Right Relationship

As you live as a member of the family of God, repent of your old ways and realign your life to right relationship with Your Heavenly Father by following Jesus and serving others through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

“The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah…Saul went down…with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David. David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. David then asked…Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.” So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; He called out to the army…Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, David my son?” David replied, “Yes it is, my Lord the king.” And he added, “Why is my Lord pursuing his servant? Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will not try to harm you again. David answered…The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness.” 1 Samuel 26:1-23 

Slow down and consider the weight of these words for within them is great wisdom. Saul listened to gossip and slander and chose to go after David again. Saul did not relent or repent. He listened to foul mouths which fueled his fear. How often does gossip lead to great harm? On the other hand, David did not sit back and let sinful actions overtake him.  He attacked sin head on.  

Doing the right thing does not mean sitting back and avoiding sin. David was bold and surround himself with other bold men. It has been said if you look at your friends, you can see your future. Are you surrounded with gossip or are you aligning your life with people who pursue God? 

David has the opportunity to exact revenge, but he chose to remain righteous. Why? Why doesn’t he take Saul out? David viewed all that he did in light of whether it honored God. What would happen if we lived as if God sees everything? How would it change how we speak and act? What would happen if we held up every word, action, and attitude in light of whether it is what is righteous and pleasing to God? 

David called out from the wilderness and Saul repented. Things do not always work out perfectly when we are people of peace but in this circumstance David’s grace and compassion led to the healing of their relationship. Saul called David his son, blessed him, and left to go home. 

“Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph” Psalms 112:1-8

David sang out the truth that your life will be better if you honor God with all you do. He praised God and kept coming back to the word righteousness. What does it mean to be righteous? The Hebrew word means much more than being morally correct or not missing the mark. 

Righteousness is more about being in right alignment with how God and how He does everything. Righteousness brings life and restores. The righteous person serves the needy and gives to the poor.  Like God, the righteous person helps those who could never pay him back. How is your alignment? How are you reflecting Jesus by how you live? Who are you helping that could never pay you back? 

Think of the connections between the Samuel passage and psalms. It was at night time in the darkness that David still remained righteous and the light of compassion shined.  Much sin happens in dark times for those who do not do what is right. Consider how David was gracious, compassionate, and righteous.  Will your tombstone be marked by these three words? 

“My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands…guard my teachings…Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” They will keep you from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words. I noticed among the young men, a youth who had no sense. He was…walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. With persuasive words she led him astray; like an ox going to the slaughter, little knowing it will cost him his life. Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.”

Proverbs 7:1-27

Solomon tells us that there are competing voices in our lives. There is wisdom and there is wayward talk. There are songs of salvation from the spirit, and there are seductive words of sin that lead to slaughter. What are you listening to? What music, what social media, what is getting into your head and into your heart? Diving deeper, how are you storing up the words of God in your heart? How often are you reading the Bible, listening to worship, or spending time with other believers? 

Remember that David was proactive about attacking sin. He was not like the simple man who walked down the street at night time and put himself in a bad position.  How often have people been at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and done the wrong thing? Are you putting yourself in a position to stay pure and righteous? 

There is a battle going on in your body. The enemy of your life wants nothing more than to win your heart with seductive words. It might not seem like much, but it is the little seductive words of sin that lead us to places we never thought we would have been. Will you will listen to the desires of the flesh or follow in freedom by listening to the wisdom and words of the spirit? 

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time…He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles…The Lord will dry up the gulf…He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.” Isaiah 11:1-15

All of Scriptures eventually point to Jesus. He is the sinless Son of God. He is the righteous root and pathway to peace. He lived by the spirit and not by the flesh. He is the fullness of God. He is the one who pursue each of us personally. He did not sit back waiting for us to come to Him. He meets us where we are. He steps into our stories and reaches out his hand, a second time and third time and fourth time and fifth time until we grab hold of the truth that we are loved by God because we are made by Him to dwell with Him. 

You are never too far gone nor out of his reach.  You may feel unworthy and unrighteous. But he remains a banner of love to draw you back to the living God. The text says he makes a way for the exiles. Jesus himself said he came for the lost and sick. He dries up the waters between us that we might walk across whatever the gap between us with the sandals we have.  He is worthy of our praise and calling you to come. 

“John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him…when he saw many of the Pharisees…he said to them: “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Then Jesus came…to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” As soon as Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.””

Matthew 3:1-17 

If you get nothing else out of today, hear the voice of God telling you that you are the child that He loves. The Bible is a love story about a God who loves each person He gives life to. What would happen if all day long you focused on how loved you are by God and then all you did in response was love others out of a sense of wholeness because of how the love of Christ made you whole again? 

Jesus was not being baptized because He needed repentance. So why did He do it? Jesus did what His Father had said to do and modeled for others faithfulness by fearing and delighting in God's commands. Jesus simply said I did the right thing I knew to do to fulfill what would be most faithful in how I live. What if that was our rule of law for how we lived? Jesus was extending his hand to humanity, stepping into his role as Savior by stepping into the world of sin. He was righteous because He aligned His life with His Father’s righteous will. The sinless Son entered the waters where sinners belong to bridge the gap. 

Like David, John calls out from the wilderness, inviting all people to prepare the way for the Lord. Like Solomon said in proverbs, we need to make room for wisdom and hold fast to God’s words. The message is loud and clear. The kingdom of God has come near through the King of Kings. This is not accidental nor does it happen if we do nothing. He comes baptizing us with the spirit and with fire.  The spirit empowers and the fire burns up the sinful desires of our flesh that separate us from the love of God. As Paul would write later, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. 

We are poor and in need of help because of our great sin but He made a way. He alone is the One who is the way, the truth and the life. He is the way to peace with God and a life of power by the Holy Spirit. The question today is will you choose to listen to the voice of the Shepherd calling you to follow, will you do the next right thing you know to do, will you help the poor and needy, and will you let the Spirit lead you in loving God and others with what God has given you? 

Both David and Jesus invite us to learn to delight in God’s commands and do all we can to make a difference. What is your role within the family of God? As we walk out our faith in our heavenly family, listening to our Father, our light will shine in the darkness and we will become children who live with the knowledge that we are deeply loved.