Headed for Worship

So David was running away from his son Absalom who was trying to kill him, however the good thing is David reached where he was headed. I was amazed to know the place where David was headed, when disaster struck him," 32 ..David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God..."(2Samuel 15:32) David was headed towards a worship ground and made it there. Its difficult to be able to reach a place of worship when you're not in a mood to worship, nothing around you seems like you can worship about, but I guess this is the key point the whole Bible resounds. Worshipping God, when life's situations are pressing in on you is a powerful thing. No wonder there are so many examples in the Bible where when God's people were tested or were in trial, they headed for worship and the most amazing thing was, none of them returned a failure from that place of worship, all of God's people who entered into worship during their troubled times were victorious, they came out stronger than they had gone in, they came out maturer from the lessons they learnt in worshipping God during their troubled, they came out more blessed. You want to see!!!
Here they are

1. Strength for facing any situation in the worship place-When Abraham was supposed to take Isaac for sacrifice, here's what he said-Genesis 22:5He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
2. Freedom from slavery of any kind is at the worship place-When the Israelites were in slavery and cried out to God, their first destination towards freedom was to go to the desert and worship God-"Exodus 3:12And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
3. Getting blessed at the worship place-When Hannah wasnt having a baby, they were at a worship place when she asked God for Samuel-" Year after year this man(Elkanah) went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh....Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. " Then Hannah prayed and asked God in the house of worship.."In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD."(1 Samuel 1) and her prayer was answered and thats how we got a powerful man of God and prophet Samuel.
4. Seeking God in worship-The Ethiopian who wanted to know God had gone to a place of worship before God's person came to meet him on his way-"Acts 8:27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship"
5. Getting directions through worship-Jesus disciples got answer for further direction when they were in worship-Acts 13:2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

The Word of God is full of examples from lives of people who found strength, hope and power in worshipping God, when the situation didnt exhort them to worship. Worshipping God when everything is fine, is easy however the real power of worship can truly be experienced when situation doesn't look like you could worship. Thats when our soul finds total dependence on the Living God, knowing thay only He can fix everything. Remember when Paul and the rest were imprisoned for preaching and were in the jail, they started worshipping and singing and the doors of the jail broke off. Thats the power of worship, when we're tied up. Hebrews 1:6And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." Isn't it our call to worship our Living God.Hebrews 12:28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,"
So let us worship...Philippians 4:6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Its not that these people were going through an easy time when they were headed for worship, but let our requests be made known to God,"WITH THANKSGIVING"
Let us head for worship and receive the power that God has kept for us.

God's mercies are new every morning & God's love endures forever & His Word is true

As I continue to read, how Absalom, plots against his own father, David, and plans to steal the kingdom from him. I am more and more impressed by the way David deals with the situation. At this time, he's running away from his son Absalom, who has built up a large number of followers and would kill him(David his own father), so he may become king!!! The Bible says "David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot" (2 Samuel 15:30). Moreover David's counselor was also with Absalom, David did what he knew best at this situation ; "David prayed, "O LORD, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness." A cry of a desperate man. His trustworthy man Arkite came to support David during this trial and wanted to go with him, but David asked him to go back and watch the situation at his home, and so he did.As David travels further, Mephibosheth's (Jonathan's crippled son) person, Ziba waited with food and supplies for David and his people. David asked why Mephibosheth didnt come and he learns that Mephibosheth is waiting in Jerusalem hoping to get a part of the kingdom when Absalom takes it.Furthe now on his way to Bahurim, one of Saul's descendants meets David's convoy and he throws stones at them and curses David. The situation, as it is, being grim, being made unbearable by the words that this man was cursing David with.David does not retort in anger or defence, but does nothing, in fact he tells Abishai, who wanted to defend David; "David then said to Abishai and all his officials, "My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. 12 It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today." (2 Samuel 16:11) David knew, there was no point in trying to defend himself from an outsider, when his own family member was seeking to kill him. They finally reached their destination all exhausted, however there David refreshed himself.

In the midst of such an emotional and physical unrest in his life, I learnt some lessons on how David tackles the situation

• Distressed, but not letting go of faith- David knows he has to go through this test in life, remember the time when God told him , after his sin with Bathsheba that David would have unrest in his family. Yet he also shows that his only hope is the Lord and he prays. Just because there are effects that remain from sin, until the time we're put back on track, we should not and must not, let go of our hope in the Lord. Apart from our Lord there is no hope. Would there be any other way out? No, sometimes the only way out is to lay down complete trust on our Saviour. Do you know why we need to "lay down" our trust upon the Lord, because lying down is resting, because when lying down, your entire body is supported by the floor or the bed on which you lie down on. In the physical sense,it demonstrates complete trust on the bed, that it will support, thats what we need to do when situations seem overwhelming, lay our hope upon our Living God
• Frank about his feeling-Its not an easy thing David is going through, its not hidden, its so overwhelming David cries and walks barefoot. Sometimes people say, we should not cry about the situation, but I think, its human to feel sad, to be disheartened when faced with situations like David did. If we dont feel any emotions then what would we be? If we're not at the end of our strength how will we see God's power, how will we experience God's greatness and God's love and strength which is so freely given to them who believe. In spite of the condition they are in, though they are weak, then they are strong in the strength of the Lord.David could have easily enforced his security, people were willing to give up their lives for him, he could have acted as a king and got Absalom killed, probably in the way he did Urriah, but he preferred to remain weak and see God take him out of this situation. He might have wanted to see God working in his life.
• Surprising Favour returned- David had helped, Mephibosheth, Jonathan's crippled son, after Jonathan died, in return he receives a favour from Mephibosheth's son, who comes to give David and his men, food and water supplies for their journey. Its amazing, that at one time the guy who called himself a dead dog, when David asked him to dine with him (Mephibosheth) has now turned greedy for a part of the kingdom David had to leave from, because of his son Absalom, but his son has remembered David's favour towards his father Mephibosheth and returns it. Well, I'd say its better to never hope any favour from someone you have granted favour to. In other words, don't give favour with a hope of return favour, it might never be returned. However be hopeful, that God has seen your heart when you reached out to someone in need, God will make sure, thats returned from somewhere. Sow a seed of blessing in someone desperate's life, the fruit of it might come from anywhere, even though the person whom you blessed turns away from you. God is your rewarder.
• Dealing with "Big Mouths"-In the midst of trouble, sometimes you would find people who love to find out more about the situation or ready to judge you for the misfortune that has come upon you. People who are ready to further your emotional pain with harsh words, they think they are the ones sent to "deal" with you. This man from Gera who came out to curse David saying ""Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel! 8 The LORD has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!"(2 Samuel 16:8). Sounds apt doesn't it. Sounds like David should have received all this punishment. But remember what God told David when he had sinned "13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die." God had forgiven David. No matter what the Big Mouths say, when we asked God for forgiveness, God has taken away our sin. Why carry a burden which Jesus has already taken away, when you asked Jesus our Lord to wash you with His precious blood, which he shed for your and my sins" There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Yes we might have gone off track for a while, but when the prodigal son returns, the Father accepts him with open arms and much rejoicing. If our Father in heaven has accepted us, what does anything else anyone say matter. Our connection should be directly with our Lord Jesus, not because of what someone else says about our situations.
• Steadfastly trusting God's amazing mercy, they are new every morning-When this Shemei was cursing David and throwing stones at him, David had his heart steadfastly trusting in God's mercy. He would rather trust in God's mercy, rather than the condemnation of another man."11 David then said to Abishai and all his officials, "My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. 12 It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today." Isn't that beautiful, no matter how condemned people might think we could be because of whatever has happened in our past, we can trust in God's mercy.Lamentations 3:22-24 says "22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." If you are distressed and the people around you are like Shemei, trust in the Lord's mercy, they are new every morning. Wake up get up, look up and see, they are new every morning, GOD"S MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING. Oh the Psalms are full of songs of God's love and enduring mercies. Can you imagine, what weight that testimony in Psalms has, coming from a man like David, who went through it all and wrote them.
  
  Conclusion: I can't imagine any of our situations being as terrible as it has been for David until this time, well there is more to come, yet the one thing that remains common between all the situations, is David's steadfast trust in God and God's power always standing strong on a man after God's own heart, David, even when David did good, even when David sinned, even when David killed Urriah ruthlessly, even when David asked for forgiveness, even when David faced severe family issues, in that his own son trying to kill him.
  I hope this post brings hope to the ones who have been through rough times, faced unrest in the family, have suffered the emotional stress of cursing from others who dont have a clue about your life. Finally it is God's Word that stands and matters, if you really want a change in your life.
  

Relentless Surrender

David's sin of 'stealing' Bathsheba and killing her husband Uriah, brought him consequences, just as God had said. In 2 Samuel 12:11 we read "11 "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' " " Now thats a pretty strong statement from God regarding, and now we even see some of the consequences. The events that take place in David's life from this point(when he sinned) on are events that bring him disgrace, dishonour and shame. Firstly his firstborn through Bathsheba dies then , Amnon (David's son) misbehaves with his sister (Tamar) (though they may not be from the same mother, atleast they were brothers and sisters from the same father), due to this incident a number of killings take place(Absalom (Tamar's brother kills Amnon),and Absalom flees. David longs for his son Absalom. Well in a course of time, Absalom does return to David, only to start plotting to take the kingdom away from him, even though David welcomes him home with a kiss and love. How much more can David take, I wonder. For once his life was going well as a king, yet now he has serious family problems, and David flees from Absalom "14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword." (2 Samuel 15:14). Even at this point, David does not fight his situation, he tells the priest Zadok "25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." (2 Samuel 15:25)

Lessons I learnt

1. Sin brings death, but God has taken that away, the after effects still remain- Now what does that mean? Didn't Jesus die for our sins and take it away, so I may not have any problems, you may ask. Yes thats true, but thats not a guarantee for us to sin more. Its like, you want to get some place and got into the wrong train, and you've gone a whole way in the opposite direction than, to where you were supposed to go. No money, no time, no one to help, no place to stay...because your place of stay was booked at your original destination. Thats when Jesus can help you out to get onto 'the' way and get you back onto the right path to get you to your original destination. Well it might take a while for you to get back but then, you will surely get back if you follow His directions. In the process, the amount of distance you travel to get back on track as the consequences you might face due to the wrong path taken earlier. Thats what happened with David (2 Samuel 12:13) "13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, [a] the son born to you will die." When we ask for forgiveness, our sins are definitely taken away, we're free from it, yet if we've done something that will drastically, change our present and our future, it may take a while before we get everything back in order. (For eg killing for money,taking drugs..etc which have long lasting effects..unlike telling lies, or badmouthing a person). However God's grace and mercy is with us, to help us overcome the after effects of sin.
2. Relentless surrender-thats how David made it through all that trouble- David's response teach me that, he knew that the only way out for him through all the trouble that had come upon him due to his sin, was through his only Saviour, Lord God Almighty and so he was open to whatever God would decide for him. "25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." He had learnt over time, no man could help, he knew his position as a child of God, hence he could take a stand like this one. If there was anyone who could help David, David knew that it was God Himself.
3. Confidence in God's decisionthrough remembering God's goodness-David's surrender of self, could not have come out of nowhere. When he was young, he spent lots of time shepherding the sheep and making melody to the Lord, he had developed his relationship with the Lord and He was confident that God would be the ONLY one in favour of him. God would be the only one to rescue him. Not only this, but also that He remembers what God had done for him in the past. Remember the psalm he wrote "1BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!
   2Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits-- 3Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases," (Psalms 103:1-3)

Conclusion: For us who have slipped in life, David's life demonstrates hope and strength in our Living God. We may not be able to go back into the past and change the wrong decisions we might have made, but we sure can stay connected to our Living and Loving Heavenly Father in the present to avoid making mistakes in the future and therefore like David, become the kind of people God planned for us to be. The key, as seen from David's life is, not to dwell in sin, but to get up, seek forgiveness and let God help us out of it. The lesson is to build the confidence in God's plan, like David had, so God may bring out the best in us. That confidence which comes through a continual connection with the Almighty.This confidence will take us through. Therefore let us hold fast to the confession of our faith, for He who called us is Faithful.

Could I be this Yielded to God's Will?

I as a believer have always wanted to be a woman after God's own heart and David has given me some valuable lessons from his life, this far. After his sin, David asked for forgiveness, was willing to take the punishment for the sin but did not want to part from God. In this episode, as David has to go through the trial of seeing his young child die, he demonstrates an awesome response to what he goes through. He cries and prays hard for his son to live, yet his prayers were not answered, his son dies. Instead of turning bitter, David accepted the verdict and moved on, in fact he went and worshipped God. (2 Samuel 12)

There are 3 things I noticed from David's life at this point

1. Prayed hard-It was the right thing to do. What else could David do, except to pray for his dying child and he did, with his whole heart, yet leaving the results to God."16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. " There will be situations in life, when we don't know what the outcome might be, well there are times when we DO KNOW what will happen, because God would show that to us by faith and through His Word, yet sometimes, there are those times when you just don't know and the only thing left to do is lean on Him through prayer..thats what David went through and he didn't just casually or matter of factly do it, he was serious about his petition to the Lord.
2. Prayer not answered-In spite of the diligence he prayed with, his son died. Sometimes, no matter how sincerely we tried or prayed, or tried in our own strength to please God, we may not see the result we want, and that is important. Of course God is good, God knows what is best for us....in all this He is good. Don't give up hope, God knows what is best, He can see the end from the beginning. He planned out our lives even before we started living it and He comes with us to live it out with us, so He knows what He's doing. Can we trust God even if our prayers are not answered??
3. Not desperate but worshipful-After his prayer went unanswered, David responds with hope and not despair "22 He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." He immediately stopped crying and got up washed his face and you know what he did "After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. " If we think, in the way that pleases us, we'd think, what was left to worship God for? After all, God did not answer his prayer, God did not listen to his prayer!!! Yet he went and worshipped God. How many of us would have turned away from God, at this junction, wouldnt we??? But for David, his relationship with God was too important and he would not let go, no matter what happened in his life.

Conclusion:All these points, to me, are out loud proclaiming one thing, David was definitely a man after God's heart, because He let God BE God in his life. He did not try to interfere in what God had planned for his life. Yes he prayed hard, but not twisting God's arm and asking God to fulfil his wishes, but yielding to God's decision. He accepted God's decision humbly and did not fight it, in this he found blessings. You know what, later on when David and Bathsheba had another son, they named him Solomon, but the Bible records "The LORD loved him; 25 and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. ". Wow, isn't that beautiful, God personally sending word to give Solomon the name. Remember, when we want to keep our children's name, we consult with all our loved ones and choose the best. Here, Almighty God Himself, connects with David's family and personally gives the name Jedidiah to Solomon, Jedidiah meaning "beloved of the Lord". Now would we be willing, or ready, if we had to go through all this to really become man/woman after God's own heart. I am not sure if I am this yielded to my Saviour, but sure this episode from David's life has challenged me to trust God WHOLLY with my life. No matter what. Shouldn't we?