Seeking the Gospel Truth

This chapter of 2 Samuel seems to be a memoir or  a recap of David’s younger days. It includes pieces of several psalms  all rolled together into one epic poem. It may have been written when  David was fleeing Saul before he was officially King, or it could have  been a compilation of his psalms included here by the prophet Nathan. In  any rate, this is a powerful prayer a...

As King David nears the end of his life, we read some of his psalms  where he reflects on all the great things God did. There are hidden  prophecies, but most important, we see here how God works and how  through His everlasting love for us, has a plan for you and me. Let’s  dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deeper and watch the special music videos…...

These last 4 chapters of 2 Samuel aren’t exactly in chronological order.  In this chapter, it looks like King David is cleaning things up a bit.  The first part stems back 400 years to when Joshua made a treaty with the Gibeonites .  Apparently, Saul, didn’t keep the treaty. Then, the Israelites  encounter some of Goliath’s relatives. And we end today with a couple of  Dav...

When last we left our hero, King David, he was brought out of his grief  over the death of his son, Absalom by his head general, Joab. At the end  of Chapter 19, we had the people of Israel, arguing with the people of  Judah over King David. Instead of being happy to be in a united Israel  under one king, they had to bicker. That led to a revolt, and an unjust,  bloody mur...

hese 2 psalms of David’s are psalms of deliverance. They were probably written when he was was on run after his son Absalom rebelled against him. However, as you will see in the coming stories,  David never really has times of peace. There is yet another “enemy”  waiting to rise up against him. Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deeper and watch the speci...

David had a bittersweet victory .  He won the battle, but at the cost of his son Absalom. He was consumed  with grief, overwhelmed with sorrow. I know what that’s like — when you  find out that a close relative or friend has died. It happened to me  yesterday, a close cousin of mine died. It stopped me in my tracks. I  had to stop and grieve. For some people it takes longe...

Have you ever noticed in a movie when the camera focuses in on a certain  object that gets left behind? That means that object is going to play a  major role in the story down the line. Remember back in 2 Samuel 14 ,  the description of the length of Absalom’s hair? You may have thought,  what does that have to do with anything? Believe it or not, it comes  into play in th...

One of the unique characteristics of King David’s stories is that we  don’t just have the historical accounts, but we have, in writing, his feelings . David wasn’t just a poet, he was a prophet — and I’m not sure he realized it. Many of his psalms are prophetic as they tell about Jesus, the Jewish Messiah (Yeshua Ha-Mashiach) .  We recognize it in hindsight — which, of course, is 20/20!...

It is said that a human being can survive 40  days without food, 3 days without water, 8 minutes without air, but  cannot live a single second without God. King David is fleeing from his  son, Absalom, who has crowned himself king. David wrote Psalms 63 when  he was in the wilderness of Judah — which is very dry desert. People joke about living in Phoenix, Arizona, in the summe...

Let’s do a tally of all the sins that led to rebellion… D avid commits adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah and granddaughter of Ahithophel. She become pregnant. David tries to hoodwink Uriah into sleeping with his wife, but it doesn’t work, so David has him killed in battle. Nathan  the prophet, relays to David how God feels. Part of that was the death  of David’s son with Bathshe...

e saw in yesterday’s story how 2 wrongs don’t make anything right. They make things worse. If you missed chapter 13, you can read it here .  Where last we left Absalom, he fled to Geshur to live with his mother’s  father, who was king there. However, King David, missed his son and  Joab, his right-hand man, noticed how despondent he was. So, he comes up  with a parable to hopef...

What do you think of the Old Testament so far?  You have sin all over the place. Every type of sin. Consider this, God  wouldn’t have had to give us the 10 Commandments if people where not committing each sin. He wouldn’t have had to give all the laws in Exodus – Deuteronomy . It all started with the first time man gave Satan a foothold in the Garden of Eden . Adam and Eve had it made !...

Yesterday, we witnessed King David falling into Temptation and committing not just adultery, but deceit, lying and murder. For  about a YEAR he suffered guilt-ridden and sick until the prophet Nathan,  called him out. David described what he went through in these 3 psalms.  Sin zaps our joy. Here, we’ll see how to reclaim that joy and get a  clean heart in the process. Let’s di...

Back when David was chosen and anointed king, God referred to him as “a man after his own heart”. Unfortunately, King David falls into temptation and one sin begets another sin, which begets yet another sin, then the worst sin. Still, all is not lost. Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deeper…. It’s time to GET RIGHT WITH GOD! Are you ready to meet God today? You m...

Kindness misinterpreted. That’s how this next battle starts for  David. David’s a good guy, a man after God’s own heart. He hears of the  death of the King of Ammon and sends ambassadors to share his  condolences. Now, that’s something that’s done today. A head of state  dies, there is a state funeral, and many dignitaries from all over the  world come to pay their respect...

You may have heard a pastor or two mention the  word “typology” as it relates to the Old Testament and how it foretells  Jesus as the Savior and Messiah. What does typology mean? It’s when you  have… a real person, a place, object, or an event that is true, real and factual and that is God-ordained resembling Jesus’ person or work, not by mere chance, but by divine plan a predictive...

Military victories — it would be nice to hear of  one right about now. I’m talking about Afghanistan. I’m not going to  criticizes what was done or contemplate what should have been done. My  point is that battles and wars are won and lost. That’s been true since  the Book of Genesis . God made a promise to Abraham that his descendants would conquer the Promised Land. Also, tha...

With so much turmoil in the world right now, I  thought it best to have some of David’s psalms of praise, prayer and  worship. Back in 2 Samuel 4 and 5 , David rid Jerusalem of the pagan Jebusites and built his palace there with cedars of Lebanon from the king of Tyre. In 2 Samuel 6 ,  David brought the Ark of the Covenant (or the Ark of God) to Jerusalem.  David would absolute...

In this next chapter, God tells David that there  will be one of his descendants who will be a King who will rule  forever. This chapter is the most important one in the Bible. It is a  prophetic chapter and following that are some prophetic psalms. These passages are full of HOPE. The world needs hope right now. You look around the world and all you see are troubles, evil,  ca...

The year is 1000 BC, and David’s next task was to bring the Ark of the  Covenant from where it’s been for 70 years to Jerusalem. He had good  motives, but as you will see, his methods were lacking. Remember, Moses relayed to the Israelites the specific instructions God gave him on the building of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus). They even had detailed directions on who and how it was to...

Before humans developed a written language using  clay tablets, papyrus, then scrolls, later books, people told the  stories of their ancestors through verbal storytelling. They were in the  form folk songs and ballads. In the Old Testament, many of the Psalms  are stories. As is Psalm 78. Before we continue with King David’s reign,  let’s take a look at where the Israelit...

For a while there in the last chapter ,  it looked like David would finally be king of a united Israel. In these  next two chapters, he, at last, would be anointed king of all Israel.  Here, too, we see what happens when men take it upon themselves to push  the will of God along — without asking God first. Let’s dig in… Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deepe...

As our story goes along, David is now king of just one of Israel’s tribes — Judah .  The other 11 are ruled by Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, who, having been  declared king by Saul’s general Abner, was questionable with regards to  his ability to rule. Now, Abner, discovers how demented Ishbosheth is,  much like his father Saul, and becomes a turncoat. Is there hope for  David t...

When we last left David, he was mourning the deaths of King Saul and his  best friend, Jonathan. You might be thinking — crazy King Saul is dead!  Long live King David! Ah, not so fast. In the last chapter we saw Saul  and his three sons killed in battle against the Philistines. As  it turns out, Saul had another son, Isbosheth. Probably, he was not  exactly a legitimate h...

King Saul knew his days were numbered. He summoned Samuel from the dead only to hear that he and his sons would soon die. Saul wasn’t a very good king. The people wanted a king because they didn’t want God. Remember how the Book of Judges ended… In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. Judges 21:25 NLT (c. 1375 BC) (Gee, we could almost say that...