Tag Archives: godly devotion

2 Kings, chapters 16-18

When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Urijah the priest a plan of the altar, showing its pattern and how it was made. Urijah the priest built an altar according to all the directions that King Ahaz had sent […].
~2 Kings 16:10,11

Urijah knew that the original plans for the first altar had been given from Jehovah to David.
David’s son, Solomon, had carried out the blueprints precisely as indicated (2 Chron. 3:1; 4:1).
Urijah, however, allowed King Ahaz to overstep his authority and alter Jehovah’s instructions.

King Ahaz was an apostate.
“He did not do what was right in the eyes of Jehovah his God as David his forefather had done. […] He even made his own son pass through the fire,” (2 Ki. 16:2,3).

When King Ahaz returned from his trip, “he moved the copper altar that was before Jehovah from its place in front of the house, from between his own altar and the house of Jehovah, and he put it at the north side of his own altar. […] Urijah the priest did everything that King Ahaz had commanded” (2 Ki. 16:14,16).

When the congregation hands us instructions regarding our worship, do we see their divine origin, or do we consider them to be mere suggestions?
Do we alter Jehovah’s instructions because they do not appeal to us or because we think we can come up with a better form of worship?
And to what extent do we allow others to dissuade us from doing what we know Jehovah asks of us?

Urijah does not stand out in the Bible account as being a faithful priest.
He contributed to the demise of pure worship in his day.

1 Kings, chapters 9-11

So Hiram went out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but he was not satisfied with them. He said: “What sort of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they came to be called the Land of Cabul* down to this day. In the meantime, Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

~1 Kings 9:12-14

*possibly meaning “the land as good as nothing.”

The attitude that King Hiram of Tyre demonstrated toward supporting true worship is worthy of noting.

Before Solomon’s reign, Hiram was a friend to King David, sending him cedar and craftsmen to work on his palace (2 Sam. 5:11).

Once the building of the temple and Solomon’s palace was underway, King Hiram contributed significantly by sending his own best workers to support the 20-year project (1 Ki. 5:6-18).

“He rejoiced greatly and said: ‘May Jehovah be praised today, for he has given David a wise son over this great people!’” (1 Ki. 5:7).

Although this was a business transaction, King Hiram saw Solomon as more than a friend, calling him “my brother” even upon being let down by him.

After receiving the cities that were “good for nothing,” we continue to read about King Hiram’s monetary contributions to King Solomon’s reign (1 Ki. 10:11,12,22).

May we follow his example and continue to view our brothers and sisters in the faith with respect and admiration, ever-willing to support one another, even when we do not feel that they have fulfilled their end of an important agreement.

1 Kings, chapters 7 & 8

King Solomon described Jehovah’s kindness in the context of a deep prayer:

“Whatever prayer, whatever request for favor may be […] (for each one knows the plague of his own heart) […], then may you hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, and may you forgive and take action; and reward each one according to all his ways, for you know his heart (you alone truly know every human heart), so that they may fear you […]” (1 Ki. 8:38-40).

Fearing God in our hearts does not mean we dread God or that we flee from him.

Fear of God implies fear of letting him down, fear of disrespecting him.

Whether or not a person is sincere in their service toward God can only be judged by God himself.

One is assured, however, that regardless of what we do, God pays to each his own.

Imagine someone in a dire situation.

He calls out to God, but God sees that he is insincere.

God does not forgive him.

Not even Jehovah God, the God of all love, kindness and forgiveness, forgives him, because that person is insincere and God can see through his facade.

That would be truly dreadful.

It is different, though, when one serves God.

If you sincerely strive to do what is good because you fear displeasing God, or if you sincerely repent, you can rest assured that Jehovah will listen to your prayer and bless you according to your ways, sooner or later (Ps. 145:16; Rev. 21:3-5).

“O Jehovah the God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and showing loyal love to your servants who are walking before you with all their heart,” (1 Ki. 8:23).

2 Samuel, chapters 22-24

“For you are my lamp, O Jehovah;
It is Jehovah who lights up my darknes.”
~2 Samuel 22:29

Ever feel lost in life?
Like you have no idea what direction to steer yourself in?
God promises to light our path so we know what direction to head in.
He does this when we draw close to him in prayer and when we base our decisions on his guiding principles found in his word (Ps. 5:1,2; 119:105; Isa. 30:21).
When we let God influence our decision making, we can have the same confidence as the Psalmist:

Jehovah is my light and my salvation. Whom should I fear? Jehovah is the stronghold of my life. Whom should I dread? (Ps. 27:1).

We will experience clarity and peace of mind that only comes as a result of doing God’s will (Ps. 97:11).

1 Samuel, chapters 23-25

[…] David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel and said to her: “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” She immediately rose up and bowed with her face to the ground and said: “Here is your slave as a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” Then Abigail quickly rose up and rode on her donkey with five of her female servants walking behind her; she accompanied the messengers of David and became his wife.
~1 Samuel 25:40-42

Abigail was a “discerning and beautiful” woman (1 Sam. 25:3).

On top of that, she was humble and hard-working.
Despite being the recent widow of a very wealthy man, she did not think she was above her servants in the sense that she would leave them all the dirty work (1 Sam. 25:2, 36-39).

At the time David proposed, he was not yet ruling as king.
He was dwelling in caves (1 Sam. 25:4).
Also, after being deprived of his first wife by his father-in-law, David had already taken on a second wife- making Abigail his third wife (1 Sam. 25:43,44).

This makes Abigail’s answer to his marriage proposal seem all the more selfless.

Abigail considered it a great honor to become David’s wife because she put faith in Jehovah’s words that David would one day be king (1 Sam. 25:30,31).

When I put myself in Abigail’s shoes- how she had just gotten out of a terrible marriage, how she was willing to leave her ranch estate for David- a man who lived like a fugitive, a man who a few days earlier had gone to take vengeance against her own household, a man who was not going to focus on her primarily, a man that had not even gone to propose in person!
I would not have reacted the way she did.
That is why I marvel at her faith and her self-sacrificing personality.

1 Samuel, chapters 19-22

Michal took the teraphim statue and placed it on the bed, and she put a net of goat hair at the place of [David’s] head, and she covered it with a garment.
~1 Samuel 19:13

Why did David’s wife, Michal, have a teraphim idol if God had forbidden their use (Exo. 20:4,5)?

The Watchtower gives a possible explanation in that her heart may not have been complete toward Jehovah and it is possible that certain superstitions still influenced Israeli culture.

Perhaps David did not know about the idol, but it is also possible that he let her keep it because she was the king’s daughter (Watchtower 06-01-04, p.29, “Questions from Readers”).
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With that the king said to the guards stationed around him: “Turn and kill the priests of Jehovah, because they have sided with David! They knew that he was a runaway, and they did not inform me!” But the king’s servants did not want to lift their hands to assault the priests of Jehovah.
~1 Samuel 22:17

The guards in this story are a fine example of fearing God instead of man (Matt. 10:28).

When human authorities come in direct conflict with God’s will, the right thing to do is to carry out God’s will (Acts 5:29).

This principle alone would avoid modern cases of genocide.

1 Samuel, chapters 16-18

So David got up early in the morning and left someone in charge of the sheep; then he packed up and went just as Jesse had commanded him. When he came to the camp enclosure, the army was going out to the battle line, shouting a battle cry. Israel and the Philistines drew up so that one battle line faced the other battle line. David immediately left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he began asking about the welfare of his brothers.
1 Samuel 17:20-22

David was undoubtedly a unique boy.

It is without wonder that God chose him as the new future king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:11-13).

In just this short passage, we are able to see his distinct qualities in action and appreciate what really set him apart from the rest.

First, young David was responsible in leaving his flock of sheep attended by someone else.
He obeyed his father Jesse ‘just as he commanded him.’
When he gets to the battleground, he shows to be cautious when he leaves his baggage “in the care of the baggage keeper.”
Then we see him compelled to run to the battle line, worried about his brothers’ welfare.

David was an orderly, detail-oriented, brave, faith-driven boy of action whom Jehovah trusted would become a great king.
Though hardly any of us aspire to royalty, these noble qualities are worthy of imitating to gain God’s favor.

Chapter 17 of the first book of Samuel is one of the most exciting renown Bible stories.
The implications of this series of events coupled with the prophet Samuel’s intense emotional writing style makes for one of the must-read stories of any person’s lifetime.

1 Samuel, chapters 10-13

“Here I am. Testify against me before Jehovah and before his anointed one: Whose bull or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded or crushed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me look the other way? If I have, I will restore it to you.”
~1 Samuel 12:3

Samuel had a clean conscience because he maintained sincere, wholehearted worship of Jehovah throughout his life.

The people he served were able to testify: “You have not defrauded us or crushed us or accepted anything at all from anyone’s hand,” (1 Sam. 12:4).

While leaders of false religion use their religious institution as a sort of business and as a means to sustain themselves materially, true believers do not take advantage of their spiritual brothers to gain material benefits (Matt. 10:8; 1 Pet. 5:2).

We must be careful to always keep our form of worship free of commercial or potentially corrupt personal interests in order to not imitate the oppressive attitude of hypocritical church leaders (John 2:15,16).

Then we should ask ourselves: can I swear before Jehovah, like Samuel, that I have defrauded no one?

1 Samuel, chapters 1-4

“Then Elkanah went to his house in Ramah, but the boy became a minister of Jehovah before Eli the priest.”
~1 Samuel 2:11

A few years prior, when Elkanah’s sterile wife Hannah came before Jehovah to pray for a son, the high priest Eli had mistakenly made offensive comments to her, misjudging her for a drunkard (1 Sam. 1:10-14).

Her reply to him reflected a quiet and mild spirit (1 Sam. 1:15-18; 1 Pet. 3:4).

When Hannah’s prayer was answered and her child was ready to be weaned, neither her nor her husband held resentment against the house of Jehovah nor toward his appointed servants.

They understood that the center for pure worship was the tabernacle at Shiloh and did not restrain from taking their son to serve there (1 Sam. 1:21-25).

They had faith in Jehovah that he would look after their son and that it was the best place for him despite the imperfections of those serving there.

Likewise, we should not let the imperfections of others in the congregation deter us from offering ourselves up for greater service.

We may witness personality defects that could work as stumbling blocks, but we should continue to recognize Jehovah’s congregation for what it really is: the center for pure worship (Isa. 2:2,3).

If we do our part and leave the rest in God’s hands, we will surely be blessed, like in the case of Hannah and Elkanah (1 Sam. 2:20, 21; Mal. 3:10).

 

Ruth, chapters 1-4

“I will do for you everything that you say, for everyone in the city knows that you are an excellent woman. While it is true that I am a repurchaser, there is a repurchaser more closely related than I am. Stay here tonight, and if he will repurchase you in the morning, fine! Let him repurchase you. But if he does not want to repurchase you, I will then repurchase you myself, as surely as Jehovah lives.”
~Ruth 3:11-13

By the time the widowed Ruth approached her benefactor, Boaz to request he perform brother-in-law marriage with her, it is obvious he had already given the matter significant thought.

Through his reply, one can infer that he had taken enough notice of Ruth to ask others about her personality and reputation, and he had also taken into account her personal circumstances (Ruth 3:17).

He did not, however, rush into a relationship with Ruth, since he recognized that there was another man who legally had first choice regarding marrying Ruth and acquiring her first husband’s inheritance (Ruth 4:3-6).

Boaz, despite his power and feelings, did not overstep this law.

He took into account God’s instructions regarding the marital arrangement, setting a fine example for us, demonstrating that true love is based on principles.