One Year Bible, June 1

2 SAMUEL 18:1 - 19:10                                                                                                   
"MY SON, MY SON! WOULD GOD I HAD DIED FOR THEE, O ABSALOM" Absalom's hasty recruits are no match for David's veteran soldiers. David wisely stayed out of the battle in the Woods of Ephraim. He only asked that his men "deal gently" with Absalom (18:5).  V.9 says Absalom's head, not just his hair, caught in the oak and hung him like Judas (Mat 27:5), and Joab finished him off by stabbing him in the heart and then chopping him up. His body parts were thrown into a pit, covered over with stones and then they tossed his self-made "King's Monument" over it.  This revealed the hatred for Absalom in Israel.  Surely David wrote Psa 102.  His heart was broken as he mourned over a worthless son who deserved what he got.   Remember, Absalom is a type of the FLESH and a prefigure of Judas.

JOAB jolted David out of his excessive grief. (19:5-6) The people were scattering in fear, especially those who had supported Absalom. Joab urged David to "speak comfortably to your servants".

RESPONSE:   When a shepherd is stricken, there isn't time to grieve because the sheep scatter quickly (Mat 26:31). The death of the flesh is grievous "for the present" (Heb 12:11) but it does yield righteousness and its peaceable fruit. So get up, and get back to work! That's Joab's advice.

JOHN 20:1-31                                                                                                                       
ENDURING THE "DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL" - OUR EXAMPLE
In these next four chapters, we learn HOW to "lose our life", so that we can gain "THE LIFE" (His, Gr: zoe) (Matt 10:39, etc).  From Phil 2, we know that Jesus VOLUNTARILY gave up His rights and privileges, His dignity, and His reputation. So we must Never defend ourselves; never demand our own way; never complain.

CHAPTER 18 - THE GARDEN: OBEDIENCE AND SUBMISSION.

CHAPTER 19 - PILATE'S HALL & CALVARY: BLAMELESS AND TRUSTING.

CHAPTER 20 - THE EMPTY TOMB: RESURRECTION LIFE.  The tomb was revealed to be empty "while it was yet dark" but the implications of that weren't yet understood by the disciples. That's how it is to those around you - they might count you out too quickly while your flesh is still decaying in the tomb.

"BUT MARY....."  All it took was Jesus saying her name - and she knew that Voice.  She wasn't allowed to touch Him yet because He was in the middle of taking His blood to the Mercy Seat and He wasn't allowed to touch anything in-between (Lev 16).   But, just think! Jesus was drawn aside by the love of Mary!

IMPARTATION OF HEAVEN'S AUTHORITY:  With the breath of the Holy Spirit, Jesus imparted what we need to be Him in the world.  (V.21) Our chief ministry is one of FORGIVENESS.  And guess WHERE the "retained sin" is retained?  In the one who won't forgive!

RESPONSE:   When we are going through our "dark night of the soul" and God seems far away, and we are nothing but trouble to those around us because of our own heart's struggles, and we feel sinful and helpless, THAT is when "while it is still dark" that we MUST KNOW that resurrection is coming.   And it is glorious because we will come out of that experience in POWER. We will become FORGIVERS because now we have a revelation of what God had to forgive in us. The FLESH is dead! Long live King Jesus! Ooops! The flesh has been dealt a mortal blow anyway.......but denying the FLESH the power to sin is already pre-determined now.

PSALM 119:153-176                                                                                                        
RESH V.153-160:  A resh is a picture of a forehead, where we store wisdom. The resh is also the number 200, which is the Biblical number of insufficiency. And so, twice this Psalm says, "quicken me" - give me life, revive me. Perk me up. His "suffering" in this case is depression.  He looked around and was disgusted at how people were acting. Not only were they not living according to the Word of God, but they persecuted him because he DID.   He wanted to be revived and lifted up "according to Your loving-kindness".   God's loving-kindness is His favor and faithfulness, goodness and grace that flow freely toward us.

SHIN V.161-168:  The shin is my favorite letter. Used by itself, it represents El Shaddai.  It pictures a large tooth, what puts "teeth" into the Gospel: the anointing, sufficiency and visible manifestation of God's Presence. THIS is what gives our heart peace: our security and freedom because of God's sufficiency. The Shin is also the number 300, the Bible number for sufficiency. (Gideon's 300, the woman who washed Jesus' feet had ointment worth 300 pence.) The WORD is "great spoil" (sufficient), and it provokes praise, and it keeps us from taking offense.

TAU V.169-176: The tau is a mark, signature, or cross. It symbolizes validation, or proven character...integrity.  Here we ask for God to "validate" us, help us because we have been "proven" to keep the Word.

PROVERBS 16:14-15                                                                                                             
GOOD LEADERS(kings): When Momma is unhappy, EVERYONE is unhappy!

RESPONSE: Do you want to know how to keep from being easily offended?  Read Psa 119:165 - "GREAT PEACE have they which LOVE THY LAW...."  keep your focus!  When we love the Word of God above all else (except the God OF the Word, of course) - our DELIGHT and our JOY is in God, not in people.  Then they can't offend, they can't hurt, they can't make us mad.  We become the KIND of people who don't GET offended, our feeling hurt, or get angry.