1 & 2 Samuel (Program #24) – Our Need for God to Build Christ into Us

Upon a casual reading, 2 Samuel 7 seems simple enough to understand, it begins with King David expressing his heart’s desire to build a dwelling place for Jehovah. The Lord’s response to David seems to be a very good illustration of His love and mercy toward David, telling him that instead of wanting David to build something for Him, the Lord needed to build something first for David. But if we look more carefully and through the lens of God’s economy, we will see that 2 Samuel 7 reveals one of the highest revelations in the entire Bible.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #23) – The History Concerning David (10)

In 2 Samuel, David becomes secure and well established as the one king over all the tribes of Israel. As king, he’s prosperous, respected, loved, and secure from his enemies, even admired by the surrounding nations. In this situation, David’s true heart is clearly manifest. What he desires to do is to do something for God, even to build God a dwelling place in Israel. But having such a one on this earth whose heart was fully one on its own, Jehovah responds to David’s expression of wanting to do something for Him in a most surprising way.

Listen to this passage from 2 Samuel 7:

“Thus says Jehovah, Is it you who will build Me a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house, since the day I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt to this day; but I went about in a tent and in a tabernacle. more…

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #22) – The History Concerning David (9)

After years of being persecuted at the hands of the evil king Saul, David has finally become king, fulfilling the promise that Jehovah had given to him as a young boy. Now, the entire nation of Israel was with him. And, even the surrounding nations lent their support to him as king. But most importantly, David had Jehovah’s presence with him as well. With all things fully in order under God’s sovereign arrangement, what would David turn his attention to now?

Many before him had sought greater riches and glory for themselves, but David has a different kind of heart. David had a heart that was fully one with the Lord. So and with his own house in order, David turned his full attention to God’s house. What a marvelous picture and pattern for us as believers today.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #21) – The History Concerning David (8)

The first two kings of Israel present us with two distinctly different patterns. Both began their monarchy by being selected and anointed by God, but any similarity ends there. Saul, the first king, was intent on one thing, and that was establishing and building up his own monarchy. What he was building up was absolutely for himself. David who replaced Saul was also intent on one thing. But for David, that one thing had nothing to do with his own kingdom. His focus was God’s kingdom. What he was building up was for God’s kingdom, not for his own.

The result of their two lives tells us a lot about how we should approach and conduct ourselves in the kingdom of God. Saul and his three sons died a humiliating death, and the honor and the glory that surrounded his kingship in the beginning was completely lost. David on the other hand, despite some serious failures, became an important person in God’s plan and even in the accomplishment of His eternal economy.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #20) – Lessons of the Five Major Figures

The books of Samuel in the Old Testament are among the top concerning the history of God’s move with his people. Many stories in these two books that we learned as children, perhaps, and have treasured our whole lives, but these are more than stories, their invaluable to us as illustrations of the main items of God’s economy. Five main persons are spoken of in first Samuel. And their lives reveal to us item after item of how to maintain a proper relationship with God, God’s economy, and to enjoy Christ. If we remember these five persons and the lessons that their lives reveal, we will have our own enjoyment of Christ enriched and our participation in God’s economy strengthened.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #19) – The History Concerning David (6)

The first king in Israel was the tall, handsome, and gifted King Saul. His beginning was quite glorious and he gained the heart of the people by leading Israel to victory over her enemies, including the dreaded Philistines. Not only did the people love him, but it seemed that at least outwardly that Jehovah was with him as well. His ending however, was not so glorious, in fact it marks one of the most tragic and dramatic accounts in the whole Bible. Listen how it is described in first Samuel chapter 31, “Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines chased Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. And the battle bore heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. more…

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #18) – The History Concerning David (5)

Saul, the first king of Israel, had a marvelous beginning, but the most tragic ending imaginable. In the Old Testament story of this tragic inclusion to Saul’s life, there are a number of valuable things that we, the New Testament believers, can learn concerning God’s economy. Foremost among them is the fundamental problem that Saul had, and that is that despite his early glory and successes, he was never properly related to God’s economy–God’s desire to build himself a house, and ultimately His kingdom. Rather, Saul’s heart was consumed with his own kingdom, and building something for himself. In first Samuel chapter 20 this hidden desire for his own kingdom is revealed. more…

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #17) – The History Concerning David (4)

The young man David was chosen by God and anointed to be king over Israel. Yet the Lord allowed David to fall into the most difficult environment imaginable to perfect and prepare him for his coming kingship. 1 Samuel chapters 25 & 26 depict David being tested in things both big and small. How interesting it is that in the big things David is found faithful to the uttermost yet in the small things he’s exposed. We’ll see a window into the weakness of his flesh that will eventually give way to his greatest failure.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #16) – God’s Sovereignty and David’s Taking the Lessons of the Cross

The New Testament is full of divine truth. By reading and studying these truths, we enter into the divine revelation: what God is occupied with, what His purpose is, and what He is desiring to accomplish. But what is lacking in the New Testament are illustrations or pictures. These are provided to us through the great stories of the Old Testament. For example, the New Testament teaches us that God is sovereign, that means He is over all, above all, and in all. Yet, it takes an Old Testament story such as the story of the young boy David, chosen and designated to be king over Israel, yet placed in the most difficult and trying situations for us to see and realize just how sovereign our wonderful God really is. more…

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #14) – The History Concerning David (3)

All of us are used to thinking of David as perhaps the most valiant of the great men of the Old Testament. From his youth, when he was fighting off lions and bears as they attack his flock of sheep, to his triumph over the mighty Goliath, to his fearless warring against all the enemies of Israel once he was king. It seems that David never backed away from a fight. Yet when his own wife was being threatened by the evil King Saul of Israel, when given the chance to defend himself, his only action was to flee. He would not lift a finger against Saul even when it seemed that Jehovah had delivered Saul fully into his hands. But why behind David’s refusal to avenge himself of Saul is most enlightening.

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