WHAT’S YOUR RESPONSE? – Friday July 7th 2017
Memorise: And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 1st Samuel 24:5
Read: 2nd Samuel 12:7-13 (King James Version)
12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
12:8 And
I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom,
and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too
little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord,
to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the
sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with
the sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10 Now
therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou
hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy
wife.
12:11 Thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I
will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy
neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
Bible in one year: 1st Samuel 18-19, Ezekiel 2:8-3:15, Hymn: Sing hymn 6
MESSAGE:
One
day, after being on the run for his dear life for quite some time,
David finally had the chance to kill King Saul, his persecutor (1st Samuel 24:2-6).
However, instead of doing this, he chose to simply cut off a part of
Saul’s robe, to show that he harboured no ill feelings towards the king.
Nevertheless, after carrying out this seemingly magnanimous act, his
conscience pricked him. 1st Samuel 24:5 says,
“And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.”
His
heart asked him, “David, what have you done? Have you forgotten it is
written, “Touch not my anointed?” He immediately lost his peace. That is
the response of a true sheep belonging to the Great Shepherd. In
addition to finding it easy to obey, a sheep that strays from the fold
of the Great Shepherd will have his or her heart smitten. Open Heavens 7
July 2017: Friday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye- What’s Your
Response? On the other
hand, goats are hard-hearted. Are you a sheep or a goat? How many times
have you spoken against the anointed of God without feeling any remorse?
You mean you can sit down and discuss an anointed man of God for hours,
pulling him apart and highlighting what you call his faults, forgetting
that it’s only before his Maker that he stands or falls? Is your
conscience dead or alive? The conscience of a goat is dead but that of a
sheep is alive.
In
today’s Bible reading, when Prophet Nathan visited David and narrated
to him the story of a rich man with many sheep, who used his poor
neighbour’s only lamb to entertain his visitors, David was furious. He
declared that whoever carried out his act must die. Then the prophet
looked at him and said, “You are the man!” Remember that Nathan was
talking to the king of the land. If you expose a goat, he or she will be
angry and pounce on you. If David had been a goat, immediately he was
confronted with his sin, he would have ordered his guards to cut off the
prophet’s head. If he wanted to be subtle, he could lure the prophet to
attend a private dinner for them to discuss the matter further, where
his wine would have been poisoned. However, what did David do? He said,
“I am finished!”, and he began to confess his sins. What is your
attitude when God’s word hits you? Do you say, “This pastor is preaching
about me again? I wonder who reports me to him!” Is your attitude the
type that says, “Preacher, mind your own business?” How often have you
broken down to weep over your atrocities? How many times have you cried
to God for mercy, not caring about those people who are around you? Are
you a goat or a sheep?
Key Point:
If you are a sheep, it will show in your response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Open
Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the
General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the
largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ
the Redeemer's Ministries.
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