SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR TODAY
I am sorry for posting these so late but here are the scripture readings for today:
2 Samuel 11:9-13
1 Timothy 5:1-10
Luke 19:37-44
This morning when I was spending some time studying the Old Testament reading for the day I read the following commentary on the passage. It is from a Greek Orthodox perspective but I thought there were some good things mentioned that should give us all something to think about:
Whither Shall I Flee? 2 Samuel 11:9-13 , especially vs. 13: "David called him, and he ate before him and drank, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening to lie upon his bed with the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house." In essence, King David's attempt to cloak his adultery was what Adam and Eve did when "the eyes of both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons to go around them.
And....hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden" (Gen. 3:8,9). How we struggle to hide our sins as long as we have even a semblance of conscience remaining! Truly, scrambling out of sight evinces that some moral health likely remains, tattered as it may be. Here is the point: confess quickly, for sin, like a stone tossed onto the quiet surface of a pond, ripples out, adding sin to sin.
Simply put, attempts to hide sin are flight from God. As David admits in his psalm: "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? And from Thy presence whither shall I flee?" (Ps. 138:6 LXX). In time, if we answer the Lord God in the garden of the heart when He calls to us, we will confess to Him, "Thou hast possessed my reins" (Ps. 138:12 LXX).
Tragically we waste time covering and evading. Survey a few early verses in this account of David's sin, and you will see how quickly his initial sin was made into a foundation-in-sand for a series of sins.
What business had the King in bringing a warrior back from the front lines where his services were needed (2 Samuel. 11:6)? It was not the business of the State, but a sin of cover up. What were the questions concerning the welfare of Joab and the men in the field and the progress of the military venture (2 Samuel. 11:7)?
They were not intelligence gathering, but a costumed ruse for bringing a soldier before his king and using him as a prop to shore up King David's deceit! What were the solicitous directions to "Go to thy house, and wash thy feet" (2 Samuel.
11:8). Hypocrisy!
Already, the illustrious warrior-king is exposed before the eyes of God as an adulterer, an abuser of power, a prevaricator, and a hypocrite.
To these crimes he adds the sin of tempting a man to violate his military oath. He says to Uriah, "Art thou not come from a journey? why hast thou not gone down to thy house?" (2 Samuel 11:10).
He rolls out the carpet-of-justification so that Uriah might sinfully indulge his pleasures contrary to his active-duty oath. Ah, but David's ploy is used against a man of finer metal than his sovereign. Uriah explains why he "will not do this thing" (vs. 11). David then wastes two more days of the time of this exemplary soldier in yet one more effort to hide his own sins (vs. 12). He gathers shame to his shame.
The exchange between King David and Uriah the Hittite was a charade on David's part, but the witness of a faithful servant by Uriah. As King David gathered more vices, he steadily enlarged the indictment against himself. Time will come when David shall honestly confess to the Lord, "Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee" (Ps.
50:4 ).
But now, the King of Israel adds yet one more sin against Uriah, he plies him with wine and seeks to turn him into an unwitting accomplice to a "tidy little cover up" of adultery (vs. 13).
Beloved in Christ, you and I have spit on Satan. We have turned from darkness to the true Light.
Let us heed the counsel of St. Makarios of Egypt, and avoid not only the overt sins, but let us keep ourselves "from sins that are hidden, such as desire, self-esteem, love of popularity, hypocrisy, love of power, wiliness, malice, hatred, unbelief, envy, self-love, affectation, and other things of this kind."
O Lord deal kindly with us, grant us forgiveness of our sins, deliver us from every evil, keep us in Thy grace, secure us in every good work, and guide us to the life of the age to come.
2 Samuel 11:9-13
1 Timothy 5:1-10
Luke 19:37-44
This morning when I was spending some time studying the Old Testament reading for the day I read the following commentary on the passage. It is from a Greek Orthodox perspective but I thought there were some good things mentioned that should give us all something to think about:
Whither Shall I Flee? 2 Samuel 11:9-13 , especially vs. 13: "David called him, and he ate before him and drank, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening to lie upon his bed with the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house." In essence, King David's attempt to cloak his adultery was what Adam and Eve did when "the eyes of both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons to go around them.
And....hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden" (Gen. 3:8,9). How we struggle to hide our sins as long as we have even a semblance of conscience remaining! Truly, scrambling out of sight evinces that some moral health likely remains, tattered as it may be. Here is the point: confess quickly, for sin, like a stone tossed onto the quiet surface of a pond, ripples out, adding sin to sin.
Simply put, attempts to hide sin are flight from God. As David admits in his psalm: "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? And from Thy presence whither shall I flee?" (Ps. 138:6 LXX). In time, if we answer the Lord God in the garden of the heart when He calls to us, we will confess to Him, "Thou hast possessed my reins" (Ps. 138:12 LXX).
Tragically we waste time covering and evading. Survey a few early verses in this account of David's sin, and you will see how quickly his initial sin was made into a foundation-in-sand for a series of sins.
What business had the King in bringing a warrior back from the front lines where his services were needed (2 Samuel. 11:6)? It was not the business of the State, but a sin of cover up. What were the questions concerning the welfare of Joab and the men in the field and the progress of the military venture (2 Samuel. 11:7)?
They were not intelligence gathering, but a costumed ruse for bringing a soldier before his king and using him as a prop to shore up King David's deceit! What were the solicitous directions to "Go to thy house, and wash thy feet" (2 Samuel.
11:8). Hypocrisy!
Already, the illustrious warrior-king is exposed before the eyes of God as an adulterer, an abuser of power, a prevaricator, and a hypocrite.
To these crimes he adds the sin of tempting a man to violate his military oath. He says to Uriah, "Art thou not come from a journey? why hast thou not gone down to thy house?" (2 Samuel 11:10).
He rolls out the carpet-of-justification so that Uriah might sinfully indulge his pleasures contrary to his active-duty oath. Ah, but David's ploy is used against a man of finer metal than his sovereign. Uriah explains why he "will not do this thing" (vs. 11). David then wastes two more days of the time of this exemplary soldier in yet one more effort to hide his own sins (vs. 12). He gathers shame to his shame.
The exchange between King David and Uriah the Hittite was a charade on David's part, but the witness of a faithful servant by Uriah. As King David gathered more vices, he steadily enlarged the indictment against himself. Time will come when David shall honestly confess to the Lord, "Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee" (Ps.
50:4 ).
But now, the King of Israel adds yet one more sin against Uriah, he plies him with wine and seeks to turn him into an unwitting accomplice to a "tidy little cover up" of adultery (vs. 13).
Beloved in Christ, you and I have spit on Satan. We have turned from darkness to the true Light.
Let us heed the counsel of St. Makarios of Egypt, and avoid not only the overt sins, but let us keep ourselves "from sins that are hidden, such as desire, self-esteem, love of popularity, hypocrisy, love of power, wiliness, malice, hatred, unbelief, envy, self-love, affectation, and other things of this kind."
O Lord deal kindly with us, grant us forgiveness of our sins, deliver us from every evil, keep us in Thy grace, secure us in every good work, and guide us to the life of the age to come.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home