David seems hemmed in in the city of Keilah and Saul
believes that David is given into his hand.
David asks the remaining priest, Abiathar, to bring the ephod from the
old tabernacle, the ephod behind which was stored the sword of Goliath when
David went to Nob. David uses the ephod
as a talisman, a connection to the Lord from the place of worship that no
longer exists, in order to inquire of the Lord concerning Saul’s intentions and
the actions of the men of the city. The
Lord responds to David’s inquiry and David takes action based on that
information to escape Saul once again.
Jonathan “rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in
God.” Jonathan strengthens David’s hand
in God by affirming that the Lord’s will would be done in the matter of making
David king and assures him that he will be beside him as friend, not
rival. Everything about Jonathan says he
was truly a good man who loved others more than himself.
The parable of the talents reflects on our stewardship of
what we have been given but also on the attitude we take towards the one who
has given us the stewardship. The first
two servants were willing to risk what they were given in order to enrich their
master while the third believed his master to be a “hard man” who reaped where
he had not sown and therefore feared his master’s reaction if he had lost what
was given to him. What he did was prove
that his master was wise in entrusting him with little. The master invited both the first servants to
enter his joy over his good fortune and to give them additional
responsibilities. Does that seem to
indicate the master was a hard man? The
third servant is like the older brother in the story of the Prodigal, a man who
doesn’t know his father at all. When we
think we deserve more than we have in life, when we think we have been
overlooked, we tend to develop that attitude.
Jonathan could have gone in that direction but he didn’t, it wasn’t
about him.
After eleven chapters (in our reckoning) of heavy theology,
Paul moves to doxology. He knows much
and is teaching much but at the end of it all, he can only break into praise
for the one about whom he is teaching.
He can’t contain himself any longer, such knowledge is too wonderful for
me as the Psalmist has said. Is that
your reaction to knowledge about God?
Paul’s prescription for those who believe his teaching is that we
present our bodies in trust to this God as living sacrifices as an act of
worship. The world causes us to conform,
little by little, to its expectations and ways, this offering brings about
something greater and more powerful, transformation, complete change by the
renewing of the mind, not just the spirit or soul, the mind leads the way. What we think and believe has great power but
we must allow Him to give us insight and wisdom into all things in order to see
that transformation. Laying down your
life for your friends isn’t a natural thing to do.
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