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Fear of the Lord is the START of Wisdom
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. (Psalm 111:10, NIV) Holy respect is always a good start. It keeps me from thinking of God as my “beer buddy,” or some other inane term we like to think of when we want God to just like us…
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The Fall of David
2 Samuel 11 David’s “great sin” was not simply having an affair with Bathsheba. It was compounded by murdering her husband. It was driven by covetousness. All that he had as king… and he wanted one more possession. The question I have on this story, along with Nathan’s rebuke, is this: Does David seem to “give up” after this? He is…
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Treating the Presence of God as Holy
2 Samuel 6 When David brought back the Ark to Jerusalem, he did what the Philistines had done years ago: he put it on a cart. God had allowed the Philistines some “latitude” so the ark could get back to Israel. But for Israel, there were rules. They were to know better. There are things that are “holy” and “sacred”…
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The gods of war
2 Samuel When David came into power, the kingdom was not united. He ruled in Hebron first, then power was consolidated. It wasn’t consolidated through negotiation alone. It was war. It was civil war. Part of the distaste for the “Old Testament God” is our own distaste for war. I’m not a true pacifist, but I sympathize with those who…
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Reading the Old Testament — Getting the Stars Out of Our Eyes
I grew up in church. I grew up in Sunday School and children’s church. In our small church we didn’t have children’s pastors. The parents would rotate Sundays as volunteers. My parents were my children’s pastors once month. We had this game my dad would have us play where someone would get up in front, he would pin a name…
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David and the Temple
In 2 Samuel 7 David wanted to build the Lord a temple. He was living in a nice place, so he wanted to give God a worthy temple. You know, like every other god of every other nation. But Yahweh isn’t like every other God. He refused David’s request. He promised to allow David’s successor the opportunity, but he makes it…
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The Place of Grief
2 Samuel 1 I do not believe in reincarnation. But I’ve hedged my bets on this one. I put in a request just in case. I’ve asked God to bring me back as a black church choir director. This is a request from years ago, when I learned so much about HOW to grieve from a couple of funerals at African…
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Saul and the Witch at Endor
Spoiler alert: 1 Samuel doesn’t end well for Saul. In Chapter 28 we have the story of Saul visiting the witch at Endor. He visits a medium to conjure up the spirit of Samuel. There are so many side issues to explore in this story, which is why I like the voice of Walter Brueggemann when it comes to Old…
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The Bitter in Soul Welcome Here
2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.(1 Sam. 22:2, ESV) If there is anything I could tell anyone at any time it is this: your discontent is welcome at our church. The…
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We Get the Leaders We Deserve
I am referring to Saul in 1 Samuel, but I don’t mind the parallels it might draw to our present day politics. 😉 Israel rejected God as “king” and wanted what everyone else had. Okay, I can’t help but think of parallels to the American Church as well… Israel got the king they deserved. He looked like a king (or “presidential” as…
Category: Bible Study
