“Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.” Isaiah 63:15  Lord Remember your people. We live in a reality that we cannot fully know you or wholeheartedly follow you. We glimpse you but often find trinkets and trophies we’ve collected blocking our sight. Remove the idols in our way that we may see you. ”For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.” Isaiah 63:16  We are apart of a great story Lord. We can easily feel lost in the void of time that has elapsed since you openly showed your glory. Let us realize that we see your glory all surrounding and your power is evident in the complex simplicity of your creation. ”O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.” Isaiah 63:17  Lord we are so prone to wander from your goodness and truth. We need your help Lord. It is only in your provision and power that we can live, breathe, and move. Let us fear you and trust in your hope.

Does our prayer life have a noticeable outward effect? As we commune with God do we share stories of what God has done in your life with your friends? Do we tell of His faithfulness? Does God’s provision and blessing cause us to reflect upon His work in our life and share these thoughts with our friends? The relationship we have with God is expressed consistently to those around as direct outward expression and reflection of our relationship with God  What what do you express and reflect?

Through the rest of 2 Samuel 23:8-39 the mighty men of David are listed along with some of their accomplishments. There are two men who in particular who stand out in the lest of the mens accomplishments. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada stands out for his actions. He kills the two sons of Ariel of Moab, a lion in pit on a snowy day, and an Egyptian warrior. What motivated Benaiah to accomplish there amazing feats? Was David’s leadership and dependance upon God part of the reason that these men were so mighty? What kind of power is present in us once we have placed out faith and hope in Jesus Christ? Do we live in that power today? The second man who stood out to me from the list of mighty men was Joab. He doesn’t appear in the list of the thirty mighty men of David. The two brothers of Joab, Abishai and Asahel, appear in the list of mighty men of David but he is not listed among them. What differentiated one man from another with respect to the mighty men of David? Was it only based on skill and strength or was the man’s relationship with God more important? Throughout the story woven throughout the old testament the strength that a person has was of little importance compared to the strength and power that God choose to display through them. I desire that my true strength is consistently rooted in who God is and never in who I am.

In 2 Samuel 24 David is incited by God’s anger to take a census of all the people in Israel. Why was David incited by the anger of the Lord? What was God angry about? The thought that God’s anger was unfair toward the people of Israel may seem unfair but the truth that God is sovereign should be enough of an answer for you. Can you fully trust that God is sovereign? If you are not at a point where you trust that all God does if for good no matter how it may be perceived through human eyes you cannot fully appreciate how love is expressed through trials that we go through. I believe that whatever happens in the lives of men is for the ultimate good and glory of God. In moments when it seems that life is full of trials and tribulation it will only be when the veil of sin’s curse is lifted that we can see the beautiful orchestration in God’s ultimate plan and how He is using us.

I am amazed at the message that God gives David through the prophet Gad, “Thus the Lord says, ‘I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you,’ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee for three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” 2 Samuel 24:12,13  Can you image the terror of knowing that you have the choice of three punishments from God. How do you make a choice about a type of curse that will happen for you. It is easy to choose a flavor of ice cream or color of a new shirt but to have a choice about a punishment sounds very difficult. David chooses to have the pestilence come upon Israel for three days. Seventy thousand people perish in three days during the plague of pestilence.

How did David feel seeing this pain inflicted upon the people of Israel? Was there anything that David could do to help the people? What did David see when he say the angel of the Lord at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite? Was it terrifying to see the angel of the Lord inflicting the destruction upon the people around you. David stands out again when he confronts the angel and takes responsibility for the sin and seeks to take the burden off of the people. He then proceeds to offer God a sacrifice at the threshing floor where he prays to God. It says in 2 Samuel 24:25 that the Lord was moved by the prayer for the land andGod relents and He holds back the plague from the people of Israel. How does prayer effect our lives and the lives of the people around us? When trouble swirls all around you will you have the confidence to make a stand? Will you stand in the gap and pray for those around you? Will you plead before God asking for deliverance? Lord grant me a heart like David’s where I will seek out the best for others around me and grant me that faith to follow after you.

– Numbers 10:35

The Israelites are setting out in Numbers chapter 10 to claim the land that God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What an amazing site it must have been to hear the ring of a silver trumpet and then the orchestration of the multiple millions began as the Israelites set out and follow God. The image that is given in Numbers chapters 9 and 10 is one of dependance. The only time that the Israelites moved the camp was when God raised the cloud up from the Tabernacle.

I have never looked at the journey of the Israelites in such a structured way. I had thought that when the Israelites moved about in the wilderness that it was more of a random wandering. It was truthfully a relationship that was one of a Father leading His children.

Before the departure of the Israelites they celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month two years after their departure from Egypt. It was their time to remember what God had done in delivering them from their bondage in Egypt. I think that the passover was a passionate time of remembrance because in Numbers 9:6-10 God gives instruction for people who become unclean because of a dead person. These men wanted to bring their offering to the Lord but they were unclean. This is contrasted to a man who is clean and doesn’t observe the Passover. The clean man will be cut off from his people. The Passover celebration seems a little foreign to me today. What significance does it hold for the church today? I think the Passover is a marker that points me to Jesus Christ and His ultimate sacrifice on the cross. There is a lot of foreshadowing of the Messiah in the story of the Israelites freedom from their bondage. Just as the Egyptians held the Israelites in bondage so too my sin held me in bondage. I was under the wrath of God for the sins that I committed. There was not way for me to find freedom until Jesus Christ died on the cross. His blood is the lambs blood placed upon me just as the blood was places on the lintel and doorposts of the Israelites. I am very thankful for the provision that God blessed the world with through the death of Jesus Christ.

In chapter 10 God instructs Moses to create two trumpets of silver which were blown at various and different times such as when the Israelites were heading to war so that “[they] may be remembered before the Lord [their] God, and be saved from your enemies” Numbers 10:9b. I see many similarities in my daily life to the blowing of these trumpets. These trumpets blown for feast, assembly, and war were an integral part of the Israelites daily lives. I look upon these trumpets as one way that the Israelites were communicating and showing dependance on God. My trumpet is prayer. When I go to God in prayer it is my reaching out seeking to be remembered by God and seeking assistance. Seeing how much just a trumpet played a role for a nation I am convinced that my prayer life is even of greater importance.

Lord, I pray that you will instill a desire to include you in all areas of my life and that I will seek you in prayer. This journey I am on is one where I am following you and unsure where I am headed but I trust that you are faithful. I am thankful for your help.

Lord, You know my heart right now and I ask for your help and intervention in this time. I know you are Holy and Just Lord and I ask for peace. You are more than able to accomplish this and I thank You now for that.

It is too easy for me to just brush off this time where I am moved to pray but how can I not pray when deep in my heart I know people need God’s help. It reminds me of times when I am driving and I see a Flight for Life helicopter flying overhead. I always get choked up and I start praying for wisdom for the crew, doctors, nurses, and the patient. I thank God that my heart has become tender and open to these situations and I pray that I may continue to draw closer to God.