May 12, 2023 – Deserved God’s Witness

 

 Deserved God’s Witness

  May 12, 2023
  Daily Reading – 2 Samuel 16-18 / John 1:1-34

 GOD’S WORD:

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 had not done. Because of my 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 not been punished. I never said, “hey, hello, 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 of 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 wanted 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 does not seem so. It may even seem at times Christians are dealing with trials not of our own doing. Yet, if we are honest, when Jesus died for all our sins, that was not fair. In life overall, we get more than we deserve. How we handle it matters. 

Will we be God’s witness?

Author: admin

Author of LIHW Daily Devotions, and President of Living In His Word Ministries.