NOVEMBER 26, 2024

 “And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?” (II Samuel 3:33)

In the book of I Samuel, we meet Abner, son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army. Abner was also Saul’s first cousin, as Kish, the father of Saul, was the brother of Ner. Of course, promoting family members to positions of power was not unusual in Saul’s regime, as many in his family, including his son Johnathan, rose to prominence. This included cousin Abner, who became an important military figure. Saul was first described as a “mighty man of valor” and “a handsome man,” taller than any other. As Saul’s relative, Abner may have had a similar stature, making him a formidable warrior and respected leader.

Even before he stepped forward to slay the giant Goliath, David had a relationship with King Saul. We read how Saul loved David, even making him his armor-bearer. Thus, it’s safe to assume that David would have had many interactions with Abner. This includes when, after killing Goliath, Saul asks Abner to inquire about David’s family and bring him before the king. From that moment, David went where Saul pointed and prospered. As David rose through the military ranks, his role in the army indeed fell under Abner’s command. We do not know how much influence Abner had in David’s life. However, thinking that Abner may have mentored this emerging leader is not out of the question.

During David’s flight from Saul, Abner remained loyal to the king, often leading the chase to apprehend David. God, however, was with David in flight and delivered him from the hands of Saul, Abner, and the army on numerous occasions. Not long after, Saul and his sons were killed in a battle with the Philistines. Abner, however, survived, becoming the de facto leader of the nation until he established Saul’s son as the next king of Israel. Sadly, Abner’s coronation of Ishbosheth only served to divide the country and delay David’s rightful ascension to the throne, sparking a civil war. The commander of Saul’s army then traveled to Gibeon to meet with Joab, David’s nephew, and commander of his army. There, the two leaders engaged in a contest of champions to see whose side won but brought no resolution.

As Abner left the contest, Asahel, the younger brother of Joab, pursued the much older general. Abner warned the ambitious Asahel to turn back, but he refused. As Asahel closed the gap, the more experienced Abner impaled Asahel with the butt end of his spear, killing him on the spot. Shortly after, Abner met with David under a banner of peace, and Joab summoned the elderly commander back to Hebron. Unbeknownst to David, he murdered Abner to avenge Asahel.

When David learned that Abner had been killed in cold blood, especially after he had just made peace with his former mentor, his anger burned against Joab – publicly reprimanding Joab for his violent act of retribution and encouraging the nation to lament for Abner. David’s mourning for him shows that he never regarded Abner as an enemy. Yes, he delayed his ascension to the throne. However, David never treated the Lord’s anointed as his enemy or as someone he had any right to harm; he always chose respect. God alone had the only right to remove him if and when He saw fit. Not David. Unlike Joab, David’s heart was never set on retribution but restoration.

So, why did David eulogize Abner by calling him a fool? A man David had known for decades and, most likely, stationed under directly was labeled a fool. He had never demonstrated animosity toward Abner (let alone Saul) for pursuing him through the wilderness, so why now? It was because of how he died. You see, Abner, after meeting with David, was tricked. Immediately after walking away from him, David (or so he thought) called Abner back. Unbeknownst to the king, Joab had plotted to confront and kill Abner to get revenge for his brother. This was part of the “foolish death.” Abner should have known that David wouldn’t call him back when they had just made peace. The parallel is clear: the voice of the deceiver fools many people, and they will ultimately face their demise.

The other reason this was called a fool’s death was that Abner had every opportunity to enter the city gate and be safe from the avenger by law. He had met with David under a flag of truce, which would have been honored if he had stepped through the gate. Also, there’s no way Joab would have disrespected the King by killing his peace-seeking old mentor in plain view of him. “Just step through the gate, Abner! You’ll be safe!” Saul would have screamed from beyond the grave if he were watching. But no. It was as if you were playing ‘Capture the Flag’ in middle school. The field was divided into half, and on one side, you couldn’t get tagged. It was like Abner got tagged while barely on the wrong side of the field. This is a fool’s death. He was so close to salvation and didn’t grab it.

This is similar to the sinner who hears the word preached yet chooses not to seize the opportunity to take it. In both cases, salvation is right there, but instead, they ignore it. This is a fool’s death. Rescue is above, and instead of shooting a signal flare, many choose to die. Don’t be a fool.

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:” (I Peter 1:3-6)

This epistle is addressed to believers, who are generally strangers in every city or country where they live and are scattered throughout the nations. These people are to ascribe their salvation to the electing love of the Father, the Son’s redemption, and the Holy Ghost’s sanctification – and so to give glory to one God in three Persons. The concept of “hope,” at least in the world’s sense, refers only to an uncertain good built upon sand and groundless conjectures. But the hope of the sons of the living God is a living hope. It revitalizes and comforts all distress and enables them to overcome all difficulties.

Peter shows us an appropriate response to God’s great mercy to us: praise. Specifically, he blesses God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has chosen us, sanctifies us, and gives us great purpose. All of this happens without our ever needing to earn any recognition from Him. This is “grace,” when someone undeservedly provides something positive to another. “Mercy” is when one withholds a negative consequence a person deserves. Instead of the punishment we deserve, God gave us something we could never have purchased or earned: He caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This is no dormant hope. Believers will never have to question if our hope is real. Our hope in an eternity with the Father is that our Lord is alive. Because He lives, those who believe in Him will also be resurrected.

The Christians Peter was writing to were experiencing heavy persecution for their faith in Christ. They were suffering. We all suffer, but as children of God, our inheritance can never be lost. It is ours now and forever. Through God’s grace, we have been saved from the eternal penalty of our sins through faith. We are growing more and more like Jesus, and Peter writes that we will be saved, even from the presence of sin, in Heaven. Our salvation will be fully revealed at the right time; nothing can take that away.

Peter quickly acknowledges that his readers may be distressed by various trials or experiencing negative emotions because of them. Yet, he still assumes that they are rejoicing because of the reality of their salvation in Christ. This “rejoicing” is less about feelings and more about faith. It is less about maintaining some perfect emotional state and more about declaring, “My life is worth rejoicing over because of what God has done for me.” We are provided for, and our future is secure. There is nothing that can change that. And thus, we must always rejoice.

This well-grounded hope of salvation is an active principle of obedience in the believer’s soul. A Christian’s joy is remembering the happiness laid up for them. It is incorruptible and cannot come to nothing. It is also undefiled and will not fade. It is a living hope!

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

 “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (John 15:11)

There is a great deal of very proper joy that comes to us, but there is only one joy that remains. When children are born into our families, these are occasions for joy. But how many little coffins have been followed by weeping parents and family members? There is joy when a bountiful harvest is reaped that fills the barn, and very properly so; but when the granary is near empty and the yield is lean due to pestilence or drought, where is the joy? The heart is made glad when the doctor gives a clean bill of health, but how about when the news is not so good? There is, however, a joy that remains. Why? Because the cause of it remains. The flow will continue so long as the spring runs: and the joy of a Christian is one that can never alter because the cause of it never alters. God’s love never changes toward His people; the atonement never loses its efficacy; our Lord Jesus Christ never ceases His intercession with God on our behalf. His promises do not change; the covenant is not subject to change. If you rejoice with Christ’s joy today, you will have the same cause for rejoicing tomorrow, and forever, for He says that His joy shall remain in you.

Some interpreters see this text in a little different light, understanding it to mean that when our Lord Jesus Christ joys in us, then we also have joy. “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you.” That is to say, according to this interpretation, “That I may rejoice over you, and rejoice in you, and be pleased with you, and that your joy might be full.” I am not certain that this is the meaning of the text, but it is nonetheless a very blessed truth. We are sure that obedience pleases our Lord, and that disobedience displeases Him. A child knows that his father will never cease to love him, he also knows that if he is disobedient, the father will be displeased and grieved. But the obedient child gives pleasure to his father by his obedience, and when he has done so, he receives pleasure himself for having pleased his father. This is a joy to which every true child of God can relate. Does it not bring great joy just to know that we are pleasing our heavenly Father?

We may gather from the text that the joy which Jesus gives to His people is His own joy: “That My joy might remain in you.” None can communicate to another any joy except that of which he is himself conscious. Here is a man who is rich; he can tell you about the joy of riches, but he cannot give that joy to a poor man. So, when Jesus gives us joy, He gives us His own joy. What is that?

The joy of Jesus is, first, the joy of abiding in His Father’s love. He knows that His Father loves, and that He has ever loved Him. He loved Him when He was in the manger; He loved Him when He was on the cross. That is the joy that Christ can give, the joy of knowing that your Father loves you. If you are a real believer in Jesus Christ, just stop and think about that – the Everlasting God loves you! What a wonder! That He pities you, and cares for you, you might understand; but that He loves you – that should cause you to leap for joy. Jesus said, “…that your joy might be full.” That fact should make your own joy full.

Christ’s joy was also the joy of hallowed friendship. Jesus said to His disciples, “I call you not servants…but I call you friends.” (Verse 15) The friends of Jesus are those who are taken by Him into most intimate fellowship with Himself and the Father, to become His constant companions. This is our Lord’s joy, and He makes it ours.

Moreover, our Lord Jesus felt an intense delight in glorifying His Father. It was His constant joy to bring glory to His Father. As Jesus was going to the cross, He said, “Father, the hour has come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” He took great delight in doing this; it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured the cross, despising the shame. Let that joy be ours also! Let us rejoice that the law is honored, that justice is satisfied, and free grace is gloriously displayed in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

 “Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)

Job is amid a Spiritual crisis, questioning God. Starting in chapter 38, God himself weighs in. He suddenly addresses Job directly for the first time. He does so in terrifying form, unseen yet heard through the incredible, dangerous force of a whirlwind. After all Job’s questions, God says it’s time for Him to question Job. His interrogation of Job is relentless. God reinforces the image of His power and conveys His care for everything in creation. He made all creatures with particular designs and purposes. Job cannot explain one of these things, much less accomplish these things himself.

The Lord asks Job, “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?” (40:2) If Job argues with God, he must respond. Job replies that he is small; how can he answer? He cannot bring himself to offer much else. Finally, given a chance to contend with God directly, Job’s response is silence, realizing that no other response is fitting. Can Job draw Leviathan out with a fishhook? Can he put it on a leash to keep as a pet? Indeed, he couldn’t even hope to capture it to begin with. This mysterious dragon-like being terrifies all other creatures but frolics like a harmless pet for God. Job could never catch such a creature. Only God alone can – like it’s nothing at all.

In chapter 42, Job finally cools off and retracts His previous statements, humbling himself before God. He answers the Lord and says he understands that God can do all things, and His purposes cannot possibly be thwarted. Job admits that he has spoken about things he couldn’t even hope to understand, things “too wonderful” for him. He despises himself and repents in dust and ashes. Job returns to his worshipful attitude at the book’s beginning. Notably, God has not answered Job’s pressing questions about his suffering. However, Job has witnessed God’s incredible power, which seems to preclude the need for answers. Instead (recognizing his utter smallness), Job repents of his arrogance in questioning God.

Job was now sensible of his guilt and would no longer speak against one so far above him. He hated himself as a sinner in heart and life for murmuring against God and took shame on himself. When the Spirit of grace enlightens our understanding, our knowledge of Divine things far exceeds what we had before. It concerns us to be deeply humbled for the sins of which we are convinced. Self-loathing is the companion of true repentance. The Lord will bring those who He loves to adore Him in self-abasement. True grace will always lead to confessing sins without trying to justify them.