THE LORD SPOKE (May 2)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Samuel 1-2

Once again, after a traumatic event in his life (the deaths of the king and of his best friend), we read that "David inquired of the Lord" (II Sam. 2:1a). And, once again, we find that "the Lord spoke" to him (II Sam. 2:1b). Are we detecting a pattern here? David's instantaneous and intimate contact with God is not only refreshing, it is very rare. There are three other examples of this in Scripture:

Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17) and his writings are peppered with evidence that he took his own medicine.

Nehemiah is found often on his knees. We have a greater number of his prayers recorded than any other individual in the Bible. Some were long and crafted (e.g. Neh. 1:5-11) while others were "sentence prayers" offered up quickly at the moment the difficulty appeared (e.g. Neh. 2:4). You have to be "all prayed up" to do that.

Jesus' own prayer habits frequently demonstrate an ease and depth of conversation with his Father which betray a continual prayer relationship (e.g. John 17).

Summarizing lessons learned in the last several instances of David turning to God in moments of personal need, here are four suggestions we need to follow:

1. Admit your sin - acknowledge it as disobedience.
2. Ask for accountability - seek counsel and supervision.
3. Arm yourself - through prayer and Scripture.
4. Associate with other believers - lean on them, savor fellowship, encourage them in return.

May we, like David, use those moments of distress or weakness or temptation as a trigger to turn automatically to God for help.


New Testament: Romans 5

Did you hear about the guy who bought a beautiful new chainsaw but came back to the store a couple days later complaining that it wouldn’t cut anything? When the salesman pulled the cord and it sprang to life the unhappy owner said, “What’s that sound?”

A man trying to save himself by his own efforts (good works or otherwise) is no less silly. Paul says we’re “powerless” to do so. We’re “ungodly” (Rom. 5:6), “sinners” (Rom. 5:8), and therefore “God’s enemies” (Rom. 5:10). How could we possibly change that? We can’t, but He does! By the death of His Son we can be reconciled to God. This brings justification and access to God (Rom. 5:1-2).

In the second half of the chapter, Paul demonstrates how Adam’s sin affected us all. He answers the question, “Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we’re sinners?” It’s the latter! We’re born with a sin nature (Rom. 5:12,14) and it’s our bent to sin. We sin because we’re sinners.

But “while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8) and His righteousness now can be ours. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Adam brought sin and death into this world but Christ brought righteousness and life. Paul calls Adam a “pattern” of Christ (Rom. 5:14) in that just as his one act of sin brought universal death, so Christ, by His one act of righteousness, brought universal blessing. But be careful! That does not mean universal salvation. Christ’s death is sufficient for all but only efficient for those who believe.

That’s the burden of this whole book. Paul has already argued, and will yet go into much more detail, to show that it is necessary for man to trust in God’s Promise in order to be saved. It’s “by grace, through faith”. Salvation is for “those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace” (Rom. 5:17). When he was in the jail at Philippi, he told the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).