Search The Scriptures

2 Samuel 2:1-32 There are times, Lord, when we need to start all over again. We need to make a new beginning with You. We've wandered away from You - and we wonder if You'll have us back again. Help us, Lord, to know, in our hearts, that You never lose patience with us. Your love for us remains constant, even when we're "in the far country" of our sin (Luke 15:13). You're always waiting for us to return to You. Our returning to You is not insignificant. It is important. How can we enter into Your blessing if we refuse to return to You? When we think about our returning to You, help us never to forget that it is never any more than a response to Your coming to us - "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).

2 Samuel 3:1-39 Our sin is sad. Our sin is shameful. Can anything be done about our sin? When, Lord, we think about our sin, help us to remember this: You have done something about our sin. Our sin threatens to overwhelm us. we feel like we're going down. We don't have a chance. we can't do anything about it. We can't - but You can! You can - because You have! When Jesus died and rose again, He triumphed over sin. He won the victory for us. That was a long time ago - but it's still the reason we believe that Your triumph can become real in us and through us. What You did then, You can still do now. You raised Jesus from the dead. Give us Your strength to "walk with You in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

The end of Saul’s reign, the beginning of David’s reign For Saul, the end was tragic - “See how the mighty have fallen” (2 Samuel 1:19,25,27). David’s reign marked a new beginning. God is gracious. He gives a new beginning when we have made a mess of things. He is the God of hope. He leads us out of our failure and into His victory. David became the king of Judah (2 Samuel 2:1-7) and the king of Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-5). Behind the story of David, there is the story of God at work: “The Lord was with David”,...

2 Samuel 4:1-5:25 ‘…They came into the house… and slew him…’(4:7). What are we to make of this kind of thing? - ‘What’s the world coming to?’. Where’s it all going to end?’. It is difficult to maintain real faith in the Lord when this kind of thing is going on. What are we to do? Don’t bury your head in the sand. Don’t pretend that such things are not happening. Don’t imagine that that they will just go away. ‘Inquire of the Lord’. ‘Do as the Lord commands’. Keep on believing that there will be a breakthrough - from the Lord(19,23,25,20). Can you ‘hear the sound of rustling in the leaves of the trees’? - ‘The Spirit of the Lord has come down on the earth’. Let us ‘rise, a mighty array, at the bidding of the Lord - The Spirit won’t be hindered by division in the perfect work that Jesus has begun’(24; John 3:8; Mission Praise, 274). 2 Samuel 6:1-23 ‘When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart’(16). Michal was a very angry ...

2 Samuel 24:1-25 Here, we see the spirit of pride. David wanted to ‘know the number of the people’ (2). Why? He wanted to feel important - ‘the big man’. He was not giving the glory to the Lord. He was taking it for himself. Did God give up on David - ‘a hopeless case, too full of himself and his own importance’? Of course not! The Lord, whose ‘mercy is great’, drew David back to Himself. David confessed his sin - ‘I have sinned greatly… I have done very foolishly… I have sinned and I have done wickedly’(10,17). David was accepted by the Lord - ‘The Lord your God accepts you’. He was brought from pride to praise (23,25). This is what God has done for us. We are ‘accepted in the Beloved’- ‘to the praise of His glorious grace’ (Ephesians 1:6).

2 Samuel 21:1-22:7 There’s no two ways about it. God’s people were getting it rough. There seemed to be so many problems. Were they to give up hope? - Not a bit of it! Read verse 14 - ‘After that God heeded supplications for the land’. What happened when God heard and answered the prayers of His people? - ‘the plague was averted from Israel’(24:25). Things would have been an awful lot worse, if it was not for the Lord hearing and answering prayer! Keep on praying. Keep on believing that God hears and answers prayer. He is not a tragic victim of circumstances - ‘Poor God. He can do nothing about it all’. Don’t believe that. That’s the lie of the devil. He is still the living God. Things are not out of His control. He is still on the throne. God can, if we will - ‘If my people…’(2 Corinthians 7:14). Pray ‘for the land’! 

2 Samuel 19:1-39 The closer we get to Your servants, the smaller they become. Jesus is different - very different. The closer we get to Him, the bigger He becomes. Help us, Lord, to make less of Your servants and more of our Saviour. We speak about this one, and that one. Sometimes, we say good things. Often, we say bad things. Help us to speak more of our Saviour. Help us to say nothing but good things about Him.

2 Samuel 17:1-29 What do we do when everything seems to go wrong? Do we start complaining, blaming You for everything that's happening to us? or Do we start asking the question, 'Where is the Lord in all of this?' Help us to challenge our negative thinking - "Why are you discouraged, my soul?" (Psalm 43:5). Help us to rise above our negative thinking. Raise us up, Lord, for You alone can lift us out of our defeatism and into that special place with You where we know that we are truly blessed - because You love us, and will never stop loving us, even when our love for You is very weak.

2 Samuel 23:1-39 By birth, David was ‘the son of Jesse’. By grace, he was ‘the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel’(1). What we are in ourselves is nothing compared with what we can become through the grace of God! Look at David. Listen to what he says, ‘The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His Word is upon my tongue’(2). What had David done to deserve this? What was so special about him? Nothing - This was the work of God, the work of divine grace. In ourselves, we are ‘godless’, good for nothing, ‘like thorns that are thrown away’(6). In ourselves, we are not ‘mighty men’(8-9). How can we be changed? - ‘The Lord wrought a great victory’(10,12). Which of us can be described as ‘a valiant man… a doer of great deeds’(20) - apart from the grace of God? ‘By grace you have been saved…’(Ephesians 2:8-10).

2 Samuel 4:1-5:25 Lord, there are bad things happening to us, things that we wish weren't happening. Sometimes, all of this gets us down. We wonder, "Who really cares about us? Is there anybody out there - anybody who's really interested?" We thank You, Lord, that there is an answer to our question. It's not an answer that comes from the human side. It's an answer that comes from above, an answer that comes from You. It's the answer of Your love. You love us in the good times. You love us in the bad times. Thank You, Lord.

2 Samuel 7:1-29 Life isn't easy. Sometimes, it seems like there are nothing but hard times. There doesn't seem to be alight at the end of the tunnel. That's the way it feels - but it's not the way it is! Our feelings will lead us away from You - if we let them! Our feelings can run riot over us. They can wreck our lives. Help us, Lord, to look beyond the chaos. Help us to look to You. Sometimes, it feels like You're far away. That's the way it seems to us - but it's not the way it really is! You are with us - now and always (Matthew 1:23; Matthew 28:20).

2 Samuel 19:40-20:26   Our words can do a lot of good - and they can do a lot of harm! Lord, help us to watch what we say. May our words be words that heal - not words that hurt. May they be helpful words, words that will help others to love You more - not words that will lead them away from You.

2 Samuel 23:1-39 Lord, we thank You for Your amazing grace. What we are, in ourselves, is nothing compared with what we can become through the power of Your love. Your love reaches us. It lifts us up - out of our sin, which drags us down, and into Your salvation, which renews our strength and makes us new men and women.

2 Samuel 24:1-25 Less pride and more praise - That's what we need, Lord. Less taking glory for ourselves and more giving glory to You - May that be the story of our life. Less living in our own weakness and more living in Your power - Lead us, Lord, into a life that is becoming less centred on ourselves and more centred on You.

2 Samuel 18:1-33 Often, we wish we could look into the future, and see what's going to happen to us. We can't. the future belongs to You, Lord - not to us. Help us to wait on You, Lord - to wait patiently for the time when Your future becomes our present. Our 'tomorrow' can never become our 'today' - until our 'today' becomes our 'yesterday.' Help us, Lord, to forget about gazing into some kind of 'crystal ball.' Give us the grace to walk with You in faith - one day at a time.

2 Samuel 1:1-2:32 Here, we read here about the end of Saul's reign and the beginning of David's reign. For Saul, the end was tragic: "See how the mighty have fallen!" (2 Samuel 1:19,25,27). David's reign marked a new beginning. God is gracious. He gives us a new beginning when we have made a mess of things. He is the God of hope. He leads us out of our failure and into His victory. 2 Samuel 3:1-5:25 In 2 Samuel 2:1-7, we read of David becoming the king of Judah. In 2 Samuel 5:1-5, we  read of him becoming the king of Israel. Behind the story of David, there is the story of God at work: "The Lord was with David." "The Lord had established him as king of Israel and made his kingdom famous for the sake of Israel, the Lord's people" (2 Samuel 5:10,12). 2 Samuel 6:1-8:18 David worships God - "I will celebrate in the Lord's presence", "You are great, Lord God. There is no-one like You, and there is no other god e...

2 Samuel 19:40-20:26 ‘The words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel’(43). At the heart of all this conflict was Sheba. He was a real trouble-maker. ‘A worthless fellow’, he was up to no good. A complainer, he wreaked havoc among God’s people. He was out to make an impression - and he succeeded. Sadly, it was all negative. He did a great deal of ‘harm’(1-2,6). How sad it is when there is strife among God’s people! God’s Word speaks out strongly against this kind of thing: ‘While there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh…?’. Strife can arise when we attach too much importance to certain individuals and pay too little attention to the Lord: ‘“I belong to Paul”… “I belong to Apollos”’. Remember - ‘Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth’(1 Corinthians 3:3-7).

2 Samuel 7:1-29 David was king. God was looking ahead to the next king, Solomon. Knowing the kind of man Solomon would become, God speaks of chastening: ‘When he does wrong, I will chasten him’. This chastening is an expression of God’s ‘steadfast love’: ‘Those whom I love, I rebuke and chasten’. How do we respond to God’s chastening? Don’t be like ‘Saul’. He was ‘put away from’ being king because of his continual disobedience. ‘Be zealous and repent’. When you are being chastened, don’t forget the love of God: ‘The Lord disciplines him whom He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives’. Why does God chasten His children? - ‘He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness’. Beyond the ‘pain’ of ‘discipline’, there is ‘the peaceful fruit of righteousness’(14-15; Revelation 3:19; Hebrews 12:5-11). 2 Samuel 8:1-9:13 David was involved in many battles with his enemies. Their antagonism had been aroused by his strong stand for the Lord. David enjoyed ...

2 Samuel 1:1-27 ‘How are the mighty fallen!’(19,25,27). The tragedy of Saul was there for all to see. He had made a right mess of things! What are we to think when we read of this tragic figure? He started out so well. He ended so badly. There were high hopes - but it all came to nothing. Do we not see ourselves in Saul? - This could happen to me, if I’m not careful. The danger signs are there. Satan is at hand. He is ready to sweep in. He will sweep the feet away from us, if we don’t watch out. We are very weak, but the Lord is ‘able to keep us from falling’(Jude 24-25). These are things we must never forget - our own weakness and the strength of the Lord. Disaster threatens. Tragedy looms. Jesus draws near. He speaks His Word - ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness’(2 Corinthians 12:9). By grace, we shall stand! 2 Samuel 2:1-32 It was a new beginning. There was a new king. Saul was gone. He had been replaced by David. One thing h...

2 Samuel 18:1-33 Some die young. Others live to a ripe old age. None of us can predict what lies ahead of us. There are some things that are beyond our control. We look at what is happening and we say, ‘I wish things could be different’. Absalom had been killed. David wished he could have died instead of him. It was not to be. Each of us must die our own death: ‘No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough - that he should live on for ever and not see decay’(Psalm 49:7-9). There is, however, a ‘Man’ who has died for us - Jesus Christ, ‘our Lord and our God’. He ‘gave Himself as a ransom for all’. ‘Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God’(John 20 28; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 3:18).