Chaos. It might be a good word for what your world looks like today. A pandemic, situations and schedules constantly shifting, an election year, the economy, and the list could go on and on. Chaos is always part of life. It was also part of David’s life. The challenge for everyone becomes: How do we respond to chaos in our lives? How are YOU responding to the chaos?
David was an adulterer, he was a king, he was broken, he was a warrior, he lived on the run, he had family issues, he endured a drought. David’s life had a lot a chaos in it. Today we look at how David lived through and chose to view and react to chaos. Pastor Adam used the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsy as an example of surviving in the midst of chaos. They hid Jews during World War II and were eventually captured and imprisoned in Ravensbruck concentration camp. While there, they began Bible studies and church services in their flea ridden barrack. Betsy choose to have a thankful spirit for he fleas and many around her thought that was going a bit too far and was ridiculous. However, at some point they all realized that none of the guards were interfering with all their studies and services BECAUSE they didn’t want to come near to the fleas in the barrack! Betsy firmly believed in the concept that peace was not a life without chaos, but rather it was a state of mind achieved by how you chose to see and live life.
INVITATION: How are you doing with the chaos in the world? How has your attitude been during 2020? In this week’s study, we see how David found perspective regarding the chaos in his past. We also see how he dealt with it and viewed it in his time as an older, weaker man. Finally, we get a glimpse of how David chose to view chaos that would come in the future.
MONDAY: II Samuel 21:15-17: David became weak and exhausted from the trials he was enduring. He was now an older many and the army did the equivalent of “taking his car keys away.” They retired him. Reflect on any times in your life when you have been “taken out of the game” for some reason. Perhaps an injury or perhaps a time you had to come to terms with something that was age/stage related. How did that feel for you? How have you processed it since then? How might you pray about getting older and weaker? It will happen to all of us whether or not we wish to think about it. How do you think trusting in God will be helpful as your life goes on and you age?
TUESDAY: II Samuel 22:1-4: In this chapter, David wrote a poem—or what some believe is a song--which expressed a Godly and grateful perspective for his life - even amidst all its chaos and strife. These verses speak to how God was faithful in saving David in the past. How has God been faithful saving you? How has God been faithful during this pandemic and its chaos? Consider looking back and remembering God’s faithfulness to you during this chaotic time in history.
WEDNESDAY: II Samuel 22:5-11: Where do you go when in distress? To whom do you cry? What has God’s response been toward your cries?
THURSDAY: II Samuel 22:17-20: Why didn’t the Lord leave David and his fighters to fend for themselves? God’s love is often difficult to accept, perhaps because it seems too good to be true, especially for “just plan me.” The “spacious place” of God’s love for you can seem unfamiliar at first, accustomed as we are to the narrowness of self deprecation. Pastor Adam gave us all the homework of looking at ourselves in the mirror and saying: “God delights in me; I am loved eternally.” Consider taping a note to the mirror and writing those words, reading them aloud daily for as many days or months as it takes to feel as if you are internalizing it.
FRIDAY: II Samuel 22:21-37: God was David’s strength. He is your strength as well. Do you believe God can and will provide for what you are facing? God “stoops” (vs. 36) today just as he stooped to help make David great and care for him…..even in the midst of chaos. What paths are you on that you need strength for so your “ankles do not turn" (vs. 37)? How can you take that to prayer today?
SATURDAY: II Samuel 22:38-51: As we complete this beautiful song of David’s, sit quietly and focus on your breathing and say a few words of prayer. Think about writing and praying your own psalm about an experience of powerful emotion in your life. Recall a difficult situation in which you feel God came to your aid. Revisit the emotions you experienced before and after God’s assistance became evident. Write your own psalm in however many verses it takes, expressing how difficultly gave way to deliverance and how your feelings in the midst of difficulty yielded to feelings of gratitude and praise. How has this time of writing and praying been worship in your life?