Posts about David, the psalmist, the shepherd king of Israel

Like Incense

Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2

Incense was a vital component of worship in Israel, but one that we don’t often incorporate in Protestant services. However, knowing that incense symbolizes the intercession and prayers of God’s people, and knowing that so many facets of tabernacle worship were also object lessons, we can learn some important things about our worship and prayer.

The background on incense

In Exodus 30-34-38 God instructs Moses on the makeup and usage of the incense for Israel’s worship. He said to use stacte, onycha, and galbanum, and mix with pure frankincense in equal amounts. Frankincense you’ve probably heard of. Of the others, galbanum is the only one that scholars have positively identified. (However, if you Google them, “essential oils” is one of the autocomplete suggestions for each.) The bottom line is, it smelled terrific, distinctively terrific. But before any of the spices could be used there was some prep work. Each of the ingredients had to be crushed and ground to a fine powder. During the tabernacle and temple ceremonies, it was burned by fire on an altar. One final note: Israel was not allowed to copy the recipe and whip up a batch of the incense for their own personal use.

So let’s take some principles from all that.

Ground – Our sincerest worship often comes from our authentic brokenness and need.

Mixture – Worship and prayer is a mixture, not based on a meticulous, legalistic formula, but definitely a combination of God-honoring things like adoration, thanksgiving, confession, petition, and lament.

Fire – Fire is often used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, so prayer and worship that are not Spirit-infused are empty.

Distinctive – If we treat worship and prayer as common and ordinary, we dishonor God.

Sweet – The aroma lingered in the space, on the worshiper after it was over. If we don’t carry the impact of our time with God out beyond the designated time and place, it has been empty. I think it’s a fair extrapolation to say that if we bring hypocrisy and sin into our worship, it’s a lot more skunky than sweet.

How would our prayer life and our worship life change if we, like David, came before Him with authenticity, directed by the Holy Spirit, if worship and prayer were a sacred blending of our heart’s cries, and if those moments were lingering and longed for?

Lord, let my prayers be set before You like incense.

3 Things Psalm 63 Tells Me about My Soul

By Paula

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

The words “my soul” form a kind of framework for the psalm, appearing in verses 1, 5 and 8. (If you read the New Living Translation, “my soul” only appears the first verse.) This doesn’t exactly match the divisions most Bibles have, but that’s okay.

Let’s start off by defining “my soul.” My soul is my true, total self. It is everything I am. More significantly, it is the part of me that will live on forever. David then explains some key facts about our souls.

1. My soul has a critical need.

In verse 1, David says I have a deep need for God. Like thirst, it is a need I notice after a very short time. It is a need that must be met regularly, and it cannot be met by anything else around me. God alone can satisfy this.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
Psalm 63:5

2. God more than meets my soul’s needs.

This is satisfied in the old sense. It is full, satiated. God goes far beyond just meeting my needs. He pours out the good stuff, the best stuff. Like Thanksgiving and hot fudge sundaes with sprinkles. Abundance. Not just sustenance. God doesn’t skimp. He’s not on a budget and He’s not stingy.

It’s not just physical requirements of food, clothing and shelter that He meets in His care for us. God meets us, meets me, at the point of my soul’s greatest needs– love, mercy, grace, acceptance.

My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:8

3. My soul is in close relationship with the God of the universe.

What other response is there? Especially in view of what He’s done, what other action could I take besides following close behind God? There is a sense of my soul being stuck like glue to God. We can’t or don’t make a move without Him. The fascinating thing is it’s the same Hebrew word used in Genesis 2:24 when God joins Adam and Eve. It’s not a matter of us trying our best to keep up with God. It’s much better. We are joined in intimate fellowship with Him.

We have a need only God can meet, but He doesn’t stop there. He connects us to Himself. Small wonder a thread of joy and praise runs through this psalm as well. Good study should always produce the same results, joy and praise.

What have you learned lately that produced joy and praise in you?

Intercession: For the Sick

By Paula Wiseman

Intercession is intervening. More specifically it is going to God on someone’s behalf. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. It is strenuous and it can be messy. We have learned from Nehemiah and his BURDEN for others, and from Daniel and his IDENTIFICATION with those for whom he was interceding.

Now let’s switch gears a little and think more specifically about what we pray for. If you are in a group and someone asks for prayer requests, what do mot of the requests deal with? Illness. We live in a fallen world and one of the evidences of that is sickness. It touches young and old. It seems to strike without rhyme or reason. Along with the physical suffering, it causes emotional anguish and financial devastation. If we have any faith at all, we need to pray for those who are sick. James 5:14-15 instructs us to call the elders to pray for us when we are sick.

Does Scripture give us any guidance on how to pray for the sick?

In 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah is staying in the Canaanite town of Zarephath. A widow there is providing food and a room for him as God miraculously provides for her during the three and a half year drought. The woman’s only son becomes sick and the sickness is fatal. After the boy’s death, she confronts the prophet. While there are deeper theological implications here — like the local god Baal could not raise the dead while Yahweh could — and there is the fact the Elijah was a powerful prophet of God, he teaches us some important things about praying for the sick.

Elijah got personally involved.

But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. (1 Kings 17:19)

He took the woman’s son, figuratively taking her burden and her sorrow. There would be no rest, no business as usual for Elijah as he prayer for this boy.

This is connected to identifying with those we pray for and to the burden we have for them. If it doesn’t touch us personally, if we don’t become involved personally, we will mumble, “Be with the sick,” and call it good.

Elijah didn’t have the answers.

Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” (1 Kings 17:20)

Elijah was confused. Would God do a miracle to keep them alive only to let the boy die? What would that do to the budding faith of the woman? What about God’s reputation here in Zarephath? What about Elijah’s own reputation? Was he somehow responsible for this like the woman said?

God’s ways are not ours and it is arrogant to presume we know why things happen the way they do. Elijah was humble enough to pour out his confusion to God. We can do the same when we pray for the sick.

Elijah did not give up.

Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again!” (1 Kings 17:21)

I don’t know why it took three times. God certainly could have raised the boy after the first prayer. Maybe there were bonus lessons for the widow or for Elijah in this. I don’t know what laying down over the boy meant. The stretching out over the boy perhaps demonstrated to his mother that the prophet was identifying himself with her son. Perhaps Elijah was acting out what he was praying for by laying down and getting back up.

In any case, Elijah was actively, physically, intensely involved in praying. It is that intensity and that unwillingness to give up that we can learn from.

Now, we also know that despite our intensity and sincerity in praying for the sick, sometimes healing does not come in this life. You may recall in 2 Samuel 12 David’s fervent prayers for the recovery of his young son. Despite David’s fasting and mourning, the child died. David clung to his assurance that he would see his son again.

In my own experience, I have seen God miraculously heal and I have seen Him refrain from intervening. The same God. How God chooses to work out His will does not absolves us from the charge to pray for each other, especially to pray for the sick.

Another Time When God Told David ‘No’

By Paula

Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not build Me a house to dwell in.’ 1 Chronicles 17:4

We’re continuing our look at some times when God said no. We’ve learned some heavy lessons about God’s holiness and that sin is not something to be trifled with. Today the no comes with an overwhelming outpouring of grace.

In the parallel account in 2 Samuel 7 we learn that David was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from his enemies. No longer having to fight off threats to the nation or to his own rule, David was finally able to catch his breath and his first thoughts were of the God who had made him king. He wanted to build a temple, a real, permanent place for the Ark of the Covenant. He wanted to show that God’s presence with His people Israel was tangible and fixed, representing the eternal promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It was a worthy thought, a well-placed desire and Nathan the prophet gave his blessing. “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.” (1 Chronicles 17:2).

Except that God had other plans.

He said no to the temple. (At least to David building it.) But then God said He would build DAVID a house, a heritage, an eternal dynasty. The Messiah, the King of Kings would come from David’s and he would forever be associated with the Chosen One of God. He would be called the Son of David. He would sit on the throne of David.

And David said, “Whoa.” (That’s a paraphrase.) You can read his actual response in 1 Chronicles 17:16-27 or 2 Samuel 7:18-29. It’s good stuff.

Here are some takeaways from this no.

God rejected the notion of David building the Temple. He didn’t reject David. In fact, He CHOSE David for a particular honor and distinction that went far beyond that of building the Temple. It’s important for us to remember that a ‘no’ is not personal.

God’s plan was greater than David’s. By promising to build David a “house,” God invited David to take a step back and see a bigger picture, to see a plan drawn out on an eternal canvas. When God tells us no, let’s resolve to look for the greater purpose God is working out in our lives.

The most important thing to build is not a monument but an intimate relationship with God. Since the time that God called Abraham out of Ur, He was calling a people for His name’s sake. On Sinai, He promised to be Israel’s God and they promised to be His people. There had never been a people whom God had met with the way He met with Israel. Today He chooses to dwell not just WITH us, but IN us.

It’s all about Jesus. When God responds to David, He immediately draws the focus to the coming Messiah who will rule over His kingdom forever. If that’s God’s perspective, then that should be ours as well.

Next week we’ll look at a New Testament example when God told Paul no.

When God Told David ‘No’

By Paula

David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 2 Samuel 12:16

Before we get started, I want to offer a few statements. This situation with David and the loss of his child is a difficult subject. The loss of a child and the heartwrenching grief that goes with it should not be overlooked, dismissed or trivialized. Nor should it spiritualized to the point of stripping it of the very human emotions and experience it encompasses. However David’s experience is recorded in Scripture to teach us, so we will carefully approach the story with the intent to learn about God and about ourselves.

In 2 Samuel 11, David’s sin with Bathsheba is detailed along with the concomitant sins of conspiracy, lies, and murder. In chapter 12 Nathan the prophet confronts the king and the sin is laid bare. It is an inescapable principle that sin brings judgment. In this case, the judgment was the death of David’s and Bathsheba’s son.

For seven days, during the child’s illness, David fasted and prayed, strenuously interceding for his son, for God’s grace to intervene and remove the judgment.

And God said no.

So what do we take away from this? Is God petty? Or perhaps vindictive? Or mean? No. But here are some things to consider.

Blasphemy is serious. Nathan explains, “However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” (2 Samuel 12:14) As we saw last week, God will not allow His name to be defamed. If we don’t protect His honor, He will.

Sin hurts innocent people both in an abstract and very personal sense. David’s and Bathsheba’s son died. Bathsheba’s husband died. Soldiers in Israel’s army lost their lives. All as a direct or indirect result of David’s sin. No doubt in the justification that preceded the sin and in the moment the line was crossed, David was sure no one would ever know about the encounter, no consequences would follow. But the self-delusion doesn’t overturn reality. Our sins cause the innocent pain and suffering. The ultimate outworking of that is the suffering and death of the innocent Christ for our sins.

Sin is not to be trifled with. Through David’s experience, we see that we cannot treat sin as a pet who occasionally makes messes we have to clean up and instead realize it is a killer we cannot control. Once we understand that we grasp how desperately we need a savior and God’s amazing grace in giving us one.

Admittedly, this was a tough one. There was another instance when God told David ‘no,’ but the circumstances and the results were much more uplifting. So are the lessons. We’ll look at that occasion next week.

Read the series When God Said No

Established

By Paula

We know God established David as king over Israel.

And Ittai answered the king and said, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” 2 Samuel 15:21

2 Samuel 15 is the account of the beginning of the civil war that Absalom started against his father David.
The understatement of scripture and our own knowledge of how the events resolve strip David’s escape from Jerusalem of its desperation.
David was fleeing for his life.

But Ittai still called David the king.
And David would be the king until God said otherwise. (v. 25-26)

It didn’t matter that Absalom’s co-conspirator’s declared that Absalom was now the king.
It didn’t matter that Ahithophel and others defected to help Absalom.
It didn’t even matter that there were those in Israel who would have preferred Absalom to rule over them.

God established David as king.

If you are where God has established you,
You may face tremendous opposition and maybe open rebellion.
You may face abandonment and betrayal.
You may face wrenching sorrow and desperation.

But if you are where God has established you,
There are people like Ittai who are loyal.
There are wise friends.
There are those who will weep with you.

David knew that God had established him as king.
So David also knew the battle would come … but on God’s terms and not Absalom’s.
Just a few chapters later, it did.

If you are where God has established you, you may just be a chapter away, too.

Like Incense

The background on incense

So let’s take some principles from all that.

3 Things Psalm 63 Tells Me about My Soul

1. My soul has a critical need.

2. God more than meets my soul’s needs.

3. My soul is in close relationship with the God of the universe.

Intercession: For the Sick

Does Scripture give us any guidance on how to pray for the sick?

Elijah got personally involved.

Elijah didn’t have the answers.

Elijah did not give up.

Another Time When God Told David ‘No’

When God Told David ‘No’

Established

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series