Life to the Full!!
Psalm 119:81-88
Kaph
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
but I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise;
I say, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait?
When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me,
contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy;
help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your unfailing love preserve my life,
that I may obey the statutes of your mouth
Reflection: David again writes of his longing for God’s salvation and deliverance from his present trials. He says, “My soul faints longing for God’s salvation”. Salvation was a word for deliverance or victory over one’s enemies. In waiting on God, David takes solace and hope in God’s Word, which for him would have been the Torah or first five books of the bible. In the Torah are the promises for those who keep God’s Word. A key word in verse 88 is, “unfailing love”, which in the Hebrew is “hesed”. This is the same unfailing love promised in the Covenant to Abraham to bless Abraham and his descendants. It also comes to David in the royal covenant for his household that their kingdom will never end. It is often translated, “steadfast love”. In contrast to human love, it is not fickle and always stands by the one to whom the Promise is given. This is the same type of love that Jesus will come down on earth to show us. It is the same steadfast love that will choose to go to the cross to save us from our sins. Take a moment to praise God for His steadfast love which never fails.
2 Samuel 18:1-30
18 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.” 3 But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.” 4 The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders. 6 David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword. 9 Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. 10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.” 11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.” 12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.” 14 Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him. 16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes. 18 During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
David Mourns
19 Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.” 20 “You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off. 22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.” But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.” 23 He said, “Come what may, I want to run."
So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite. 24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer. 26 Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!” The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.” 27 The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.” 28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.” 29 The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.” 30 The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there. 31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.” 33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Reflection: Here we have the very sad ending to David’s son, Absalom. In arrogance he had set up a monument to himself to be remembered by, but instead it became the place of his grave. The men are not sure how his father David will react to the news. They are hoping that the military conquest and protection of Jerusalem as the temple of God will be enough for David to rejoice in the conquest. But David shows he is a father first, and mourns for his son with the penetrating words, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Only those who have lost a child can know the depth of the pain in David’s heart and soul. And here we have a “type” which represents God’s steadfast love for us in spite of our sinfulness. David had every reason to be mad at his son for what he had done and as he was planning to do to take the kingdom from his father. But in the end David shows us why he is called a “man after God’s own heart”, as he grieves for His son and what could have been.
In the New Testament, Jesus will reflect this on the cross when he says to his betrayers, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” This was David’s cry for the son that was lost and who went to his grave in disgrace hanging from a tree as he fled David’s troops, a sign of the Providence that had caught up with him and his rebellious ways. He was buried in the place of his disgrace, not with the honor he had wanted for himself.
In David’s heart for his son, we see God’s heart for every wayward son and daughter. Pray today for someone on your heart who is lost and pursuing a path similar to Absalom. Hopefully they can be like the Prodigal Son who came to His senses and returned home to the Father.
John 10:1-10
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Reflection: So as Jesus has now revealed that He is God in person in chapter 8, and then healed the blind man in chapter 9, as a sign of His divinity, he now uses the metaphor of the Good Shepherd and His Sheep to further reveal his role to the religious leaders. They are the false shepherds that Ezekiel prophesied about, and Jesus uses a metaphor that is well known in the agricultural society of the shepherd and the sheep pen. The shepherd knew the sheep by name, and they often had a whistle which when they blew all the sheep recognized. They would daily lead them out of the pen where they were protected from predators at night into the pastures by day, so they could graze in the verdant pastures and still waters.
Jesus further teaches that He is the Messiah that the prophets had foretold by saying that He is the gate for the sheep. Here we have the image of the Good Shepherd who often laid down at the gate of the pen to protect the entrance way to the flock. The only way to get to the sheep was through him. He uses this metaphor to say that the only true way to experience what Psalm 23 was talking about and what God had planned for Israel as God’s chosen people, was through Him.
Importantly we see the result or fruit of being led by the Good Shepherd in that the sheep have life and have it to the full. Their needs for safety and provision are taken care of to the full. As you seek green pastures and still waters in your life, remember Jesus is Your Good Shepherd and He came to give you abundant life.
With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Isaiah 11:4
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. Titus 2:11
O God our help and hope, speak to and through us this day. Judgment and righteousness are yours. You offer salvation and grace and we thank you for these gifts. May we be faithful servants and friends. Amen.
Kaph
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
but I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise;
I say, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait?
When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me,
contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy;
help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your unfailing love preserve my life,
that I may obey the statutes of your mouth
Reflection: David again writes of his longing for God’s salvation and deliverance from his present trials. He says, “My soul faints longing for God’s salvation”. Salvation was a word for deliverance or victory over one’s enemies. In waiting on God, David takes solace and hope in God’s Word, which for him would have been the Torah or first five books of the bible. In the Torah are the promises for those who keep God’s Word. A key word in verse 88 is, “unfailing love”, which in the Hebrew is “hesed”. This is the same unfailing love promised in the Covenant to Abraham to bless Abraham and his descendants. It also comes to David in the royal covenant for his household that their kingdom will never end. It is often translated, “steadfast love”. In contrast to human love, it is not fickle and always stands by the one to whom the Promise is given. This is the same type of love that Jesus will come down on earth to show us. It is the same steadfast love that will choose to go to the cross to save us from our sins. Take a moment to praise God for His steadfast love which never fails.
2 Samuel 18:1-30
18 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.” 3 But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.” 4 The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders. 6 David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword. 9 Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. 10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.” 11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.” 12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.” 14 Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him. 16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes. 18 During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
David Mourns
19 Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.” 20 “You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off. 22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.” But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.” 23 He said, “Come what may, I want to run."
So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite. 24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer. 26 Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!” The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.” 27 The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.” 28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.” 29 The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.” 30 The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there. 31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.” 33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Reflection: Here we have the very sad ending to David’s son, Absalom. In arrogance he had set up a monument to himself to be remembered by, but instead it became the place of his grave. The men are not sure how his father David will react to the news. They are hoping that the military conquest and protection of Jerusalem as the temple of God will be enough for David to rejoice in the conquest. But David shows he is a father first, and mourns for his son with the penetrating words, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Only those who have lost a child can know the depth of the pain in David’s heart and soul. And here we have a “type” which represents God’s steadfast love for us in spite of our sinfulness. David had every reason to be mad at his son for what he had done and as he was planning to do to take the kingdom from his father. But in the end David shows us why he is called a “man after God’s own heart”, as he grieves for His son and what could have been.
In the New Testament, Jesus will reflect this on the cross when he says to his betrayers, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” This was David’s cry for the son that was lost and who went to his grave in disgrace hanging from a tree as he fled David’s troops, a sign of the Providence that had caught up with him and his rebellious ways. He was buried in the place of his disgrace, not with the honor he had wanted for himself.
In David’s heart for his son, we see God’s heart for every wayward son and daughter. Pray today for someone on your heart who is lost and pursuing a path similar to Absalom. Hopefully they can be like the Prodigal Son who came to His senses and returned home to the Father.
John 10:1-10
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Reflection: So as Jesus has now revealed that He is God in person in chapter 8, and then healed the blind man in chapter 9, as a sign of His divinity, he now uses the metaphor of the Good Shepherd and His Sheep to further reveal his role to the religious leaders. They are the false shepherds that Ezekiel prophesied about, and Jesus uses a metaphor that is well known in the agricultural society of the shepherd and the sheep pen. The shepherd knew the sheep by name, and they often had a whistle which when they blew all the sheep recognized. They would daily lead them out of the pen where they were protected from predators at night into the pastures by day, so they could graze in the verdant pastures and still waters.
Jesus further teaches that He is the Messiah that the prophets had foretold by saying that He is the gate for the sheep. Here we have the image of the Good Shepherd who often laid down at the gate of the pen to protect the entrance way to the flock. The only way to get to the sheep was through him. He uses this metaphor to say that the only true way to experience what Psalm 23 was talking about and what God had planned for Israel as God’s chosen people, was through Him.
Importantly we see the result or fruit of being led by the Good Shepherd in that the sheep have life and have it to the full. Their needs for safety and provision are taken care of to the full. As you seek green pastures and still waters in your life, remember Jesus is Your Good Shepherd and He came to give you abundant life.
With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Isaiah 11:4
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. Titus 2:11
O God our help and hope, speak to and through us this day. Judgment and righteousness are yours. You offer salvation and grace and we thank you for these gifts. May we be faithful servants and friends. Amen.
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