Year 4, Day 350: 1 Kings 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

This passage opens with God’s response to Solomon.  Even after all that happened in the last few chapters – God still feels it necessary to remind Solomon that what is important is obedience to His ways.  God isn’t impressed with the lavish sacrifices and the opulent building.  He is impressed by a contrite heart – something which Solomon has yet to demonstrate giving.

I think that at this time it is fair to ask where Solomon considers authority to come from.  If Solomon truly thought authority was coming from God, why would God always have to remind Solomon about the right way to do things?  If Solomon was truly getting his authority from God, we should see more of what we see between God and David rather than God’s consistent reminder about what it takes to really please Him.

In fact, let’s look at what we see in the end of this chapter with respect to authority.  Solomon makes a pact with Hiram.  Then we hear Solomon making a pact with Pharaoh and taking his daughter to dwell among the Hebrew people.  We hear about other pacts made by Solomon.  Solomon isn’t deriving his authority from God.  Solomon is using human political maneuvering to gain authority.

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Year 4, Day 349: 1 Kings 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

There was a sentence in my blog from three years ago that haunts me even today.  I think it is worth exploring.  Here it is: Do I actually think that I can please Him with anything until I have given Him everything?

I derived this question as I looked at the lavishness of Solomon’s dedication to the Lord.  We’ve gotten the sense over the last few chapters that God isn’t really convinced by Solomon’s affection.  God is always reminding Solomon that what is important is the contrition of his heart and keeping the statutes of the Lord front and center.  But it’s not fair for me to stand as judge over Solomon.  That’s God’s job.  So instead I stand as judge over myself.  Do I do the same thing as Solomon?  Do I go through the motions of what I think God wants without actually giving Him what He wants: my whole life?

You see, I can put on all the trappings of a good spiritual life.  I can pray out loud with all the right words.  I can give of my time to all kinds of causes.  I can spend my Sundays in church singing all the latest and greatest songs.  But if it isn’t genuine, what good is it?  If I am just going through the motions rather than actually giving God my all, what’s the point?

Fundamentally, this really is just a question character.  Do I have what it takes to be legitimately found in God?  Do I have the character within to match the outward trappings that I can so easily create as a façade?  This is fundamentally the question that threads its way through Solomon’s story.  This really is the question that works its way through my life and your life, too.

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Year 4, Day 348: 1 Kings 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

Every time I read this chapter I am struck by the fact that Solomon names the pillars.  Who names parts of buildings, right?  In my blog post three years ago, I mention that the pillars are aptly named.  Jachin means “He shall uphold” and Boaz means “May strength be in Him.”

Those are names of challenge.  “He shall uphold” is a challenge to remember that God is the one who holds the power.  So often I like to think I can solve my own problems.  So often I like to think that I can save myself.  So often I think that I can handle the things of this world and I relegate God to handling the eternal part that I know I can’t take care of.  But the reality is that God should uphold me both in this world and the world to come.  The challenge is to give God control of everything.

“May strength be in Him” is a similar note of challenge.  How often do we want the focus?  How often do I want to be seen as the person who saves the day, has the brilliant idea, or is the rock of strength upon whom others can lean?  But that’s a position best left to God.  He is the savior.  He is the brilliant mind behind His plan.  He is the rock of strength upon whom others can lean.  The challenge is to let God be the strength of the world and instead be humble and fill the role He desires of me.

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Year 4, Day 347: 1 Kings 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.

1 Kings 6 appears to be a fairly mundane chapter on first read.  It is verse after verse of construction manuals.  Solomon built the temple.  There was stone.  There was wood.  Then there was gold overlay.  I’m sure that it was splendid.  I’m sure that it was a sight to behold. 

But don’t miss 1 Kings 6:11-13.  Look at God’s response to the initial building effort.  Before Solomon can finish the temple God reminds Solomon about what his true calling happens to be.  Solomon isn’t called to be some great builder.  God didn’t call Solomon to build an incredible temple so that Solomon’s name would be remembered forever.  God called Solomon to be obedient to His word and to model that in his life.

Notice what is important to God.  God never says, “Wow, Solomon, that’s an impressive place to worship!”  God doesn’t say, “Oh, I really like the choice of cedar here.”  No, God calls Solomon into a life of obedience.  He says, “Solomon, don’t get caught up in the building.  What is important is that you keep my commandments.  What is important is that you are humble and submitted before me.”

The same is true for me.  What are my accomplishments in the presence of a God that created the world?  God doesn’t call me to have a life of splendor.  God calls me to have a life of obedience.

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Year 4, Day 346: 1 Kings 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

 As I reread my blog post from 3 years ago, I was struck once more by the lesson that hit me then.  It takes Gentiles and Jews to build the temple of God.  Solomon enlists Jewish help but he also requests workers from Tyre and Sidon.  The most holy place on earth from the Jewish mindset is a product of Gentile and Jewish hands.

Of course, what a beautiful place to point us to the work of Christ!  His church is build from Jewish and Gentile hands.  Jesus’ disciples were Jews.  Most of the first few decades of the church were filled with Jews.  Paul comes around and begins to include Gentiles and the church grows by leaps and bound.  Suddenly both Jews and Gentiles alike are able to be included.

What this brings us to is God’s sovereignty.  He is sovereign over us.  But He is sovereign over Jews and Gentiles alike.  He is not just the God of the Jews.  He is the King over creation.  He will rule over all, and all those who humble themselves before His presence will abide in the very presence of the king.

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Year 4, Day 345: 1 Kings 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

Yesterday I spend a good bit of time praising Solomon and his choice for wisdom.  Unfortunately, that praise lasts one day before we begin to see issues with Solomon.  Solomon’s issues seem to stem from his appetite.

This shouldn’t really surprise us.  David suffered from an issue of appetite.  David’s appetite was predominantly with respect to women.  Solomon certainly has this issue – 300 wives and 700 concubines.  The sins of the father are often seen in the son.  But Solomon’s issue with appetite is really more than that.  His issue is with respect to resources and demands upon the people.

Look at how much food had to be supplied to Solomon to sustain his bureaucracy.  Look at how many chariots he had to maintain on a regular basis.  Of course, chariots require horses, which come from Egypt and likewise need to be maintained, too.  Solomon was consuming the resources of the land.

Solomon’s appetite seems to revolve around the things of the world.  Solomon wants stuff.  This is costly to the kingdom.  And it is only going to get worse as Solomon’s kingdom expands, his reputation grows, and he gets more and more reputation in the ancient world.  Is there any wonder why the kingdom splits after Solomon’s reign?  Solomon’s appetite for the things of the world put an unnecessary strain upon the kingdom.

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Year 4, Day 344: 1 Kings 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Competency

• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.

I absolutely love the question that Solomon poses to God at the end of his request for wisdom: “For who can govern your people?”  Solomon knows the truth.  Trying to lead people gets harder as the amount of people increases.  It’s hard enough to lead a family.  It’s even harder to lead a team or group.  It’s even harder to lead a ministry or business.  It’s even harder to lead a nation or country.  Solomon understands the near-impossibility of his task.  And he asks for help in the form of wisdom.

I want to praise Solomon from another perspective, too.  Solomon could have fallen into the pit of ambition and asked to be famous and filled with renown.  Solomon could have fallen to his appetite and asked for riches beyond measure or treasure unlike anyone else has ever known.  Solomon could have fallen into the pit of needing approval and asked for followers or servants who lift up how great and necessary he is.

But the truth is that Solomon was up to God’s challenge in this moment.  He is a competent leader - so long as he remains humble and faithful to God.  So long as Solomon understands that he isn’t ruling the kingdom under his own authority he can be a competent leader.  It is amazing to see Solomon’s humble attitude in the presence of God so naturally lead to competence.

But don't hear me giving Solomon the seal of approval, either.  We know how this story ends.  It is important that we learn the good from Solomon in this story, but not consider the story closed, either.

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Year 4, Day 343: 1 Kings 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

I was reminded of something that I desperately needed to hear about Solomon as I read 1 Kings 2.  You see, it is very easy to read this chapter and think of Solomon as an incredibly cruel man.  He has several men slain in this chapter!  As forgiving as David was when people around him make mistakes, Solomon seems inherently cruel.

However, I was reminded of some words I said three years ago when I studied this passage.  Each of the men who are killed in this chapter had been extended grace already.  Solomon had already given them parameters in which they could continue to live and not have issues with Solomon.  But they all discard Solomon’s grace.  They all scorn Solomon’s forgiveness.

Adonijah tries to steal the kingdom through another means: political shenanigans via the harem of King David.  Shimei was allowed to live so long as he stayed in Jerusalem, and he violates this contract.  Joab had killed during peacetime and David knew he was living on borrowed time.

Yes, Solomon’s consequences are harsh.  The fact that he has three people killed is not an easy thing to overlook. But in extending grace to them Solomon had challenged them to rise above their earlier behavior.  He challenged them to rise above their human nature and choose a better and more godly path.  But the challenge wasn’t accepted.  These three men remained the men they always had been.

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Year 4, Day 342: 1 Kings 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

I think that this is a neat passage with which we can have a discussion on forgiveness.  There is forgiveness all throughout this chapter.  And this is neat, because in each case the forgiveness doesn’t necessarily serve the one who is doing the forgiving.  In my experience with humanity, people in power tend to be forgiving most when it is to their own benefit to do so.  That’s not what we see happening here.

Let’s deal with the first one – the obvious one.  Adonijah sets himself up as king and then hears about David going through the process of making Solomon the legitimate king over God’s people.  He immediately repents.  He runs to the altar and grabs the horns of the altar.  He’s trying to save his life, for Solomon could legitimately have him executed for treason.  Solomon forgives.  Solomon allows Adonijah the opportunity to convince him that the coup is over and Adonijah accepts Solomon’s leadership.  We don’t know how Adonijah did it, but we know that Solomon allows Adonijah to go to his own house.  Solomon is forgiving and allows a rival to live.

The second story of forgiveness that we have is David and Joab.  Now, this one isn’t exactly spelled out in words.  But think about how many times Joab has countermanded one of David’s orders.  Joab killed Abner.  Joab killed Absalom.  Now Joab joins Adonijah’s coup.  Yet through all of this David allows Joab to remain the general over his army.  David understands forgiveness.  David understands that people make mistakes.  David seeks genuine repentance over perfection.

The third story of forgiveness is perhaps my favorite because it deals with God.  Remember how angry God was at David for the whole David and Bathsheba incident?  Yet, here we see God lifting up a legitimate child of that relationship as the next king of Israel.  God is willing to take a child of that union and place him among the long list of grandparents for His own Son.  God forgave David and Bathsheba because their repentance was genuine.

We are in a relationship with a forgiving God.  I can’t tell you how many times God has had to forgive me.  Yet, He continues to do so.  We are to model that forgiveness as we see constantly in David and we also see here in Solomon.  We are to be a people modeling what we receive from God.

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Year 4, Day 341: 2 Samuel 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In the theological commentary from three years ago, I set forth a fair explanation of how it is that this chapter can say that God told David to do a census but then got angry at him for doing a census in the first place.  For anyone struggling over that concept, I would recommend reading that post.

What I am going to focus in this post is the repentant heart of David.  You see, God may ask David to do a census.  But when David goes about it using the wrong method – forgetful of the requirement of the offering to God – David immediately repents.  He knows his guilt and is humble before the Lord.

God relents.  But look at what it is that causes the relenting of the Lord.  David goes and offers up a sacrifice.  The sacrifice costs something of David.  But David would have it no other way.  David insists on paying for the sacrificing.  His heart is genuinely repentant for his sin.  He disobeyed God, and rather than denying accountability he acknowledges his sin and asks for forgiveness.  And God is happy to relent.

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Year 4, Day 340: 2 Samuel 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Father

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.
• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

The oracle of David that takes up the early section of this chapter gives a neat reminder about God.  We remember that it is God who rules justly over mankind.  God is the King.  God is the one with the power and the authority.

Yet god is not just the King.  As King, God could easily and righteously judge us and find every last one of us lacking.  But God is also Father.  He is the one who loves us.  He wants us to be justified, not condemned.

So this Father makes an everlasting covenant.  This Father gathers around us and lifts us up.  He promises to be with us not just in this lifetime but forever.  He promises us that we will be with Him and the world can do nothing about it.

Such is the nature of God.  He is the righteous king and judge.  But He is also the everlasting Father who promises His eternal love if we are just willing to receive it.

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Year 4, Day 339: 2 Samuel 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

If there is anything that the Psalms do better than the rest of scripture, it is putting a clear and blatant focus upon the greatness of God.  Yes, all of scripture is about God’s relationship with creation as well as the process of its restoration.  But the Psalms really do a great job focusing in on giving glory and honor to God.

As we read throughout this whole chapter we find reasons to praise God.  He is steadfast.  He is a rock.  He is faithful.  He is salvation.  He is our refuge.  He hears us.  He responds.  He rules the earth.  He rules the heavens.  He controls nature.

I can keep going, but I think you get my meaning.  God is worthy of being praised.  God is the focus of David’s life – even if occasionally he strays from this point.  This is what it means to have your Up on God.

This fall I’ve been challenged to keep God the center of my life.  When things go well, I’m challenged to give God praise.  When things go poorly, I’m challenged to continue to praise His name.  To have God in one’s Up as David has in this psalm means to be in relationship to God and turn to Him regardless of circumstance.

As the coach in the movie Facing the Giants says to his football team, “If we win, we give God the glory.  If we lose, we give God the glory.  Whatever happens, we give God the glory.”  That’s what it looks like to have one’s Up properly centered on God.

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Year 4, Day 338: 2 Samuel 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

As I read through 2 Samuel 21, I was struck by the famine that comes upon the nation at the end of David’s reign.  I wasn’t struck by the famine.  I was curious about why it took God so long to bring about the famine since this is quite some time after Saul ever lived.  But what struck me most is that the famine comes because some “non-chosen” people – in other words, non-Hebrews – were dealt with in an unrighteous manner.

Here is why this is such a neat point.  In the ancient world, two things were assumed about “gods.”  First, gods lived according to their own whims.  Second, gods only cared about their people.  In other words, gods only cared about the people that honored them and sacrificed to them.

But here’s the thing.  The people who were slighted were Gibeonites.  They were non-Hebrews.  They didn’t worship God.  They weren’t part of the chosen people of God.  Yet God still cared for them.  He still cared that righteousness was done.

This shows God’s magnitude.  God isn’t just concerned about himself.  Nor is He just a god of a certain people.  God is over everything, even upholding people who aren’t His own while holding His own people accountable!  God is king over the universe, not just His special group.  God is concerned with righteousness, not just the success of His people.  God is a big God.

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Year 4, Day 337: 2 Samuel 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: People of Peace

• People of Peace: A person of peace is someone whom God has prepared to hear God’s message through you.  God does all the work of preparing that person for your presence in their life. Because of this preparation, these people will like you.  They will listen to you.  They will serve with you as you live out God’s calling for your life.

As we look at this chapter, I’m going to try and say something meaningful about the concept of People of Peace.  If we look at David, we remember that he is just coming off of a war against his own son, Absalom.  His own people, the people of Judah, supported Absalom.  When the battle is over, David knows that there is some repair that needs to happen.

So David begins to draw the people of Judah close.  He begins to invite them closer into his life.  He begins to allow them to have special roles and special functions.

Here is the amazing thing.  It works!  The people of Judah respond.  The same people that once supported Absalom in order to oust David now find him to be desirable.  They are willing to serve him.  They are willing to listen to him.  They are willing to see what God is doing in David’s life and join in.  That’s what People of Peace are all about.  Even among David’s enemies can People of Peace be found!

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Year 4, Day 336: 2 Samuel 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

Challenge.  It is a double edged sword.  Without challenge, most of us would not grow meaningfully.  Sure, we might learn and occasionally do something.  But without challenge, we would seldom if ever grow and stretch in directions that are difficult but necessary.

David’s son dies.  David, being David, mourns the loss of his son.  That’s the natural thing to do for him.  David isn’t about power or really even concern for the kingdom.  David mourns that his son is dead.

But Joab comes along and challenges David.  He tells David that his mourning has gone too far.  The warriors who fought with him are beginning to no longer see the battle as a victory and are beginning to think something is wrong.  The whole nation is confused because David should be celebrating in public but is mourning instead.  They are beginning to miss the fact that God’s hand was at work in the battle.

David is just doing what David feels natural to do.  He’s just “being himself.”  But he needs to hear the words of Joab.  He needs that challenge to pull him back into proper alignment for the kingdom.  He needs the challenge to get past his own personal mourning and realize to give glory to God for delivering the kingdom back into the hands of the one to whom it was promised.

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Year 4, Day 335: 2 Samuel 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

I really have a fair amount of respect for David in this chapter.  I’m not saying that David does everything perfectly in this chapter, either.  But look at what happens in this chapter.  David’s kingdom is usurped by his own son.  Absalom comes out to fight – looking for David’s head, even!  Yet David makes the request of a loving father that Absalom be treated with gentleness.

Then the actual war breaks out.  David finds out that Absalom has been slain.  Instead of David being angry that his request wasn’t followed, David simply mourns.  He doesn’t yell at Joab.  He just mourns.  Like a loving father who is heartbroken that his family is suffering from so much dysfunction, he just mourns.

So why Can David do this?  Why can David love a rebellious son?  How can David mourn his son’s death without being ugly to the man who killed him?  David’s Up is in the right position.  David is focused upon God.  Because David is focused on God and God’s ways instead of his own desire for his own life, David is able to mourn without lashing out at the people around him.  Because David is focused on God’s will, he can even look past his own son’s rebellion.  It is amazing what people can live through when their Up is focused on God and not anything else.

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Year 4, Day 334: 2 Samuel 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

Let’s talk authority two days in a row.  Today, we look at Hushai.  Hushai has the courage to stay behind in Jerusalem and thwart the advice of Ahithophel.  Why would he put himself in this position?  Quite simply, Hushai can do this because he understands who the king is and what authority flows out of the king.

No, I’m not talking about David or Absalom.  Hushai understands that God is king and God’s will shall be done.  Hushai believes that David is God’s anointed and David is worth fighting for.  So Hushai goes into the chamber of Absalom and is able to contradict Ahithophel’s advice.  He does it under the authority of a God who is in control of a particularly dark moment in the history of the kingdom.

I’d like to note here that Hushai doesn’t go about his work in today’s reading deceptively.  Everything that he says is true.  How many times did Saul pursue David with stronger numbers and how many times did God give David the upper hand?  David is not a man to pursue when he is on the run and angry.  I believe Hushai is genuinely giving Absalom good advice in this chapter; but it is godly counsel that also serves the purposes of David, too.

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Year 4, Day 333: 2 Samuel 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

I think this chapter contains one of my favorite stories about David.  Here is a king who has just lost his kingdom.  One of Saul’s kinsmen comes out to verbally abuse David as David goes by.  This man believes that David lost his kingdom as God’s righteous judgment upon David.  David needs to respond.

Some of David’s men come to David and offer to go kill the man and silence them.  Who could blame David if he had allowed them to do so?  Had you just been ousted by your own son and be running away with your tail tucked between your legs, wouldn’t it be easy to lash out at people who would just come and pile it on?

But look at what David does here.  I love David’s spiritual example.  David reminds himself that he is a human and cannot know God’s will.  It could be that this kinsman of Saul is actually correct.  And if he is correct, then what good will it do to go and hurt someone who is properly acting upon the will of God?  Or it could be that this man is wrong.  If he is wrong, then wouldn’t it be better to let God deal with it than to take matters into our own hands?

You see, people will always come up against us.  People will always think they know God’s will when it comes to our life.  The high spiritual road that David shows us is that we should let vengeance be to the Lord.  The Lord is the only righteous judge.  If I get caught up in some sort of vengeance and I turn out to be wrong, then I am putting God in a position to be my judge.  And let’s be honest with ourselves.  God’s already got enough on me.  I don’t need to add to the pile!

David knows where true authority comes from: the King, our God and Father.  David doesn’t need to wrest God’s authority out of his hand.  David is content letting God be king, letting God be in charge, and letting God be judge.  David will simply follow the path that God seems to be putting in front of him – even when it doesn’t make any sense such as losing the kingdom to your worldly son.  But even then, David doesn’t usurp God’s authority.  His example is very good here.

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Year 4, Day 332: 2 Samuel 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Approval, Ambition

• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.
• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

2 Samuel 15 is all about the set-up for Absalom’s revolt.  In this revolt, we can see two of the three broad categories of sinfulness that I’ve been talking a lot about lately.  We’ve spoken often about David’s reoccurring failure in appetite – specifically sexual appetite.  Today we’ll get to examine Absalom through the lens of ambition.  But to get to Ambition, Absalom moves through approval.

Absalom wants to rule over Israel.  He wants to be king.  Absalom is completely and totally driven by ambition.  For Absalom, it’s all about him, his name in lights, and being in the seat of power.  Absalom is a driven man, willing to do anything to accomplish his goals.

In order to get to where he wants to get, however, Absalom needs to go through the lens of Approval.  But here’s the catch.  You’ll notice that it isn’t God’s approval that Absalom seeks.  He’s not really interested in whether or not God approves of his plan to become king.  No, Absalom seeks the approval of mankind.  He gets some of the leaders to follow him.  He gets the general populace to follow him.  He seeks after the approval of the people to get what he wants.  He manipulates the people by whispering into their ears the words that they want to hear.

Which, of course, leads us back to talk about Absalom’s ambition.  Notice that Absalom is seeking his own dream, not God’s dream for Absalom!  When Absalom begins to seek after the approval of the people and not the approval of God, we get our first hint that Absalom’s ambition isn’t God’s ambition for him, either.  Not once do we hear that Absalom seeks out the Lord.  In fact, Absalom even drums up some false story about needing to go worship God at Hebron in order to begin his revolt!  This is not God’s plan.  Absalom is using God to accomplish his own ambitious plan.

This is scary, but extremely common in the world today.  People all over the world are all about accomplishing their plan rather than humbling themselves and being ambition for what God desires of them.

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Year 4, Day 331: 2 Samuel 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Approval

• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.

In this chapter we get several horrible glances at what approval – misguided or even lack thereof – can do to relationships.  We see it in Joab.  We see it in Absalom.  We see it in David.

Let’s start with David, because he continues to be the central character.  In this story, David absolutely refuses to allow Absalom to have any means to regain approval in David’s eyes.  Remember two things.  First of all, Absalom killed David’s first-born, Amnon.  So David does have a bit of a right to be angry with Absalom.  But also remember that Absalom is also David’s son.  Even in his darkest moments, Absalom needs some hope for approval and restoration.  David blocks Absalom from this first by not welcoming Absalom into the city and then by not welcoming Absalom into the palace even when David is tricked into allowing Absalom back into the city.  David doesn’t realize the negative impact that his disapproval actually has upon Absalom.

Second, let’s look at Joab.  Joab is seeking approval of the world around him.  First of all, Joab wants Absalom to come back to Jerusalem.  This is his own desire, but we also will learn in the next chapter that Absalom was well liked by the people.  Therefore, Joab is seeking the approval of the greater community by being the person who smoothed things out and who brought back the favorite prince.  He’s not seeking God’s approval and doing God’s will; Joab is seeking his own elevation in the eyes of the people around him.

Finally, let’s look at Absalom.  In some respects Absalom is the tragic person in the story.  He appears to genuinely want restoration to David.  He tries to see his father, but his father denies him access.  He tries to talk to Joab, but even Joab won’t have anything to do with Absalom after the beloved prince is returned to Jerusalem.  So what are the effects of this young man not having access to the approval that he so desperately desires and even needs?  We’ll see the big effect tomorrow.  But for now we can see that he destroys Joab’s barley field.  Absalom wants access to Joab enough that he will get it even if through negative means.  Of course, this also leads to a cordial – but certainly not meaningful – meeting between David and Absalom.

While I certainly do not condone Absalom’s murder of his brother Amnon, I also can’t help but feel for Absalom in this passage.  The door isn’t open for forgiveness.  He has no ability to find approval in anyone’s sight.  I can really understand Absalom’s question to Joab when he asks why he wasn’t allowed to stay where he was – because he was at least accepted there!  Life in which means to approval are denied to a person is no fun at all.  Over the next three of four chapters we shall see how this unravels the kingdom around David.

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