Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Samuel 6:14 (New Living Translation)

And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.

David danced before the LORD. What joy. We should all dance all the time for the LORD. Right? But dancing is…well just watch a little TV and you’re likely to see some not-so-praise-the-LORD dancing.

See this verse:

1 Chronicles 15:29 (New Living Translation)

But as the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David skipping about and laughing with joy, she was filled with contempt for him.

This verse describes David as “skipping and laughing with joy.” Hmmm, that doesn’t sound like not-so-praise-the-LORD dancing. That sounds like someone who is so overjoyed with the blessings of the LORD hopping happily while walking.

What happened?

Somewhere along the line dancing went from joy to sex. Perhaps the English translations of the Bible added to this mess. I don’t know, but take great care when reading the word “dance” in the Bible.

Matthew 12:17-21 (New Living Translation)

This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him:

1 Samuel 23:19 (New Living Translation)

But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him. “We know where David is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds of Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is in the southern part of Jeshimon.

I guess this is just part of the fallen human nature – we tend to believe liars when they are lying the way we like.

These two men come to King Saul and betray David’s hiding spot. By “betray,” I assume that they were trusted by David to keep a secret. Instead, they broke their secret, i.e., they lied to David about keeping a secret.

These two liars come to Saul and say, “Trust us, we are telling you the truth (even though we lied to David).”

Saul trusts the liars. Again, I guess this is part of (fallen) human nature.

Is this how gossip works? “I told Sally that I wouldn’t tell anyone her secret, but her secret is so important that I have to tell you about it.”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 (New Living Translation)

It seems so tragic that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

The Teacher explains the path chosen by many in their lives. They choose their own mad course. Why? Because, as they see it, there is nothing ahead but death. So, what’s the use?

This is one of the results of life without hope in a Savior. Those of us who have a Savior, and the hope He brings, should spread the good news as much as we can.

1 Samuel 23:4 (New Living Translation)

David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.

Saul was chasing David. Saul had resources. I guess he had the best trackers in the kingdom at his service. Still, Saul couldn’t find David.

This verse tells us that God didn’t let Saul find David. It seems that God made Saul take a wrong turn here and there.

Funny how if you turn left – physically, mentally, emotionally – instead of right or vice versa, you never find what you seek. It just isn’t there. Something that simple changes your life.

Do we believe that an omnipotent God can do something so simple as cause a person to make a wrong turn? Silly question; of course God can do that. I believe that God still does that – everyday.

Deuteronomy 14:22-23 (New Living Translation)

²² “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. ²³ Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God.

The title of the post is correct. This passage is from the old law. God tells the people to set aside a tithe (a tenth) of their crops. Bring that produce to Jerusalem, sit down, and eat it all.

What? God wanted the people to eat what they set aside for God. That is an awfully generous God. Oooops, we may have stumbled on something here – that was an awfully generous God. What happened to that mean, ugly, no-fun God? Perhaps we had the wrong impression about the old law and God.

Fast forward a few thousand years. Some of us go to a church building on Sunday and give money. What happens to the money? We consume it ourselves. We pay for our building; we pay people to encourage and teach us, and we pay for all sorts of things that benefit us. Even the money that goes to pay a missionary ten thousand miles away blesses us.

Still, an awfully generous. What happened to that mean, ugly, no-fun God? Perhaps we still have the wrong impression about God.

Deuteronomy 13:6-11 (New Living Translation)

⁶ “Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁷ They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth. ⁸ But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them. ⁹ You must put them to death! Strike the first blow yourself, and then all the people must join in. ¹⁰ Stone the guilty ones to death because they have tried to draw you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and no one will act so wickedly again.

I guess one falls under what we used to call “tough love.” Maybe it falls under “make an example of someone.”

The instruction is simple: if anyone – no matter how close they are to me – asks me to go worship other gods with them, I kill them. And everyone in town joins me in killing them.

Harsh? Absolutely yes.

Reason? Everyone will know what happened and why and will be afraid (understatement there). Their fear will mean that no one will act so wickedly again.

Old Testament law. I thank God for New Testament grace (among other things).

This is also part of the responsibility God placed on the community. When you know that you have to bash the skull of anyone who strays, you keep an eye on your neighbor. If you see him taking a step that may lead in the wrong direction, you grab him by the shirt and scream at him. “Don’t you dare go there. I don’t want to bash your skull with a rock. I will do it, and I will hate you for making me do it, but I will do it.” Yes, I thank God for grace.

Deuteronomy 8:1-5 (New Living Translation)

Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. ² Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. ³ Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. ⁵ Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

Notice verse 3, God let the people go hungry. Why would a loving God let people border on starvation? That is not love, is it? It is not love as I understand it, but there is much about God that I do not understand.

God did that so He could teach the people. That’s not fair, at least not the sense of fairness that I understand. If God wants to teach me something, let him do it my way. Oooops. Now I am telling God how to conduct Himself. Isn’t that backwards?

Anyways, God teaches the people that bread, that stuff from wheat that comes out of the dirt, is not the source of life – God is the source of life. Well, I guess that makes sense, but couldn’t God teach lessons the way I like? That would sure be easier on me, and…

There we go again.

asdf

Judges 8:22-23 (New Living Translation)

²² Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our ruler! You and your son and your grandson will be our rulers, for you have rescued us from Midian.”

²³ But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!

Gideon had just won a miraculous victory – the one where three hundred men with trumpets and torches and clay pots, you know, the Sunday School (hi)story. Anyways, with victory comes the cry, “You be our leader!”

Gideon tries to remind the people of the “miracle” in the phrase “miraculous victory.” The miracle was supernatural or, as many today like to say, spiritual. The LORD Jehovah (YHWH) made the miracle, made the victory. The LORD would rule the people, not Gideon and his descendants.

The people, always confused by these spiritual things, would cry again and again for a person to rule them. The LORD eventually granted them their request with predictable and predicted results.

Oh well, at least Gideon was able to postpone the inevitable.

2 Samuel 19:41-43 (New Living Translation)

⁴¹ But all the men of Israel complained to the king, “The men of Judah stole the king and didn’t give us the honor of helping take you, your household, and all your men across the Jordan.”

⁴² The men of Judah replied, “The king is one of our own kinsmen. Why should this make you angry? We haven’t eaten any of the king’s food or received any special favors!”

⁴³ “But there are ten tribes in Israel,” the others replied. “So we have ten times as much right to the king as you do. What right do you have to treat us with such contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again?” The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel.

These verses were recorded as David was returning to Jerusalem. He is the “king” mentioned here.

David was from the tribe of Judah. The people of Judah felt a close tie to David, and rightly so. The peoples of the other tribes were a bit jealous, and rightly so.

How did the people of Judah show their pride in one of their own? How did the people of the other tribes show their pride in their own families?

Neither group acted well.

Some fifty years later, the nation separated into two weaker, less Godly nations. Generations of people, millions of people over the centuries – all hurt because of the separation. And maybe this incident was part of the start.

There are times in our lives when we are happy about the accomplishments of someone close to us. We are a little less happy about the accomplishments of someone we know, but who is not so close to us. It is important how we act in these situations. We can hurt people with how we show our joy. We can hurt people with how we react when they are joyous.