Sin x2

²³ Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. ²⁴ Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”
²⁵ “No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.
²⁶ Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.”
The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷ But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.
²⁸ Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” ²⁹ So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.

A sin leads to another sin. How good can it be? To lead your brother to sin after you sinned. This is something that we must not be, a position that we must not have. I call it daisy chain sinning. Even if your starting action was not sin, it still cause people to sin, so it is still sinning. so, becareful of our actions, because it may cause your brother or sister to fall into sin, so it is bad. We are meant to bring people closer to Christ, to further away from Christ. How good is the glory of Christ. I am very careful of my actions nowadays, because if my actions are not sin, but if it causes my bro/sis to sin, it is sin. We all need to be very careful. Here we see that Amnon committed a sin and he caused his brother Absalom to sin against him.

Rape...

13 In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

² Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.
³ Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. ⁴ He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”
Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
⁵ “Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”
⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”
⁷ David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. ⁹ Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.
“Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. ¹¹ But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”
¹² “No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. ¹³ What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” ¹⁴ But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

It is better to marry than to burn with passion. That is what is stated in the bible and that is my first thoughts when i read this passage.  1 Corinthians 7:9 popped up in my mind. It is better for them to marry. Form Amnon, he hear the advice of wrong people. Thats why it is very important for people to have the correct mirror holder. Correct mirror holder, if not the mirror holder will give you ungodly advice and that's it .Sin will be committed and not only that, it causes others to sin. And thats not good because sin seprates one from God. and without the presence of God in your life, what are you? Nothing. God, is the most important part of our lives. His presence within us through the holy spirit is the utmost important thing in the bible. Here, a sin is commited in the house of David, and it led to further sin, further hatred. How important do we need to rid of it and seek God to shield against it? We will never be able to fight temptation by ourselves, but with the help of God. This is a perfect example.

David, David

²⁶ Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. ²⁷ Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. ²⁸ Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”
²⁹ So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. ³⁰ David took the crown from their king’s^[d] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent^[e] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city ³¹ and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.^[f] David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

David was back in action. He was not affected by the incident that happened eariler, although it was wrong, sinful. But he did not let that stand in the way of the work that he will be doing in the name of God. He continued to serve faithfully in his ministry that God had called him to be. He continued to follow God, winning battles and conquering cities and glorifying him. One very important thing to note, we always get stuck in the i am a sinner and not worthy of God. But God says otherwise. We are worthy of Him. Worthy. So if God says we are worthy, who are we to say we are not worthy?  We must not be held back by our own guilt, because God has made us guiltless in His name. Having said, we should remember the conviction and keep it close to our hearts. We must always keep that conviction that God had gave us regarding this subject and keep remembering it and not sin against God again. Imagine a world without sin, a perfect world. That will be so great, because we will be totally not bothered by sin.

Placing our Hopes on the Everlasting God

Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know?
         Have you not heard?
    The Lord is the everlasting God,
         the Creator of the ends of the earth.
    He will not grow tired or weary,
         and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ 29 He gives strength to the weary
         and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
         and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ 31 but those who hope in the Lord
         will renew their strength.
    They will soar on wings like eagles;
         they will run and not grow weary,
         they will walk and not be faint. 
Many of us place our hopes on people and things of this world(including me), hoping they will bring us good fortune, good career, good relationships. But all these things didn't come easy. What if. What if one day, our career failed? What if one day our relationships with a certain someone we placed our hopes on died? What if, we spent so much time investing on a latest gadget, only to find out that it only last for a month or so till the next "in" gadget? What will we feel? What will i feel? Honestly i would say, I, being in a failed relationship in the past, and that was devastating for me. Disappointment, anger, emotionally unstable, sian-ness are what will come if these things happened to me, to us. It is because we have placed our hopes, our time on things of this world that is limited. Limited things that cause us to be tired, weary. However, the Lord is an everlasting God, when we truly acknowledge that we are can't place our hopes on the things of this world, we will truly understand that the Lord is ALL we need, without Him, we are nothing. He is our Saviour, our Provider, our Creator(if He didn't create us, we are literally nothing :x) Place our hope on the Lord, and these are the Promises: you will find new strength; you will soar high on the wings of an eagle; you will run and never feel tired; and you will walk and not faint. And the best part, these Promises last forever, as the Lord is an everlasting God!! Let us lift our hopes, our hopes on things of the world, our hopes on our relationships to Him, as our lives are Created by Him, He knows our troubles and will guide us through them. 

Father in heaven, i pray even as we live our life for you, God. Even there are things in this world that want to pull us away from You and to the world itself, whatever we placed out hope on, it will always be on You. For You are the Creator and the Perfector of our Faith, please guide us to Your way and not the worldly ways. May Your guardrails be settled deep down our hearts, so as we won't fall away from You. Please give us Your strength, Your power as we hope for You. So as we live in this world, Your will be done, all we do is for Your glory, only. In Jesus's glorious name, i prayed. Amen!

God is a forgiving God.

¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth^[b] 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.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. 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.

²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

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 go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; ²⁵ and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.^[c].


We note something very special here. We notice in verse 15, "the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David" The bible recognizes that at this point of time, David was committing adultery. It was stated specifically Uriah's wife. The bible did not use Bathsheba. Uriah's wife was used to reference her. This is a very significant point. Because we see in verse 24, "Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba" Then here, it is recognized as David's wife. Then we continue on to 24, we see that "She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. THe LORD loved him; and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah." Then this is the mind blowing part. So God just killed the first son and loved the second son? Yes, He did. He killed the first son because he was the product of sin. But why him, not David?

For it is stated in the bible,
Exodus 20:5
⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

Our Children will bear the brunt of the sin, as much as us. So, we need to be very careful and mindful about this. 

But what we see that God is a forgiving God. He is so forgiving and he says

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions, for my own sake,
    and remembers your sins no more.

It is so true that God is forgiving. He is and we need to remember that, He is forgiving to our sins.

God? Guard Rail?

How much is God the guard rail for myself?
Truely deeply within my heart, how true that is?

Colossians 3:1-5 is so true...

Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

I reflected on what are the evil desires that i have? Lusting for materials? is computers my god? This is a complex thing as yes, true you may have solved it TODAY. But it may be back tomorrow. A walk with God is a walk a journey with Him. You still can go astray. So we really need to continually guard our hearts. Guard our hearts from evil desires. It is dangerous that my thoughts go and float towards that direction which is dangerous. Because love is from Him, therefore He is the biggest guard rail to us. I recognize that i need to let go and loosen the grip on treasures. When i loosen the grip on treasures then would i be able to hold on to God. God made us to live forever but sin corrupts us, consumes us and kills us. Just like a parasite. Sin is the biggest parasite ever.

What is love? Do we know it?

We know our Christian walk is about love. About the love of God. But what is it?

Is it that something that we can capture? That we possess? No. Love is an achievement? No. What does the bible say about love then?

In 1 Cor 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The bible tells us what love is.
But does not tell us how to get it. It tells us the end state but does not tell us how, how to get it. The bible tells us when we get it, it will be patient and kind. We will not be jealous or boast. ... And many characteristics of it. But it does not tell us how to get it.

In 1 John 4:9-10
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This verse really describes the source. The source of our love. What is love? Love is patient... But what is it? There is no one thing. But love is love. God is love. Our love comes from God and God alone. He is love. He has first shown His overflowing love for us through the act of sacrifice. His sacrifice of His Son on the cross for all our sake. His love covers all sins and hurt. His love is greater than any other. It is the greatest of all. 

David sinned

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

David was blind to his own actions. He can recognize that the man in the story was sinning great time. But he cannot recognize that for himself. Thank God for people like Nathan to guide David. Lord i pray for myself to have people to correct me. To rebuke me in your righteousness. That is most important. David accepted that rebuke. That is the most awesome part. Because as king, he could have just ordered Nathan to be killed. Like if he did not like whatever someone was saying, he can just kill the person. But David has that humility to accept whatever Nathan says. He recognized that whatever was said was not from Nathan himself but from God. I pray that for myself, when people talk to me, i learn this humility from David. We all need to learn this humility from Him. He has great humility. This is really shown in this event, where he truly and humbly accepts this rebuke from Nathan.

Sin full grown

²² The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
²⁵ David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

 This really spoke to me one thing. David from the previous chapters was described as a mighty man of God. There was absolutely no deviation from that line of thought, yet in this chapter we see David fall. David plotted to kill Uriah and he died. But you would say, David was a man of God. He still is, but we all must know all man can fail. All man can fail. ALL. Pastors, Leaders, Politicans, Teachers... Everyone. Our sinful nature takes over and consumes us. One thing to learn is that no matter the part of journey that one is on, he can fall if he is complacent. Complacency is one thing we should look out for, increasingly as we go further with Christ. This is where your friends and mentors will keep a check on you. Sometimes we think we are all-invincible. IE. 5 years into Christianity and we are "pro" but are we? We are not. If the people failing is not us but people whom we respect, do we forgive them? Who are we to not forgive them? We should forgive because God FORGAVE. He FORGAVE, so we ought to forgive. It will not be Godly if we did not forgive. No matter how hard it may be, we should have an open and loving heart and forgive. Forgiving is difficult but great.

David commits sin

¹⁰ David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,^[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
¹² Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
¹⁶ So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
¹⁸ Joab sent David a full account of the battle. ¹⁹ He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, ²⁰ the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? ²¹ Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth^[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

David sinned because of several reasons. First and foremost, why was he not with his men and generals? God had called him to be out fighting with his men. But why is he not fighting? Right thing done at right time will yield a good result but a wrong thing done at a wrong time will yield a terrible result. However, a right thing done at a wrong time will give equally bad results. And that was what happened to David. David was a man of God. A man after God's own heart! But now we witness him doing such terrible things. He plotted against his general Uriah. He wanted Uriah to sleep with his wife so to "cover" for his wrongdoing. He wanted Uriah to think of David's son as Uriah's own son. That was so bad. But Uriah was firm and Godly. He thought of his men. He thought of the people who did not rest and was working so hard to fight for Israel and he decided that he cannot rest. He is unfit to rest. Not giving up, David went further and plot to kill him. And Uriah died.  What i learnt here is to really do the right thing at the right time only. No other alternative. If i allowed myself to have the right thing happen at the wrong time, this might just have happened. Great powerful man of God can be tempted by this, what more us?

David? David.

11 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. ⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
⁶ So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

This is where we witness David sinning. David slept with one of the wife of his commanders. Its worthy to note this. Why? because the bible has been saying good things about David. But now, bad things are now being told about David. Why is that? Becuase the bible tells the truth. The bible tells the truth about David. Like the rest of people, David is still ultimately human. He makes mistakes. God still forgave him, just like how God will forgive anyone. The keyword is will forgive anyone. This piece of history is not one sided but 2 sided. People always talk about the good things of the bible. In fact, the 10 most searched verses:

About salvation:
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

About plans:
Jeremiah 29:11: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

About plans:
Romans 8:28: "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."

About strength:
Philippians 4:13: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

And so many more. The things we mention in the bible is often good. So this chapter really sticks out like a sore thumb. Why not just cut this ugly part of the history? Why not just erase this and forget about all these and bathsheba? And i am pretty sure after 2000 years no one would remember. But it is recorded and many people know about it. So there must be something really important about this story that needs to be told eh. The answer is We are all humans and God's love and salvation is through grace not works. That is the understanding. Run to God not away. Because He is God, our Lord and our Father.

⁹ Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. ¹⁰ He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹ Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. ¹² Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”

Do we have foresight? battle lines are always present in our lives. Whether it is time, pride, some person you have not forgiven. Each is its own battle line. Are we prepared? A Christian walk without battle lines are not a Christian walk at all. If you face no challenges and battles, then you are not growing and not progressing with Christ. Your relationship with Christ is more often than not in the backwards glide. Recently, i have faced problems, discovered problems that i was oblivious to. Discovering new battle lines. These are potential victories. Victories that can glorify God. And we dont have to fight the battle but to walk with Him and claim the victory that He has won. Then comes the question that you need good community support for you to go into a battle. Do you have reliable Christian friends to rely on? To get feedback? To walk with? To account to? Then when we prepare and work through the battle, then the Lord will do what is good in his sight. Similarly, in our lives, the Lord will do what is good in His sight. Not necessary good to us but good in His sight. And we just have to trust Him and keep His promise: "All things happens for the good of Christ.

Ammonites and his son

10 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. ² David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.

When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, ³ the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
⁵ When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”
⁶ When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.
⁷ On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. ⁸ The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.

David wanted to honor Ammonites' king but the king and his people thought badly of David and thought that He is out to threaten and kill him. Fear, fear of the things David can do cause them to react this way. Fear is a powerful tool for the wicked. But fear is also a great stumbling block for the good. The Ammonites knew David has the power of God with Him and He can conquer any lands and get the land. So, they were in great fear of David. Even to the point that David was good-naturedly sending envoys to express his sympathy and pay Hanun a visit, it was mis read as a threat. I think sometimes we act like this to God too. We treat God like this. We fear Him, we fear of the things that He can do, and we take our own action, put matters into our own hands and try to solve it. But, in the process we turn away from Him. It good to have reverend fear of God but one should not be afraid of God. We see thats what happens when fear rules our life, then the result will be beyond what we want or foresee.

children of God

⁶ When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”
⁸ Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
⁹ Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰ You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s^[a] table like one of the king’s sons.
¹² Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³ And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

I really see God challenging David to do what Jesus did on the cross which is very humbling and powerful. When i read this verse, i felt God telling me, this is not just a story about King David showing kindness to Saul's sons. But it is also a replica of the story of Jesus saving the world. David showed kindness, grace and mercy to one man. But Jesus showed to the whole humanity. When Jesus was here he operated on the same mentality that David operated. He wants to show kindness and grace to anyone who He can. When He died on the cross, Jesus showed kindness, grace and mercy to all humanity. Mephibosheth came to David empty, but David filled Him. He did not only fill him, but fill him to the abundance. David also told him to not to be afraid, just go forth and David will provide. For He is here not to condemn but to provide. Same with Christ! For God did not send His son to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. How awesome. Then the question is when we approach God, are we afraid? Do we fear? Fear of God is fear of God, that is reverence. But do we fear Him, our Father?

Kindness

9 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

² Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
³ The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”
⁴ “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
⁵ So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

 I clearly remember this verse as a passage shared during Fairfield. I clearly remember the speaker mentioned that the most powerful part of the passage is that David asked that question. David knew because He had made a covenant, He had the means to bless Saul's bloodline. So he will. And that is powerful because he asked :"Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" He asked that, not when some one reports to him that he found someone in Saul's bloodline then he will "remember" the covenant. When one person becomes a king, he can do whatever he wants, no one would actually complain or comment. he could have easily just shrugged it off and not think or do anything about it. But he did not. He remembered the covenant that he made with Jonathan in God's name. It really shows that David although king, recognize that he is man infront of God. Then the question is do we ask ourselves do we seek out people to bless? That we act out God's commandment for us? To make disciples of all nations? Do we like David ask ourselves who can i bless? Many dont and we need to work on that!

David listens to God

⁹ When Tou^[d] king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ he sent his son Joram^[e] to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.
¹¹ King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: ¹² Edom^[f] and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
¹³ And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites^[g] in the Valley of Salt.
¹⁴ He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

 King Tou heard about David and sent his son to greet David and give him gifts because he was afraid of David. But do we remember why David is so scary? Because the Lord is with David. And King Tou is not "with" David, so he panic! He dont want to run over by David's army, so he sent his son to greet David with gifts and to build this relationship with David so that David may not overrun Tou's nation. David with all these victories, he did not claim and be happy with the victories. But instead, he dedicated the victories to God. He understood where his source was. The source of his strength , his life and all the victories. Do we understand where our source is?

Philistines and David

8 In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.

² David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
³ Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at^[a] the Euphrates River. ⁴ David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers^[b] and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.
⁵ When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. ⁶ He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
⁷ David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ From Tebah^[c] and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.

 So funny to think that David actually went to Philistines' lands to hide from King Saul. Now, God delivers Philistines to Israel. Only God could do such a magnificent thing. Only God can use Israel for such purpose. Because Saul who was on the throne could not do it with the same nation and army, and David could, so it is only through God that Israel's enemies are delivered. King Saul had a lot of trouble fighting the Philistines. While for David, it was just summarized in a line. "In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them". How awesome is Our God! He does only what is good. God is keeping the promise that he made with David. Our God is a God who remembers the promise. He will never disappoint and He is glorious and graceful! Praise Him with everything!

Praise the LORD

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:

“Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!^[c]
20 “What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. ²¹ For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.
²² “How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. ²³ And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?^{[d] 24} You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.
²⁵ “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, ²⁶ so that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established in your sight.
²⁷ “Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. ²⁹ Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.”

King David is really a humble character, in his words actions and prayer. I really like His prayer. We can learn so much from it! Interesting fact, David prayed without giving thanks in actuality. He gave thanks by saying God gave Him the grace and he does not deserve the grace. A King is saying that. I think if i am king i probably would not have done that! This prayer is a prayer of professing. He profess that God is great. That he did not mentioned a single "thanks" but his whole prayer was so thankful to the LORD. I want to pray to the Lord in this way!

TT: sons of God

6 ^1-2 When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born, the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves.

³ Then God said, “I’m not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they’re going to die; from now on they can expect a life span of 120 years.”
⁴ This was back in the days (and also later) when there were giants in the land. The giants came from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These were the mighty men of ancient lore, the famous ones.

sons of God. Firstly, no where in the bible it is stated that angels can procreate. I will stand firm in my argument that sons of God refers to men, not angels. 

We look deeper into the verse. God said "I am NOT going to breathe life into men and women." There must something really bad that happened that caused God to stop breathing life into men. He was breathing life such that men can live 1000 years. But something changed. What was it? Something sinful i suppose?

Lets take a look at Jesus's genealogy.

²³ Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,^[a] the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Firstly we see Adam as the son of God. Which is the crux of my argument.  So, we know Adam is the son of God. Jesus as the Son of God. Who else is considered the son of God?  Everyone who is considered holy and worthy in God's eyes.

We remember that Adam has 2 sons(living). One, Cain and another Seth. So we also remember that Cain was the guy who murdered his brother Abel.

We see in 1 John 3:1 in the King James Version (KJV).

3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

The newer versions of the bible, it is mentioned children of God. Loosely speaking children of God = sons of God. But with one distinction. sons of God is reserved in the bible for people who walk really closely with God. Namely Adam and maybe some of his decendants? 

So we see that Seth is holy, but not Cain. So we can actually say that Seth's linage is sons of God while Cain's linage is not! So, after so much then we can deduce that 

"the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful."

the sons of God is talking about Seth's linage while the daughters of men comes from Cain's linage. (because remember that Cain lived.)

Jake: Judges 7; Can God's power work through you?

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

7 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ ³ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

⁴ But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
⁵ So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” ⁶ Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” ⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. ⁹ During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. ¹⁰ If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah ¹¹ and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. ¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
¹³ Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
¹⁴ His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
¹⁵ When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” ¹⁶ Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
¹⁷ “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. ¹⁸ When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”
¹⁹ Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
²² When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. ²³ Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. ²⁴ Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.”
So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. ²⁵ They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

We must all remember, God's power will only best work through you when you are weak. Why? We look at this passage. Gideon is going to fight the Midianites, with 31 thousand men. 31 thousand men at that time was a great number and can easily win a war. But God told Gideon to strip away 21 thousand, then 9 thousand 7 hundred. He was left with 300 men. 30,000 men to 300 men. using conventional wisdom, when we go to war we want to be kia su right? As many as possible is the best! In life we often do the same. Money? We will want as much as possible? Power as much as possible. Control as much as possible. We always put ourselves in a possible situation. A situation where we have a plan A, plan B or even a plan C or D. If i don't go to the local Uni, then i will go overseas. 

But God told Gideon, strip away... Strip away. make a 99% reduction of your strength, your security... Then you will be victorious IN ME. BECAUSE GOD'S GLORY IS SHOWN IN WEAKNESS. NOT STRENGTH. imagine if we read this story as Gideon won the war with 30 thousand men. Then people may question God's strength. Because 30 thousand men is easy to win the war. But no, he won with 300 men. You think the movie 300 is amazing? Yes. Thats just a story but this is real. This is the story of our glorious God. Are you willing to strip away to allow God to exalt you? Are you willing to just go forth in your weakness and claim God's glory. So that anyone that witness it shall not claim the glory for you but for God.