David – Light from the Word

But As for Me

It is, in many ways, easier to follow the crowd than to stand alone, under the scrutiny of the majority, because we are all connected; we are social beings. It is natural for us to copy each other’s behavior, follow the trend, life styles, the way we dress, even the way we speak. We are copy-cats in many aspects of life, learning from each other, as in, “Monkey see, monkey do.” However, there will be times when exercising our faith, we must separate ourselves from the crowd to follow the Word of God. In Romans 12:1-2 “Paul appeals to them saying, Therefore, brethren, I beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service and spiritual worship; do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect.” The Lord spoke to the prophet Isaiah with His strong hand and warned and instructed him not to walk in the way of the people saying, “Do not call conspiracy all that this people will call conspiracy; neither be in fear of what they fear nor in dread. The Lord of hosts- regard Him as holy and honor His holy name, and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread and He shall be a sanctuary; but He shall be a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 8:11-14).

God’s instructions and guidelines continue for us today. Life is without meaning, and without success when God is out of the equation. The phrase, “But as for me,” denotes a personal commitment, based on knowledge of Scripture coupled with the desire to follow God’s instructions. It is also based on the love we have for Him, as we have died for the world and live for Him. While the report from the spies who were sent to explore Canaan was discouraging to the congregation, Joshua’s report and Caleb’s report had a different view. They had made a choice not to support what they had heard, but stood firmly to change the congregation’s view, saying, “The land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey, only do to rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow are removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not.” (Num. 14:77-9)

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Mount Moriah, A Holy Site

“After these events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you…On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, and he said to his servants, Settle down and stay here with the donkey, and I and he young man will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire in his own hand and a knife; and the two of them went on together. And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And said, See here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham said, My son, God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. So, the two went on together.” (Gen. 22:1-2,4-8)

Let’s assume that it was almost dawn when Abraham arrived at the place God ordained him to go. Before him, everything stood clearly. It was as if Abraham was living in the future although, he did not perceive the spiritual meaning of what he was seeing. The place, yes, the place, most definitively was where Adam and Eve stood before the Lord listening to their fate as a consequence of their rebellion against Him, but again, that place was also where God promised them a Redeemer. Many years later, Abraham stood in that place, as he called, “The Lord will provide” with certainty of those words. These were prophetic words the Lord was speaking through Abraham, confirming His promise to Adam many years past. Now, Isaac needed to hear them. His life was at the point of being sacrificed in that mount called, the Mount of the Lord. Even though tied to the altar, Isaac still believed the words, “The Lord will provide a lamb for the sacrifice” on this mount. Abraham and Isaac could only understand what was happening in their tangible way, but not in the spiritual realm. They could not perceive that in that place, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit were standing alongside with them, agreeing that was to be the place His Son was to be sacrificed. Redemption was going to take place where our parents sinned, for it needed washing with the redemptive blood of the Lamb of God; the only blood free from stains of sin; the only blood with the washing power. In fact, in the course of God’s timing, His Son came and was crucified in that place for all to see. And like Abraham and Isaac, people of that time, saw many things that were happening, but they did not perceive their meaning; they did not perceive the anguish of God’s Son in His cry, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? was their cry in hell, because they had rejected the Son of God; they did not know that YAHSHUA was suffering their pain of hell, where the presence of God was completely void. No, they did not, instead, they offered Him vinegar to drink to ease His pain. They did not perceive that the earthquake they felt was the earth responding to the touch of YAHSHUA’S blood when it was shed upon it; that Nature trembled at the touch of the Creator’s blood. Yes, nature did, but men did not.

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Our Ways Are Not God’s Ways – God’s Thoughts Are Not Our Thoughts

(Isaiah 55: 8- 11)

Abraham was seventy-five years old when God called him to leave his country, relatives and his father’s house to a land He was going to show him. He promised to make a great nation from him and bless him with riches. Seventy-five in those days was still a young age, relatively speaking, for his father had died at the age of 205. He had no children at that time, for his wife was barren. When the Lord appeared to Abraham in a vision a second time, he said to the Lord God, What can You give me, since I am going on childless and he who shall be the owner and heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Look, You have given me no child; and born in my house is my heir. Abraham in his human nature is puzzled, not understanding God’s time line for the fulfillment of His promise. Sixteen years later, God came to Abraham again and this time he made a covenant between Him and Abraham. This covenant was that Abraham shall be the father of many nations; he probably wondered when, since sixteen years had passed since God had called him out of his land to a new land He was going to give him but his wife still was barren.

When God came to Abraham the last time before his wife conceived, he was at the age one hundred and his wife at ninety years old. God’s promise of a son became a matter of laughter to both of them. But God assured them that time that He was going surely to return to them when the season had come round, and behold, Sarah his wife was going to have a son. The reality to them was that they were now old, well advanced in years; it had ceased to be with Sarah as with women. Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I have become aged shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord being old? The Lord saw and heard Sarah and said, Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son (Gen.17,18:10-14). God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not His ways!

The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised (Gen. 21:1). Abraham was one hundred and Sarah ninety years old; but what is it to the Lord, since He is the Creator of life, and He is not in a frame of human time? He opened the womb of Sarah and what seemed impossible to them and their family, and a matter of laughter, became an expression of God’s power and faithfulness, for there is nothing hard for Him. His thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not His ways. He could have called someone younger according to our thoughts and reasoning; or He could have given Abraham a son earlier, but how would they have known the depth of God’s power and wisdom in the fulfilling of His promise to them? In our weakness God’s strength is manifested. Abraham had to go through a few experiences in life before he would see the reality of the promises. First he had to believe in the only true God, since he had come from a family of idol worshippers; second, he had to have faith to take the first step in obedience to God. Faith and obedience were then credited to him, for doing the impossible as far as to obey God in sacrificing his only son as God had asked of him to do. He had waited for that son twenty-five years. Now the Lord wanted to take him back. The depth of his faith went beyond the visible reality; in his faith he obeyed, believing God was going to give him his son back after he had killed him, as we read in Hebrews 11:17-18: By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received all welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom it was said, through Isaac shall your descendant be reckoned, for he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead, he did receive him back from the dead. “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not God’s ways”!

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The Everlasting Covenant (part 1)

Covenant, in its secular demand, binds and establishes a relationship between two parties. However, God’s covenant establishes a relationship with men through his obedience. His covenant is not bilateral, but unilateral. For He is the One Who initiated, and He is the One Who determines the principles of it. Men are subjected to His commands in order to be recipients of the blessings He offers through His covenant. When God covenanted with Adam, He instructed him not to eat of the certain fruit from the garden. To maintain the relationship with God Adam had to obey God’s covenant’s instruction. When Adam failed what the covenant demanded, he died spiritually, as God told him he would. However, right then, God’s covenant went as far as to promise a Savior to restore the human race into covenant with Him through His Son. Speaking to Satan, He said, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread you under underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel (Gen. 3: 15). God’s covenant was never annulled in spite of Adam’s disobedience, for He in His mercy, provided a way for the covenant relationship to exist between Him and men through the death of His Son.

God covenanted with Noah when He told Him to build an ark. He followed God’s orders and God promised him to establish His covenant (promise, pledge) of salvation with him when His wrath would pour over the entire earth. Noah and his family were delivered in the shelter of the ark God told him to make when he entered into the covenant relationship with God in obedience to the demand of the covenant (Gen. 6). God’s covenant with Abraham was a covenant of promise which was to continue through Abraham’s generation, that is, through his son Isaac, the son of the promise. For the covenant of promise to have affected, or to have bound to him, Abraham was to act in faith and in obedience. Abraham showed faithfulness to God’s covenant, when he satisfied the demand of the covenant in the sacrifice of his son, as he was told, believing that God would raise him from the dead, to fulfill His covenantal promise. Abraham found favor with God and the confirmation of the promise was then literate in God’s own words, I have sworn by Myself, that since you have done this and have not withheld or begrudged your son, your only son, in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying, I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed YAHSHUA will possess the gate of His enemies. And in your Seed (YAHSHUA) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed My voice (Gen. 22). We are recipients of this blessing because Abraham obeyed the demands of God’s covenant. Abraham’s blessings have a prophetic perspective, embracing the entire world.

In Exodus 19 we see God covenanting with Israel, a nation which He created to covenant with Him and thus bless it. When Israel arrived at the wilderness of Sinai, God appeared to them. Moses, as their mediator, received the instructions before they were to appear before God. God, then covenanted with Israel by saying, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among the above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord (vs. 3-8). There, the Lord gave the nation of Israel the Ten Commandments- the written covenant. Israel came to a mountain that was ablaze with fire and to gloom and darkness and a raging storm, with a blast of a trumpet and a voice whose words make the listeners beg that nothing more be said to them for they could not bear the command that was given; if even a wild animal touches the mountain it shall be stoned to death. In fact, so awful and terrifying was the sight that Moses s aid, I am terrified (Heb. 12:19-21). That was Israel’s experience when God covenanted with them.

The covenant God made with King David is a covenant comprised of promises. He covenanted with David by saying, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over My people Israel. I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like [that] of the great men of the earth. (II Sam. 7: 8-9). David’s subjected himself to the covenant saying, what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God. Because of Your promise and as Your own heart dictates, You have done all these astounding things to make Your servants know and understand. Therefore, You are great, O Lord God; for none is like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all [You have made] our ears to hear… You have established for Yourself Your people Israel to be Your people forever, and You, Lord, became their God (II Sa. 7: 21-22,24).
Until YAHSHUA’S coming to earth, the nation of Israel was under the covenant of the law. But YAHSHUA came to fulfill it, since there was no one who could perfectly and accordingly to God’s demand, fulfill it. He came while the old covenant was in effect, and not only fulfilled the old covenant, but brought the new covenant with Him. This new covenant was predicted by Moses, Jeremiah, and Ez ekiel. (Deut. 29:4; Jer. 31:33; Ezekiel 36: 26-27). YAHSHUA was the mediator of the new covenant. His death carries the fulfillment and the basis of His promise. Before His death, He established the new covenant with those with Him and with those who would believe in Him: He took the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:20). With His death, YAHSHUA made the first covenant obsolete. He did not abolish the law, but he fulfilled the law and taught us to observe the summary of the Law: love God with all our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves. That is the summary of the entire law because where there is love, there is no stealing, adultery, murder, coveting, etc. The old covenant was then replaced by the new: For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one (Heb. 8:7).

YAHSHUA established the new covenant while He was shedding His blood when being beaten, when a crown of thorns was put on His head and when on the cross. As a Mediator, He connected us to God in the covenant of blood. His demands in His covenant are that we dwell in Him, bear fruit, abide in His love, keep His commandments, obey His instructions, and His principal commandment: love God, love one another, just as He loved us (John 15). The old covenant was written on a stone, but the new one was written in our hearts with the blood of YAHSHUA. The Prophet Jeremiah prophesized concerning this new covenant many years before the coming of YAHSHUA to establish it. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God and they will be My people (Jer. 31:31-33).

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For Every Victory, a Psalm

When we read the book of psalms, we can easily associate with the psalmists in every aspect of their sorrows. The book of psalms is the psalmists open heart to God; in sincerity of their cries, they confine all their troubles in the form of prayers, reaching out to the One Who can comfort and provide the balm for their hurts. David, the writer of seventy-three psalms, was a warrior; a hero, a courageous man, when confronting his enemies. His life was completed with battles. He fought even a bear and a lion to protect his sheep, and killed both of them. With five small stones and a sling, he killed a mighty giant, who came to fight with Israel. He was just a young lad at that time, but that did not stop him from going forwardly to confront the giant armored for war, while the nation of Israel panicked at his intimidation. But David, however, not once fainted at the looks of that Palestinian giant. Victory was certain in his mind, for his faith, the anointing of the Lord, and his zeal for God lead him to success. He wrote Psalm nine after victory over Goliath. In verses 3-5 he says, When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before You, for You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging righteously, You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their names forever and ever; sing praises to Zion to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare among the peoples His doings! Vs. eleven. He proclaimed and celebrated his victory by giving God the glory. In Psalm 144:1-2 he says, Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my keen and firm Strength, Who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight; My Steadfast Love and my Fortress, my High Tower and my Deliverer, my Shield and He in Whom I trust and take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. King David’s heart was always filled with praises to the Lord, acknowledging His faithfulness, mercy and loving-kindness. He fought the Ammonites, the Philistines and Syrians and was victorious. He wrote Psalms 20 and 21 celebrating his victories saying, Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God; they are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. O Lord, give victory; let the King answer when we call (Ps. 20:6-9); The king shall joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! He asked life of You, and You gave it to him-long life forever and ever more; for the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy and steadfast love of the Most High he will never be moved. Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power (Ps. 21:1,4,7,13). David, the anointed of the Lord, was a powerful warrior; but he gave God the credit and praised Him for all his victories.

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Oh, That I Had Wings Like a Dove

Listen to my prayer, O God

Hide not Yourself from my supplication

Attend to me and answer me

I am restless and distraught at the noise of the enemy

My heart is grievously pained within me

And the terror of death has fallen upon me

Fear and trembling have come upon me;

Horror and fright have overwhelmed me.

(Ps. 55: 1-5)

A prayer in the form of a psalm from the depth of the of David’s heart, speaks to us and comforts us in some way, knowing that we too can go to the heavenly Father with all our cares and troubles. This psalm is an expression of what David was going through in that time of his life. This shepherd boy, who killed a bear and a lion to save his sheep, finds himself in a crossroads where no help was in sight, only faith and a prayer to deliver him from the rebellion of his son, Absalom and the betrayal of his close friend, Ahithophel and many of his servants. (II Sam. 15-18). Betrayal is like cancer; it eats up the emotion and robs the peace from within. It takes a while for the results to fade away, and meanwhile, the soul is tormented with bitterness. In writing this psalm, David did not express forgiveness, but asked for God to avenge those who had offended him. We can taste his hurt feelings in verses 12-15: For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me- then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me- then I might hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend; we had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company. (Psalm 55:12-14). The memory of his past friendship with Ahithophel was like the taste of bitter herb going down to the stomach. That was a heavy burden on the soul. David and his family had to flee from his son, who tried to take the kingdom from him by stealing the hearts of the men of Israel. His rebellion was also a betrayal and vengeance.

David’s prayer was of urgent timing. His supplication came to God in restlessness of his heart, in grievous pain. Desiring peace, David wanted to fly away from all his troubles. He said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest (Vs. 6-9). A temporary relieve, was David’s desire to have. A place where he would not hear the noises of confusion and anger against him. He just wished wings of a dove, a symbol of freedom. However, a physical presence elsewhere would not accomplish much in the way of inner peace; but a calm and undisturbed mind and heart. Circumstances we face in our everyday life can lead us either to peace or disturbances of the mind. The secret of consistency in achieving victory through it all however, is not in our self, but in the trust and faith in God, our Provider, our Shelter and refuge in our troubles. David well knew it, as he expressed it in several of his psalms. But it was necessary for him to express his inner feeling of fear and uncertainty in face of his circumstances, for they were of great proportion, beyond his ability to cope alone.

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Confidence That Demands Assurance

(I John 5:14-17)

Confidence is the anchor that leads one to success. The winds of life will not overcome it, because it is based not on the tangible, but on the assurance of one’s belief. Confidence is a result of faith, believing in the unseen, when many cannot see. Confidence demands assurance to sustain it; they walk hand in hand; One cannot be confident without being sure. Paul assured the Philippians His confidence on God’s ability to finish the work He started in them, saying: I am confident of this very thing- that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Messiah YAHSHUA (Phil. 1:6). When God saves the sinner, He starts the work of sanctification, a process before glorification. Confident on God’s work, we Christians are sure in the midst of our trials, that He is performing the work of sanctification, for the Bible tells us that He has given us the Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind (II Tim. 1:7b). Paul, in his assurance of faith, suffered much persecution, confidently of God’s plan for his life. Writing to Timothy, he said, for this [Gospel] I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the gentile. And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still, I am not ashamed, for I know Him Whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day (II Tim. 1:11-12). For the believer to have spiritual confidence in the promises of God, and assurance of His love, he must know Him through a relationship with Him.

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Facing the Giants

(Deut. 9:1-6; I Samuel 17: 45-50)

To take possession of the Promised Land, Israel had to destroy the giants of the land. The Lord warned them that they were great and tall, they were the sons of Anakim, of whom they had heard, Who can stand before the sons of Anak (Deut. 9:2). When Moses sent spies from every tribe to spy the land they came with a frightening report: There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (Num. 13:33). In the days of Joshua, he cut off the Anakim from the hill country; from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and the hill country of Israel. Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. None of the Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did some remain (Josh. 11:21-22).

In the days of David, the Philistines came to fight with Israel with their giant, Goliath of Gath. This giant stood almost ten feet tall. His heavy armor was even more impressive and intimidating. Israel’s army was dismayed and very afraid of him. Israel came to battle in their strength; all they saw was the giant before them. They forgot what God had done in the past, but there was someone who had the faith and the courage to face this giant. The mountain Israel perceived to be was just a mole hill to David. In fact all he needed was a stone and a sling and bam, the giant was done and gone!

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In the Wilderness of Temptation

No nation has ever experienced the physical wilderness as the nation of Israel. Theirs were the trials, the thirst, the hunger for meat, for the onions and other things Egypt offered. To them were given forty years wandering through the desert for the purpose of being formed as a nation under God Himself. Many died; a large number of them; they did not make it through the wilderness to their destination, because they fell to temptation, while their hearts became hardened as they were tested. The signs and wonders they witnessed when God provided for their needs did not serve as a guide to exercise faith in Him. So their journey became a wilderness of temptation in every aspect: physical, emotional and spiritual. That constituted an open door to fail in every time a need arrived. Without waiting for God to provide for their needs, as He promised He was going to, they murmured and complained, even when manna- food from heaven was given them. They longed the world’s food instead. In Psalm 95 the Psalmist remembers those days with a warning: Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tried My patience and tested Me proved Me and saw His work. Forty years long was I grieved and was disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge or regard My ways. Therefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest (95: 8-11), and again in Hebrews 3: 7-11.

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For the Sake of the Holy Seed (Part 2)

(Luke 1:26-38)

From the beginning of times, Satan tried to destroy YAHWEH’S plan to bring about His purpose of redemption for humankind. It started with Cain who killed his righteous brother out of anger and resentment. But YAHWEH gave Adam and Eve a third son who carried the righteous lineage and from his descendants, Noah was born ten generations later. From the family of Shem, one of Noah’s son, Abraham was born. The gap between Noah to Abraham was also ten generations. Here is the summary of Abraham’s lineage:

1. Noah – name means: Comfort or Rest

2. Shem – meaning: Renown; prosperity

3. Arphaxad – meaning: A healer; a releaser

4. Shelah – meaning: Sent Out, Branch or Javelin

5. Eber – meaning: To pass over, through, take away

6. Peleg – name means: Division

7. Reu – name means: Friend

8. Nahor – the name means: Breathing Hard

9. Terah – name means: Spirit, Spirited or Inspired

10. Abram – a high father – later to be called Abraham – father of multitude

(bibleview.org/en/bible/genesis/400years)

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