Faith is Trusting What We Cannot See

 2 Samuel 1-2     1 Chronicles 1-10    Psalm 142    Matthew 25

As word reaches David of Israel’s loss in battle and the death of Saul and Jonathan the messenger also says that he killed Saul after he had fallen on his sword and ask him to. First David has him executed for killing the Lord’s anointed. Sometimes we need to be reminded that even an act of mercy is at times doing what only God should do. Then David grieves the death of Saul and Jonathan and calls the others to remember and grieve.

We should not miss that the next thing that David does is to seek out the guidance of the Lord. When he returns to Judah, he blesses those that have cared for the body of Saul. We can’t forget that it was Saul that for so long had sought his life.

This is followed by a power struggle between the leaders of Judah who follow David as king and the leaders that had served Saul and they anoint a king in Israel. This divided kingdom will begin with a slow consolidation of power between the forces, and we see the timing of the Lord is often not as fast as we think it is or should be. Many die in the struggle for power.

1 Chronicles begins with a detailed genealogy of the people of Israel from creation with brief pauses to remind of the key decision points in history. Then we see here too the story of Saul’s defeat, death and abuse of his body by the Philistines. There are those that will risk their life to recover his body and bury it with honor to the king of Israel. We are reminded that Saul lost the kingdom because he failed to follow the commandments of the Lord and claimed responsibility for the Lord’s work. He also, because of impatience and lack of trust did what only God’s anointed could do. Note that David waited, even after being anointed king by the Lord’s prophet, voice of the Lord, for God’s timing to place him in power as the kind.

Our song of David reminds us that he became king because he trusted the Lord’s timing even when all others thought he should act against the Lord’s anointed. He put his trust in God and declared that the people that practiced the ways of God would surround him and that God would deal with him in abundance. We can’t for get this was while he was hiding in a cave while Saul sought to kill him.

The three storis from Matthew today talk about being prepared for the unexpected presence of the Lord. Each is a story about using the resources we have now to prepare for the future. We have to remember we will be held accountable for what we do with what we have, a little or a lot. It is a matter of the habits we form about living, trusting God that what we have is enough and that it takes risk to gain more for the kingdom of God. In the end it will not be what we have gathered to present as a gift to the Lord but how we have impacted the lives of others with what God has allowed us to manage.

All of the readings today are about trusting God and believing that he will fulfill his promises and we will benefit from living as God calls us to live. The hard part is always trusting what we can not see possible. That is faith!