Consider Jesus

Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 18

Scripture Focus: And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18.33)

Devotional Thought: In David's great anguish over Absalom, was there a measure of guilt? After all, Absalom has gotten away with murder, literally, when he killed his half-brother Amnon. David had looked the other way. The consequences of his disobedience were severe for him, his family, and the entire nation.

Do we ever compromise on what we know is right? We sometimes do it in the name of love and mercy, but in reality it is often driven by our own feelings of guilt or fear (“I’m in no position to judge”, or “I don’t know the specific circumstances”). We should be prayerful in our convictions, and careful to avoid self-righteousness, but I wonder if we are sometimes too quick to excuse, or turn a blind eye to blatant sinfulness, to avoid tension in our close relationships. Isn’t it within these loving relationships that we must speak, if we see a fellow believer straying from the security of the Father? As one of my precious friends so wisely reminds me, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another,” (Prov. 27:17).

David could have been instrumental in helping his son pursue righteousness, rather than his own sinful desires. Instead, he hid his head in the sand and failed to call his son into account for his sin. Consider Jesus, however. He didn't turn his back on justice, but he loved us enough to pay the tremendous debt for our sin. May God give us the courage of our convictions to point the way to righteousness, but to do so in mercy and love.

Jenny

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, that you paid the penalty for my sins, fulfilling the just requirements of the Law. Help me to have such an attitude for righteousness that I do not gloss over sin, but instead point to you as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 105.7-15

7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”

12 When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, 13 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 15 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”