Tag Archives: David

Hookers, Lost Girls, and Cheaters Change the World

I’m reading Matthew 1 today.  It’s the genealogy of Jesus, which means it’s telling who his family line comes from.  For the most part, we tend to skip through these lists as fast as we can to get on to the good stuff.  Today, I caught a detail I hadn’t caught before.  Check this part out:

5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,

6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Alright, so here’s what caught me.  Salmon is a Jew.  He marries a girl named Rahab.  Rahab was a hooker from Jericho, who was not a Jew.  She was the one who hid the spies, helped them escape, and was saved from death because of it when the Jews took over Jericho.  If you need the story, go read Joshua 2, or you can watch the VeggieTales movie “Josh and the Big Wall”.  So, Rahab, this woman who should never be used by God to accomplish anything, decides to trust Him just the same, and ends up saving herself, her family, and helping the nation of Israel.  Somehow, a Jewish guy marries her.  That is amazing, but he does.  She ends up having a family.  In that family, they have a boy, named Boaz.

Boaz plays a huge role in a book of the Bible called “Ruth”.  It’s the story of another girl, not a Jew, who marries a Jewish boy.  He dies.  All the men in the house die for different reasons.  But she stays with her mother in law, and cares for her.  The mother in law, by the way, changes her own name to Mara, which means “bitter”.  So, Ruth staying with her is a HUGE act of compassion.  In the book, Ruth is eventually saved by a wealthy man named Boaz.  He’s Rahab’s son.  His mom was a hooker, redeemed and changed by God’s grace.  This has to play into why he would be willing to reach out and help Ruth.  It’s what his dad did.  It’s what he does.

Ruth and Boaz have a family together, and one of their boys in named Jesse.  Jesse grows up, gets married, and has boys.  Lots of them. The youngest one is a guy named David.  Yep, that David.  David and Goliath, King David, David and Bathsheba.  Yep, the one after God’s own heart.  David’s grandma is Ruth, and great grandma is Rahab.  It’s amazing how God chose to use these two women to change the world!

These two women were outside of the boundaries of who God should use.  They were not Jews, they were women who had little value in that day, one was a hooker, the other a “black widow” whose husband, and all the other males in the family, had died.  Rahab was untouchable, Ruth was lost.  Neither had hope, security, or a protector.  Yet, in both stories, God steps in, redeems them, uses them, and saves the world through them.

You see, if you go another 27 generations, you come to a guy named Joseph.  Joseph, following in the footsteps of Salmon and Boaz, is faced with a problem.  A woman in his life has messed up.  She’s pregnant, and it’s not his baby.  He should get rid of her, he could kill her, but instead, he marries her.  He takes her in, believes in her, and shows her grace while trusting that God is at work.  His son goes on to do a few great things.  And then his son dies for all of us, and comes back from the grave.

I’m overwhelmed at the power of grace extended.  Each of these people were changed by God’s grace, love, hope, and redemption flowing though someone to them.  It shaped them, re-figured them, set them on a forever new path.

I’m also struck by the power of family.  We must never doubt the influence we can have.  You have to believe that Joseph knew well the stories of Salmon and Rahab, and Boaz and Ruth.  They never knew Joseph was coming, but the decisions they made generations before helped Joseph obey, and he raised the One who would save the world.  The power of family, the power of parents, the power of grace is amazing!

Don’t doubt for a minute that God can, and is, using you.  You may never see it, or you may.  But either way, He is using you to shape and change history forever, all for His glory.  Be faithful today, and trust Him.  If Rahab, Ruth, Salmon, Boaz, Mary, and Joseph could trust Him, so can we.

The Power of the *

I was reading in 1 Kings 15 today, and it is talking about the different kings of Judah and Israel.  One of the kings, Asa, follows God, and the writer compares him to his great great grandfather David.  So, a couple of hundred years after David has died, he is still seen as the standard.  Here is what the verse says about David:

“5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life–except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” 1 Kings 15:5 (NIV)

David has an * on his record.  He kept all of the commands of God, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.  That was Bathsheba’s husband, the woman he had an affair with.  Uriah was the general in his army whom he had murdered.

So many times today, we have athletes with great records, but there is an * on their sheet, either for cheating, steroid use, or whatever else.

It’s the power of the *.

I really don’t want to have a record that is 99% great, but then have an * after it.  ”Jason did very well, and served God faithfully for decades, except for *”.  God is working on my to understand that the little habits, the  small sins that I coddle, the things that no one sees today, those are the things that lead up to the *.

What is yours?  Is there one?  Are you forming habits, and babying sins because they are “small”, that are going to lead to an * on your life one day?  Be ruthless.  Go after it all.  Because of God’s generous grace and forgiveness, we always have a second chance.  I want my life to leave behind a !, not an *.

What about you?


Whining, Teflon Shields, and Extreme Justice (new blog post)

David is having a tough time in Psalm 109.  People are attacking him and his character, and are lying about him.  Here is a part of what he says in that song:

“3 With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.”

I’ve had to read that one a few times this morning.  Does ol’ King David have A.D..D. or what?  He’s going on about how he is under attack, he’s acting rightly and they are being jerks, and then, out of nowhere, he throws in “…but I am a man of prayer.”

So?  What does that have to do with anything?  It’s so out of left field I’ve had to let it soak for a bit today.  What he’s saying is that he hates being under attack.  These people are destroying him with their words, and it hurts.  In the middle of all of this, he is a man of prayer.  It’s not a “giving up” kind of statement.  He’s not saying “They are attacking me, but I can’t fight back.  I would, but I’m a man of prayer.” (say it in a whiny voice for better effect.)  No, it’s not that.


He’s not saying that because he’s a man of prayer, that their words are powerless on him.  As you read the Psalm, it’s breaking him and making him angry.  Prayer isn’t some magical Teflon shield that protects you from other people.  He feels the hurt, the pain, the fear, the insecurity.  It’s not super protection.


He is a fighter, a warrior.  He is one of the greatest soldiers in the nation’s history.  He’s a mighty king, a veteran of battles.  That is why He prays.  He knows the only way to win this battle, to come back in this defeat, to recover from this severe pain, is to turn to the one strong enough to save him.  He is a man of prayer.  He’s saying, they are attacking, and are very good at what they are doing.  BUT, I am a man of prayer, and I will do what I am good at.  I will run to God.  That is my victory.  


If you look at the rest of the Psalm, that is exactly what He does.  He prays about the whole situation, and begs God to get involved.  He prays for evil people to come into his accusers lives and destroy them.  He prays for God’s justice.  He prays for God to move.  He prays.


In the end, He wins.  History shows David overcomes the people trying to tear him down.  He wins.


Because he prays.


Isn’t it too bad that whole “I am a man of prayer” thing doesn’t work today?  Yeah……too bad…..

Whatever You Do, Do NOT Dance Like David! (new blog post)

Sometimes we think God is very, very interested in what we are doing for Him.  It can easily become a subconscious idea that we need to make God happy.  We find that idea going on in 1 Chronicles 13.  David becomes king, and realizes they need to bring the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem so that they can use it for worship and prayer.  The Ark isn’t the one that Noah built, that was a huge boat.  This Ark is a box a few feet long that held the tablets the 10 Commandments were written on and the staff that Aaron used in Egypt to perform miracles.  It was a sacred box that represented God’s truth, God’s reign, and God’s power to the people.  It was very sacred and important.  God had told Moses and the people that if anyone touched it with their bare hands, then they would die.  They were supposed to carry it on poles, and only the priests could carry it.  They whole idea was for the people to understand that it wasn’t an idol, or something to worship.  It was a symbol of God’s love and power.  Respect God by respecting what He gave them.

So, David decides to bring the Ark to Jerusalem.  To use in prayer.  It was never used that way.  The priests prayed to God directly, not through a box.  But David wanted to use it that way.  So, they put it on a cart, and began hauling it to Jerusalem.  In the story, it talks about how hard David and his crew danced, sang, and celebrated.  It says “8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.”  Why?  I’ve heard it was because David loved God so much, that he was captured in worship, taken by his passion for Jehovah. 


I don’t think so.


When you read the whole story, the story is about how misguided David is.  He does everything wrong.  No priests are moving the ark, just people.  It’s on a cart, not on poles.  It’s being treated like an idol with power, not a symbol of the power of God.  So, when one of the ox stumbles, the cart tips, and the Ark begins to fall off (maybe that is part of God’s reason for having the priests carry it?).  One of the guys there puts his hand on it to catch it, and he dies.  No, God isn’t being petty or mean.  The whole crew is being disobedient and trying to manipulate God by what they are doing instead of listening to what He said to do.  It cost one guy his life, and David got scared and moved the Ark to someone else’s house.


We do the same thing.  We can easily believe that God is someone who we need to impress with how dedicated we are, or how passionate we are, or how smart we are, or how much we serve and give, or with how judgemental we can be, or with how forgiving we can be, or with how nice we can be.  If we are simply ______________ enough, then He will be happy with us.


Nope.


He loves us because of who He is.  Our worship services are symbols of Him, not idols to hold to tightly.  Our music, art, giving, laughter, love, and kindness all point back to how amazing He is, not how good we are.  


When we take anything of God’s, and try to control it our way, it will kill us.  Every time.


So, often we do what David did.  We get freaked out and run from God.  But catch the last part of this story:

“12 David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”13 He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.14 The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.”

David dumped this dangerous thing on Obed-Edom.  When David was convinced it was too much for him to handle, he ditched his guilt and responsibility on someone else. 

And God blessed them.


The Ark wasn’t the problem.  David’s heart was.


Your ministry isn’t the problem.
Your family isn’t the problem.
Your job isn’t the problem.
Your boyfriend / girlfriend / spouse isn’t the problem.
Your church isn’t the problem.


It’s in your, and my, heart.


The rest are just symbols.

Missing Your Wife’s Wedding Because You’re Dead

Nabal hated everything.  Nothing was good enough.  He wanted more money, stuff, power, and friends.  He was selfish, bitter, and very angry.  He was also an extremely good businessman, who was amazing at what he did, and everyone loved him to his face.

Then he died.

I wonder if he was so bitter because his mom named him Nabal?

Nabal was a guy in a small story in 1 Samuel 25.  He plays opposite of David, and is really just a footnote in the whole story.  He definitely isn’t the main character, David is.  Nabal’s wife Abigail plays a much larger part that Nabal himself does.  But he is fascinating just the same.  The Bible describes him as very, very rich.  He is the wealthiest guy in the whole area.  His wife is beautiful and smart.  He owns lots of land, and tons of stuff.  He’s got it all.

Only, his name means “fool”, and he lives up to his name.  David sends some men to ask him for help.  David and his crew of soldiers have been unofficially guarding Nabal’s shepherds and sheep for him for a while, and David asks for some help in the way of food.  Nabal has it, and could have been an amazing part of God’s story in David’s life.  Unfortunately, Nabal has lived a life where he can’t see past himself and his own wants, and he tells David to get lost.

So, David decides to kill him and all of his men.  He’s on his way to do it, when Nabal’s wife Abigail comes out to meet him with the food David asked for.  She averts her husband’s destruction, and goes back home.  Nabal is having a huge party, and is drunk.  The next day, when she tells him what she did, he gets so mad that he “becomes likes stone”.  He is so mad, he has a stroke.  Nabal dies a few days later.

Abigail marries David.

Nabal lies in the dirt, cold.

Wow.  That’s a tough story.  How often do we make the small decisions Nabal made, to be selfish, to worry about ourselves, our own stuff, what we want, and ignore what God is doing in front of us?  How many times has your or my selfishness caused us to miss an opportunity to be a part of God’s bigger story?  Nabal could have been a hero to David.  Instead, he died.

What decisions will you or I make today to step into God’s plans and let go of what we want instead?  It’s definitely better than the alternative.

Judgement, Death, Pain and Love for Others (new blog post)

I’m not sure what to make of God sometimes.  When I think I have Him kind of figured out, He shows me another side that I don’t understand.  For example, I’ve been reading in some of the Psalms today (7, 27, 31, 34, and 52).  They are songs David wrote about struggling with King Saul when the King was trying to kill him.  David is on the run, and has to leave everything and live in the woods and desert.

David prays that God will judge him if he is in the wrong, but he also prays that God will judge Saul if Saul is wrong.  King Saul has decided to ignore God and is living and ruling in his own way instead of God’s way, even though it was God who made him king.  David can’t stand it.  So he prays that God will judge Saul harshly, even with death, for how he is living. 

What gets me is it’s in the Bible, and in the story, God does just this thing.  Saul is judged for his actions, and dies.  David becomes king.  God blesses him.  He prays for his enemy to be judged, for God to hold him very accountable, for him to die.  What?  What about grace?  What about love your neighbor as yourself?

I think that is the key.  David does show love to Saul.  He himself will not kill Saul, even though he has several chances to do it.  It would have even been “legal” since he had been appointed the new king.  But he doesn’t.  He begs God to do it, so that he can be sure it’s just.  He wants justice, but David is willing to wait on God’s justice.  Not the other side of death/heaven/hell justice.  Justice here, in this lifetime, on earth.  He begs God to act.  But until God does act, David shows mercy and grace, even though he doesn’t feel it personally.  He obeys from faith rather than feelings.

That’s the part I don’t understand.  That’s the disconnect.  I’m willing to obey as long as I feel peace about it, as long as it’s the logical decision.  David obeys in spite of his personal feelings, in spite of what he sees in front of him, in spite of what is expected of him, in spite of what everyone else is telling him to do.  He trusts God at a level that I really want to get to. 

What about you?  What is it that God is calling you to trust Him on?  Who in your life needs justice, and you are waiting on God to act?  Will you trust Him?

He’s worth it.