Ian’s lets listen to Jesus

”You’re my friend and you are my brother, only You can satisfy”.

”Maybe you have not really considered the concept of Me being a friend to you as that word is not used much in my bible. Yet the whole concept of friendship lies behind my relationships with you and every other brother in Me. There are few human friendships which stand the true test of time and challenge – yet there are many who come close – at the best each of these is merely a small foretaste of the friendship which awaits you in me, when you enter into my fathers glory. Just know that although My friendship may be clandestine yet as you consider your life and how My Grace has change that, you will have some small inkling of what My true friendship is to you. Meditate on that and enjoy the realization of My total commitment to you.”

Turning to 1 Samuel ch 20 we come to the most beautiful revelation of true friendship. Recently there has been an attempt to hijack this chapter to suggest a sexual relationship. There is, however no suggestion of that at all. Here is a quote from a Christian author, “Like the sacramental use of water, bread and wine, friendship takes what is a common and human experience and turns it into something holy”

David would probably not have survived to become king if it wasn’t for Jonathan’s friendship. All the more surprising since Jonathan was actually the heir to the throne cf v 31., but was actually supporting David to take that position.

So let us look at various aspects of this great friendship:

Self sacrifice. Jonathan was prepared to risk his life for David and as we have seen before how he had relinquished his claim to the throne for David.

Love : v17. This showed a strong bond between them.

Kindness: v 15. Kindness lies beneath every aspect of building a strong friendship.

Faithfulness. We cannot see the completion of Jonathan’s faithfulness in this chapter alone, but he remained faithful to David till his death.

Companionship: Lying behind the whole structure of this story we see the strong bond of companionship between them.

God’s hand in friendship: Both David and Jonathan recognize that their bond of friendship has been given them by God Himself cf eg v 42.

Now these and other attributes of friendship don’t arise overnight. They are built up over time. Companionship comes from spending time together and from that grow the other attributes of real friendship.

As I read this chapter a warm sense of belonging came over me as I recognized shades of Jesus’ friendship with each one of us portrayed here. We often speak of having a relationship with God through Jesus, but what we really have , which is portrayed here so well is a true friendship, which the word “relationship” perhaps doesn’t do complete justice. This friendship is never really given a name in the New Testament but lies behind the whole concept of Jesus’ mission to save us.

What a friend we have in Jesus! Read the chapter again and meditate on it, while realizing that this is only a faint picture of the friendship we can and should have with Jesus. May I add that friendship comes from both sides and we cannot expect to have a deep experience of friendship if we don’t spend time with our friend Jesus, getting to know Him well and responding to His love towards us. He is ready to speak to you mainly through His word, but in other ways as well, at all times. Listen to Him, and speak to Him as well. Speak to Him about everything that matters in your life.

May He bless each one of you as you develop a deeper friendship with the Greatest Friend you could ever have.

“Oh love that will not let me go.”

”Love, that overused, over rated word which is bandied about in the world, yet in the context of My relationship with you and the world, is the most useful word which describes My commitment to you all and what I desire should be your response to Me. Emotions are often confused with real love, emotions come and go and can be extremely powerful in driving us to action – yet are unreliable and subject to change for many reasons. My love is not devoid of emotion but is nevertheless fixed in the attitude I have towards you all and the way I act in all circumstances. That love is the binding force which took Me to the cross and is My invitation to you in this coming year to respond by loving me – yes My desire is still that you love Me with all your soul, body, mind and strength and I am working towards getting you there. Unfortunately there will be pain as I prune away the branches in your life that bear no fruit.

As we get to 1 Samuel 19, we see the saga continue to unfold as God prepares David to be the future king of Israel. Saul’s importance is rapidly becoming diminished. Standing back and looking at the bigger picture of what is described in this chapter I saw so beautifully how God works with all of us to bring us ultimately to glory. Of course, the details vary with each individual, yet the process is the same, as described for instance in the first vv of Roman’s ch 5.

Behind these events one can see another dimension, which we often lose sight of. The powerful spiritual battle, which is raging, often unseen behind David’s and our lives, but which manifests in various ways.

What is important is that the forces of evil which seem to be the driving force behind Saul’s actions, are nevertheless completely under God’s control. We see this so well in the last vv of this chapter as Saul sends men to capture David and eventually tries to go himself when they are unsuccessful. What precisely the prophets were doing as they prophesied is not clear, probably a sort of praise session, and as soon as the antagonists join them, they find themselves, against their will, drawn into the same activity.

And so David survives. Even within Saul’s own family David has two strong allies, Jonathan and Michal, whom God has obviousy arranged they be there so that they could support David during all the vicissitudes he was experiencing.

All the time, God was doing what He describes in Romans 5. Producing perseverance, character and hope. In this way Dvid was a much stronger person after all these experiences, as unpleasant as they must often have been.

This passage was a strong back up to my sermon on Sunday and a further encouragement for the coming year. May you all experience God’s firm and loving hand on yourselves and your loved ones during this coming year.

I am fighting a battle that You have already won – and I know how the story ends – I will be with You forever.

” If you allow your eyes and your thoughts to focus on the battle – all you will see is flashing swords, squirting blood, damaged souls and even corpses. That is why you should live in the light of what I have done to overcome the enemy – the enemy of your soul– And lift your eyes above the conflict to see Me in all My majesty, the eternal Victor. You are in My team and My team always wins in the end. As you continue to travel on the narrow path you will experience the serious tempest of the battle from time to time, but he who hopes in the Lord will fly with wings of an eagle and soar above where the storms rage and the battle is fiercest and in Me you will have peace. This is My promise – trust in Me and trust in My promise and you will have peace.”

As what seems like a long year draws to an end, I have decided to focus today on a psalm that I have turned to a number of times this year. Psalm 13, a psalm written by the very David whom we have been reading about in 1 Samuel. Although already anointed as king David had to undertake several risky maneuvers to avoid the jealousy and hate of Saul. Many times, as he hid in caves and consorted with the enemy in an effort to escape, he must have called out “How long oh Lord, how long?”

This past year I have experienced times of great joy and release. I have often spent much time just appreciating God and what He has done for me and my family. However there have been a number of challenges. I am sure that each one of you have experienced something similar. Not the least was having “Long Covid”.

Several times during this period I have found myself waiting on the Lord for relief and an answer to my deepest prayers. Not the least, as I said during the time of my Long Covid. Sometimes these challenges have been more a question of comfort or relief from a situation.

What has, however become increasingly clear to me is that God uses this method to build our faith in Him. Time and again I have sensed Him saying to me, “Don’t you trust Me?”. Then I wait some more and often feel like David calling out “How long oh Lord, how long?”. When I look at the psalm, that seems exactly what David was experiencing. See vs 5 as he comes to that exact same conclusion, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation”.

Recently I read something by Paul Tripp. He said that waiting is a characteristic of Christianity. He suggested that it had to do with change. God is continually busy building us up. Change however, does not usually happen in a flash of realization, although it can of course. Change is usually a process and God uses this waiting often in the process of bringing change to our hearts and minds.

Ultimately real change is initiated by a realization of the need to repent in a certain area. The realization of the need to change is the first step to accomplishing this. Hence the importance of confession in Church services.

Finally, when faced with a period of waiting, where we are called to be still and trust in the Lord, the temptation is to lose our patience and rush in to solve the problem ourselves. There is a time for waiting and a time for going into action at the Lord’s guidance.

May these thoughts help you as you prepare for the coming year. Finally remember the words of Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”.

May the Lord bless you all out of your socks as we move into a new possibly exciting year of opportunity for the Lord.

How wonderful, how marvelous is my Saviour’s is love for me.

”My Love is demonstrated at this time of the year with a new urgency and intimacy – as you celebrate the visible manifestation of My love for you and for the whole world in sending My Son on a mission to planet Earth, a rescue mission, the most important mission of all time – to provide a rescue avenue. Not an impersonal path or way out, but a personal rescue involving a personal encounter with Me through My son. He undertook the mission knowing the cost but did it gladly because of my overreaching love for the whole world. My desire is that at this time and in this season this mission would become even more real to you and to all who love Me and it will be discovered by many who never knew it before. All the pain and hurt and sorrow will soon be behind you as My mission is completed and I bring all My loved one’s home. So be a light on a hill so that many may see in you My light which I have brought to the Earth”.

As we turn now to 1 Samuel 18, the story of Saul and David continues to unfold. It is a story of gathering antipathy, anger and fear from Saul towards David. Before we enter the full text of the chapter there is this beautiful interlude of Jonathan and his love and friendship with David. It is a sharp contrast which highlights the evil of Saul even more. Jonathan, the eldest son of the king had every right to expect to follow his father to the throne. Here we see that he is more than happy to befriend David and support him.

From appearing to accept David and promote him and his role we see that the real feelings behind these actions were driven by a growing unreasonable jealousy of David’s popularity and a fear described several times raised by the repeated statement, “Because the Lord was with David” vv 12,14,29.

As the narrative unfolds we see how Saul tries to get rid of David. His efforts fail and instead, another member of his household falls in love with David, Saul’s daughter Michal. Saul even tries the same trick with David that David would later try with Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. Send them into the thick of the battle hoping they will be killed.

Sorry for this but I had this little giggle as I imagined David returning from battle with a bag filled with 200 foreskins. In my mind’s eye I saw him shake it out on a table for Saul to count. Or well maybe they just kept count on the battlefield.

The Lord spoke to me in several ways from this passage. Here are three.

1. I was struck by how treacherous and unreliable people can be. I am sure you have all experienced the pain of someone close to you or whom you have a high regard for turning on you or letting you down. It highlights again the exceptional value of having a Lord and Friend i n Jesus who is always faithful and will never let you down. The description “Rock” is so valuable.
2. The picture of Saul’s hate towards David is a preview of the intense hate people had towards David’s Greater Son Jesus while He was on earth. This is carried over to us today as people recognize in some way that God is with us and this seems to generate intense feelings of antagonism towards us.
3. As God’s plan for David unfolds we can see how, in several ways, God is guiding and using events to accomplish His ultimate purposes. This does not necessarily mean that His children don’t experience discomfort from time to time. But it does mean that nothing will stop God from carrying out the plan He has for each one of us. And ultimately the climax of that plan is to take us into the New Heavens and the New Earth when He is ready to do so.

May our loving Lord Jesus bless each one of you who have followed this blog, in a special way this Christmas and we will meet again next week.

Jesus calls me friend – so, what a friend I have in Jesus! What does that mean to me?

”Maybe your reflection on friendship will be clouded by your experience of human friendships. People who you have called friend in the past turning and letting you down or even worse actually acting against you and your best needs and purposes – figuratively stabbing you in the back. The one you thought you could really trust actually being the one who is bringing you down. I am a completely different type of friend. I am a friend who you can share your deepest desires, joys and yes, your fears with. The one who will never act against you or use inside knowledge to bring you down. I am the friend who gave up the right to call myself God and died on the cross to save you. My thoughts and actions are always aimed at your ultimate benefit. You can always trust me even and especially in the darkest moments when there appears to be no way through. I am there and will always make a way. Even using that moment to demonstrate my glory. So, lean back into My arms and trust me.”

We come today to ch 17 of 1 Samuel. One of the best-known passages in the bible. I am afraid often wrongly or inadequately interpreted. The real message is very powerful, however and is really worth meditating on.

Ch 17 introduces us again to David, the future king of Israel. It is clear that it describes an event which happened before the events described in the previous chapter.

The background is a war scene. This strange way of fighting is described where a champion of one army comes out and challenges the other army to produce a champion. The result of this conflict will determine the result of the battle. There are some of Jesse’s sons in the army and David, a young fellow who was actually a shepherd is sent to the warfront to deliver supplies to his brothers.

The description of what follows is beautifully laid out. The contrast is enormous between the two combatants. Just read it again and live yourself into the scene. Totally against all expectations David not only survives but comes out the victor cutting off this giant’s head.

The conclusion usually drawn. With God’s help the small overcomes the impossibly great. While this true and a principle we see throughout the bible, that interpretation is inadequate though. We need to ask the question, “What gave David the courage to take on this giant?” His explanation in vv 34-37 gives us the answer. David has for a long time trusted God in a number of impossible situations, experiencing His saving power and grace in each situation. In this way his faith was exercised and grew to the point where he could confidently say “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”vs 37

Faith is not something that arises and grows in a vacuum. It is a sense of trust which is initiated by God’s revelation of Himself to a person. From there it grows exponentially through the interaction of the person and God as he deals with life’s circumstances and the tests and trials God places before him. There are many facets to this interaction as one gets to know God through His word and teaching and one’s understanding and obedience. Ultimately David had already grown in his trust of God through a number of trials which prepared him for this moment. That is why he could write Psalm 23 for instance and many others.

The second thing to note is that David did this act because he felt personally offended that His God was being defied. As he took on the conflict his words indicated that he wanted to come against Goliath in God’s name, to glorify Him and trusting in Him. There was no thought of personal glory or fame.

Then there is the telling verse 47, “It is not by sword that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give all of you into our hands“. God’s way of victory lies in His hands and is often not the way we expect. But we can relax and feel safe because the battle is His. However, we still need to, like David be prepared to do our share.

Because of this trust David could confidently write Psalm 23 and many others.

The chapter ends with an interaction showing Saul’s interest in getting to know more about David. Could this have been motivated by the jealousy which later becomes so prominent in the story about Saul?

Friends this has been a tough year for me and for many of you too. This passage gives one the opportunity to get some perspective again on our relationship with our most loving and caring Lord. A reminder that He is always acting for our benefit and nothing is ever too hard for Him. That we can place our trust fully on Him and sleep at ease, no matter how fearful and large our personal Goliath may appear. May you enjoy the days leading up to the celebration of His birth as we eagerly anticipate the ultimate consummation of His plan for the whole world and for each of us individually. God bless you till next week.