure.

In verse 3, his attendants search the land, selecting a young woman, Abishag, to serve the elderly king and keep him warm.  It’s an honor to serve the king, but if you were the young woman, would you want to do this?  Would you feel it was an honor? 

It is possible, though, that her selection was essentially the same as winning the lottery for her family.  If she didn’t want to go, maybe her parents said, “Of course you will go serve the king and keep him warm, because this is going to pay off for our family in the long run.  This is a golden ticket.”

We also read in verse 3 that his attendants specifically searched for a young woman who was beautiful. Why the beauty requirement?  Did David’s attendants assume that if a young woman was going to keep the elderly king warm, she had better be outwardly beautiful?

When David was chosen to be king, God said, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”  Now David’s attendants are betraying that principle by emphasizing outward appearance. 

This is quite a bizarre situation.  But the young woman Abishag is selected, and we read in verse 4,

“The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.”

Sounds like David handled this situation honorably.  And yet I have to ask, why is the author telling us this story?  It seems that the author is setting the stage for us.  He wants us to realize that David is basically on his death bed.  And that leads to a crisis, which we’ll find out about in the next post.

Photo by Marcus Cramer on Unsplash

Famous last words – 1 Kings 1—2, Preview

We often use the phrase “famous last words” in the wrong context.  For example, if your spouse is doing a home improvement project, they might say to you, “I am going to run over to the store, get what I need, and then the project should take a couple hours.”  

You’ve been down this road before.  You highly doubt that their project will take either one trip to the store or just a couple hours.  So what do you say in response?  “Famous last words.”  What you mean is “When you undertake a project, you regularly say that it will go quickly and smoothly, but there have been so many projects that take multiple trips to the store and take way longer than just a couple hours.  Those projects are often more expensive than you thought too.”  

When we say “famous last words” to someone we are often being sarcastic, using figurative speech to say “I’ve heard you say that before, many times, and I do not believe you.”

But there is a very literal way to understand the phrase “famous last words.”  There are words that people have shared on their death bed, their final words, the last thing they ever say in this lifetime.  

As a Star Wars fan, I think of the movie Return of the Jedi, when the Jedi Master Yoda’s famous last words are a barely audible whisper, “There is another…Sky…walker.”

As Christians we think of Jesus’ famous last words on the cross, “It is finished.”  He successfully and obediently completed the work that God gave him to do, and he fulfilled the Law.  It is finished!  His complete work means that all people have hope of new life, both abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven.

Can you think of other famous last words?  What last words do you think you should share?

This coming week on the blog, I conclude our series through the life of David, and we will observe David’s famous last words on his death bed.  Fittingly for David’s life, this story of his final days and hours is filled with all sorts of drama.  We’ll learn about that, and we will focus on his famous last words.  What he says applies so well to our lives in 2025. 

Check back here on Monday as we begin a week of studying 1 Kings chapters 1 and 2.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

What would it look like for you to sacrifice to God in a way that will demonstrate your trust in him? – 2 Samuel 24, Part 5

I had a spiritual direction appointment this week, and my spiritual director was asking about my upcoming sabbatical, which will be in August through October.  He asked what I was going to do, and if I had a sabbatical theme.  I had to admit to my spiritual director that I do not have a theme for the sabbatical, and I only partially know what I’m going to do.

Since my book recently came out, I figured that during those three months of sabbatical, I would likely focus on publicizing the book, in addition to going on some spiritual retreats and visiting family in Texas. 

But my spiritual director said, “What if your sabbatical theme is about practicing receiving grace from God, and instead of trying to sell your book, you give the book over to God and not try to see it for the three months of sabbatical?”  I heard that and kind of gulped.  I don’t want to give control of my book sales over to God, even if for just three months.  And, by the way, isn’t that naïve?  Is he saying God will sell my book? 

When I considered what my spiritual director suggested, I had to think of David in 2 Samuel 24. Throughout this week’s series of posts on 2 Samuel 24, we’ve watched as David sins greatly, and as a result 70,000 people die of a plague. We see how the story concludes in verses 24–25,

“So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.”

The price of fifty shekels was set by the Mosaic Law in Leviticus 27:16.  It is extremely difficult to say how much that would be worth in 2025 US dollars.  The point is not to put a specific price tag on it, but to note that David rightly practices the principle of costly sacrifice.  Araunah offered the space for free (as we learned in the previous post), but David knew this special place of sacrifice needed to be costly for him.

He builds the altar, sacrifices, and the plague ceases.  Additionally, we come to find out that this parcel of land is the very place where David’s son Solomon will build the temple (2 Chronicles 3:1). 

We have seen two lessons in 2 Samuel 24, two lessons that are interrelated.  First, we should not place our hope in the human means or numbers or ingenuity.  Instead we trust in God by utilizing his methods.  Second, we put our hope in God by living lives of costly sacrifice to God. 

Should I pause selling my book for sabbatical? Sure, sure, I know God can sell my book.  God is all powerful, he loves me.  But isn’t it irresponsible of me to say, “God, on my sabbatical, I am going to practice receiving grace from you, and therefore I am not going to try to sell my book, but instead I am going to take my hands off the process, and entrust it to you.”  It sounds spiritual.  But also super irresponsible. 

Therefore, when I think of David counting the fighting men (which is what got him in trouble earlier in 2 Samuel 24), I have to admit David’s census resonates with me.  I would want to count the soldiers too, and I would say it is responsible.  Any good military leader would want to know, nearly at all times, the size of their fighting force.  But in David’s situation, that census was an act of trusting in human efforts. 

Please don’t hear me say that it is wrong to put in effort, to work hard.  I’m not saying that, and neither was my spiritual director.  But he was pointing out an area of my spiritual life that I am weak in, and he was suggesting a spiritual practice that could help me strengthen my weakness.  My sabbatical could be an excellent time to strengthen my trust in God through what definitely feels like a costly sacrifice.

David himself wrote a psalm that says something about that deep trust, Psalm 20, verse 7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

David wrote that we should not trust in military numbers, and then in 2 Samuel 24 he attempted to do just that.  We can struggle with the same tension in our lives.  Believing we should trust in God to the point where we live sacrificially for him and the mission of his kingdom, but also finding it difficult to do so.

That’s why I asked you in this post, “What would you say ‘No’ to if God asks you to _______________ ?”

What does God want you to release to him?  How does he want you to step out of your comfort zone?

What will it look like for you to sacrificially trust in God?  What will it look like to worship God in a new way that costs you something?

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

What a keyboard taught me about the nature of sacrifice – 2 Samuel 24, Part 4

My church has a history of renting space in our building to other churches. In late 2018, sadly, one of those rental churches dwindled in size, and they decided to disband as a church.  The remaining members formed a house church, and they gave away their assets.  They gave our congregation a large financial donation and many of their church’s possessions.  One item they bequeathed to us was an electronic keyboard, and for years it sat in its case back in our music storage room. 

Last year one of the churches that currently rents from us had a keyboard die.  They asked about our keyboard, could they borrow it until they found a new one?  We said, of course.  Then they asked if they could buy it from us.  Our Worship serve team, which is responsible for our music equipment responded, “No, you cannot buy it from us.  You can have it, no charge. We give it you, as it was given to us.” 

What do you think? Was our action of gifting the keyboard sacrificial on our part? I ask that question because as we continue the story of David, his lack of trust of trust in God that led him to take a census of his military, and the resulting punishment God gave David, a plague that killed 70,000, the issue of sacrifice becomes front and center.

In 2 Samuel 24:18–23, God instructs David to purchase Araunah’s wheat threshing floor and build an altar on which to sacrifice, as an act of repentance to stop the plague. When David makes his offer to Aranauh, Araunah replies that he will give it to David. It’s a beautiful response.  Araunah is willing to part with his business so that David, who was guilty, can make a sacrifice to God and stop the plague.

Araunah could easily say, “No, I refuse to help you.  You got yourself in this mess, you get yourself out of it.” That would be a very negative response.  But some people believe in that approach.  Not Araunah. 

Another approach he could have taken would be “Sure, I’ll sell my facility to you.  What is a fair price?”  That fairness approach sounds extremely normal to me.  This is very much like eminent domain.  Say the government wants to build a highway.  They can claim eminent domain, which is a law that allows them to use the land whether the owner wants to sell or not.  In eminent domain, what is fair is if the government at least pays the owner a reasonable amount for the land.  Araunah doesn’t even ask for a fair price.

Araunah wants to give the land to David.  That means Araunah would be the one losing out.  Except Araunah doesn’t seem to view this as a loss.  For him, to give the land to David is a win.  Araunah wants to support his king, to support the process of sacrifice and renewal that David has begun in the wake of the census and plague. 

How will David react to Araunah’s generosity?  We read these incredible words in verse 24.

“But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

What a sentiment: “I will not sacrifice that which cost me nothing.”

Admittedly, God told David to buy it.  Yet this is not just begrudging obedience on David’s part, as if David is saying, “I would just take it off your hands, Araunah, but God told me I’m not allowed to, so I guess I have to pay you.” 

No, David really does want to buy the threshing floor.  When he explains his desire to buy it, he reveals a powerful principle: a sacrifice ceases to be a sacrifice if you never have to sacrifice. 

Remember the electric keyboard I mentioned at the beginning of this post? The rental church was super grateful when we gave the keyboard to them. While we appreciated their gratefulness, our decision to give them the keyboard was not a sacrifice for us.  We were not the ones who first bought it, and in fact we almost never used it.  The keyboard cost us nothing.  I believe we could say that what we did was kind, but it was not a sacrifice. 

David says “I will not sacrifice that which cost me nothing.”  What he is teaching us is the costly nature of sacrifice.  It is not sacrifice if it does not cost.  Living a sacrificial life will be costly.  In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the Lord asked the people to sacrifice animals that were pristine.  You don’t give God leftovers or that which is blemished.  When you sacrifice, it is costly.

We rightly view the relationship between us and God as sacrificial, but do we view the sacrifice flowing only in one direction?  Let me explain. God sacrifices for us.  He loves us so much that he sent Christ to experience human life. Jesus felt what so many human feel every day: hunger pangs, dark emotions, and broken relationships.  Finally, of course, Jesus endured a brutal beating and then sacrificed his life for us. 

In his birth, life, death and resurrection, Jesus did what we could never do, which is have victory over sin, death and the devil.  We are utterly dependent on and grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

But what about the other direction?  What about the relational direction from us to God?  We would do well to view our relationship with God as sacrificial in both directions.  Just as David rightly believes that sacrificing for God should cost him something, we examine our hearts and our actions to see if our lives are marked by costly sacrifice to God too.

Is your life marked by costly sacrifice to God? Think about it. How are you demonstrating costly sacrifice to God?

Photo by Martin Hexeberg on Unsplash

Does God feel emotions? – 2 Samuel 24, Part 3

Do you think of God as having emotions? If God is perfect, wouldn’t it follow that he doesn’t have emotions like humans? Can God feel feelings? Or is he more like a robot? Theologians and bible scholars have debated these questions for centuries. The answers are not easy to come by. Take a look at the passage today, 2 Samuel 24, verses 14–17, and we’ll read about God seemingly expressing emotion.

As we learned in the previous post, David has just sinned greatly, and as a result God requires him to pick one of three awful punishments. (1) Three years of famine in the land, (2) Three months of losing to enemies, or (3) Three days of plague. Considering whether or not God feels emotions, these drastic punishments make God seem extremely cold and unfeeling. How should we understand God in light of these devastating punishments?

Let’s keep reading. Which punishment does David choose?  In 2 Samuel 24, verses 14–15, David reasons that he cannot allow the people to fall into the hands of enemies. He believes that options (1) and (2), famine and military loss, will do just that. So David chooses punishment (3), three days of plague.

And 70,000 people die.

Is that what you expected?  70,000 dead?  That’s astronomical.  And in only three days.  I wonder if the people knew that the plague was David’s fault.  I wonder if any of them wanted to rebel against him because he disobediently commanded the census that started this horrific tragedy.  70,000 dead in three days because of David’s selfishness and lack of trust in God. 

These are dark, dark days in the life of the nation.  David is at least partially responsible because he committed a huge sin (the census), and it affected so many people.  Imagine all the families in mourning across the land.  70,000 funerals. 

Then we learn that the plague is headed for Jerusalem.  In 2 Samuel 24, verse 16, though, God stops the plague before it devastates Jerusalem.

Who lives in Jerusalem?  David.  David’s palace was in Jerusalem.  That means neither David nor his family are affected by the plague.  Why?  Verse 16 says “God relented.”  It’s a word that carries the idea of being sorry, of regretting.  Through this phrase, we see that God is a God who feels.  God expresses emotion.  He’s not callous or cold or unfeeling toward human suffering.

God calls for the plague to cease, and we learn that one of God’s angels is administering the plague.  The angel stops at a place called the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  A threshing floor is a place where a wheat farmer would bring his wheat harvest to be threshed.  Threshing wheat is when you shake or beat the stalks of wheat to separate the good wheat kernels from the unusable shells, called chaff.  Araunah was the man who owned this wheat processing facility inside the city limits.

We learn next that David goes to Araunah’s wheat processing plant in the city.  Here’s how David responds in verse 17,

“When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.’”

I agree, David.  How unfair is it that 70,000 innocent people died for David’s sinful census?  Remember verse 1, “The anger of the Lord burned against Israel.”  So there are multiple layers to why this tragedy happened, and it is possible that the death of 70,000 people is not solely David’s fault.  It is possible that the Lord’s anger burned against Israel because of something the people did, something rebellious, like throwing their lot in with David’s traitorous son Absalom, rather than remaining faithful to David.  And yet, David is also clearly at fault here. 

Let me say what I mentioned previously. There are unsatisfying parts of this story.  Questions without answers.  Things that seem unfair.  Mysteries.  The topic of God and emotion is a mystery, but in this story we get a sense that God feels things. He is not ruled by cold, calculating laws. He relents. I will not admit to fully understanding how emotion works in the life of God. But I am glad that I cannot fully understand God. I want God to be a God who is mysterious to some degree. Though I believe God has significantly revealed himself, including his emotion, so that we can have a deeply meaningful relationship with him, I do not believe that humans can know and understand God fully. I am glad that he is above us.

Therefore, some questions remain, and those questions will always remain. But there are some questions that get answers, and some important lessons we can learn from this story.

First, how will this awful plague get resolved? We find out in the next post.

Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash

With God, success is not about numbers – 2 Samuel 24, Part 2

Have you ever been punished with a “pick your poison” method? You misbehaved and your parents give you a choice about which punishment you will receive. It feels awful, doesn’t it? You must not only wrestle with your guilt and any hurt your disobedience caused others, you now have to choose the consequences. You are taking some ownership of the seriousness of what you’ve done, perhaps even making some recompense. But you also would rather not deal with this. You might it all to go away. Or you might want your parents to just choose the punishment and get it over with.

In 2 Samuel 24, David has just committed a grievous sin, and God makes David pick his punishment. What grievous sin? A census.

David’s census revealed that his Kingdom can muster a 1.3 million strong army.  With those numbers, David can rest in peace, as he hands the nation over to his son.  The Kingdom of Israel is secure. 

When his generals report the census results, however, David is not feeling peaceful at all.  In verse 10 we read, “David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

What foolish thing did he do?  Take a census?  David says that his counting of the fighting men was an act of sinning greatly, that it was very foolish, and he is feeling terribly guilty.  He pleads with God for forgiveness.   But why?

Scholars have speculated that the census was such a bad idea because David’s heart in taking the census was an act of trusting in his military numbers and strength, rather than trusting in God. 

When David takes the census, he is taking matters into his own hands.  He knows that with 1.3 million fighting men, he has a large enough fighting force to deal with a variety of enemies.  In other words, David is not placing his trust in God.  David is placing his trust in his 1.3 million soldiers. 

But God wants his people to trust in him.  It’s never about numbers when it comes to God.  Remember the exploits of the Mighty Men that we studied last week?  One soldier, empowered by God, was victorious over 800 men.  One versus 800?  It’s a no-brainer.  The 800 win every time.  Except when God is involved.  When we trust in God, it is not about numbers. 

David, however, made it about numbers, and when the census report came back, he realized his mistake, thinking “I’ve not trusted in God.”  David is broken up about it.  He confesses his sin and seeks the Lord.  How will God answer?  Get ready because God’s answer makes this messy story even more messy than it already is.

In verses 11–13, we read that God sends the prophet Gad to David, and Gad conveys a message from God. The punishment for David’s sinful act of unfaithfulness is going to go one of three ways, and David must choose.  Each of the three choices are awful. 

Here are the three choices: Three years of famine, three months of fleeing from enemies, or three days of plague.  No matter which David picks, the result is going to mean lots of death.  Which would you choose?  Why? 

Three years of famine would be grueling, as people slowly starve.  What’s more, the Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 24 says that the punishment is seven years. The Greek text and the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21 list the punishment as three years. Whether three or seven, that’s a long time. Throughout world history, famine has led to millions of deaths.  Three straight years of no rain. would be devastating.  I live in lush Lancaster County farmland. If it didn’t rain for three years, we could pump water all over the county.  But ancient Israel did not have that kind of infrastructure.  Three years of famine would cause the death toll to rise high.  There’s no way David can choose this.

What about the shorter time-frame options?  How about the three months of fleeing enemies?  In late 2024, the Syrian government was overthrown in two weeks.  Three months of losing battles could cripple even a powerful nation such as what Israel had become.  Three months of losing battles would mean a massive loss of life.  Everything David had worked and fought for all his life could be lost in three months.  Nope, David can’t choose that either.

What about the three days of plague?  It’s only three days.  Three days fly by.  But it is the plague. This is the bubonic plague. The Black death.  In our day, there are fewer than 1000 cases per year in the US, and we have medicine to treat it.  But in ancient Israel, the plague was devastating.  This one likely had to be a short period because the plague was so intensely dangerous to human life.  There is no way David can choose this punishment.

Notice that all three punishments undermine David’s trust in the size of his military.  All three punishments will surely decrease that 1.3 million number.  Through these punishments, God is directly responding to David’s act of not trusting in God when David took the census.  But now David is in a horrific position.  He must choose a course of action that will lead to the death of many people.

Which of the three would you choose? 

Which punishment does David choose? We find out in the next post.

Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash

A census is…punishment? 2 Samuel 24, Part 1

We are nearing the end of David’s life.  The final chapter in 2 Samuel, Chapter 24, is just so perfect for the last story in David’s life.  It’s perfect because it is confusing and filled with turmoil, much of which is David’s fault, but then it concludes with a beautiful description of David’s heart.

I love that this week’s concluding story in 2 Samuel 24 is messy and beautiful.  I love that because, not only was David a beautiful mess, we are all beautiful messes too. We are all made in God’s image, deeply loved by God.  And yet we all have our struggles, don’t we?  That tension of the beautiful mess has been evident in David’s life.  He is a man after God’s own heart, and still he makes some terribly selfish choices. 

We will see that again in 2 Samuel 24. Let’s begin with verse 1,

“Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.’” 

What is frustrating about this passage is the information that we don’t know.  There was a situation that made God upset, but we don’t know what that situation was.  Some scholars speculate that it might have been when many of the people of Israel turned their back on David, pledging their loyalty to his son Absalom, when Absalom rebelled against David (2 Samuel 16–20).  

But we do not need to discover which precise situation God is responding to.  Instead we need to focus on the fact that something happened, and God incites David to take a census because the Lord’s anger burned against the people.  In other words, the census is a punishment.  A census is punishment?  A census is just counting people.  How is that a punishment for bad behavior?  It’s not. 

Quite frankly, this story is starting off in a strange, confusing way.  Let me make it more strange.  The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21 says this, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.”

There’s a big difference, right?  Did God incite David to take a census?  Or did Satan?  We don’t know.  What I suspect happened here is that the person who wrote 2 Samuel wrote first. Then the person who wrote Chronicles came along, and wanted to fix what they viewed as troubling parts of the account of David’s life.  It is troubling to think that God incited David to do something wicked as punishment against the people, which is what we just read in 2 Samuel 24, verse 1.  So the author of 1 Chronicles could be thinking, “I don’t like how the author of 2 Samuel depicts God, so I am going to correct what surely must be a mistake. It must have been Satan that incited David to do this terrible thing.” 

In my opinion the change from God to Satan exchanges one problem for another. I don’t see how that helps.  I do not like the idea that God would incite David to do something awful.  And I’m cluing you in…something awful is coming.  I also do not like the idea that Satan could influence David to do something awful.  But I have to admit that I prefer the Chronicler’s approach. Satan does bad things.  Not God.  Yet there are just some things we will not understand.  I know that’s not very satisfying, but I believe it to be true.

That said, I have to ask again, how is taking a census a bad thing?  Our government takes a national census every ten years.  Who cares?

We need to keep reading, looking for more info.  In 2 Samuel 24, verse 2, we learn that this is not a nation-wide census of all people.  Instead David asks his military commanders to take a census of how many fighting men are available in the nation.  This is a military action.  David is determining how large his military could be.

But remember verse 1.  God incites David to take a census because God is upset with Israel.  How is taking a census of the fighting men a bad thing?  If you’re confused by this, I don’t blame you.   We need to keep reading, looking for more answers.

In verse 3, Joab, David’s longtime military commander speaks up.  We have heard numerous stories about Joab through this blog series on the life of David.  On the one hand, Joab is sometimes a devious guy (even committing murder more than once…here and here and here); on the other hand, Joab has stuck by David for the long haul. Joab has also demonstrated that he is quite willing to confront David.  Joab confronts David again in 2 Samuel 24, verse 3.  Joab clearly disagrees with David’s idea to take a census to determine how many fighting men are available in the nation.  Why does Joab think this is a bad idea?  The narrator doesn’t tell us.  (Though note the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21:3.) 

How will David respond to Joab’s question?  Maybe David’s answer will help us figure out what the big deal is with the census.  Look at verse 4. Do you see David’s answer to Joab’s question, “Why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”  What does David say in response to Joab?

In verse 4 David says nothing.  Or at least the narrator of the story doesn’t tell us if David responds.  Instead in verses 4–9, Joab and the army commanders perform the census.  We read in verse 9 that there are 800,000 in Israel, the tribes to the north, and 500,000 in Judah to the south.  David should be feeling really good about the results of the census. 

Those 1.3 million represent a massive army.  Even by modern standards, if a nation can assemble a 1.3 million person army, they are a fighting force to be reckoned with. As of September 2023, the US Department of Defense listed 1.29 million active-duty troops and 767,000 national guard/reserves.  Only China and India have more. 

So David’s census, showing that his Kingdom can muster a 1.3 million strong army, is a rousing success.  With those numbers, David can rest in peace, as he hands the nation over to his son.  The Kingdom of Israel is secure. 

Except David is not feeling peaceful at all. As we’ll discover in the next post, David is really broken up by this news.

Photo by Alex Bracken on Unsplash

What would you say “No” to, if Jesus asked you to do something? – 2 Samuel 24, Preview

Imagine Jesus shows up at the door of your house one evening, and though you are shocked, of course you let him in.  You ask if he needs anything, such as a drink, food, a place to sit and relax or sleep, anything.  He responds, “Actually, I do need something.  I would like you to …”  And what he says next scares you deeply. You really don’t want to do it.

What could Jesus ask you to do that really don’t want to do?  To be more precise, think about the kinds of things that Jesus might ask you to do.  Think about activities that would help him fulfill the mission of his kingdom.  What are they?  Then try to be honest with yourself. What missional activities would you not want to do?  

Of course, Jesus will not come to your door and ask you to do one of those specific mission activities that you don’t want to do.  Before you breathe a sigh of relief, though, realize that he has already asked you to do those mission activities.  His teaching in the Gospels, and the teaching of his apostles and others in the New Testament, is loaded with mission activities.  

I suspect that it is the very rare Christian who boldly says to Jesus, “No, I refuse to do what you ask, Jesus.”  Instead we likely respond with a vague, “Okay, I will do that eventually,” and then rarely get around to it.  Because we didn’t say, “No,” we can feel we are unburdened by the missional imperative that Jesus gives us.  

What we are doing is simply a delay tactic. If we’re honest, we likely do not intend to follow through.  We delay, delay, delay.  Thus we ease our consciences, but in reality we are saying, “No” to Jesus.  

Why do we do this?  Why do delay?  Why do we avoid following through with what Jesus wants us to do?  

As we continue the story of Israel’s great King David this coming week, I believe the next episode in David’s life will help us answer those questions.  This episode is found in 2 Samuel 24.  I urge you read it ahead of time, and see if you think it is as strange and confusing as I do.  Yet, I believe there is a way to interpret it and apply it to our lives.  Check back here on Monday!

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

The importance of taking a new risk for the mission of Jesus – 2 Samuel 23:8–39, Part 5

My wife and I each turned 50 this past year. That milestone birthday is just another day on the calendar, and it is a time for reflection on the past and hope for the future. In that sense, turning 50 was like a New Year’s Day. Each New Year’s Day, many people review the past year and make plans for the coming year.

When I preached this passage to my church family this past Sunday, I said to them that I want 2025 to be different.  I want 2025 to be a year in which Faith Church focuses on the mission of the Kingdom of God like never before.  There I see a connection point between what I’ve been blogging about this week.

How do the stories of David’s Mighty Men (2 Samuel 23) matter to us living in the 21st century? If you’re reading this wondering “Who are David’s Mighty Men?”, pause and read the previous posts starting here.  What we see in the account of David’s Mighty Men is a focus on the Lord, which is surprising given that the stories are about the men. But we learned that it was the Lord who empowered the men to fight victoriously in battle.  When some of the Mighty Men risk their lives to get David water, David worships the Lord by pouring out the water as a drink offering.

As we begin a new year, may the Lord your focus as well.

I want us to see God’s empowerment at work in our lives.  Those soldiers did not see God’s empowerment because they were hiding in the safety of a fortress.  No, they went out into the open, into a very vulnerable place where the enemy could target and attack them in great numbers.  Those men risked their lives for the Kingdom.  I think it was precisely that risk, that vulnerability, that put them in a place to receive the empowerment of God. 

What will our risk be in 2025?  In 2024, I saw many in my church family step out of their comfort zones to minister in our local prison, or to help a refugee family from Africa adjust to life in Lancaster.  I saw many serve in English language classes with SEEDS.  For some, stepping out and risking for God’s Kingdom stretched them…in a very good way. 

How about you? As you look back on 2024, how did you step out of your comfort zone to serve the mission of the Kingdom of God? Maybe it was a personal relationship, a person who is difficult for you, that you chose to reach out to and show kindness to. Maybe it was a new volunteer opportunity in your church or in your community that you felt nervous about.

I suspect that stepping out into the unknown felt scary and awkward, and you wondered how it would go.  You maybe wondered if you made a bad decision.

As you made choices that were uncomfortable and sacrificial, you were choosing to embrace the discomfort to align yourself with God’s heart. If things were difficult, though, you put one foot in front of the other, and you did it.  You served the mission of the Kingdom.  And you felt God’s empowerment and you made an impact.

What will your risk be in 2025?  When you risk for God’s kingdom, he will empower you. That does not mean things will work out as you imagine or want.  It doesn’t mean it will be easy or simple or smooth.

It does mean you will be walking with his Spirit.  You will be more in line with His heart and with that alignment comes joy and abundant life. 

So make it your resolution in 2025 to sit with Jesus. Ask him to show you an area of growth, a place where your fears or your need for control are hindering you.  Ask him to show you how you can sacrificially align yourself with God’s heart.

My prayer is that by the end of 2025 we can each share ways God has empowered us in new areas where we sacrificially risked ourselves for him and his mission.

Photo by Loic Leray on Unsplash

The fine line between confidence and overconfidence (and what that has to do with Michael Jordan and mountain lions) – 2 Samuel 23:8–39, Part 4

I was a teen in the early 1990s when Michael Jordan was leading the Chicago Bulls to their first of two three-peats as NBA champions. I watched Michael Jordan avidly, and on my home’s driveway where we had a hoop, I tried to mimic his moves. I played for my small private Christian school’s middle school basketball team, and after middle school I transferred to my local, much larger, public school. My public school’s basketball team was excellent, and I was intimidated to even try out, so my sports focus turned to soccer.

Still, I continued to practice basketball on my own. I loved the artistry and athleticism of the game, and I came to believe I was pretty good. In fact, I dreamed that if the circumstances were right, I could score on Michael Jordan.  I was serious.  I really thought that.  By the way, have you heard that the human male brain is not fully developed until age 25? 

As the account of David’s mighty men continues in 2 Samuel 23, we meet two more important soldiers in verses 18–23, Abishai and Benaiah. Both men were extremely powerful soldiers. I suspect one of them was not yet 25 years old. Though the account doesn’t give us their ages, I think you’ll see what I mean.

Abishai entered the story of David many times previously. For example, Abishai was with David when David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but didn’t. Abishai stood by David when David’s son Absalom rebelled against David. In 2 Samuel 23 we now learn that Abishai is commander of The Three. Remember The Three? The Three were the group of super-soldiers that I introduced in this post. Though Abishai is not one of The Three, his amazing feats in battle make him as famous as they are. One time, the narrator tells us, Abishai killed 300 men in one battle. Perhaps because of Abishai’s stature as a general in David’s army, David places Abishai as commander of The Three, the most elite fighting squad in his military. Abishai is not the one I’m thinking is under 25.

That distinction goes to Benaiah. Benaiah’s name has come up a few times in the account of David’s monarchy, but this is the first we are learning any stories about Benaiah.  Though he is not part of The Three, Benaiah is a super-soldier in his own right. He defeats opponents who are much more imposing than he. Then the narrator tells us that Benaiah went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.  There is so much detail packed into that one sentence.  Think about that.  He went down into a pit, on a snowy day, and killed a lion.  What. The. World.   

I wonder if Benaiah had some of the male hubris clouding his thoughts when on that snowy day he decided to jump in the pit with a lion.  Why didn’t he just kill it by dropping heavy rocks on it? Why not just shoot it with arrows? Why jump in the pit with the lion?

This was not a massive African lion, but it was likely a mountain lion. Much smaller. It makes little difference to me, however. Mountain lion or African lion, I am not jumping down into a pit to try to kill it in close quarters. Especially on a snowy day when conditions could be more slippery. (Not to mention, why is a lion in a pit in the first place? Was there news of a mountain lion creating havoc in the area, and they were trying to trap it? Was this pit a trap for another kind of animal, or perhaps for enemy soldiers? So many questions!)

No matter about the kind of lion or snowy conditions, Benaiah jumps in! Were the other soldiers in The Three coaxing each other like males sometimes do, “I bet you won’t jump down there and kill that lion?” Whether peer pressure or the undeveloped male brain or hubris, I have to hand it Benaiah. There is something amazing about his confidence.  When you think you can do something, you often just do it.  And he did.  In 1 Kings, we will learn that Benaiah will go on to become commander of the Army.  I wish we knew more about Benaiah.  Was his confidence in the Lord?  The narrator doesn’t tell us.

It is, however, a good question. Is your confidence in the Lord? What does it mean to place your confidence in him?

If you look at the rest of the chapter, 2 Samuel 23, verses 24–39, you’ll see a list of the rest of David’s Mighty men, a group called The Thirty. I’m not going to comment on the list of The Thirty because the narrator only gives us their names.  With one exception, the very last soldier in the list.  In verse 39, we read about Uriah the Hittite.  Remember him?  We know him.  Uriah was Bathsheba’s wife!  Bathsheba was the woman who David wanted so badly, he possibly raped her, got her pregnant, and to cover it up he had her husband Uriah killed in battle. Read Emily Marks’ excellent week of guest blogs on David, Bathsheba and Uriah, starting here.

In the final post on 2 Samuel 23, tomorrow, we talk about how we might tie these stories together in a way that can apply to our lives.

Photo by Robert Sachowski on Unsplash