BOLD Daily Devotional: In the Heart of the Father

Why all right?

Well, today we're gonna be coming out of 2nd Samuel 18.

2nd Samuel 18.

And I'm gonna be coming out of the new King James version.

And I just want to thank you first of all for everyone that's joining on this call on today.

And if I had a title for this, it will be The Heart of the Father, Love Over Rebellion.

The Heart of the Father, Love Over Rebellion.

So I want to pose this question.

I'm taking a page out of my sister, Dr.

Yvonne's book, but have anyone ever been betrayed?

Have you ever been betrayed?

And then have you ever been betrayed?

Because we want to take a little step further by someone who was close to you, right?

Someone in your household, someone right in your family.

And I'm gonna get up in your business.

How did you handle it?

Just to think about that.

Because today we're gonna look at um just how David, King David, handled the death of his son Absalom.

So just a spoiler alert.

So how did he handle this?

So let me just gonna read a few verses and I'm there.

We're gonna go from there.

So um 2 Samuel 18, verses 1.

2 Samuel 18:1

It said, and David numbered the people who were with him and set captains over thousands and captains over hundreds and over them.

Then David sent out one-third of the people under the hands of Joab, one third under the hands of Abisha, and the other, the I'm sorry, the son of Zariah, and Joab's brother, and one third under the hands of Itza the Gittite.

And the king said to the people, I will also surely go with you myself.

But the people answered, saying, No, you shall not go.

For if you go, um, for if you flee away, they will not care about us, not nor if half of us um die will they care about us.

But you are worth 10,000 of now, for you are now more help, for you are now more help to us in the city.

So basically, David wanted to go, and he are we already seen in chapter 17 that was the plan, right?

They were all gonna go after David.

So the people was like, uh, no, you're gonna stay here because if you go, they're gonna be focused solely on you, and nobody else would matter, right?

And so sure enough, David stayed, and they went on and went to battle, and and so the people went out to the field of battle against the Israel, Israel, and in the battle was in the woods of Ephraim.

So, um, Ephraim, so in this, the forest, when I was looking at this, is almost like you think about the jungle, you think about uh how it's well, I picture this as like Africa, like because you know the the Bible tells us in this same chapter that the that the people more people was killed from this from the forest as opposed to the sword, and we know that was all God up in that, right?

So Aps not ended up, um, just gonna go ahead for time's sake.

Aps not end up getting killed uh um by uh David's men.

He had got caught um in the trees because it was just it's they in the forest, so he got caught in the trees.

I don't know, it said his head, but you know, of course, if we look back in the chapter, his hair was so long, he had to cut it daily, it was like weights so much, right?

But they end up killing him, they end up um going against because David really wanted him them to spare him, but they was like, uh-uh, no, we're gonna kill him.

So they end up killing Absalon, and um they ran back and told David the news, and we're gonna get to this is where I want to get to.

We're gonna get to chapter, I mean verses 33, and it says, Then the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept.

And as he wept, he said thus, oh my son Absalom, my son Absalom, my son Absalom, if only I would die in your place, oh Absalom, my son.

So Absalom, here is a man who was like, I'm on, I'm on my dad's dead, you know.

Um, verse 17, uh, chapter 17, he was like, I want, he was all in agreement with killing David.

He was chasing David, he was trying to come against David's kingdom, right?

He wanted everything for himself.

Whether, you know, of course, we we know we were saying earlier um throughout the week that he was bitter because of of what happened to his sister, and he felt like David didn't, um, for whatever reason, David didn't truly take revenge or do anything or even address it.

But nevertheless, he was one of his dad did, right?

So a couple of things we can learn, or or I want to say that we can um learn from chapter Samuel, chapter 7, um 18 is this, and I want to go into more, but I believe feel like you cover that on Monday.

But the one I just want to say, first of all, we don't have to worry about paying evil back to nobody.

God got us, right?

God got us so well.

He will, you know, the Bible tells us, like I said, the forest took care of them with as opposed to the sword of forest.

We know that was God's hands because God can use creation or anything he wants to handle his business.

And then, too, right?

We start, we see how, you know, heartbreaking moment that King David had his life, his own son, right?

Because of course he came against them, but King David's heart was moved with compassion.

You know, he didn't let the fact that this man was trying to kill him, he didn't let the fact that, you know, of course, this is my son, the father's heart, but he just like I don't care.

It should have been me who died, you know, and that was just so powerful because for a minute I was like, you know what, King David, all this got so much drama, right?

What is going on?

Why is Jesus quoting you?

But then I look like, wow, this is truly a man after God after God's own heart.

Because when anybody's coming against you, it don't matter if your family member, it don't matter what it is.

Sometimes we tend to, we're not saying we, but you your heart, you know, the body keeps scores, so you can be like, uh-uh, I'm not forgiving this person.

I'm I'm I don't like this person, but that is not King's David's story.

You know, he had already got a prophecy saying that the sword would never depart from his house.

David knew this word to be true, and he experienced trouble within his own family.

So David could have went ahead and went ahead and go ahead and said, you know what?

I'm already quote unquote cursed.

My family is so dysfunctional, I can go ahead and act up, right?

I don't have to go ahead and still keep my heart right, right?

He could have been like, okay, I'll be bitter, but he didn't let bitterness, hatred, or revenge.

He still chose to follow love.

He chose love, and this is the heart of the father towards us.

Not saying, you know, like oftentimes we do stuff, right?

Even after we got born again, right?

I'm I can attest to that, that we do stuff that is not, you know, his best for us, but he still loves us so much, he loves us unconditional, right?

And and so he wants us to do that towards others, right?

The Bible tells us to love God with all our heart, you know, and uh above anything else, and to love others as we love ourselves, love our neighbors, right?

God wants us to love others that in that such a wonderful manner and not take anything to heart.

You know, yesterday, oh my God, I'm just thinking about it.

Just, you know, I was in the store and half the time I wear this bracelet saying Jesus loves you, right?

And I went in the store and the lady looked and she was like, Who loves me?

And then she said, Oh, Jesus loves me, because she just seen loves you, you know, loves you.

And she was like, It's so hard to know that.

I mean, she was like, It's sometimes, you know, I go through life, it's hard to believe that.

And I said, He does, you know, he do love you, and and so the world really truly needs our love, right?

It truly needs our light, right?

Love is such a powerful uh uh um uh uh uh uh attribute, you know.

The Bible tells us in First Corinthians 13 that love never fails, right?

He said, above all, you can have all these uh uh you can know how to prophesy, you could probably know how to preach good, you can know how to give to the poor, you know how to do all these things, but without love, you isn't it's nothing, right?

Without love, you can it it it it'll take you nowhere, and even sometimes, of course, faith above all, but he said even faith and hope, love is the greatest out of all those.

And so God, you know, off you know want us to love and take the limits off of him because when you love, you can go up to anybody, you can pray for anybody, you can do you can do things and take limits off God.

And so that's what David did.

He refused to live offended, he chose to forgive.

He didn't look about, um, you know, call everybody like this is what's going on, you know, this person heard me.

David, everybody knew what happened, right?

But David still chose to forgive and the love on his son, right?

Even him giving them the commandments, knowing that they probably like, how you gonna, you know, I am going to the next chapter, but you know, he chose love, right?

David was a man of prayer, because you know, oftentimes when you go, not oftentimes, when you go in the presence, presence of God, right?

Everything that the people did to you, and when you're in that presence, it falls off, it burns off if you allow God to burn that off.

You know, uh uh David in Psalms 3, and I just want if you get a chance, please read that, you know, because David prayer, he prayed in the prayer of you.

It worked, David, you know, because God seen that and he heard that, and you know, he avenged your enemies, right?

So David was constantly in prayer with the father, and and of course, you want to guard your heart, you know, and make sure that that that we don't do things in the name of boundaries, but we do have boundaries, right?

Because everything that happens to us don't need to be announced because faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing.

So if you're hearing the negativity things, your heart is gonna be a little bit hardened, but you just guard your heart too, and and and kind of say, God, am I responding from hurt or am I responding from a healed heart?

God, is this a is I'm really creating boundaries or I'm trying to cancel this person.

Those are things, you know, just hey, let me just, you know, that's how love speaks, right?

Love is long-suffering and patient and kind, you know, the same thing.

I mean, patient love, one translation says uh long suffering, but patient and kind, right?

And and and and love, like right, is not easily provoked.

Love does not keep correct or of wrong, it believes, it bears up everything, it hopes and endures and it never fails.

It it it just it it it just you know, love never fails.

So if you practice love, if you keep love first in your heart, you know, you'll get the results, right?

Sometimes when you practice to love, it might not come through that one person that you're practicing, but it's gonna come back.

It's definitely gonna come back, and so um, as as I'm closing, remember just to keep your heart clear to God and and and and just know that God loves us so much, and I will yield to that.