Poured Out to the LORD

A passage in scripture mentioned last night during Bible study was in my morning Bible reading today, the time when David's mighty men brought him water from the well in Bethlehem.  It seems they overheard David's longing for a drink of water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem and three of his mighty men decided to take action.  1 Chronicles 11:18-19 says, "So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD. ¹⁹ And he said, "Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men."

After "breaking through" the camp of the Philistines, it is highly unlikely these men were unscathed.  When they returned from their dangerous journey, I imagine David looked at them all bloodied and battered and wondered what had happened.  When they produced water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, David was appalled they risked their lives and shed their blood for his sake.  He looked at their bruises, lacerations and blood and felt unworthy to drink of the water that came at such a high price.  The risk involved with going to Bethlehem was likely a reason why David had not gone to Bethlehem himself, and why David had not led his men to the well by the gate to quench his craving.

David would not treat their blood like water or a common thing, so he treated the water they brought him from Bethlehem as their precious blood.  Though they urged him, David would not drink it.  He poured out all the water from the well of Bethlehem as an offering before the LORD, elevating their service, love and sacrifice as a most worthy and honourable gesture, and David gave to God the honour the LORD is worthy of by giving him his best and what he desired and prized greatly.  The thing David longed for he denied himself from drinking so God would be praised and glorified.  God is worthy of such self denial, and David's act teaches us the very thing we long for that we could have--or even hold in our hands--is worth giving to God to honour and recognise His greatness and our allegiance to Him.

In response to what David's men did out of love and loyalty for their future king, David used the water to express his love for God.  He denied meeting his physical needs and personal preferences to honour and praise the LORD in sincere worship.  The humility of David shines in this passage, for he demonstrated his unworthiness to receive of such great personal sacrifice only God is worthy of.  I do not believe it was a sin to drink the water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, but David refused to do it because he loved God and others more than himself.  Solomon mused in Proverbs 5:16 on the subject of sexual thirst:  "Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?"  The answer of course is no:  we ought to reserve the quenching of such thirst with our spouse alone.  God is worthy of abstinence, chastity, and monogamy in marriage.  Knowing Jesus has shed His blood to forgive us of all sin and filled us with the Holy Spirit, we are to keep our temple pure from fornication, pouring ourselves out as drink offerings unto our King Jesus.

The LORD with Us

One of the great compliments seen in scripture is all by God's grace given to people loyal and zealous for His sake:  that God was with a person.  Sometimes I have been riding along with a friend who is driving and takes a call on speakerphone.  As a courtesy so the caller knows the conversation is not private, typically my friend will say something like, "Ben's with me in the car."  If the person knows me we may even greet one another, and the phone conversation will continue.  Wouldn't it be amazing to call someone and hear them say, "By the way, God's with me."  For the believer in Jesus Christ, this can actually always be the case because our Saviour will never leave or forsake us.

In my morning reading, I came across a reminder of this in 1 Chronicles 9:20:  "And Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the LORD was with him."  What we see throughout Scripture is God draws near to those who draw near to Him, and He is with those who cling to Him in faith.  Phinehas was priest who was zealous for the LORD and God offered him a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood after he took a strong stand for God according to the LORD's command against idolators during the scandal of Baal-peor in Numbers 25.  Phineas was a man who feared God and was courageous to uphold God's word, and he was exactly the sort of person God wanted in His presence and service always.

There are many other people in the Bible who are identified as those whom God was with, and though God could not be seen with naked eye (being a Spirit), the evidence was undeniable and acknowledged by those who observed them.  1 Samuel 3:19 tells us of Samuel as a child:  "So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground."  We read of Joseph whilst incarcerated in Egypt in Genesis 39:23:  "The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper."  1 Chronicles 11:9 says of king David, "Then David went on and became great, and the LORD of hosts was with him."  God's presence was also plain in the life of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 1:1:  "Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly."  We can observe God's presence with people truly makes a man, as God causes words spoken to have impact, decisions to be wise and prosperous, to rightly wield authority and lead successfully.

As God was with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah and an innumerable multitude of people we respect for their faith and obedience to God, so our LORD and Saviour has promised to be with us.  Jesus addressed His disciples with all authority given to Him in heaven and on earth in Matthew 28:19-20:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Did you notice Matthew's "Amen" after the words of Jesus?  He agreed with the words of Jesus both in truth and personal experience.  Though Jesus ascended to the Father, the Spirit of Christ remained with the disciples of Jesus and all who abide in Him according to His covenant and promise.  Jesus fulfilled the sign spoken of in Isaiah 7:14, that a virgin would conceive and bear a son and call His name Emmanuel--God with us.  Knowing God is with us is an awesome reality for Christians today because He is our life and makes us men and women of God.  Amen!

Looking to the LORD

The children of Israel reveal how natural it is to go from looking to God in faith to what He has given us, to look to ourselves, resources and our God-given abilities rather than seeking and relying upon Him.  This is evident in the prophet of God's rebuke of Israel in Isaiah 22:8-11:  "He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest; ⁹ you also saw the damage to the city of David, that it was great; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. ¹⁰ You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses you broke down to fortify the wall. ¹¹ You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago."  When Jerusalem was damaged by enemies, they took it upon themselves to assess and repair the broken wall.  Afraid or unable to leave the confines of the city due to a siege, they broke apart houses to repair the wall when it was God who removed their protection.  Such efforts were futile when they were at war with God.

There is nothing wrong with engineers and builders repairing breaches in a wall to protect their city, houses and families.  The problem lie in that God's people had ceased communication with Him; they would not listen to His prophets and warnings of coming destruction.  The people imagined they were entitled to God's favour when He was longsuffering, merciful and gracious despite their rebellious ways.  They looked to the House of the Forest where their shields and weapons were stored, for they imagined it was up to them to defend themselves.  They aimed to shore up battered walls and defences when it was God who had protected them continually from before Israel was a nation.  The people gathered water to quench their thirst, preserve their lives and prevent the enemy from tapping into it when God had supplied water for their fathers from the rock when they dwelt in the wilderness.  Water was stored in a reservoir for the old pool, yet they did not look to the almighty God who is of old, from everlasting.

I like the rendering of verse 11 in the NIV:  "You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago."  This verse presents the picture of men being quite impressed with their planning and accomplishment to build a reservoir, and they did not have respect or regard for God who planned it long ago.  It is true God is our Maker, and as Maker it implies He had a plan in all He has fashioned.  God planned to make Jerusalem the place where He put His name and provided the blueprints for the temple king Solomon would build there.  God provided all the materials and skillful workers to build a great house, to access the Gihon spring (that flows to this day), to build gates, walls and houses.  God who planned the construction of Jerusalem also planned for the destruction of the city, the correction of His people, and withdrew protection so His servant Nebuchadnezzar would accomplish God's will.  He also planned to restore His people to their land and to worship of His holy name in a rebuilt temple in due time.

God's good purposes and plans have continued to this day, for He has provided passages of scripture in the Old and New Testament to instruct and guide Christians who are new creations by the power of the Gospel.  Whatsoever things are written in the Bible are for our learning, and we ought to be numbered among those who absorb this simple truth:  our tendency is to look to stuff and our own abilities rather than God our Maker.  We can be proud of our achievements or accomplishments when our plans are completed instead of humbling ourselves before the LORD, looking to Him and regarding His plans as paramount.  How good is the exhortation of Proverbs 3:5-6 for us today in light of these things:  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  The words of our LORD Jesus echo from the Old Testament in Isaiah 45:22:  "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."

Let us hear the voice of our Saviour and look to Him today and regard God who plans to seek and save the lost who trust in Him.  He is our refuge and provides the Living Water of the Holy Spirit, and in Him we find rest for our souls who faithfully directs our paths.

Overcoming Evil with Good

In 1 Chronicles 7, there is an obscure account of the tragic deaths of the sons of Ephraim, Ezer and Elead, at the hands of the men of Gath over the theft of cattle.  It is unclear whether the sons of Ephraim or the men of Gath were the aggressors.  It seems most likely men from Gath came to steal cattle from the sons of Ephraim during their sojourn in Egypt.  It is also possible the sons of Ephraim, during a trip to Gath before the enslavement of the Hebrews, attempted to take cattle from Philistines and it resulted in their death.  Ephraim was rightly devastated by the death of his sons, and his grief and sorrow continued for some time.  His mourning for the evil which had befallen his house continued to the birth of his next son as 1 Chronicles 7:23 tells us:  "And when he went in to his wife, she conceived and bore a son; and he called his name Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house."  Beriah means, "in evil."  It seems evil had overtaken Ephraim and his house, and he was profoundly affected by his great loss.

The life of Ephraim shows us how we can be more negatively impacted by grief and feelings of loss than being encouraged by all God has given us.  It is no sin to love others and to care deeply about them, to be overwhelmed by emotions and feelings God has provided us by His grace.  But it is sinful to remain hopeless and despair when God remains good.  Though we live in a world filled with evil (and we are all contributors to the downward spiral in our natural state), we can be glad it need not overcome us.  The Son of God Jesus Christ came into this world and experienced the wickedness of this fallen world in full, for He was betrayed, mocked, condemned and murdered though He was righteous and without sin.  In embracing the human experience He embraced every sinner by His sacrifice, not just to empathise with us but to provide redemption, reconciliation, restoration, atonement, healing and eternal life.  Words fail to describe in full the awesome works God has done through the Gospel for all who trust in Christ, and He has brought enduring hope to lost, hurting, dying sinners.

Paul wrote to Christian believers in Romans 12:21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  Israel described his days on earth as "few and evil" compared to his fathers, and evil which flourished in Ephraim's day has continued until now.  Though we live in evil days, through faith in Jesus Christ evil can still be overcome by good--as sure as sinners can be made saints by the Gospel.  Jesus said to His disciples, "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world," and He demonstrated all power to overcome death (the consequences of sin) by rising from the dead and remains victorious in eternal glory.  To "overcome" means to conquer or prevail.  Christ makes us overcomers when we are born again by faith in Jesus and then willingly submit to Him, presenting ourselves to Him as living sacrifices.  Rather than being conformed to the world, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, approving of God's will and practicing it (Romans 12:1-2).

Since we are called to overcome evil with good, we must learn to discern between God's ways and the wisdom of this world.  Romans 12:9 says, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."  We can be easily overtaken and overcome by evil when we have embraced hypocrisy in our hearts, loving what is evil and being unfaithful to do and think on what is good.  Our love of God prompts us to be faithful to Him in practice:  wouldn't it be a shame for acts of devotion and obedience to God to resemble a "fling" because we remain married and cling to evil?   God's word is able to pierce our hearts and stir our conscience, revealing wickedness in us to repent of and guiding us to do what is good as Psalm 119:104-105 says:  "Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. ¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Praise the LORD we are not at the mercy of evil, for the mercies of our good God are great.  Knowing death has been conquered by Christ, by His strength and wisdom we can choose to hate evil and do what is good every day--even to rejoice in a sorrowful season.