Rough start? Stick the landing!

 

He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.  And he departed with no one's regret.  They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. --2 Chronicles 21:20

I'm sitting here watching the Olympic games in Paris, France.  It's amazing to see such tremendous athletes competing on the world stage.   The high level of performance makes it that much more heartbreaking when you see someone fail spectacularly.  

We are tempted to say, "That looks like something I'd do."  If a runner trips and falls, if a gymnast slips off the high bar or the balance beam, it makes them look more normal, more like one of us.  It doesn't matter how much they worked and trained and sacrificed to get there.  It only matters how they finished.

When we read the account of the kings of Israel in 2nd Chronicles, we see some good ones like David, Solomon, and Asa who started strong but faltered at the end.  We also see some terrible kings, like Jehoram whose epitaph is found in the verse cited above.  When he died, "he departed with no one's regret."  Reading a legacy like that in the Bible makes Jehoram rather famous in his folly.  It reminds me of the current meme, "Wisdom has always been chasing you, but you have always been faster."

This is one of the things that shows the veracity of the Bible.  Even the heroes of the faith are shown in their weakness.  We do not want to start strong, and then end poorly.  Nor do we want to be like the character in the Dilbert cartoon above, so entrenched in mediocrity that the best he can hope for is to end in the middle of the pack.

Who is your favorite character in the Bible?  It may be Daniel, who never had a bad thing written about him.  For most of us, it is too late to emulate perfection, for we have most likely already fallen a number of times.  We would do better to follow Joseph, who was kind of obnoxious at the start, but once he humbled himself (or was humbled by God), he remained faithful and ended strong.  He stuck the landing.

In the New Testament, we strive to be like Jesus, "the Author and Perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2,3).  More realistically, however, we can come closer to being like Paul.  He didn't just start out badly; he literally killed people for professing Christ.  After his conversion, however, he devoted himself to God, to the preaching and teaching of Scripture, so that at the end he could present himself a faithful servant of his Savior.

Paul wrote, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Coaches have a pithy saying: "No pain, no gain."  Paul put it this way: when we suffer for Christ's sake, "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5).

We must never give up doing good, getting better, finishing strong.  Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

In other words, even if we have fallen early, slipped up or tripped up, even if we have scored for the other team, we need to not get discouraged.  We need to stick the landing.

C'mon, man!!

 

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  --2 Timothy 4:2

Groucho Marx is credited with the quote, "When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out.  A best friend will be in the cell next to you, saying, 'Dang, that was fun!'"  We laugh, because that quote makes light of our sinful nature.  A friend, or companion, might be in the same predicament as you are, because both of you were engaged in unseemly behavior.  However, we all know that the best friend we could have would be one that keeps us out of jail in the first place.

In a spiritual sense, we often say that Jesus is our best friend.  We sing hymns like Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners.  I would like to posit that, while Jesus may be a Friend, our best friend in all the world is the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor--Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever." (John 14:16 AMP).

The Greek word for "Helper" (or "Comforter" in the KJV, "Advocate" in the NIV) is παράκλητος or paracletos.  It literally means, "one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for the defense, legal assistant; an advocate."  If our friend Groucho found himself in jail, it would be advantageous for him to be friends with a lawyer, a legal advocate who could stand before the judge in court and plead his case.

Spiritually speaking, we who are called by God according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) have an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who stands before a holy God and argues on our behalf.  Therefore, we have assurance that when the Judgment comes, we who are covered by the blood of Jesus will not face condemnation, we will not be subject to the wrath of God, but instead will realize fully the grace of God.  We will avoid hell, and be ushered into a place prepared for us called Heaven.

A popular Christian hymn, God Our Father We Adore Thee has this verse:

Holy Spirit, we adore Thee!
Paraclete and heavenly guest!
Sent from God and from the Savior,
Thou hast led us into rest.
We adore Thee! we adore Thee!
by Thy grace forever blest.
We adore Thee! we adore Thee!
by Thy grace forever blest.

But wait, there's more!

We've already seen that the Greek word paracletos is a noun, and we have seen what it means.  There is a similar Greek word, a verb, that comes from the same root word.  It is παρακαλέω or parakaleō.  Twenty-three times in the New Testament that word is translated "comfort."  That makes sense--the Holy Spirit, our paraclete, is called "Comforter."

However, the verb parakaleō is found 86 more times in the New Testament, and is variously translated beseech, exhort, desire, pray, and entreat.  "Beseech" is kind of an archaic word that means to beg, or to make a request of someone in an earnest or urgent manner.  Paul said in Romans 12: 1, "I appeal (parakaleo) to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  (ESV--the NIV translates it as "urge", the NKJV translates it as "beseech".  You get the idea.)

According to people who have studied New Testament Greek more than I have, the sense of the word paracletos is "One who comes alongside."  The verb form parakaleo, then, is not a description of a confrontation.  The Holy Spirit is not our accuser--that is Satan's job.  Instead of confronting us, He stands beside us, throws His arm around us, and says, "C'mon, Man!"

This exhortation can be positive, as in "C'mon, Man!  You can do it!"  It can also be negative, as in "C'mon, Man!  Not that way!!"  It is the Holy Spirit's job to guide us, to encourage us to good works, but also to chide us, to scold us a little when we get turned around.  This can be unpleasant at times, because it goes against our sinful nature, but it is ultimately for our good.

You may have grown up in a church that uses this form of call and response:

Leader: God is good.

People: All the time.

Leader: And all the time,

People: God is good. 

This simplistic view is sometimes dangerous.  It implies that if anything bad happens in your life, it is not of God.  The Old Testament prophet Isaiah says of God, "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7, NKJV).  We can get into a theological argument here about the sovereignty of God, and disagree about if bad things happen to good people is it of God or of the devil.  I will tread lightly here, but I would remind us that "We know that all things (both good and bad) work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NKJV).

When the Holy Spirit comes alongside us, puts His arm around us, and effectively says, "C'mon, Man!" it inevitably leads to change.  Sometimes those changes are painful, especially if it deals with entrenched sin, or means that we have to stop being friends with sinful, unregenerate people.  If we are honest about our spiritual walk, we would have to admit that at some point in our past God had to kick our keister to get us into line. 

In our study of Scripture in it's original language and verbiage, the Holy Spirit is our paraclete, One who comes beside to comfort and to guide.  His work is summed up in the Greek verb parakaleo a combination of the preposition para (meaning near, beside, in proximity, or causal) and the word kaleo (meaning to call by name, to invite, or to give a name or a title).  Therefore surround yourself with people who are led by the Spirit to call you out, to call you by name, to come alongside and bestow upon you the name Christian so that you are bound to live up to it.  These people are truly doing God's work among men, by the grace and direction of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus.

God's sovereign actions are always on purpose

 

 

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.  --Acts 11:23

Robert Byrne said, "The purpose of life is a life of purpose."  Helen Keller said, "True happiness... is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."  Benjamine Disreaeli said, "The secret of success is constancy to purpose." And Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, wrote, “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” 

Actor Will Smith said, "Begin each day as if it were on purpose."  According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase "on purpose" means to do something intentionally, not by accident.  Some examples given include:

• Sometimes I suspect she arrives late on purpose just to annoy me.
• I'm convinced he knocked my drink over on purpose.
• Some of these species were introduced to the area on purpose to keep the rodent population down.
• Their coach instructed them to lose the game on purpose.

As I was reading in the book of 1 Chronicles this week, I saw how God had made David king of Israel on purpose.  After the death of Saul, God put it in the heart of the people to make him king.  1 Chronicles 12:38 says, "All these men of war arrayed in battle order came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king."

This is the life

This unity of mind within an entire country is a rare thing. I believe this national unity was by divine decree of a sovereign God, as it was His will that David be crowned king of Israel.  I think David, having struggled against Saul all those years, breathed a sigh of relief.  I think he may have thought, "This is going to be a piece of cake!"  I believe David saw the unity of the people, and then sought the will of the people in the next step, instead of his seeking the will of God.

David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader.  And David said to all the assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us.  Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."  All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.  --1 Chronicles 13:1-4

David's heart was in the right place, but as we will see later in the story, the planning and execution left something to be desired.  God did not ordain that Israel be a democracy, with the will of the people being superior to the will of God.  Instead, I believe God wanted David to be a leader.

This is the lesson

Comedian George Carlin said, "I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose."  Friedrich Nietzsche said, "To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity."  My biggest fear growing up was to have the following conversation with my father:

 

Dad: Did you do that? 

Me: Yes. 

Dad: On purpose?  

David gathered all of Israel together to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  He failed to instruct the people that only the Levites could transport the Ark.  By God's decree, the tribe of Levi were charged with the care and transport of the Ark of God, and no one else could touch it.

And they carried the Ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart.  And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.  And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the Ark, for the oxen stumbled.  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God.  And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah.  And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.  And David was afraid of God that day and he said, "How can I bring the Ark of God home to me?"  So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.  --1 Chronicles 13:7-13

Here we see the series of emotions going through David's mind.  Anger that God would take the life of Uzzah, who was just trying to keep the Ark from tumbling to the ground when the oxen stumbled.  Frustration that things were not going according to plan.  Embarrassment that this happened on his watch.  And fear.  Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

David pressed pause in his pursuit of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.  He had the Ark taken to the nearby house of this random man, this man from Gath (that's what Gittite means).  "And the Ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months.  And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had." (verse 14)

This is the legacy 

John F. Kennedy said, "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."  Rick Warren writes, "You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.”

Realizing that God had given them directions that were to be followed, David learned his lesson.  He also stepped up and began to lead.  "Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the Ark of the Lord and to minister to Him forever." (1 Chronicles 15:2).  

Then David summoned the priests of Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, and said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites.  Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.  Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek Him according to the rule."   So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.  And the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord. --1 Chronicles 15:11-15

 David didn't stop there.  Having an appreciation of music, David appointed musicians to accompany the Ark on its journey.  "David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy." (verse 16).  American singer/songwriter Michael Franti writes, "Music is sunshine. Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose."

David had a new sense of purpose, and that was to give glory to God.  David wrote a song that was no doubt performed on the trip to Jerusalem.  You can read it in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36.  The highlight of this song is in verse 34: "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever."

One of the musicians named and appointed by David was a fellow named Heman.  "With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever."  I want us to take note of the phrase, "For His steadfast love endures forever."  This was the purpose that drove David to promote Heman to singer.  Of note, Heman is mentioned a few more times in Scripture, and at one point he was called "the king's seer."  There is a quality of good music that leads one to worship as would a prophet of God.  A prophet not only foretells what God is going to do; a prophet will forthtell the Gospel, the good news of God to all people.  Heman is also listed as an author of Psalm 88 (which is a mournful Psalm, but that's another story).

God's purpose was fulfilled in David, who found a new sense of purpose after an initial failure.  Other Bible heroes exhibited that same sense of godly purpose.  1 Kings 5:5 says,  "And, behold, I (Solomon) purpose to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build the house for my name." (ASV)  Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

Ruth 1:16-18 says,  "But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you.  For wherever you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.  May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.'  And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. " (Wycliffe translation of verse 18 says, "Therefore Naomi saw, that Ruth had deemed with steadfast soul to go with her, and so she would not be against her, nor further counsel her to return to her own people.")

May we have that same dedication, that same drive, that same godly purpose in our daily lives.

When the windows of heaven are opened

 

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus and to take Him at His word; just to rest upon His promise, and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."  --Louisa Maria Rouse Stead, 1882

Thus saith the LORD.  This phrase is found in the Bible over 400 times.  That's 400 times when people's faith was shaken and/or tested.  400 times when God spoke to a specific issue or problem.  400 times when God's word came to pass, and His words proved true.

Today I want us to look at a story from the life of the prophet Elisha found in 2 Kings 6:24 through 7:20.

Desperate Times

"Afterward Ben-Hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria.  And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for 80 shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver." --2 Kings 6:24-25

You may have heard stories from your grandparents or great-grandparents about rationing that was imposed during World War I.  Commodities were scarce, and people had to do without things we would take for granted.  Every adult at the time had already lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s, so they knew how to do more with less.  They accepted scarcity because to them it was normal.

In our Bible narrative, we get another lesson in the economics of scarcity.  Israel's capitol city experienced a double-whammy of the famine (where food was already scarce) plus the military siege of the city (where they were unable to establish trade with other cities or nations--or even to solicit charitable aid from their neighbors).  A shekel of silver was worth about $2.25, and we can see how expensive things were getting.  A donkey was an unclean animal, but since all the "clean" animals were gone, the people were forced to eat what they had.  A donkey's head had very little nutritional value, but it was selling for about $180.  That's a very expensive soup stock.

As for the phrase "dove's dung", it was selling at about $11.50 per half gallon.  Some commentators posit that this was a not-so-nice name for a cheap food like falafel.  I don't think this theory is supported in this narrative, as it does not communicate the abject desperation that the story portrays.  Things were so bad that in verses 26 to 29, a woman complained to the king that they had resorted to cannibalism, having boiled her baby so that the rest of them could eat.  A more plausible explanation is that it was literally the dung of birds, who could fly outside the city walls and eat grains from the fields, some of which would be excreted.  In better times, dove's dung might be gathered to fuel a fire.  As things got worse, it might be used as a salt substitute.  In the worst of times, it might be a person's only source of grain food.

Blaming God

"When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes--now he was passing by on the wall--all the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath his body--and he said, 'May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.'  Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him.  Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, 'Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head?  Look, when the messenger comes shut the door and hold the door fast against him.  Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?'  And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, 'This trouble is from the Lord!  Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?'  --2 Kings 6:30-33

 Ahab saw the situation was as bad as it could possibly get.  According to the sermons that Elisha had been preaching, God was punishing Ahab and, by extension, Israel.  Out of desperation, Ahab wanted to kill Elisha.  Yet his own words show that he knew the truth.

"This trouble is from the Lord!" he said.  His conclusion was correct.  Ahab's own sin had brought about this calamity.  His conclusion, though, was incorrect.  "Why should I wait for the Lord?"  When Ahab's faith was tested, he failed miserably.

A lot of religious people have trouble believing that God brings calamity.  Tim Challies, a Canadian Reformed Baptist theologian, pastor and blogger, says, "If God is not sovereign over the bad things that happen, they happen for no reason.  If God is sovereign over the bad things, we can be confident that he is working even those things for His glory and our good."  Augustine wrote, "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist."

Richard Sibbes, an Anglican exegete from the early 17th century, wrote, "As the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory."  We will see how God brought glory from this desperate situation.

Opening the windows of heaven

"But Elisha said, 'Hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'  Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, 'If the Lord Himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?'  But he said, 'You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.'  --2 Kings 7:1-2

 God was not so concerned that His people were forced to eat non-Kosher foods.  He was concerned that they had forgotten Him.  Did they not know that God had provided for their forefathers in the wilderness?  Psalm 78: 12-24 says:

In the sight of their fathers He performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.  In the daytime He led them with a cloud and all the night with a fiery light.  He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.  He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.  Yet they sinned still more against Him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.  They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.  They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?  He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed.  Can He also give bread or provide meat for His people?"  Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; His anger rose against Israel because they did not believe in God and did not trust His saving power.  Yet He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and He rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.

So here's what God did for Samaria.  There were four men who had leprosy, sitting outside the gate.  They weren't allowed in, because they were unclean (quarantined).  They were also hungry because of the siege.  They decided to go visit the Syrian camp.  The Syrians would either let them in and feed them, or they would kill them--they thought they were going to die anyway, so it was a risk worth taking.  When they got to the enemy camp, however, it was deserted.  God had brought about a sound of a great army, and the Syrians fled in terror (thinking that Samaria had somehow hired mercenaries to come to their aid).

The lepers went from tent to tent, finding food and clothing, gold and silver.  They couldn't believe it.  They ate their fill and took away all they could carry.  Then their conscience got the better of them; they decided to go into the city and tell the people that the enemy was gone, and more importantly, there was food in the camp.

The king's adviser's were cautious.  They thought the Syrians were trying to lure them in, and would be waiting to ambush them.  They sent a small squad of fighting men to check it out, but it was just as the lepers had said.  They also found, in the direction the Syrians had fled, a trail of clothing and weapons that the soldiers had thrown away in their haste.

When the people heard about it, they rushed out the gate.  The king's servant, the one who had been so incredulous about God opening the windows of heaven, was trampled to death by the hordes of hungry people rushing out to plunder the enemy camp.  Thus was Elisha's prophecy fulfilled, that he would see the prices reduced for commodities, but that he would not eat from it.

The economics were turned upside-down.  Instead of spending $180 for a donkey's head, they now found that $2.25 would buy two gallons of fine flour; instead of $11.50 for digested grain product excreted by birds, they could buy four gallons of barley for that same $2.25.  The same God who could bring judgment and calamity can also bring healing, forgiveness, and abundance.

Let me be clear:  I am not advocating a prosperity gospel.  God is sovereign, and we have no right to "name it and claim it."  However, His word does promise in Malachi 3:10, "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."  Philippians 4:19 promises, "My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

How to avoid "I" trouble in marriage

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.  Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.  And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.  --Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NKJV)

I thank God daily for my wife.  Why?  Because the "we" of us together is much better than two "I's" of us alone.  When we bring two "I's" together, there must be alignment and singular focus in order for the "we" to work.  

When my daughter was born, we loved her dearly.  We discovered in a few months, however, that her eyes were crossed.  This condition affected her vision, of course, but it also affected her overall development.  She was able to sit up when she reached the age when most babies learn to sit up, but she did not crawl much at all.  She would sit in one place until someone picked her up and carried her.

When she was about 9 months old she had surgery to correct the eye alignment.  The muscles behind her eyeballs were stretched or shortened so that her eyes were no longer crossed, and both eyes were looking in the same direction at all times.  She could look up; she could look down.  She looked to the left; she looked to the right.  And as soon as we brought her home from the hospital, she began crawling all over the place.

What made the difference?  She could see!  Her eyes were able to focus and agree, and therefore she was able to develop mobility, which led to accelerated motor development.  She reached for things.  She was able to pull herself up to a standing position, and learn to walk--all because her eyes were in alignment.

In a way, the two "I's" coming together in a marriage relationship are much like the "eyes" in a living body.  When they are crossed--that is, when the two people do not see "eye to eye" on important matters, and each one has their own vision of which direction the marriage should go--then there is little or no progress.  But when the I's are aligned to a singular vision, other areas of the relationship flourish.  Living together in harmony means working toward the same goals, setting objectives that each can attain, and agreeing on a mutual timeline.  Jesus said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:5-6, NKJV).  Becoming one flesh, making one person out of two, means aligning your sights together so that your future comes into clear focus.

Having a synoptic vision does not, however, mean forever squinting while your spouse stares into a telescope.  We are not called to be a one-eyed monster or to have pirate vision, which happens if one "I" is shut off completely (as would happen if a person wore an eye patch).  There are problems that can surface  without both eyes open at the same time.  If only one eye is open, a person suffers a lack of depth perception.  You can see clearly enough with one eye, but it is hard to gauge how close something distant might be.  Your peripheral vision also suffers, as it can be difficult to see dangers coming at you from either side.  I think this is why God said in Genesis 2:18, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." (ESV)  

My wife and I often marvel at how we fit together.  She will often exclaim to me, "You're my match!" especially after we sing the same song spontaneously, or when we finish one another's sentences exactly as the other intended.  Both our needs are met when we agree on such things as a budget, or church membership.

One more point.  Most people have a dominant eye.  It is usually associated with whether one is right handed or left handed.  In our relationship, I (the husband) am the dominant "I".  Under God's leadership my wife trusts me to take a leadership role in our relationship.  Paul's admonition to married couples in Ephesians 5:22-33 encourages wives to submit to their husbands, but also commands that husbands love their wives with a sacrificial kind of love.  Becoming one flesh, according to Paul, is a great mystery. "However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear]." (Eph 5:33, AMP)  

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the hearts of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  Neither my wife nor I have plumbed the depths of God's mercy, but together we are able to His works more clearly, not the least of which was bringing the two of us together in holy matrimony.  When we see eye to eye, we can more easily say, "Not I, but Christ."

True repentance

 

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.  --Proverbs 28:13

In 1985 Laura Joffe Numeroff published the story "If you give a mouse a cookie."  

If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw. When he’s finished, he’ll ask you for a napkin.

Then he’ll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milk mustache.

When he looks in the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim. So he’ll probably ask for a pair of nail scissors.

When he’s finished giving himself a trim, he’ll want a broom to sweep it up. He’ll start sweeping. He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house. He may even end up washing the floors as well!

When he’s done, he’ll probably want to take a nap. You’ll have to fix up a little box for him with a blanket and a pillow. He’ll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times. He’ll probably ask you to read him a story.

So you’ll read to him from one of your books, and he’ll ask to see the pictures. When he looks at the pictures, he’ll get so excited he’ll want to draw one of his own.

He’ll ask for paper and crayons. He’ll draw a picture. When the picture is finished, he’ll want to sign his name with a pen. Then he’ll want to hang his picture on your refrigerator. Which means he’ll need Scotch tape. He’ll hang up his drawing and stand back to look at it.

Looking at the refrigerator will remind him that he’s thirsty. So… he’ll ask for a glass of milk. And chances are if he asks you for a glass of milk, he’s going to want a cookie to go with it.

 The hubris comes full circle.  The story is an illustration of an old adage, "If you give him an inch, he will take a mile." That quote had its origin from a quote by John Heywood in 1546, "For when I gave you an inch, you took an ell." In this context, an ell was a measurement of cloth measuring about 45 inches. The proverb highlights the tendency of people to take more and more liberties, instead of being happy with what they were given.

In Scripture, we see this illustrated in the life of David.  Starting in 2 Samuel 11, we read about hubris in the life of the king.  In the spring of the year, the story starts, the time when Kings go out to battle, David was at home, having sent his general Joab and all of the men with him to make war against the Ammonites.  Bored, David was on the roof of his house when he saw a woman through a window of the house next door.  The woman, called Bathsheba (or bat-seba, meaning "daughter of an oath" in Hebrew) bathing in her home.

David was aroused and asked who she was.  When he was told that she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and knowing that Uriah was out on the battlefield with Joab, David sent for her.  Hardly in a position to refuse the king, Bathsheba showed up at the king's residence and was ushered immediately to his bedchamber.  David had relations with her, and then sent her home.  Later she sent word to David that she was with child, and David compounded his sin.

The king sent for Uriah, and asked him how the battle was going.  Uriah gave the news from the front lines, then encamped at David's doorstep.  When David asked why he didn't go home to his wife, Uriah answered that his comrades-in-arms were not able to come home to their wives, so why should he?  David tried again, getting Uriah drunk and sending him home.  Again, Uriah proved himself more faithful than the king.  David had no choice but to order Uriah's death in battle, but in an ironic twist, the orders were written and sealed, and given to Uriah to deliver to Joab himself.

Once Uriah was dispatched, David took the grieving widow into his harem, where she delivered a son.  "But the thing that David had done," the Scripture says, "displeased the Lord."  God sent Nathan the prophet to accuse David of his crimes--voyeurism, adultery, rape; lying, treason (because he deprived Israel of one of its best warriors, thus giving aid and comfort to the enemy), and finally, murder.

Nathan went on to accuse David of despising God.   2 Samuel 12:9-10 says, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in His sight?  You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife."

Note the use of the word despised in both verses 9 and 10.  In the first instance David despises the word (the law) of the Lord.  In the second instance, God, speaking through Nathan, says, "You have despised Me."  We see from this that sin is a despising of the law of God.  But we also see that to despise God's law is to despise Him.  Now, it is easy for us to think that David's sin truly was grievous and fail to grasp the application of Nathan's words to ourselves.  But as we have already seen, all sin, whether large or small in our own eyes, is against God.  Therefore, when I indulge in any of the so-called acceptable sins, I am not only despising God's law but, at the same time, I am despising God Himself.  --Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins (2007).

Sin is likened to a cancer.

Another term for cancer is malignancy.  Medically, the word malignant describes a tumor of potentially unlimited growth that expands locally into adjoining tissue by invasion and systematically by metastasizing into other areas of the body.  Left alone, a malignancy tends to infiltrate and metastasize throughout the entire body and will eventually cause death.  No wonder cancer and malignant are such dreaded words.  Sin is a spiritual and moral malignancy.  Left unchecked, it can spread throughout our entire inner being and contaminate every area of our lives.  Even worse, it will often "metastasize" from us into the lives of other believers around us.  --ibid,

In the 2000 movie Remember the Titans, football player Julius tells outside linebacker (and captain of the squad) Gary, "Attitude reflects leadership, Captain." In David's case, the cancer of sin led from lust to adultery, and from adultery to murder.  The sin was not limited to David alone, as he ordered Joab to be complicit in the cover-up.  As a result, Nathan prophesied that: 1) the sword would never depart from his house; 2) David's wives will be given to another, who would sleep with them openly; and 3) the child born of this unholy tryst would die.

Fortunately, unlike his predecessor King Saul, David offered true repentance.  He confessed his sin openly.  2 Samuel 12:13 says, "David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.'  And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die'."  God showed David forgiveness because of his confession and repentance, but there would still be consequences to the sin.  David showed contrition and concern for others affected by his sin when the child born to Bathsheba became sick.  David fasted and prayed for 7 days.  God heard his prayers, but did not spare the child.  The child died, but God blessed David and Bathsheba with another son, Solomon, who would go on to rule Israel after David's death.

We can read about David's confession and repentance in Psalm 51.  One of the most beautiful passages in Scripture shows David (and us) how repentance works.

Appealing to God's mercy

Psalm 51:1 says, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions."  God is holy; we are not.  Romans 3:23 reminds us, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  When we fall short, it is important that we acknowledge God.  It's all about him, not about us.  Isaiah 43:25 says, "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins."  The NIV translates this as, "I will remember your sins no more".  God is sovereign and unchanging.  He will not hold our sins against us if we confess and repent.

Isaiah 44:22 says, "I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you."  And in Acts 3:19 we read, "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out."  We as Christians know that Jesus bore the penalty for all our sins.  Colossians 2:13-14 says, "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with is legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross."

Acknowledging our sin

God cannot abide sin.  He is holy, and will not allow sin in His presence.  We, therefore, need to be cleansed of all sin.  In Psalm 51:2 we hear David's cry, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."

How can we approach a holy God when we have acknowledged that our hands are not clean?  We need an intercessory, an intermediary, one who can stand up for us and plead our case before God.  Who can this be?  In Old Testament times it was a priest, who would offer up sacrifices for the sins of the people.  This was an imperfect system, because the priest himself was sinful and unholy.

God foresaw this problem.  In Malachi 3:1-3 we read, "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.  And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord."

Hebrews 9:13-14 says, "For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God."  And 1 John 1:7, 9 says, "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Admitting that all sin is an affront to God

Psalm 51:4 say, "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight."  David had acted selfishly, as we all do when we choose to sin.  Nathan reminded David that to willfully sin is to despise God's law, and by extension to despise God Himself.  Other people may have been caught up in our sinfulness, and we should make amends to them as we can.  But the most important relationship to work on was not with the woman who was impregnated and subsequently widowed, although we can all agree she was a victim.  It was not with the subordinate who carried out the orders to kill the husband, although Joab was certainly a partner in crime here.  It was not even with Uriah or with the unnamed child who lost their lives as a result of this soap opera.

The most important relationship to re-establish was with God, our creator, and with Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).  1 Corinthians 8:12 says, "Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ."  Yes, we should make amends with our brother, but not before confessing and repenting before God.

Affirming that God can make us clean

In Psalm 51:3 David laments that "my sin is ever before me."  He may have had nightmares.  He may have been reminded of Uriah every time he looked at Bathsheba.  He may have later thought of the lost child every time he saw Solomon.  This is why in Psalm 51:7 David pleads with God, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."

Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."  Through the shed blood of Christ we have a restored and renewed relationship with a holy God.

It comes full circle.  In the children's story where the mouse was given a cookie, but he desired so much more; in the end, after demanding so many other accommodations, he realized all he wanted was the cookie.  In the same way, God has given us a relationship with himself.  When we selfishly go after other pursuits, we end up realizing that all we need is the relationship with God.  

This is true repentance.

Repent! For the Lord is at hand.

 

And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.  --Genesis 6:6

A contronym is a word that has two meanings that are opposite or nearly opposite.  An example is cleave; it can mean tear apart, and it can mean attach oneself to.  Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast (KJV: "cleave") to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."  A lot of marriage ceremonies quote Matthew 19:6, which says, "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."  The verse could be paraphrased, "What God has cleaved together let no man cleave apart."

In my study of 1 Samuel 15 I discovered a Hebrew antonym in the word translated repent.  Now I am not a Hebrew scholar by any means, but in Strong's Definitions we find that the Hebrew word nāḥam can mean "to be grieved" or it can also mean "to be consoled" or "comforted."

Let's come back to that.

1 Samuel 13 recounts the first major conflict between Samuel, the prophet of God, and Saul, the first king of Israel.  It was when Samuel had instructed Saul to wait for him 7 days before going to war against the Philistines.  Saul saw that the Philistine army grew day by day, and he was getting pretty nervous.  On the seventh day Samuel was late.  Since he was not there, Saul offered a sacrifice so that they would be blessed in the battle.  As soon as the sacrifice was done, Samuel showed up and chided Saul for taking it upon himself.  God would not accept Saul's sacrifice for a number of reasons: he had disobeyed the word of the Lord given by Samuel; he was not authorized to offer sacrifices (Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, so he was not a Levite); Saul had offered the sacrifice, not as an act of worship that might invoke the blessing of God, but rather as a superstitious ritual designed to bring good luck.

The second conflict between Samuel and Saul is in chapter 15, which is the focus of our study today.  The word of the Lord came through Samuel, who told Saul that when he went up against another enemy, the Amalekites, he was to give them over to destruction. "Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have.  Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. (verse 3)"  The wickedness of Amalek was so great that God was done with them, and commanded Saul to destroy them completely.

God did give the army of Israel victory over the Amalekites.  However, Saul did not utterly destroy them.  "But Saul and the people spared Agag (the King of Amalek) and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them.  All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. (verse 9)"  Saul took it upon himself to decide what was worthless, and everything else he counted as spoils of war.

The word of the Lord came to Samuel: "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments." And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.  And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning.  And it was told to Samuel, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal."  And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed be you to the Lord.  I have performed the commandment of the Lord."  And Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of oxen that I hear?"  (1 Samuel 15:10-14)

Turning Away

Note the complete turning away of Saul in the passage.  "he has turned back from following Me."   Instead of giving God the glory, "he set up a monument to himself."  When Samuel confronted him, Saul lied: "I have performed the command of the Lord."  Sin gives way to sin.  When you have to lie to cover up a sin, the sin is compounded.  Sinning against the Lord is equal to setting yourself up as the supreme being, the one who has the last word.

Setting himself up as a god, Saul erected a monument to himself.  But even before that, he had decided that there was some good in the Amalekites.  He spared their king, perhaps wanting to make him a servant in Saul's court, so that all could see how great Saul was.  He spared the best of the animals, then tried to cover his sin--when Samuel asked how he could hear the sounds of the animals, Saul said, "The people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction. (verse 15)"  Again with the lies.  "Then Samuel said to Saul, 'Stop!  I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.'  And he (Saul) said to him, 'Speak'. (verse 16).

Samuel went on to tell Saul that God regretted making him king.  God had turned away from Saul.  If only Saul had been obedient, God might have made him a dynasty.  Instead, Saul made his own sacrifice before the battle with the Philistines (chapter 13) and now in chapter 15 he lies to Samuel again, saying that he had intended to sacrifice the sheep and oxen to the Lord.  God will not accept a sacrifice that He Himself did not command, or one that is given in disobedience to His express will.  "And Samuel said, 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen that the fat of rams.' (verse 22)."

Repentance

Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.  Now therefore please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord."  And Samuel said, "I will not return with you.  For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel."  As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore.  And Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor or yours, who is better than you.  And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that He should have regret."  --1 Samuel 15:24-29

Saul said he was sorry, but then gave excuses.  I have sinned, he said, but it was because I feared the people.  Saul was king, for goodness sake.  Whatever he told the people, they would do; and if they disobeyed, then the sin would be on them, not on Saul.  Any time we say, "I'm sorry, but..." that is a false repentance.  "I'm sorry, but it's not my fault."  Yes, actually, it is.

Saul said he repented, but did nothing to show it.  Jesus said in Matthew 3:8 that we should "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."  When Paul was making his case to King Agrippa, he said he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, "but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."  God doesn't want lip service.  He expects our actions to show new motivation.  A new motivation leads to new motions.  Matthew 7:20 says, "Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."

It was Samuel, not Saul, who killed Agag the king of the Amalekites.  Samuel said (in verse 33), "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women."  Agag probably had participated in child sacrifice, which the Bible says God did not command "nor did it ever enter His mind." (Jeremiah 19:5).  Today we do not burn children on an altar to an idol, but we do condone child sacrifice in utero, sacrificing children to the god of convenience.  People, we need to repent.

Jesus commanded us to "take up our cross daily" and follow Him.  We need to repent every day, because we sin every day.

God is our example

So how do we reconcile verse 29, which says "(God) is not a man, that he should repent (or have regret)", and verse 35 where it says, "And the Lord repented (regretted) that He had made Saul king over Israel"?  God does not sin, so why would He repent?

This is where the lesson in language can be helpful.  Remember we said that the Hebrew word for "repent" or "regret" was nāḥam?  It can mean to be sorry, to rue, to repent, to suffer grief.  It is helpful to remind ourselves that God suffers grief from our sin, not His own.  He comforts Himself, or consoles Himself or eases His own discomfort by finding another way.  In this case He called David to be the next king; David was one who was called "a man after God's own heart."  David showed the fruit of repentance when he messed up, and did not just give lip service like Saul did.

This Hebrew contronym that we translate as regret or repentance can be evident in our lives as well.  When we have sinned, our grief and sorrow is almost unbearable.  When we repent, we experience relief.  Many people testify that when they turned from their sins, the weight of the world was lifted off their shoulders.

I think God put these verses in our Bible, the ones that say He repented, to be our example.  Not that He had sinned, but that He had turned to a different way.  Exodus 32:14 says, "And the Lord relented (or repented) from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people."  In that case, He had pronounced judgement on the people of Israel for their sin.  When they repented, He relented.  It is the same with us: when we repent, He will relent.  

Will Lamrtine Thompson (1847 - 1909) wrote the words to the hymn "Softly and Tenderly".  In it is this line: "Though we have sinned He has mercy and pardon, pardon for you and for me."  We are weighted down by sin, and it grieves God.  Our sorrowful repentance causes Him to joyfully relent, producing consolation for both Him and us.  No wonder "there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10).