WHAT’S YOUR RESPONSE? – Friday July 7th 2017
Memorise: And it came to pass afterward,
that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 1st
Samuel 24:5
Read: 2nd Samuel 12:7-13 (King
James Version)
12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I
delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
12:8 And I gave thee thy
master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house
of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have
given unto thee such and such things.
12:9 Wherefore hast thou
despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his
sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his
wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10 Now therefore the
sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and
hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
12:11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own
house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy
neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12:12 For thou didst it
secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
12:13 And David said unto
Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said
unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
Bible in one year: 1st Samuel
18-19, Ezekiel 2:8-3:15, Hymn: Sing hymn 6
MESSAGE:
One day, after
being on the run for his dear life for quite some time, David finally had the
chance to kill King Saul, his persecutor (1st Samuel 24:2-6). However,
instead of doing this, he chose to simply cut off a part of Saul’s robe, to
show that he harboured no ill feelings towards the king. Nevertheless, after
carrying out this seemingly magnanimous act, his conscience pricked him. 1st
Samuel 24:5 says,
“And it came to pass afterward, that
David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.”
His heart asked
him, “David, what have you done? Have you forgotten it is written, “Touch not
my anointed?” He immediately lost his peace. That is the response of a true
sheep belonging to the Great Shepherd. In addition to finding it easy to obey,
a sheep that strays from the fold of the Great Shepherd will have his or her
heart smitten. Open Heavens 7 July 2017: Friday daily devotional by Pastor E.
A. Adeboye- What’s Your Response? On the
other hand, goats are hard-hearted. Are you a sheep or a goat? How many times
have you spoken against the anointed of God without feeling any remorse? You
mean you can sit down and discuss an anointed man of God for hours, pulling him
apart and highlighting what you call his faults, forgetting that it’s only
before his Maker that he stands or falls? Is your conscience dead or alive? The
conscience of a goat is dead but that of a sheep is alive.
In today’s Bible
reading, when Prophet Nathan visited David and narrated to him the story of a
rich man with many sheep, who used his poor neighbour’s only lamb to entertain
his visitors, David was furious. He declared that whoever carried out his act
must die. Then the prophet looked at him and said, “You are the man!” Remember
that Nathan was talking to the king of the land. If you expose a goat, he or
she will be angry and pounce on you. If David had been a goat, immediately he
was confronted with his sin, he would have ordered his guards to cut off the prophet’s
head. If he wanted to be subtle, he could lure the prophet to attend a private
dinner for them to discuss the matter further, where his wine would have been
poisoned. However, what did David do? He said, “I am finished!”, and he began
to confess his sins. What is your attitude when God’s word hits you? Do you
say, “This pastor is preaching about me again? I wonder who reports me to him!”
Is your attitude the type that says, “Preacher, mind your own business?” How
often have you broken down to weep over your atrocities? How many times have
you cried to God for mercy, not caring about those people who are around you?
Are you a goat or a sheep?
Key Point:
If you are a sheep, it will show in your
response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye,
the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the
largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ the
Redeemer's Ministries.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
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