2 Sam. 8-9
David remembered his covenant with Jonathan and reached out to take care of any that were left in the house of Saul. He was kind to Mephibosheth because of their shared relationship with Jonathon. And so it is with us and God. God showers us with his goodness, letting us eat at His table forever, because of our shared relationship with Jesus Christ.
Ps. 60
David made no mistake about where his victories came from. He did not take pride in himself or in his men, but said, “…vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is He who will tread down our foes” (Ps 60:11b-12). We may not be out fighting the Edomites, but David’s words are true with every other kind of battle we face as well.
John 2
I like Mary’s confidence. She didn’t really ask Jesus for anything, she merely told him what the problem was and then told the servants to “do whatever He tells you.” I think this is a good formula for us when we face problems. First, take them to Jesus; tell Him what the problem is. And second, obey Him; do whatever He says. So many times we do things the wrong way around. We try to solve the problem then go ask God to implement our solution for us! I think it’s time for a new approach…
I never really realized until recently that Jesus actually cleansed the Temple twice – once here at the beginning of His ministry, and once at the end when He returns to Jerusalem for His crucifixion. My bet? – there’s a lot of significance in that if someone cares to dig for it.
And this one got me – the last three verses of John 2: “…many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus on His part did not entrust himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” What on earth does that really mean??? The Message says it like this: “…many people noticed the signs He was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to Him. But Jesus didn’t entrust His life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.”
I did some quick (very quick) research on this, and it seems that most believe that this passage is saying that “belief” is not enough for salvation, while I saw another that suggested that this passage is merely delineating the difference between a saving belief and a deeper relationship. I don’t disagree with either of those statements, but am still not sure what exactly this passage is saying. It would be an interesting one to study, though, for sure.