One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Thursday, May 26th

Click Here to Listen to the Readings

Click Here to Listen to 2 Samuel 9:1-11:27

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

As we have seen so far, David is a man of his promises. He had made Jonathan a promise before he died, that he would take care of his family and all of his descendants. Mephibosheth was the only remaining son of Jonathan's that was known to have survived. David called for him and told him that he would take care of him, because of his promise to Jonathan, and his respect for King Saul. 

Mephibosheth was crippled, which is perhaps why he wasn't killed. David gave him all of the inheritance that would have been due his grandfather Saul, and father Jonathan. He also made sure he ate at the king's table and had servants of his own. 

David is a great example of one who did not retaliate against his enemies. He allowed God to bring divine retribution to Saul, rather David lifting a hand against God's anointed One. 

David Defeats the Ammonites

Again David intends to honor the promise he made to King Nahash of the Ammonites, who had died. When David sent his ambassadors to offer sympathy to his son, Hanun, Hanun convinced the Ammonites that David sent these men to spy out the land. Hanun shaved the men and sent them back home in order to bring shame upon them.  

When the men got back home, David was not pleased to say the least. When the people of Ammon figured out how mad David was, they hired out an army from the Arameans (modern day Syria). Joab and his brother Abishai were in charge of David's armies. Both the Ammonites and Arameans were outmatched by the superior Israeli Army. When the Arameans realized they were outmanned and outclassed by the Israelite Army, they surrended and became David's servants. No longer did the Arameans help the Ammonites anymore. 

David and Bathsheba

Now we come to the famous story of David and Bathsheba. David was at the height of his military success, his dynasty thriving and prosperous and no enemies caused a credible threat to their national security. So in the Spring when kings went to war, David stayed home. That might have been his first mistake. An idle mind is the "devil's playground".  

David was alone with not much to do, and he noticed a beautiful woman named Bathsheba bathing. It says she was of "unusual beauthy". She was as we would say, "a looker"! Since David had power, he sent someone over to get her and she probably had no choice but to come make a visit to the King. Sure enough David slept with her and sure enough she became pregnant. Now what was David going to do?

Instead of doing the honorable thing and admitting his sin, he tried to cover it up. His plan was to try and get Uriah to come home and sleep with Bathsheba so he could pin the pregnancy on him. But Uriah was too loyal of a soldier and would not come home. David tried everything even getting him drunk, but Uriah would not go home and sleep with his wife when his soldiers were out on the battlefield. 

Now David got anxious. None of his plans to cover up his sin had worked. He had one option left. Send Uriah back into the battle, and put him in the front of the battle lines uncovered with no one protecting him. David instructed Joab his loyal commander to execute the plan and sure enough Uriah was killed at the front of the battle lines. 

Though David thought he had eliminated his problem and covered up his sin, he would soon find out this was not the case. You can't fool the Lord! 

Click Here to Read John 15:1-27

Chapter 15 is probably the most important chapter in the New Testament when it comes to how we bear fruit as a follower of Jesus. Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and its branches to characterize what it means for us to stay connected to him and bear fruit. Jesus gives us a couple of principles we would do well to remember.

1. The only way we can bear fruit is by being connected to Jesus. If we (the branches) are disconnected from the Vine (Jesus) we will wither and die. Put it another way, "Apart from Jesus we can do nothing." Humbling but true. 

2. When we stay connected to Jesus and start bearing fruit, the Father prunes us so we can bear even more fruit. God prunes things out of our lives that keep us from being effective. I.e. Bad habits. 

3. Staying connected to Jesus is connected to our prayer life. When we are abiding in the Vine by remaining in Jesus, our prayers are answered because they are coming from Jesus through us. 

4. As we produce fruit in union with Jesus, we give him glory and show the world we are his disciples. If we don't bear fruit we are not really good for anything. John says these fruitless branches are cut off and thrown into the fire for judgment. 

5. John goes on to explain what a fruit bearing looks like. The fruit that is produced in us is the fruit of love. As we sing, "They will know we are Christians by our love!' Jesus says, "There is no greater love than this to lay down one's life for one's friends." 

Of course Jesus is our supreme example of sacrificial love. Though there are many ways we bear fruit as Jesus' disciples, the primary way we do this is by loving others the way Jesus loves us unconditionally. 

6. Finally, Jesus says something else which is very important for the way we look at our relationship with Him. He says, "You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit, fruit that will last." John 15:16

A lot of times we talk about making a decision for Christ, but Jesus made a decision for us before we could even think about making him a decision for us. If you are a believer in Jesus, it is not because of ANYTHING you have done. Jesus called you and filled you with His Spirit to do the things he commanded us to do. As we stay connected to the Vine through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will live a fruitful and fulfilling life. What we do with Jesus on this earth will last forever!  That's pretty cool!