Final Scripture Carvings ...

⁹ But David said to Abishai, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD's anointed and be guiltless? ¹⁰ As surely as the LORD lives," he said, "the LORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 1 Samuel 26:9-10

• David was a man of patient character. Even though he had been anointed King, he would not strike Saul. He waited and trusted God to act in His timing.

¹⁶Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." John 11:16

• Wow.

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." John 11:32

• Interesting how most of our concerns look backward: "If only this had happened. If only that had not happened." Jesus was looking forward, not backward.

"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." John 11:39

• never noticed the present tense here previously, "there IS a bad odor". They could already smell the decay of death. But that is not too hard for God to deal with.
• What impossible circumstance exists in my life? Does it already stink? God can still act.

so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 1 Samuel 31:4

• Saul was always looking for an escape ... hiding during his inauguration; hiding when Goliath was breathing threats, giving in to "the people" when he grew impatient and offered the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel, ... the pattern continues throughout.
• We want an easy path far too often. Beware of the quick escape.

¹² They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 2 Samuel 1:12

• David weeps for the one who had tried to take his life.

²³ "Saul and Jonathan—
in life they were loved and gracious,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions. 2 Samuel 1:23

• David sings of Saul and Jonathan ... "Saul was gracious"????? Really? David shows some selective memory here. Perhaps thats a good trait for me to develop. I'll only remember good from you. That would change life, huh?

²⁵The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25

• BOLD is the bias for life.

³⁰ A cheerful look brings joy to the heart... Proverbs 15:30

• This is so true. Just the right look from the ones who mean the most to you can bring immeasurable joy to the heart. Just a look ... wow.

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. ⁷ The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God. 2 Samuel 6:6-7

• This was always a tough passage for me. They poor guy was just trying to "give God a hand". Perhaps the lesson here is that God does not NEED my help. He does not stumble; even when I think He might.

I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. 2 Samuel 6:21-22

• David worshipped the Lord with reckless self-abandonment. That's tough to do! But when you love like David loved...everything else fades into insignificance.

¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12

• It is by His "going" that we are empowered to do even greater things? That had to be confusing to them. Confusing to me too! It is by faith that we live, and act ... and when we live and act by faith ... God gets in the middle of it.

¹⁸ Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law. Psalm 119:18

• Interesting thing happens when you "open God's Word" ... God begins to open your heart to really see ... opening, is followed by opening.

³¹ He who listens to a life-giving rebuke
will be at home among the wise.

³² He who ignores discipline despises himself,
but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. Proverbs 15:31-32

• That means my prayer should be: "God surround me with those who love me enough to do this in my life."

⁴ So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.

2 Samuel 10:4

• Wow, these guys played for keeps! Tough humiliation!

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" 2 Samuel 12:7

• Talk about humiliation! Maybe David had prayed, "God surround me with those who love me enough to rebuke and discipline me."

²¹ When King David heard all this, he was furious. 2 Samuel 13:21

• He was furious, but I wonder if he also saw the connection between his family disintegration and his own sin. He was furious, but he does nothing. And the result of his "nothing" is more chaos, destruction, and loss.
• Furious might be a good thing, from time to time--but it is never enough.

God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. 2 Samuel 14:14

• There is a word of grace!

³⁰ But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. 2 Samuel 15:30

• It is like "Palm Sunday" in reverse.

let no sin rule over me. Psalm 119:133

• There is a prayer worth praying.

¹³ Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
they value a man who speaks the truth. Proverbs 16:13

• Have you noticed how often we don't want to hear the truth? Honesty sounds like a good thing until someone opens their mouths to speak hard truth.

This will be it for the scripture carvings ... the sabbatical certainly got me back into reading the scriptures. I'm up to June 1 now and looking forward to the rest of the journey. It's a good thing to allow God's word to wash over us like a wave, and wash through us like a cleansing flood.