[One-Verse Meditation]

2 Samuel 3:18 (ESV)

“Now then bring it about, for the LORD has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’”

(Meditation)

Abner says that the LORD had already spoken concerning David. He was not ignorant of God’s promise. And yet his actions did not spring from the joy of faith, but from a wounded heart, anger, and calculation. The will of God does not change according to circumstances or situations. His will is that we believe Him and, by faith, delight and rejoice in Him. Abner knew the promise, but he did not grasp the heart of the God who gave it.

Yet God’s promise does not come to a halt. Amazingly, God even turns Abner’s misguided steps into instruments of His own goodness. Abner’s anger and political calculation were by no means right, but God used even that distorted heart to move Benjamin and the tribes of Israel toward David. This does not mean that God tells people to sin for the sake of His will. Rather, it means that human sin and crookedness cannot overthrow the goodness of God’s purpose.

We are no exception. Even we are often led first by our own thoughts and calculations. Our self-centeredness does not easily disappear. So God holds us fast by His word. He shines His light on such hearts as ours. He exposes whether we are walking by a faith that delights in God, or whether we are still being driven by our own judgment and our own sense of justification.

It is there, at last, that we begin to seek the will of God. We do not come to God in order to accomplish our own will, but through faith we are led to delight in Him and worship Him. The way of the saints is not merely to know the promises of God. It is to love the God who gave those promises, to rejoice in Him, and to sing of His glory. Even today, God holds us by His word and turns us away from the path of self-centeredness into the place of true worship.

(Prayer)

Lord, do not let my knowledge of You remain only in my mind, but let me know You in the reality of life, so that I may walk in true faith. Today again, I begin this new day in the steps of worship. Amen.
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(Daily Meditation)

• 2 Samuel 3:17–30