Brown's Daily Word 6-23-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this wonderful Wednesday. It is going to be beautiful and brilliant. Thank you Lord. We will gather this evening at 6 PM for our Mid-week gathering for fellowship, Bible study, and the children's ministry. Every time we gather in the Lord, He is there with us as the Host, welcoming us as His guests. He feeds and nourishes us. He refreshes our hearts with His bread and wine. He ferments our lives. He makes our lives colorful. Blessed be His Name.
This morning I will be looking at the life of King David as it unfolded in 2 Samuel 16:1-16:4. In our lives we frequently get caught up in the abundance of our possessions. Yet, sometimes what seems to be ours is not ours at all. Lives that are promising and beautiful are suddenly snuffed out, and there is little trace left of them. Businesses that were doing well yesterday are closing their doors today or tomorrow, with their trade suddenly evaporated. Investments that were intended to support us in the future plunge in value by astonishing amounts. What we thought we had we do not have. What we supposed was ours is diminished or wiped out.
Three thousand years ago, what King David thought he had things that were really out of his control. Things David supposed were his were rapidly being torn from him. King David was in trouble, on the run fearing for his very life. He was in danger of losing his kingdom and his own son was leading the rebellion. His handsome, much-beloved, son was lying and conniving to get the people to follow him instead of his father. Shakespeare said it well, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is an ungrateful child.”
In David's time of trouble all the King of Israel could do was to run, weep, and pray. It could not have been a pretty sight. David, a king, who ought to have been clothed in fine garments and wearing a crown, was out on the road because his son, Absalom, was stirring up trouble and wanted to be king in his father’s place.
David could not have been sure in those circumstances whom he could trust. If you cannot trust your own son, then just who can you trust? If Absalom was rebellious, who else was rebellious? In fact, the Bible says, “Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel”. So David, ousted from Jerusalem, had to wonder who else was among the terrorists, taking sides against him? David went up to the Mount of Olives, there to pray, to weep, and to watch, and to wait.
A little beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives, David met Ziba, the servant of a young man named Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was another potential threat to David, because Mephibosheth was the grandson of the first king of Israel, Saul. David had waited long while the Kingdom was wrestled away from Saul and Mephibosheth was a pretender to the throne. Mephibosheth could have had designs on the Kingdom himself. David was suspicious, not knowing whether he could trust this man Ziba.
Ziba brought with him bread and raisins, fruits, and wine. David asked Ziba what this food was for and Ziba’s answer was to the point: “The bread … is for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who faint in the wilderness.” Now that’s a welcome answer. David and his men needed nourishment and refreshment; bread and wine were good to have. And so when David found out that it was true that Mephibosheth was plotting against him, but this Ziba, once the servant of treachery, was now turning to serve David. David announced to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours”. “All is now yours.” (I am giving you everything that belongs to your master. It’s not mine, but I am giving it to you anyway.) Ziba’s response is exactly what you might expect, “I do obeisance. I am yours. I belong you now; you are my king.” David, though losing what he had thought he possessed, gave away what he did not own and it bought Ziba’s loyalty. It won Ziba’s heart.
In such times as these, when it seems that we cannot expect to keep what we think we have, God says to us, “All is now yours.” We are the recipients of grace, abundant and free. "His divine power has given us everything for life and for righteousness".
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRl7LD-3qtQ