2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14:1-7, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalm 145:10-18, Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:1-21.
(A). DAVID LETS HIS GUARD DOWN.
2 Samuel 11:1-15.
“At the time when kings go forth” (to battle), “David tarried still at Jerusalem.” (2 SAMUEL 11:1). Sending his nephew Joab may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but this constituted a dereliction of duty which put David in the wrong place at the wrong time. A sin of omission would soon lead to a sin of commission – and worse.
2 SAMUEL 11:2. Far from the battlefield, David evidently had time on his hands, took a nap, and was now wandering aimlessly on the rooftop of his palace. From his elevated position, David could see down into the courtyard of neighbouring properties. In the absence of indoor plumbing, David saw the figure of a woman bathing in her own courtyard, and was aroused by her evident beauty.
David enquired after the woman, and was told that this was “Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” (2 SAMUEL 11:3).
There is an ‘Eliam the son of Ahitophel’ numbered amongst David’s mighty men (cf. 2 Samuel 23:34). Ahitophel is named as David’s counsellor, who later defected to Absalom (cf. 2 Samuel 15:12).
Uriah’s name means “My Light is the LORD,” so this particular Hittite was a member of the Jewish faith. Uriah the Hittite was also numbered as one of David’s mighty men (cf. 2 Samuel 23:39).
The whole seedy liaison is described in one sentence (2 SAMUEL 11:4). The comment about Bathsheba’s purification demonstrates that (a) she had been undergoing ritual cleansing after a period of uncleanness (cf. Leviticus 15:19); and (b) that David was the only possible father of the child she now conceived. When Bathsheba “returned to her house,” that seemed to be the close of the matter: but -
“The woman conceived” (2 SAMUEL 11:5), and sent and told David, “I am with child.” Actions, after all, do have consequences.
The immediate sequel shows David at his worst, wriggling and squirming to cover up his sin, sinking ever deeper and deeper, and only succeeding in making things worse. And all this from the man after God's own heart (cf. Acts 13:22)!
First of all, David sent a message for Joab to send him Uriah the Hittite, presumably on the pretended pretext of getting an update on how the battle was going (2 SAMUEL 11:6-7).
Then David tried to trick Uriah into going home to sleep with his wife: “wash your feet” here is no doubt a euphemism for intercourse (2 SAMUEL 11:8). David sent provisions of food after Uriah.
To David’s frustration, Uriah did not go home, but slept with David’s servants at the door of the king’s house. Uriah explained his actions: “The ark, and Judah, and Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields:” how could he go down to his house “to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife?” (2 SAMUEL 11:9-11).
Then David took things a stage further, delaying Uriah from returning to the battlefield, and getting him drunk. But still Uriah would not go home (2 SAMUEL 11:12-13).
Finally David felt that he was left with no other recourse than to arrange the murder of this good man (2 SAMUEL 11:14-15). There is a sad irony in the fact that Uriah carried his own death warrant back to Joab. ‘But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD’ (cf. 2 Samuel 11:27).
David did at last come to repentance (cf. 2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 51), but this does not negate the fact that there were consequences to David’s sin, both in his family, and also in the nation. Again, I emphasise, ALL sin does carry inevitable and terrible consequences.
So if, as a Christian, you are tempted, then ‘resist the devil’ (cf. James 4:7) with all your God-given might! But IF you have already yielded to temptation, even as a Christian, lay hold upon the reality of GOD’s goodness and GOD’s covenant mercy in your life (cf. Psalm 23:6). Acknowledge your sin before God, against whom you have sinned (cf. Psalm 51:4), and ‘Go, and sin no more’ (cf. John 8:11).
(B). UNBELIEVING BEHAVIOUR AND THE GRACE OF GOD.
Psalm 14:1-7.
The first verse of this Psalm is well known as an argument against those who deny the very existence of God (Psalm 14:1). I am sure I have heard it preached in that way, I know I have read it so, and maybe have even mentioned it in such a way from the pulpit. Taken on its own, it seems valid enough: but the context does not seem to be addressing so much an ‘intellectual atheism’ as a ‘practical’ or ‘moral atheism’.
The practical atheist sets out like the Prodigal son in the parable, wishing that his father were dead already (Luke 15:12). Notice, the Prodigal did not deny his father’s existence, but just wanted to get as far away as possible from his father’s house (Luke 15:13). The consequences, as we know, were disastrous - until such time as he came to his senses (Luke 15:17) and wound his humbled weary way back to his father’s house (Luke 15:18).
True enough these people are called ‘Nabal’ or ‘Fool’ (cf. 1 Samuel 25:25), but the moral dimension is found right here in the second half of the first verse: “They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1). The last clause is echoed in the third verse: “none that doeth good; no, not one” (Psalm 14:3; cf. Romans 3:10-12). This is illustrated in an earlier Psalm where it is said of the wicked, ‘God is not in all his thoughts’ (Psalm 10:4; cf. Romans 1:28).
Let us be sure of one thing: ‘The LORD looks down from heaven, He beholds all the children of men’ (Psalm 33:13). Before the Flood ‘God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth’ (Genesis 6:12). So here, “The LORD looked down from heaven” to see if there were any who did understand and seek after God (Psalm 14:2).
“No,” comes the emphatic answer. “All” are gone aside (Psalm 14:3). ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way’ (Isaiah 53:6). ‘We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is as a filthy rag’ (Isaiah 64:6). ‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23).
This universal “none”; “no, not one”; “all” is suddenly negated as we enter into the second section of the Psalm. Here we become aware of a people whom the LORD calls “My people” (Psalm 14:4); “the righteous” (Psalm 14:5); and “the poor” (Psalm 14:6). The only way that there can be any righteous when the LORD has said there is none is by His grace, as ever, plucking out those whom He has foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified (Romans 8:29-30).
It was by God’s grace that Noah was plucked out of a doomed world (Genesis 6:8). It was by grace that ‘Abraham believed in the LORD, and it was accounted to Him as righteousness’ (Genesis 15:6), the model of our faith (Galatians 3:9). It was by grace that Lot was plucked out of a doomed city (Genesis 19:16).
When Elijah thought he stood alone, he was told that seven thousand had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). At the end of the Old Testament, ‘they that feared the LORD spoke often to one another’, and a book of remembrance was written ‘for them that feared the LORD and thought upon His name’ (Malachi 3:16). So, in the Psalmist’s day, as in ours, there was a “people” (Psalm 14:4) accounted “righteous” (Psalm 14:5) by God’s grace.
The indictment against the “Fools” who live as if they were answerable to “no God” (Psalm 14:1), is that they are “workers of iniquity” who have “no knowledge” and “eat up My people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD” (Psalm 14:4). People who want God out of their lives cannot abide His people, and often oppress them (Psalm 14:6).
Yet they are presented with a fearsome sight: “God is in the generation of the righteous” (Psalm 14:5; cf. Psalm 112:2). “The LORD is his refuge” (Psalm 14:6; cf. Psalm 9:9). We who have fled to Christ ‘lay hold upon the hope that is set before us’, and anchor ourselves in Him (Hebrews 6:18-19).
The final verse anticipates God’s deliverance of His people and encourages us to praise Him (Psalm 14:7; cf. Psalm 85:1; Psalm 126:1-3). Perhaps the first thing we need to be delivered from, if we have not already, is the foolishness of trying to live our lives without God. And if we have been delivered (as I hope we have), then we must not forget that it is God’s grace which delivered us from this and every sin.
(C). A TWOFOLD STEWARDSHIP.
2 Kings 4:42-44.
A certain man brought to Elisha a portion of the first-fruits of his land (2 Kings 4:42). It is not clear whether this was an offering over and above that required by the law (Leviticus 23:9-14), but either way this was a token of good stewardship on the part of the unknown man. Sometimes we might consider giving of our gifts and offerings to other worthy Christian causes, as well as to our local church.
Elisha, like Jesus after him, ‘had compassion upon the multitude’ (cf. Mark 6:34). “Give unto the people, that they may eat,” commanded the man of God (2 Kings 4:42). In this we see a second act of stewardship: this time by Elisha, who received the gift and used it wisely in the service of the people.
Elisha’s servant served as a foil to his master, highlighting the apparent impossibility of what Elisha was commanding (2 Kings 4:43). Yet with God, we are constantly reminded, all things are possible (Mark 10:27). Nothing is impossible with God, for no word of God will ever fail (Luke 1:37).
Philip is cast in a similar role to Elisha’s servant in John’s account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 (John 6:7). Andrew was a bit more proactive, but even he had his doubts (John 6:8-9). What are our small offerings in the midst of the overwhelming needs of the world?
‘Bring it to me,’ instructed Jesus. He took, He blessed, and He broke; and gave it to His disciples to distribute (Matthew 14:18-19). The disciples brought to the Lord what they could, and he entrusted it back into their hands for the distribution.
“Give it to them,” reiterated Elisha (2 Kings 4:43). After all, the LORD had said that the table would be furnished, all would eat, and there would be some left over. Elisha was speaking in faith, and expected those who heard the word of the LORD from him to obey.
‘Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,’ says Jesus: ‘and all these things shall be added to you’ (Matthew 6:33). What things? What we shall eat, what we shall drink, and what we shall wear (Matthew 6:31): the ordinary things of life.
Do we have faith in the word of the LORD? Do we share the testimony of the Psalmist who says, ‘I shall not want’ or 'I lack nothing' (Psalm 23:1)? Then surely obedience will follow close on the heels of this profession.
When we exercise faith, take what we have, and use it for the glory of the Lord, we experience God’s superabundant provision (2 Kings 4:44). It is in the context of our giving that ‘God shall supply all our needs’ (Philippians 4:18-19). This might be deemed as part of the reward of faith: but the greatest reward is God Himself (Genesis 15:1).
(D). A COMPREHENSIVE PSALM OF PRAISE.
Psalm 145:10-18.
We read in the New Testament about the whole Creation groaning (Romans 8:22), eagerly awaiting the revelation of the children of God (Romans 8:19). Not only so, but those who have the first-fruits of the Spirit (i.e. Christians) are also groaning within ourselves as we await the redemption of the body (Romans 8:23). Even the sufferings of the present time become endurable when we consider the glory yet to be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
This psalm shows us the other side of that coin. All Creation shall praise the LORD, and all His faithful shall bless Him (Psalm 145:10). This “all” is comprehensive, it is extensive, but it also comes down to the level of the ‘each’ as well as the ‘every’ on the individual level. As David says in Psalm 103:1, ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy Name!’
As well as praise, there is conversation (Psalm 145:11). The Creation speaks forth God’s glory (Psalm 19:1). It is also the case that those who are His saints, His faithful, do speak to one another (Malachi 3:16; cf. Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Sharing our testimony is part and parcel of the Christian life.
This conversation is not only for the mutual encouragement and edification of those within the church (1 Thessalonians 5:11), but also for those who are outside the church. “The sons of men” (Psalm 145:12) is also a comprehensive expression, meaning (as some translations have it) “all people”! Those who study Creation may well conclude that there is, after all, a God (and praise His Name, many have); but those who are exposed to genuine Christian conversation have an even better chance of discovering just Who He is!
There is also a comprehensiveness of God’s kingdom (Psalm 145:13). It is both eternal and extensive (cf. Psalm 72:17). This is the same ‘kingdom of God’, or ‘kingdom of heaven’ about which Jesus speaks; and it belongs to Him, and all who are found in Him (cf. 2 Peter 1:11).
The LORD cares for the weak and vulnerable (Psalm 145:14). He heard the cry of the children of Israel in their captivity and set His mind to deliver them (Exodus 3:7-8). Thereafter He taught His people to care for strangers, widows, and orphans - and the poor (Exodus 22:21-23; Exodus 22:25). This care is continued in the church (Hebrews 13:2; James 1:27; Galatians 2:9-10).
The LORD cares for those of His own who might otherwise fall (cf. Psalm 73:1-2). He works ‘all’ things together for good (Romans 8:28), for the good of His ‘peculiar’ people (1 Peter 2:9).
Whether they know it or not, all flesh is dependent upon the LORD for their daily provision (Psalm 145:15). Whether they acknowledge it or not, no man can find sufficient sustenance without the LORD. It is better therefore to seek Him first, knowing that He will add to us ‘all these things’ (Matthew 6:33).
If God provides for the birds of the air, how much more for you (Matthew 6:25-27). It is good, therefore, to acknowledge God’s hand in all these things, and to gratefully receive His bountiful provision (Psalm 145:16).
Our trust in the LORD is not based in our ability to believe, but in His perfections. He is righteous in all His ways: He is just. He is kind in all He does: He is holy (Psalm 145:17).
It is good that we can view the LORD as a God who is not only transcendent, but also immanent. He is present within His Creation. He is “near” to all who call upon Him (Psalm 145:18). We should, therefore, ‘Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near’ (Isaiah 55:6).
The one true God, the God of all integrity (Deuteronomy 32:4; John 14:6; 1 John 5:20; Revelation 19:11) draws “nigh” unto all who call upon Him “in truth” - with a matching integrity of heart.
(E). KNOWING THE UNKNOWABLE.
Ephesians 3:14-21.
The “For this reason” of Ephesians 3:14 echoes Ephesians 3:1, and picks up the thread of thought that was left there. This follows Paul’s contemplation of the reconciliation accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22). Jesus, by His own blood, had resolved the estrangement between God and man, and had broken down the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile…
1. Thinking about this, Paul was driven to his knees before the Father (Ephesians 3:14). The Father is both “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), and “Our Father” (as we say in the Lord’s Prayer). He is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (Ephesians 1:17) - “My Father, and your Father; My God, and your God,” says Jesus (John 20:17).
Kneeling is not the usual posture for prayer amongst the Jews, but it is not unknown (Ezra 9:5; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60). The usual posture is standing (Luke 18:11; Luke 18:13). Evidently the Lord approves of both.
2. The Father is described as the One “of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:15). “The whole family” is a better translation than “every family” - although both are possible - because Paul had just been speaking about the breaking down of the wall of partition that separated between Jew and Gentile.
The addition “in heaven and (upon) earth” points towards the community of the whole church - and our family identity with one another, and with those who have already passed from this scene of time. It may also locate the “heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3) in which we are “seated with Christ” (Ephesians 2:6).
To be “named” by the Father, is to be admitted into His family. There we - we who were once outsiders - come under His patronage, and receive of His benefits. This is the wonder of our salvation!
3. Paul grounds His petition in “the riches of His glory” (Ephesians 3:16) - an expression which he has used before (Ephesians 1:18). He prays that we would be “strengthened with might” - with dynamic power. This is turned into an exhortation later, when he instructs us to be “empowered by His might” (Ephesians 6:10).
Our strength comes from the LORD, and Paul locates the source of this power in “His Spirit in the inner man.” Collectively, Jewish and Gentile believers “have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18), and “are being built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). The prayer is that Christians would draw upon the strength that is already within them, through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
4. Paul prays “that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17) - not as a stranger, but as a King in His own residence. And just as we are no more strangers (Ephesians 2:19), the prayer is that we might be “rooted and grounded in love” so that He might be the chief cornerstone of our lives (Ephesians 2:20).
5. The Apostle prays that we will have the power to comprehend the love of Christ - and sets out some incomprehensible dimensions (Ephesians 3:18). We will not apprehend this alone, but only in fellowship with “all the saints” - both those who have gone before, and those still living.
This is a Cross-shaped love. Its Breadth embraces Christians from all walks of life, both Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, male and female (Galatians 3:28). Its Length spans both Time and Eternity. Its Depth reaches down into hell, from which Christ has lifted us. Its Height elevates us to Heaven.
There are similarities in language here to Romans 8:38-39, and parts of Psalm 139. Paul is effectively repeating his earlier petition, for God to grant us “wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17).
6. Paul prays that we may “know the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:19) which is beyond our knowledge. This is only possible by revelation.
The Apostle desires that we would tap into that which is already within us, and be “filled with the fullness of God.” No small aspiration, but not unlike the exhortations “to be holy as God is holy” (1 Peter 1:16), and “to be perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). We are to “grow into the measure of the stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13; Ephesians 4:15), and “go on being filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
7. As we seek to comprehend the incomprehensible, and to know the unknowable, Paul leads us into a majestic benediction which is brim-full of superlatives. Here is the key to answered prayer - it lies within God. He is “able to do” (Ephesians 3:20) - having done all when He rested from His Creation work (Genesis 2:3), and when Jesus announced the completion of His Redemption work on the Cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30). He is able to complete that which He has begun in us (2 Timothy 1:12).
Furthermore, He is able to do “all” things. He has the power. His ability reaches above our prayers, beyond our hopes and thoughts and dreams. He goes infinitely beyond that, and does much more. AND ALL BY THE POWER THAT IS ALREADY AT WORK WITHIN US!
8. To such a God, says Paul, be glory (Ephesians 3:21). In the church, and by Christ Jesus. Throughout all generations of mankind, and on into eternity. Amen.
(F). FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND AND WALKING ON WATER.
John 6:1-21.
(I) The Feeding of the Five Thousand.
John 6:1-15.
It was now nearly a year since Jesus had cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem, and Passover was fast approaching (John 6:4). Jesus and His disciples had tried to withdraw from the throng in Galilee, and sought some rest and relaxation in the Golan Heights: but the crowds followed. Just this one time in the year the grass is green (Mark 6:39), and no doubt lambs skipped in the fields as the Good Shepherd tended His own flock with the words to local boy Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5).
Sometimes Jesus makes us face up to the magnitude of our problems in order to demonstrate our total dependence upon Him. It is a comfort to know that He already knows what He is going to do (John 6:6)! Poor Philip was overwhelmed, quickly calculating in his head that even eight months wages would only provide a small portion for each person.
Andrew now volunteered a boy with a packed lunch: “but what is that among so many?” (John 6:9). Our gifts and offerings seem so small, a drop in the ocean: but as Mother Theresa of Calcutta once said, each drop goes toward filling the ocean. Jesus takes our little, “gives thanks” (the same word as in the Communion, from which we have “Eucharist”), and transforms it into plenty (John 6:11).
Think of it: 5,000 men, plus who knows how many women and children, and each one was filled to the full; and there was more gathered up in leftover fragments than there had been at the start. There were twelve baskets full, the same number as the tribes of Israel, symbolising God’s sufficient provision for all of His people. The sign was so powerful that the Galileans were ready to pronounce Jesus king right then and there (John 6:14-15).
II. The Lord Walking on Water.
John 6:16-21.
The sea can be such a frightening, unpredictable element that even hardened sailors find themselves overwhelmed at times. If we enter the darkness without our Lord Jesus, this magnifies our terror. Yet when He draws near this also, inexplicably, gives rise to fear.
The children of Israel were fearful as they stood by the shore between the boisterous waves of the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptians, soon after the first Passover. Moses sensed that God was going to bring about a mighty deliverance and instructed the people, “Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD.” Yet the time for waiting soon passed, and the LORD commanded, “Go forward” (Exodus 14:13-15).
The things which strike fear into our hearts themselves run in fear when God appears in our midst (Psalm 77:16). We hear that familiar voice which tells us to stop being afraid (John 6:20). Even the stormy waves dare not defy God when He appears in the midst of the sea, and we are soon conveyed to our destination (Psalm 107:23-30).
This short passage (John 6:16-21) contains the fifth significant “sign” in John’s Gospel. We have already seen the turning of water into wine (John 2:1-11), the healing of a courtier’s son (John 4:46-54), the healing of a lame man (John 5:1-15), and the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-15). We have yet to see the healing of a man born blind (John 9), and the raising of Lazarus (John 11).
This chapter also furnishes us with the first of the seven great “I am” saying of Jesus in John’s Gospel (John 6:35), which John 6:20 anticipates. “It is I” in John 6:20 is the same as the expression “I am,” which is the name of God. The significance of this is surely not lost on the Evangelist, nor on his Greek-speaking Jewish readers.
The divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ is an article of the Christian faith taught by the Lord Himself, without which we shall die in our sins (John 8:24). This divinity is attested in His “lifting up” (John 8:28), which speaks both of His crucifixion and of His subsequent exaltation; yet God the Son remains both one with, and distinct from, God the Father (John 8:16; John 8:18). The Lord’s audience understood Him to be claiming other-worldliness (John 8:23; John 8:58) when they took up stones with the intent to kill Him as a heretic (John 8:59)!
Jesus proclaimed His divinity in the seven famous “I am” sayings in John’s Gospel (John 6:35; John 8:12; John 10:7; John 10:11; John 11:25; John 14:6; John 15:1). When He used the same expression to those who sought to arrest Him, they fell backward (John 18:6). It was echoed privately to His disciples at the last supper (John 13:19), and as He walked on the water (John 6:20).
APPLICATION (of John 6:16-21).
1. The church at times seems like a boat tossing about on the waves of uncertainty and doubt, fearing that she may yet be irrelevant to those whom she has left on the shore, oftentimes seeming to lack the Lord’s presence. Yet when we receive the Lord back into our fellowship, we see the results of all our labours at the oars, and are conveyed immediately onto the shores of spiritual success. Finally, too, after all the centuries of the Church struggling on without the immediate, visible presence of her Lord and Master, she sees Him anew at the Second Coming, and she is conveyed away to her heavenly haven.
2. Individually, when we are tossed about in the storms of life, and we sense a darkness which suggests that the Lord is not with us: even then He draws near. He did so when we first believed, when the magnification of our sins made His approach seem anything but friendly (Isaiah 6:5). He does so again and again in our Christian life and walk, but each time we take Him up into the boat we reach our desired haven, culminating at last in the moment when we are received into heaven.
