David the Priest?

Today I arrived at the story of David bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem.

I already knew that when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out an arm to steady the ark, and died as a result of mishandling the Ark. David left the ark right where it happened, with Obed-Edom. Three months later, David tried again.

Only somehow I thought that the second time, David had done it the right way, with the Levites placing poles through the rings on the Ark and carrying it on the shoulders.

No, they carried it in a cart again. What did change was that they stopped every six feet to offer prime animals. David dressed in a linen ephod, like a priest--a fact the Message emphasized which had never gotten through to me before. (Perhaps I have Michael's reaction to blame for that, but I'm not discussing Michal today.)

Whoa there. David dressed like a priest? And later, in chapter 8, we're told that David's sons were priests?

Didn't Saul lose the kingdom for offering the sacrifice before going into battle, a job that belonged to the priest?

So why did God bless David and dismiss Saul?

I would guess is has to do with God looking at what at the heart of a man.  One of my favorite hymns is "Himself" by A.B. Simpson.  In it, Simpson wrote, "Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord. Once it was the feeling, now it is His word. Once the gift I wanted, now the Giver own. Once I sought for healing, now Himself alone."

Saul wanted the blessing, the gift of military victory--and found neither on a regular basis.

David wanted God first and God alone--and the others things came with it.

Saul wanted things in his time.

David waited for God's timing.

Saul was all about himself.

David was all about God.

GOD'S CALL, GOD'S TIME

I'm tempted to write about one of my favorite lines ("these sons of Zeruiah are too much for me.")

 But then I read an even better line. 'David proceeded with a longer stride, a larger embrace since the God-of-the-Angel-Armies was with him." (2 Samuel 5:10, MSG)

Lack of confidence isn't a word I would ever have used to describe David.  He had abundant faith in God and sprang to action whenever God's honor was challenged. When needed, he asked for God's guidance and obeyed. I never see any hesitation. Have you?

This verse suggests a different spin. Maybe all those times he held back on doing things like killing Saul in the cave were because. . . gasp. . . he wasn't entirely sure that he had earned the right to walk in God's call on his life?

I'm not saying that David should have killed Saul. His restraint is rightly held up as an example for the rest of us..

But I find it very human that like Abraham who didn't have the son of promise until he was one hundred, or Noah who built a boat for a century, God called David to be king a long time before he was ready.

As a writer, I am blessed that age can be an advantage. That's not true for a lot of occupations.

David also apparently realized he wasn't ready yet. When the time came, he moved into the role quickly. He walked with a longer stride and a larger embrace. Ready to do what God called him to do.

Lord, may I walk with a stride that matches Your calling and
presence in my life. May I embrace all You have called me to be.

A Nation Divided (2 Samuel 2)

In yesterday's post, I almost wrote about a fantastic verse that says David strengthened himself by his faith in the Lord when his own men were ready to stone him. You see, other enemies, the Amalekites, had raided David's town and taken all their women and children captive.

David rallied the men and then went after the raiders. They were fighting the Amalekite threat while Saul and the army fought the Philistines.

It was his bad luck that an Amalekite brought the news of Saul's death to David. He claimed responsibility for Saul's death for himself, probably expecting a reward. Instead he lost his head.

You would think that after everything David had been through, he would have been the instant, obvious choice as king. No such luck. David asked God if he should return to Judah. When God said yes, he went home, and Judah crowned him.

The tribe of Benjamin crowned Saul's remaining son, Ish-bosheth, He was recognized as king by the remaining ten tribes. He last as king for two years. David ruled in Hebron for 7½ years.  It's unclear what the rest of Israel did for leadership in the interim.

One tragic thing did happen during those years: brother fought brother as Israel's army, led by Abner, and David's men, led by Joab, met in armed conflict. Abner is clearly a man of honor, not wanting to kill Joab's brother Asahel (but Asahel wouldn't leave him alone), and calling a halt to the fighting.  They parted ways, under a temporary truce.

And the nation remained divided. How glad I am that the story doesn't end there.

Oh, what was David doing through all of this? Acting like a head of state. He wrote a lament for Saul and Jonathan and thanked the citizens of Gibeon for giving them a decent burial. He didn't go to war with Joab on this occasion. He asked God before he rushed into the void created by Saul's death.

Annointed by God as a teenager, David was willing to wait and wait and wait some more.

Oh, to have that kind of patience.

The End of Saul (1 Samuel 31)

Oh, Saul, at the end you almost pulled it out.  In spite knowing God had deserted him, when the Philistines attacked, he led his people in war. Okay, they were losing. but he was there, doing his duty, providing encouragement for his people.

And then . . . there was always an "and then" with Saul, wasn't there? . . .

All three of sons were killed, in a single battle. As someone who has lost a single child, I can't imagine losing all of my children at once. Whatever courage or heart Saul had left must have dropped away at the news.

Then an archer got close enough to hit Saul with a fatal arrow. Saul begged his armor bearer to kill so the Philistines couldn't claim the credit. The faithful servant refused, so Saul did the deed himself. The armor bearer followed suit

The loss is summarized in these sad words: The men closest to him died together that day.

Sad, tragic, unbelievable--all of that, and more. But of course, there is even worse to come.

When the Philistines discovered Saul's dead, they hung his armor in the temple of their god and they hung his corpse on a wall for everyone to see.

Enter the brave men of Jabesh Gilead, who took back the corpse, burned away the flesh and buried the king properly.

Battle, national defeat, suicide, loyalty, patriotism, grief . . . a story of epic proportions that leaves the nation of Israel in the worst shape yet. The Philistines gloated over the victory, the Israelites were left without a designated leader, the armor taken away. (early I read that only Saul and Jonathan had armor; the loss was a severe one.)

But with God, the end is rarely the end. The man the Philistines considered an ally was about to emerge as Israel's greatest king.

New heroes and valliant men and women will come to the forefront.

Saul . . . everything he could have been and wasn't.

Which one am I?

I AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS (1 Samuel 28)

Sorry, can't help it. Just heard Beckett saying the line to Castle on TNT's repeat of an old episode.

Okay, I said I was going to take a sabbatical. I have caught  up a lot of work. And at the same time, I am getting . . . bored. lonely. depressed. hungry.

Time to get back into the bread of God! And hope that focusing on what's important helps my spirits.

Today's scripture really is an honest-to-goodness ghost story.  The kind of thing that makes it difficult to explain away mediums as the blind leading the misguided.

And "wiccan" may have very real powers.

Yes, I've come to the witch of endor.

Samuel had died and God had abandoned Saul. The king was desperate, so he sought one of a breed he had hounded to oblivion years before. A witch.

I find her dance of evasion interesting. "If the king finds out. All right, all right, I'll do it."  I wonder how much money changed hands.

Have any of you read Liz Curtis Higgs' retelling of of the witch's tale? I believe it's in Really Bad Girls of the Bible. 

I'm not sure who was more surprised, the witch or Saul - or, for that matter, Samuel.

Things unravelled pretty quickly:
The witch recognized Saul as king and was terrified.  The image of "an old man, robed like a priest" terrified her more. Saul worshipped--Samuel? God? "Why have you disturbed me?" Samuel demands.  To keep hounding the man after he's dead  . . .

Saul's question hadn't changed. "Tell me what to do!"  Samuel basically said you made your bed by disobeying God, now you'll lie in it.  Saul was so frightened that he fell into a comatose state. The witch showed a shred of sanity by getting him something to eat. He revived and left.

A genuine, bonafide ghost story, featuring Samuel as the ghost and the ghosthunter who was a poor excuse of a man, let alone a king.

I don't even know where to begin with this one.

Who did Saul see? I have no doubt he actually saw Samuel.

What did Saul see? This is a trickier question. In the New Testament, Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration--easily identified by the three disciples who were born centuries after both men.  If probed, I would guess that their bodies were like Jesus' post-Resurrection body, like ours will one day be, immortal and no longer bound by the same physical laws as our bodies.

When . . . no real "when"questions jump to my mind.

Where did Samuel come from? It says he ascended from underground.  Descriptions like this, plus "the pit," must be why we talk about hell "down there" and heaven as "up there." Ephesians 4 talks about Jesus' descent during the days of His death. The Apostles' Creed echoes that with its wording, "He descended into hell."  A better wording is hades, a holding place for the dead before the death and resurrection of Christ.  This idea, however, fights against the idea of immortal, recognizable bodies that Moses, Elijah, and Samuel appear to have.

Why did Saul think he needed a dead Samuel's help?  Your answer is as good as mine.

This passage leaves me with far more questions than answers and a lot of uncertainties. With all its claims for connecting with the earth, wiccans here are clearly demonstrated to be in touch with the occult, dangerous practices, meddling in matters of life and death that belong to God alone.

Real or faked (and I believe there are people with real ability), the occult is strictly forbidden to Christians. There are Christians with some measure of psychical power. y mother was one of them, chosen for a study, until she became a Christian and turned her back on it. I'm not sure if in others, it becomes a gifting for discernment or how that works . . .

The "ghosts," or recognizable people from the past, we read about in the Bible, are all believers. They don't fit the image of people with unfinished business.

The ghosts we read about appear before Jesus' resurrection. Perhaps believers no longer can return. "absent from the body" means we are "present with the Lord." After death, we don't linger in hades (is hades the same kind of thing as purgatory?) but zoom straight to our Lord's side.

What does this mean for me today? Saul worshipped the wrong thing, a dead priest/prophet. God is the God of the living--He is and always will be the first One I should turn to. Even when I've sinned, as Saul had. (David was no saint but he knew where to go with his burdens.)

Oh, and as a final thought . . . . don't take this blog as a condemnation of Harry Potter and his kind.

AVOIDING THE ACIDIC AFTERTASTE (1 Samuel 25-26)

This devotional is provided by Linda Rondeau. 

According to custom, David had every right to attack Nabal’s household and kill each male. In fact, David had purposed to do so in his heart. He had protected Nabal’s interests in the wilderness, and deserved a favor in return. When he did, Nabal not only refused but insulted the future king. Foolish thing to do.  The Bible says that Nabal was not only surly and belligerent, married to a beautiful woman, but he was a Calebite, a descendent of Caleb, one of the Israelite spies, a descendent of Kenaz, blended into the tribe of Judah but descended from Esau, a race looked down upon by descendants of Israel’s heir, Jacob.  David gathered a portion of his army, enough to make a good thrashing of Nabal’s small kingdom. 

Pride often precedes rash and potentially disastrous decisions. If David had prayed before he responded, God would have tempered his wounded pride. Instead God encouraged restraint via a beautiful woman, Nabal’s wife. She reminded David of a more powerful truth, mercy is better than revenge. Did the future King of Israel want this senseless slaughter on his heart when he took his rightful place on the throne, no matter how seemingly justified? David was so touched by her wisdom, that he changed his mind. When he heard that Nabal was dead, he took Abigail as his wife.  “He kept his servant from doing wrong and brought Nabal’s wrongdoing  on his own head (1 Samuel 25:39b NIV).

In the next chapter, David has an opportunity for revenge against Saul. The current king wrongfully pursued David, threatening his life. David could have easily had his captain put an end to his misery. Perhaps he remembered what Abigail told him. David instead knew he should not lift a hand against God’s anointed.  “The Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.” We know that is exactly what happened.  (1 Samuel 31)

Have you ever felt inclined to return an insult for an insult? No matter how justified, in the end the act will leave an acidic aftertaste. I believe that God tempers hasty revenge for our benefit, not necessarily for the benefit of the one who offended us, though sometimes it might be that very person who is led to God by our mercy rather than our strength.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44-45a NIV).

Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness/Harbourlight,  LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes stories of God’s mercies. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Linda’s best-selling Adirondack Romance, It Really IS a Wonderful Life, is published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas and is available wherever books are sold.

These books are also available in ebook format along with her other ebooks by Helping Hands Press: I Prayed for Patience/God Gave Me Children and Days of Vines and Roses.  Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com or email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com  or find her on Facebook, Twitter, PInterest, and Goodreads.  

AVOIDING THE ACIDIC AFTERTASTE (1 Samuel 25-26)

This post comes to us compliments of Linda Rondeau.

According to custom, David had every right to attack Nabal’s household and kill each male. In fact, David had purposed to do so in his heart. He had protected Nabal’s interests in the wilderness, and deserved a favor in return. When he did, Nabal not only refused but insulted the future king. Foolish thing to do.  The Bible says that Nabal was not only surly and belligerent, married to a beautiful woman, but he was a Calebite, a descendent of Caleb, one of the Israelite spies, a descendent of Kenaz, blended into the tribe of Judah but descended from Esau, a race looked down upon by descendants of Israel’s heir, Jacob.  David gathered a portion of his army, enough to make a good thrashing of Nabal’s small kingdom. 

Pride often precedes rash and potentially disastrous decisions. If David had prayed before he responded, God would have tempered his wounded pride. Instead God encouraged restraint via a beautiful woman, Nabal’s wife. She reminded David of a more powerful truth, mercy is better than revenge. Did the future King of Israel want this senseless slaughter on his heart when he took his rightful place on the throne, no matter how seemingly justified? David was so touched by her wisdom, that he changed his mind. When he heard that Nabal was dead, he took Abigail as his wife.  “He kept his servant from doing wrong and brought Nabal’s wrongdoing  on his own head (1 Samuel 25:39b NIV).

In the next chapter, David has an opportunity for revenge against Saul. The current king wrongfully pursued David, threatening his life. David could have easily had his captain put an end to his misery. Perhaps he remembered what Abigail told him. David instead knew he should not lift a hand against God’s anointed.  “The Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.” We know that is exactly what happened.  (1 Samuel 31)

Have you ever felt inclined to return an insult for an insult? No matter how justified, in the end the act will leave an acidic aftertaste. I believe that God tempers hasty revenge for our benefit, not necessarily for the benefit of the one who offended us, though sometimes it might be that very person who is led to God by our mercy rather than our strength.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44-45a NIV).

Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness/Harbourlight,  LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes stories of God’s mercies. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Linda’s best-selling Adirondack Romance, It Really IS a Wonderful Life, is published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas and is available wherever books are sold.

These books are also available in ebook format along with her other ebooks by Helping Hands Press: I Prayed for Patience/God Gave Me Children and Days of Vines and Roses.  Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com or email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com  or find her on Facebook, Twitter, PInterest, and Goodreads.