David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.”

2 Samuel 10

David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” v2

Here we have David expressing what I will call transactional kindness - this is in contrast to my previous post where David not only expresses kindness to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, but also to Saul's servant Ziba and Ziba's family - despite Saul's sinful behavior to David.  

Nahash (per Mcarthur Commentary) was an enemy of Saul and thus he and David shared an implied alliance.  Yet we are not only to provide kindness to our friends but also to our enemies.  Again, per my post yesterday, we are not in a position to judge as ALL are deserving of God's love.

If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Luke 6:29

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48

...and the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10).

It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. Psalm 75:7

 My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who has shown kindness to me - despite my sin.  I am often deserving of Your kindness yet You continue to love me and show kindness to me.  Thank You Jesus.  Please forgive me for my gossip and worry.  Help me overcome and turn from such sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.

Proverbs 11

Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free. v21

We often see the sinful deeds of others and the temptation is to judge them.  Yet we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  See also:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8

In John 8, Jesus defends the Adulterous Woman in the face of scorn and says:

Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:7

Jesus also says:

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5 

We must understand that God is the only judge and He is both all knowing and equitable.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Luke 8:17

He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. Psalm 9:8

 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, what a great God You are!  You know all of my sin yet You are full of mercy, patience, compassion, and forgiveness.  Thank You Jesus.  Yet I am not worth such love and blessings.  I worry, and I am harsh with my words and actions.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do. Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo. Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

Psalm 75

It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. v7

As humans it is not impossible to form judgements, about people, circumstances...we are constantly making judgements.  However, we should not condemn others regarding their sin.  That is between that person and God alone.  

In the church, however, we are to support and encourage one another by speaking truth into a brother or sister's life.

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. Matthew 18:15

We are designed to live together (Proverbs 27:17) and to confess our sins to one another.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You alone are judge...and You are just.  You are also full of mercy and grace, holding back punishment when we deserve it, forgiving us, and blessing us also when we don't deserve it. You are an awesome God!  Thank You Jesus as I am not worth such mercy, grace, and blessing.  I am broken...full of arrogance, pride, selfishness, etc.  Please forgive me and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure Lisa of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

Psalm 73

When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. v16-17

Asaph, author of this Psalm, sees wickedness in the world around them and he wonders why God allows such wickedness to persist.  This is a thought we often have and we must understand that God sees everything (see post here) and He is and will be the perfect judge.  We should take comfort that all will be judged "according to what they have done".  In our daily life, we must also recognize that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

We should concern ourselves with how others should be dealt with - we should know that God knows all and all will be judged.  This frees us to focus on our relationship with God - of primary importance in our lives.

My Prayer: You alone and Your glory is worthy of my attention and focus.  I know I exist to glorify You.  You are worthy of my efforts and I am prayerful that I can be Your servant.  Thank You Jesus for Your love and for choosing me to be Your child.  I am not worth such love as my sin continues and I am broken.  I get angry too quickly and I worry about my children - folly!  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked. By your hand save me from such people, Lord, from those of this world whose reward is in this life.

Psalm 17

Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked. By your hand save me from such people, Lord, from those of this world whose reward is in this life. v13-14

As I posted yesterday, our focus should always be upward, towards the eternal and towards His glory.  When we live a life for Jesus, we are promised to have "trouble".

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Yet trials from God are GOOD for us:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James1:2-3

As I posted here, God is a righteous and perfect judge, so all that we experience, good and bad is by His design and for His glory...and of course, for our good.

So, just as David writes in Psalms, all of us will have trouble in this world when we focus on the eternal and on Jesus.  Help us focus on how these troubles are for God's glory and our good.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God, full of love, grace, mercy, etc. for me.  I am not worthy of such a God as I continue to be impatient with people in my life.  Thank You for all the ways that You bless me Jesus and please forgive me for how I lack the grace for others as You have poured out on me.  Please forgive me and help me turn from such sin and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure Lisa of her cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.

Psalm 9

He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. v8  

Assuming one agrees that equity, fairness, and justice are good things...it is certainly a good thing that God is equitable in how He judges us....He is certainly capable of being a perfect judge - He knows our heart (Psalm 139) and as such knows our motives and intent 100% of the time.  Yet what we need to keep in mind is that God is not only just and perfect in how He judges us, He is also just and perfect in how He punishes us.  This latter truth is more difficult for us to agree with and understand than the former truth. See my post from a few days ago for thoughts about how we as believers can approach understanding of this truth.  We don't know what God is doing when He dispenses punishment or wrath and it is often hard to swallow.  However, we should all take comfort that David's claim from v8 is accurate - "He rules the world" and God is in control...

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God who is fair in both  judgement and punishment.  You know what is best for all of us and both Your will and Your works/actions are perfect.  I have experienced this in my own life.  Thank You Jesus.  Yet I am not worthy of such a God...I continue to be harsh with my words.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects of chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin, and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

James 5

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! v9

I often grumble about those around me - whether this is my own family, friends, or people I work with - how sinful!  I am no better!  The Bible tells me, beyond today's verse, that this is sinful:

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2

...

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13

...

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5

...
Instead - God wants us to love... John 13:34, 1 Peter 3:8, etc.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God that ONLY loves.  You have not and do not sin as You are pure, holy and blameless.  And You love me...knowing everything about me, including my sin.  Thank You Jesus. I am not worth such love.  Please forgive me for my judging nature.  Help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Help me love and not judge.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa comfort, strength and freedom from pain.  Please heal her of this cancer - forever.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message today and every day.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

2 Corinthians 5

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. v16

I have often prayed for God to forgive me for my harsh thoughts, words, and actions in terms of how I think of others...including my own family!  Paul is imploring me to view others through the lens of Jesus Christ and how He sees us...as perfect in His eyes and as one of God's creations worthy of the gospel.  I am reminded of Peter's vision from God in Acts 10

While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. Acts 10:27-28

My Prayer: Lord, You are an awesome God full of love, compassion, and mercy for all...You even came for me...a sinner!  I am not worth such an effort...my sin continues daily and I desperately need You to save me.  Thank You that You love me despite my selfishness, my judgmental nature, etc.  Please forgive me and help me turn from such sins and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do...help me see others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Help me serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.