Mar 21 (2 Sam 22-24)

2nd Samuel 22

Read this chapter along with Psalm 18 and you will see a close resemblance. Many scholars believe that this chapter is written from David's point of view, in relation to his status in Christ. Psalm 18 is said to be prophetic of Christ, who was truly righteous and worthy of being our Passover Lamb.

We believers will never be perfect until we are in heaven. That is why God Himself had to die for us...the perfect One who could be our Lamb of God and die in our place.

We as believers are constantly scrutinized by the world and by the accuser, Satan, in order to make us ineffective in our witness. We need to remember 2 Cor 5:21 where the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are righteous in the Father's eyes, since we as believers are washed with the blood of His Son. We are pure as snow in the Father's eyes!!! I like to tell my kids that the Father looks at us through Jesus-filtered glasses...He only sees His Son when looking at us believers!

2nd Samuel 23

David points out three key factors for us to be successful ambassadors for Christ in these three men he singles out:

~ Be a child of God in prayer...if we are prayer warriors, we are in tune with Him

~ Put our complete trust in God, and be fearless against evil

~ Be faithful with our gifts that God gave us...use them to love and serve others

2nd Samuel 24

Most current translations say that God made David count the people by putting a capital "H" in he. But if we go back to the original transcripts, it is not capitalized, and says that Satan moved David to do this.

(v.10) David realized that he wasn't walking with God here, and repented and admitted his mistake. That is the reason for the famine. David repented, so he was right with God again, but all our actions have consequences.

David bought the threshing floor from Araunah, and it would become the eventual site where the Temple would be. Araunah wanted to give the property to David, but David insisted to buy it...it wouldn't be a sacrifice if it came to David for free.

This reminds me of telling my kids about giving. If we give something of value to another, it is good. If we give free stuff or worthless things to others, then it's worthless. It doesn't have to be monetarily valuable, for it could be our time and service as well. If we are willing to set aside our own ambitions and desires, for the needs of others, then we are doing as David did here.