Deserved God’s Witness
May 10
Daily Reading – 2 Samuel 16-18 / John 1:1-34
GOD SAID:
2 Samuel 16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:
During my childhood I received a number of punishments for my misbehavior. I was sent to my room, stood in a corner, scolded, and spanked. Most of the time, I deserved everything that I received. I was reprimanded for things that I actually had done. However, there were those rare occasions when I received a punishment for something I’d not done. Because of past conduct, it was presumed that I deserved the punishment. The opposite was also true. There were things I had done for which I had also not been punished. I never said, “hey, by the way, I was naughty today, could you please give me a spanking?” Nope, those words never came out of my mouth.
In today’s Passage we find David being scolded by one of Saul’s relatives. He accused David of being a man Belial, meaning a wicked, evil person. He asserted that David was guilty of the blood of Saul and therefore God had taken away his throne and given it to Absalom. We know that none of that was true. David would not so much as lay a hand on Saul while he was king. David’s accuser, Shimei, was spewing anger over wrongs he conceived to have been done. Abishai want to kill him for his constant accusations and attacks. Yet David said, leave him alone. Although David knew he had not done what Shimei had said, his conscience reminded him of things he had done. David saw this as God’s witness to his past, and decided I deserve this.
GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:
Is life fair? It often doesn’t seem so. It may even seem that at times Christians are dealing with trials that are not of our own doing. Yet, if we’re honest, when Jesus died for all our sin, now that wasn’t fair. In life overall, we’re getting much more than we deserve.
Is there a witness?
Living In His Word Ministries
“Getting people into the Word of God…
… and the Word of God into people.”
Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12