Saturday 11 June

2 Samuel 16:15-18:18

David didn’t write psalm 37 about Absalom - he was far too keen on the fruit of his own loins to label one an “evildoer” - but he might as well have done.  Absalom had gone big against at least 7 of the 10 commandments and his life was pretty clearly lived against the plans of God.  He prospered for a while, bringing to being Nathan’s withering prophecy against David by making whoopee with David’s hareem, but he pretty quickly ended up withering like grass in a pit in the forest.  And so the message for us would seem to be quite clear on this one - do not fret when the vain and the obnoxious and the deceptive and the arrogant are doing well and prospering.  And, perhaps more cuttingly, beware of becoming too cool for school, beware of being so well manicured and so successful that you begin to believe the hype about yourself.  Don’t be so obsessed with leaving your own legacy - your own Absolom’s Monument - that you lose sight of who God is and what he might want he own legacy to be.  If you grow your hair long to build your own reputation and renown then you need to beware of oak trees and people bearing javelins.  That’s just the way that God has made life work.

Acts 7:20-43

Stephen was a table-waiter.   His primary goal was to make sure the widows got their food quotas.  There is nothing remotely inferior about that but I just want to emphasize it because we might be tempted to assume his detailed and sophisticated knowledge of the bible was down to the regular preaching he did on Sundays - but it wasn’t.  Stephen didn’t know and love the bible because it was part of his job or of his ministry, or so that he could give a really good martyrdom speech.  He just knew and loved the bible because he knew and loved the one it was about.  I would love to see the flame of passion for the bible to be relit across the church.  I would love to see us getting as deeply engrossed in the bible as Stephen, not just the housegroup leaders but everyone from kids-workers to coffee-servers.  I would love to see us being able to quote and paraphrase the defining narratives of our faith, to be able to give an account for what we believe and are committed to.  I would love to see the church picking up the mantle of Stephen and engrossing ourselves in the words of our God.

Psalm 72:1-20

A fascinating insight into the desires David has for his descendants, and how these hopes point to Jesus.  It is amazing how David emphasises unimaginable levels of mercy as being the defining feature of this enduring king.