2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Lord leads me to go on with examples from the Scriptures that will help us understand why it is so necessary for every believer in Christ to wage spiritual warfare against the devil and his followers. There is a truth that many believers neglect to think about. It is that the adversary loves to attack us where we think we are impenetrable. We all know from King David's story that he began his relationship with God in a very checkered way. Had it not been for the Psalms, it would pretty difficult for us to hold him in the esteem that he deserves. After all, he committed adultery with Bathsheba [2 SAM 11: 1-4], arranged for Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, to be murdered [2 SAM 11: 14-17], and had so much blood on his hands from being a warrior that God instructed him to have his son, Solomon, build His temple [1 K 8: 17-18]. However, God knew that He had created David to do great things and to have a faithful, valiant spirit. We get to see David's true inner self in the Psalms, and of course, read the good things that he did in other places like 2 SAM, 1 K, and 2 CH. God teaches us not to rush to judgment and to see everything about a person. David was one of the greatest kings Israel ever had, even with his imperfections. Yet, even a person as great as David was not immune to Satan at times. Such was the case in the story from 2 SAM 24: 1-24 and 1 CH 21: 1-27.
1 CH 21: 1, "Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census." David made Joab, his nephew who questioned the wisdom of this decision, carry it out with his officers anyway. [This makes me think that we need to ask ourselves the question: Has Satan ever made us stubborn or is he doing that now?] 1 CH 21: 7-8, "God was displeased with what had been done, so He punished Israel. David said to God, 'I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.'" This eventual response on David's part after the results of the census were in helps us to understand the faithfulness he really had. Before we are quick to judge someone we know has committed a sin, we must look at the whole picture. The real problems here were Satan to begin with and some imperfections in David's knowledge of God's will. One fact that jumps out at me is that David didn't go to God with this idea in the first place before taking action. He might have saved Israel and himself a lot of trouble had he done that. As the story continues though, notice how God uses it to teach us a lesson.
2 SAM 24: 11-13, "The Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, 'Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses.' The next morning, after David had gotten up, God went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, 'Which is it to be? Three years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord.'" We get real insight into the intelligence God gave David and his ability to use it in David's response. We also get insight into the Lord's compassion in the action He takes. 2 SAM 24:14-15, "David answered, 'I am in a desperate situation! But I do not want to be punished by men. Let the Lord Himself be the One to punish us, for He is merciful.' So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that He had chosen. From one end of the country to he other seventy thousand Israelites died." When it looked like the Lord's angel would kill all of Jerusalem, the Lord changed His mind and told the angel to stop. He was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, the Jebusite (16).
David was bereft, claiming he was the guilty one. Then Gad instructed David to go up to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar to the Lord. David complied. Araunah came to David then, asking Israel's king why he was interested in his threshing place. David explained that he was obeying God's command and that he would like to buy the threshing place from this Jebusite. At first, Araunah offered to give it to David, but the king insisted on paying for it saying, "No, I will pay you for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing" [2 SAM 24: 24]. Once the purchase was completed, David did, indeed, built an altar to the Lord where he could make sacrifices. In case you might be wondering why this part of the story is so important, let me tell you that it is at this place, the highest point on Mt. Moriah (Zion), where the Temple Mount is today. This story ends with another defeat for Satan. 2 SAM 24: 25, "...The Lord answered David's prayer, and the epidemic in Israel was stopped." Dear Ones, the Lord really does hear and answer our prayers. We really can take action that will defeat Satan. Being aware of his ability to attack us even where we feel he can't, going to God first in prayer before making decisions and taking action, and taking responsibility for our own inappropriate behavior instead of blaming others are good ways to assure Satan will lose.
PRAYER: O Lord, You allow us to see the enormous contrast between the wickedness of which man is capable and Your own goodness in PS 36: 1-2, 7-9, "Sin speaks to the wicked man deep in his heart; he rejects God and does not have reverence for Him. Because he thinks so highly of himself, he thinks that God will not discover his sin and condemn it....How precious, O God, is Your constant love! We find protection under the shadow of Your wings. We feast on the abundant food You provide; You let us drink from the river of Your goodness. You are the Source of all life, and because of Your light we see the light." David was not an evil man, only a flawed one with huge faith that You gave him. The content of his faithful heart despite his flaws causes us to examine our own lives to see the state of our own faith in You. David's words, 'How precious, O God, is Your constant love!" are crucial to us. We come to You as imperfect sinners who love You and desire to trust and obey You. We acknowledge that it is You Who gave us faith, called us to lives of holiness, gave us Your Son on the cross so that we could be saved, and gifted us with the Holy Spirit to help us understand Your teaching and live "in Christ." We are sinners who humbly offer our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanksgiving at your altar. We pledge to learn from David's example to emulate only his most Godly attitudes and behavior and stand reminded that out of Your loving compassion for us, You have given us the power to defeat the enemy in Christ's name. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we continue with more stories from the Scriptures which will show us why we must fight spiritual warfare, trusting in our loving Abba. We will look at the story of Israel's King Ahab and how he allowed Satan to influence his life and death. All of these stories will lead up to an examination of Satan's origin later on in this segment of my messages on spiritual warfare. Throughout the Scriptures we see evidence of the profound love that God has for His children. Sometimes it may not seem that way, because the Lord is forced into taking strong punitive action at times. But imagine what our world would be like if He didn't have the courage and righteousness to do so. We are like children who get angry when punished by a parent. As we mature, we are better able to see that correction by our parent was his/her way of demonstrating responsible love toward us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn