Text: “Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him” (1 Chronicles 19:13).
Context, Context, Context: David was king in Israel. He was God’s man. God was blessing David as prince over the people. But when things are going well, be assured that the Devil is scheming. The enemy hates righteousness and righteous rulers. The enemy and those in his army are possessed by a spirit of jealousy and resentment. As such, they plot to thwart righteousness and scheme to make everything about them instead of about God. That demographic is played her by the Ammonites.
The Ammonites’ Evil Act: “So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; and the they departed” (1 Chronicles 19:4). The Ammonites humiliated some of David’s men.
Teaching: But David’s army was built with God’s men and that makes all the difference. It’s character that counts. Joab was one such man in David’s army. And his response? “Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him” (1 Chronicles 19:13).
Encouragement: Joab was a man of honor, character, and courage. That combination is a winner. Satan’s minions, take notice.
Text: “And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart” (1 Chronicles 15:29).
This is one of those lines that strikes Christians like a slap. Why? I think it’s because of the stark contrast between the genuine and the fake. Michal, David’s estranged wife (and wicked King Saul’s daughter, by the way) resents David at this time. David’s star is on the rise. It is more accurate to say that David was part of putting God back at the center of the kingdom. David was, after all, God’s man.
Question: Have you ever noticed that some people keep their focus on other people, with an eye to being critical, while others keep their focus on God?
Teaching: David loved the Lord. He loved seeing God at the center. He was biblically theocentric and theocratic. But he was often surrounded by people who had their eyes on power. There’s a lot of theological spiritual warfare occurring, in other words, and Christians need to discern the times and know what God’s people are to do.
Encouragement: There’s a great deal of wisdom in keeping short accounts with God. Believers should resist the temptation to cast judgmental eyes upon others and focus instead upon God and their walk with the Lord. God sees, dear ones; rest assured in that truth.
Character Study: Many people may have some familiarity with King David from the Old Testament. He was the man after God’s own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14 reads this way: “But now your kingdom [wicked King Saul’s] shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man [David] after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to prince over his people, because you [wicked King Saul] have not kept what the LORD commanded you.
The New Testament, too, refers to David as a man after God’s own heart: “And when he had removed him [wicked King Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, “I have found in David the son of Jese a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’” (Acts 13:22)
In sum, then, David was God’s man.
Question: But ask the question again, What sets a godly leader apart? Focus with me upon 1 Chronicles 12. It’s a passage about David’s soldiers, his “mighty men.”
Text: 16 And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.17 David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.” 18 Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said,
“We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you.”
Then David received them and made them officers of his troops. (1 Chronicles 12:16-18)
Teaching: First, notice how David “went out” to his men. That is, he was a servant-leader. He didn’t expect to be pampered. He was amidst the people, not hanging back. Second, he sought friendship with people of character. He discerned between godly and ungodly soldiers and friends. He didn’t knowingly truck with wicked men. Third, David trusted the Lord’s omniscience and sovereignty to vindicate him. In other words, David trusted God. Again, three things set David apart as a godly leader:
David led by serving
David distinguished noble from ignoble men
David trusted God’s sovereignty
Encouragement: There are countless leadership lessons to be gleaned from studying Saul and David as types of leaders. Saul was self-absorbed, self-centered, narcissistic, and insecure. He trusted no one. And he ended up taking his own life. David, on the other hand, was a servant-leader. He worked hard. He “went out” to his men; that is, he didn’t put himself above them. Rather, he led by example. And David cultivated the right leaders. And David truly was God’s man. He was by no means a perfect man, but his heart was a heart for God. When it comes to leadership, these characteristics set him apart, and redound to God’s work in him, and the lessons are for us, too, whether we’re soldiers, veterans, or civilians.
Text: “So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse” (1 Chronicles 10:13-14).
Context, Context, Context: Wicked King Saul had been a disaster. The Bible teaches that he was an unbeliever. He was a false king to the true God. He was enamored with himself. He did not care for the people. He was so bad, in fact, that Scripture records that Saul’s suicide was brought about by the Lord as a judgment for Saul’s depravity. That’s what the two verses above are all about. Saul had breached faith. He had broken faith with the Lord. He did not keep the command of the Lord. He consulted a medium/spiritist. The list is long when it comes to Saul’s depravity.
Teaching: In the New Testament, we are told why we are given the histories like this. They are for our instruction so that we will learn from them. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
Encouragement: God has covenanted to bring about the king of his choosing. In the immediate context, that was going to be “David the son of Jesse” (1 Chronicles 10:14). Ultimately, however, it was and is Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16).
Questions: What comes to mind when you hear the word prophet? One who predicts future events? Bravery? Truth-teller? Forth-teller?
In Scripture, all of those attributes are true. Think of Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John the Baptist, as just some examples. Each man was used by God to tell the truth forthrightly; each man was brave; each man did speak of future events that would and did take place, etc.
Now think of the text below from 2 Kings:
10They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. (2 Kings 17:10-18)
Teaching: Israel once again fell into idolatry and apostasy. They failed to believe God and follow his revealed covenantal promises. They sinned, and they grew increasingly callous. They sacrificed their children by burning them atop idols. The list is long of their abominations. And yet, God sent his servants the prophets. And what was their duty? To call the people back to God, to holiness, to restoration.
Encouragement: As I’ve said countless times to our people, “Soft preaching makes hard people; hard preaching makes soft people.” That is undisputable. If you tickle ears and pimp people sentimentally, you’re a hireling and coward. God hates such shenanigans. God calls his servants the prophets to tell the truth, to serve the Lord, to fear God and love the sheep of his pasture. The fear of man is a snare. If we’re God’s shepherds, we’re to fear the Lord and serve the Lord. And that baseline will shape the trajectory of our ministries because that’s the solemn office to which some of us are called. The crux comes in having people with enough discernment to distinguish between hirelings out for their own fame and fortune and the true men of God who are laboring to please the Lord Jesus and to serve his bride, the true church.
Text: “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion” (Proverbs 18:2).
Context, Context, Context: Proverbs is a book of wisdom for daily life. Penned mostly by Solomon, it is chock-full of aphorisms. It has one overarching goal: obedience to God’s wisdom.
Questions: Ever known folks who talk more than they listen? Ever noticed how some folks long to be viewed as smart but they often just come across as smart alecks?
Mark Twain wrote, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Encouragement: Scripture says a great deal about those who teach. James wrote, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). None of us who teaches Scripture escapes divine evaluation. We are told up front in Scripture that we are held to a higher standard. Solomon wrote another book of wisdom entitled Ecclesiastes in which he penned the following: “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). The tongue is a fire, Scripture teaches. It is often set on fire by hell (James 3:6). Ergo, let the wisest among us know when to use it and when to refrain from using it.
After officiating another military funeral honors today, I drove home, got out of my uniform, changed into casual clothes, grabbed a water bottle, laced up my hiking boots and took to the woods. The temps were in the 40s, the sky was cerulean, the wind cool and steady, and the sun constant. It was all perfect for a few miles in the hills. Below are some pictures and videos of today’s food for my soul. I hope you enjoy, too.
Benison fell like leaves. Blithe are the miles spent under these tall timbers when I pause and take a sip of water and gaze at the empyrean and sense my soul crescent to these realms of beauty, stilly under March skies.
As a chaplain, I have a duty to minister to those affected by it. It’s not an enjoyable part of my vocation as a minister of the gospel. However, it comes with the territory.
I love what I do, however. I think it’s because I’m called irrevocably by God to shepherd. And shepherding can be pretty dark at times. The valley of the shadow of death is just that–a valley.
Regardless of the means, suicide is dark. I would think I’m not that different from any other person. I have known profound sorrow, profound loss, profound isolation, etc. We’ve all had “those days” where all seemed lost.
But to get to a place where ending one’s life by my own hands, well, I just have not crossed that threshold. But others have. I am not here to judge others’ pain. I am here to try, like my fellow Christian ministers, to help–to come alongside others. I aim to do that by showing up in time.
Recently I had a close friend who is also a military chaplain. He is on the front lines with this latest suicide. He is having to try and minister to the family and friends of the fallen. He is ministering to fellow soldiers.
But what does one say? Oftentimes, it’s what we don’t say; it’s simply that we are there–to sit, pray, come alongside, grieve, weep, hold hands, weep some more, and say, perhaps at the right time, “I’m here now. And I’m here tomorrow, too.”
There are so many ‘reasons’ victims often articulate before they end their lives–loss of a relationship, loss of standing, loss of money, loss of a job, loss of a friend, loss of purpose, loss of connection, loss of belief in goodness, etc. Loss, loss, loss. The list could go on.
But labels don’t return the person to us or to their loved ones. The person is still gone. At least, he’s gone from us. For now.
There’s something in us that longs for explanation. We want to know why. The reality is that sometimes people get to places in life where they believe no life is preferable to their current life. That is tragedy in its most profound sense.
I do not purport to have any answers that other much wiser people have not articulated time and time again. But I do aim to just share this: if you’re in that valley, I (and others) are here. We do care and we will come alongside you and labor to show you demonstrably that all is not lost. That is not psychlogical mumbo-jumbo or bubble gum bromide; it is true.
For my fellow chaplains and Christian ministers, I appreciate you. You, too, are carrying a lot of invisible weight in your spiritual ruck, and it gets heavy. Press on, brothers. The Lord has you in these lives to live as salt and light. Let’s work hard in service to the truth, trusting that the Lord knows our labors, that they’re not in vain, and that God can and does use darkness to bring forth light.
Let us live our creed–to nurture the living; care for the wounded; and honor the fallen.
Text: When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” 10 And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. (2 Kings 2:9-12)
Many folks would be familiar with the film version Chariots of Fire about Eric Liddell, the runner and Scottish Christian missionary, but fewer perhaps are familiar with Scripture’s historical account of Elijah and Elisha, two prophets of God in the Old Testament.
Context, Context, Context: Elisha was the younger of the two prophets. Elisha looked up to Elijah and longed to emulate him vis-à-vis service for the Lord. Elijah had been used by God in the utter humiliation of idolatrous Baal worship at Mount Carmel earlier (1 Kings 18). Elisha longed for moments like that, too, where God would utterly humiliate false religion in all its forms. Elisha asked his mentor Elijah, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me” (2 Kings 2:9b). But what’s so interesting is the lesson God was teaching Elisha. It was the lesson of believing God’s word. Why do I say that? Because the conversation between the two men was still going on when chariots of fire and horses of fire appeared, separated the two prophets, and the senior prophet Elijah was removed to heaven via a whirlwind.
Let that sink in from Elisha’s perspective: the man you’ve been looking to, learning from, emulating, and from whom you’ve gained wisdom has been removed from your sight. What now? And here it is: believing God’s word, God’s covenantal promise, even when the visual has been removed for a time.
Connection: Don’t you remember Acts 1? The resurrection of Christ has occurred. He had appeared to hundreds of people. He had eaten with them. He had spoken with them. Then in v. 8 of Acts 1, when the disciples are peppering Jesus with questions about the timeline and calendar of events, Jesus teaches them: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And in v. 9, “a cloud took him out of their sight.” The same pattern, you see. Just as Elisha was looking to Elijah, the disciples were looking to Jesus. That’s all well and good and wise.
The hard part, however, comes when the visible leader is removed. What do the troops do then? That’s when you find out if you’ve taught them well. Can they function in your absence? If so, how well and/or how poorly?
Encouragement: Elijah’s removal from Elisha’s sight was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection and his commissioning Christians to press on and go out with the gospel. That’s why the ‘Great Commission,’ as it’s called in church history, has that label. Christians are commissioned as officers to go out and expand the King’s kingdom by proclaiming the good news of what Christ has accomplished via his birth, life, death, crucifixion, and resurrection, and of his bride, the true church. But it entails walking by faith in the covenant promises of God. Elijah knew it. Elisha was learning it. As were the disciples then. As are disciples now. The same pattern, you see. Trust the Lord and his revealed words.
Text: “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly” (1 Peter 2:19).
Context, Context, Context: Peter, the apostle of hope, was writing to Christians who were dispersed across what is much of modern-day Turkey and, by extension, to Christians throughout church history.
Peter wrote this letter during the mid 60s A.D., just thirty years or so after Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the Jerusalem tomb.
Question: Why did Peter write this letter? In short, he wrote to encourage them to stand strong amidst some level of persecution because suffering is part of the human condition. To live means, to some degree, the embrace of suffering.
But what about unjust suffering? Good question. Let us think of the Lord Jesus Christ for a moment:
Do we have grief and troubles? So did Christ. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me. (Matthew 26:38).
Do our bodies suffer? So did Christ in his bodily form. And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. (Matthew 27:30)
Are we mocked and slandered? So was Christ. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:31).
Encouragement: The Lord Jesus suffered all of this and more. But he endured the cross so Christians wouldn’t. He became the curse for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) so that we who repent and believe upon him would be reckoned righteous in the eyes of holy God. That’s the great exchange, you see? Our rags are replaced by his robes. My sins but his saving effectual grace. My disobedience forgiven because of his obedience, even unto death upon the tree. We press on because our savior pressed on, even as the Roman nails pierced the flesh and spikes crushed the bones and the spear opened his side. But three days later, oh yes, three days later, God again demonstrated the schemes of hell are but part of God’s plan to thwart the arrows of hell. Press on, pilgrim. God sees, and God has won the victory through the person and work of Christ. Look to him in your suffering, knowing that he knows it all and he overcame, and so will you if you are in him.
MIND & MATTERS 