Podcast appearances and mentions of king david

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2026 26:00

As we near the end of 2026, we see a world in disarray. The situation with Iran. The sexual perversion we see being celebrated. Total chaos. But we can gain hope and encouragement from God's word, and that's what we hope will happen to you today as we finish our look at Second Samuel twenty-one. It's a time if war for Israel, and King David is getting near the end of his time as Israel's leader. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/621/29?v=20251111

The Final Song Part 2 (1 Chronicles 28-29)

Wisdom for the Heart

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2026 26:53 Transcription Available

Share a commentThe hardest spiritual test is not hearing God say “no” to a bad idea, it's hearing Him say “no” to a good one. We sit with King David at the end of his life as he looks straight at an unfulfilled dream: he spent years planning a temple for God's glory, only to watch the assignment pass to Solomon. Instead of bitterness, David gives us a rare picture of maturity: honest desire, real disappointment, and a steady “yet” that keeps trusting God's wisdom.From there, we move into a surprisingly practical blueprint for Christian parenting and spiritual leadership. David, a man with public wins and private failures, speaks to his son with clarity: know the God of your father, serve Him with a whole heart, seek Him, be strong, and do the work. We talk about why that personal faith matters more than a “successful life” checklist, and how a parent's real repentance can carry more weight than perfect performance.We also unpack David's public prayer in 1 Chronicles 28 to 29, where stewardship and worship meet. He reminds us that generosity starts with humility because everything we bring to God already came from His hand. And he prays for Solomon's integrity, not comfort, pushing back on the fantasy that God's best plan is always the easiest path.If you've ever felt the sting of a delayed dream, a redirected calling, or a parenting moment you wish you could redo, this conversation will help you reset your priorities and reclaim a worshipful perspective. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a steady “yet,” and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.Learn more about twenty-five years of global impact, and reserve tickets to our gala. https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/25 Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/Support the show

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The Final Song Part 2 (1 Chronicles 28-29)

Wisdom for the Heart on Oneplace.com

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2026 26:53 Transcription Available

god song chronicles king david

A Forgotten Prophet Saw the Rapture? | Ken Johnson | The Week in Bible Prophecy

The Week in Bible Prophecy

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2026 36:45 Transcription Available

Ken Johnson joins Gary to explore one of the Bible's most intriguing mysteries—the Book of Gad the Seer. First Chronicles 29:29 specifically mentions the writings of Gad, one of King David's prophets. But what happened to that ancient book? Ken explains how surviving manuscripts were traced, why he believes they preserve an ancient text, and what they may reveal about David, biblical history and prophecy. Even more fascinating are the prophetic passages. Ken discusses what he interprets as a vision of the resurrection and Rapture, along with prophecies concerning the last days and a future religious system connected with Babylon.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-week-in-bible-prophecy--6909234/support.

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“But God” - Wednesday

For Zion’s Sake Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2026 14:25

Episode Description: In this episode of For Zion's Sake, hosts Shelly Volk and his son Scott continue their journey exploring the theme "But God." Shifting focus to King David and the Apostle Paul, they examine how believers can navigate deep emotional weariness, overwhelming circumstances, and human weakness. By turning to the sanctuary of God, David found renewed perspective when evil seemed to triumph. Similarly, Paul experienced divine comfort through fellow believers during intense trials. Shelly and Scott emphasize that God intentionally uses the weak and simple things of the world to demonstrate His power, calling listeners to abandon self-reliance and rest in God's strength. Key Takeaways: Strength Beyond Human Failure: Even when our heart and flesh fail, God remains the permanent strength of our heart and our portion forever. Perspective Through God's Presence: When confused by the apparent success of the wicked or the weight of trials, entering God's sanctuary provides divine clarity. God Works Through Community: God often delivers comfort and encouragement during trials through fellow brothers and sisters in faith. God Exalts the Humble: God intentionally chooses the weak and foolish things of the world so that no one can boast in human wisdom or self-reliance. Scripture References: Isaiah 62:1 – "For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns." Psalm 73:25–27 – "Whom have I in heaven but You? ... My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." 2 Corinthians 7:5–6 – "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest... But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus." 1 Corinthians 1:26–27 – "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty." Support the show: https://shellyandjunevolk.com/product/partner-with-us-psalm-127-fund/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Psalm 106

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2026

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The Life and Leadership of King David (Part 3)

The Leader’s Notebook

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2026 48:55

In this episode of The Leader's Notebook (Ep. 330), I take a closer look at one of the lesser-known and most complicated seasons in the life of David. From 2 Samuel 2 through the events surrounding the death of Saul, Jonathan, Abner, and Ish-bosheth, we see a man moving from shepherd, to warrior, to exile, to king. David's journey reminds us that God's destiny is often reached through a long and difficult process, not by shortcuts. Again and again, David chooses to honor God, respect what God has established, and remain faithful even when those around him do not. There is a powerful lesson here for anyone waiting on God: when you cannot yet do anything to advance your ultimate calling, do what God has placed in front of you and do it with excellence. Encourage yourself in the Lord, follow the plan, take the next step, remain true to your values, and let God make the way forward. “Wait, I say, on the Lord” is not passive resignation—it is faith that trusts God's timing. David's story ultimately brings us to the 23rd Psalm, where the warrior king speaks from the heart of a shepherd: “The Lord is my shepherd.” The same God who led David through the valley was faithful to lead him into his destiny, and He is still faithful to lead us today. – Dr. Mark Rutland Chapters (00:00:03) - The Leaders Notebook(00:00:28) - David and Bathsheba(00:02:07) - David the Great(00:03:32) - David's Loyalty(00:11:31) - Saul's Emotional Apology(00:12:47) - The Death of King Saul(00:16:57) - David the Conqueror(00:20:19) - David on His Ultimate Destiny(00:27:09) - David vs. Joab(00:33:35) - The Story of Abner and Michal(00:36:07) - 4 Life Lessons of David(00:42:09) - Promotion cometh from the Lord(00:43:54) - David's Destiny Is Complete

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2 Samuel 21 1-14a

god lord king david 2 samuel sound doctrine jeff johnson second samuel

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2026 25:59

Today on Sound Doctrine we take you to Second Samuel twenty-one, where there was a national calamity taking place in that day . King David did what we should do. He turned to God in prayer. It was a time for David to be seeking the Lord, and pastor Jeff Johnson says we should do the same. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/621/29?v=20251111

Love for the Unseen Christ - Part B

The Journey with Pastor Steve DeWitt

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2026

Steve DeWitt Love for the Unseen Christ - Part B Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:6-8 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:8-9 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:8-9 Sermon Series: Spiritual ExilesMessage: Love for the Unseen ChristAirdate: 9/14-9/15/25Programs: 2356 & 2357It's great to see and an encouragement to us. We come now to God's word, and we are back in our series in First Peter today. You know, Peter wrote to exiles in Asia Minor this letter we call First Peter, but he really might as well have written it to us. It'd be easy to read this letter and to just change the personal pronouns, change the names, and insert our own names and our own church family because what he's talking about here is totally appropriate to us as well. He writes to Christians who are experiencing trials.They're experiencing loneliness. They are ostracized in their society. They are struggling to do, you know, Christian lifestyle in a very pagan environment, which, of course, is what we're doing as well. Here today, no doubt, we have people who are dealing with crushing trials, things that even as I say the word trial, boom, it comes to your mind, and you you're thinking about that, and you you brought that discouragement into this service with you, and you're hoping for a word from God to help you. And we live in this world that is increasingly difficult, I think, to live Christianly, especially in America as it continues to slide more secular.It makes you wonder what are the days ahead gonna be like? What's coming around the bend? What are our children, Lord willing, if they embrace the Christian faith, what are they gonna experience in living the Christian life in a, America that's going the direction that it is? I doubt it's gonna be easier for them than it is for us. So how do we prepare ourselves for the trials that lie ahead?And what Peter is going to talk about here, I believe to be the high point of his letter and really is one of the most wonderful passages in all of the New Testament. The word that comes to my mind with this verse is it's magisterial. I mean, it is just, it's a it's a wonderful, wonderful word that God has for us. And for me, it is a privilege to exposit it and to teach it today, and I hope the Lord blesses it truly. So let me read First Peter one verses eight and nine, our text today.“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Now I know it's been a couple weeks. We had snowmageddon in the in between here, but I hope you haven't forgotten what Peter has been already saying to us and teaching us, especially in, the preceding verses where he talks about trials. And he compares trials to, the fiery furnace that gold would go to.So the analogy is our faith is like gold, and our trials are like fiery furnace. And he draws the analogy, and he says, you know, when they would purify gold, they heat up gold in a furnace. And when it it's heated, the impurities rise to the surface, and they're able to skim off those impurities. And the net effect is that the gold is unveiled in a more valuable way, a more wonderful way. Its genuineness is revealed, but it is also purified by the heat of the trial.And this is intended, I think, to get us ready for what is to come. In fact, he says that. He says at the end of verse seven, that “our faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Now that revelation for us personally will either happen when Jesus returns and there is the revelation of Jesus in this world, or personally, it's going to happen when we die. Because when we die, something becomes true in our faith that has never been true before.What is it? All of a sudden in that moment, I will see him. Right? I am going to see the Lord. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”And that moment of death for us will be when our faith becomes sight, as the as the hymn writer writes. So this moment will be a wonderful, wonderful moment. But for now, it highlights the fact that we are believing in somebody, trusting in somebody, talking about somebody, singing songs to somebody, gathering in the name of somebody that none of us have ever seen. Is that weird? I mean, if if just your average person was to they didn't know anything and they walked in here and they were like, hey.What are you guys doing here? You're like, oh, this is a church that we're all about Jesus here. Really? You're all about Jesus? Yeah.We worship him. We sing to him. We try to live our lives to his glory. Really? Really?What's he what's he what's he like? What's he look like? I don't know. Never met him. The guy would probably be like, these people are strange.Right? I mean, what is going on here in living the Christian faith following the ascension of Jesus when Jesus went to heaven? Other than the Apostle Paul in Scripture, we don't know of anybody who's actually seen Jesus. Right? We are all living a kind of faith and a belief in somebody that we have never met, which on the surface looks strange and weird, like we're all nut jobs somehow.Is this kinda like a religious version of marrying a woman you've never met? Is it eHarmony for eternity? Or is there something else going on, something more wonderful that is going on here? And, of course, Peter writes this letter. And Peter, of all people, is himself an eyewitness.Right? I mean, other than Jesus' family, Peter probably had more eye time with Jesus than anybody else. He was part of Jesus' disciples. He lived with him for three years. They ate.They talked. They they, ministered together. He went to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration. He was there in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was part of the inner three.Jesus appeared to Peter after the resurrection more than anybody else. So you could say that Peter, of all people, had eye time with Jesus, and now here he is writing about people who have no eye time with Jesus. You might think that Peter be like, oh, you age of minor people. I've seen him. I know.You have no idea what you're missing. And we, of course, are in the same situation here today, singing “Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon his throne.” “Your great name.” These songs, very Christ centered, uplifting songs to somebody we've never seen with our eyes. And Peter writes here so wonderfully about the Christian experience post ascension.And he says here, you have never seen Christ, yet three things are true. We love him, we believe in him, and we rejoice in him. And let's just walk through the text here now, those three things. First of all, unseen, yet we love him. “Though you have not seen him, you love him.”Now for us, love and sight naturally go together. You sometimes hear couples, they'll say, oh, it was love at first sight. Well, now on my side of the marital covenant, I will say to you that only a very superficial understanding of love would make that kind of statement true. What kind of love or is is Peter talking about? That kind of love?Is it a is it a is it a marital love? Is it I mean, it it's not. It's not an erotic love. It's not even a friendship love that is used here. In fact, the Greek word in this text is that Greek word that the New Testament writers pulled and infused with all kinds of redemptive truth and meaning.Agape love. Agape is the is the word there. We've talked about this at length here at Bethel. We've defined it as self giving for the good and joy of another. It is a kind of love, the kind of love that God has.It is a it is a love of a different kind, a love of a deeper quality. It was this love, this agape love that God expressed to us when he sent his Son Jesus into this world. “For God so loved, agape the world, that he gave his only Son,” John three sixteen. It is this agape love that Jesus expressed to us as he hung on the cross. “Greater love is no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friend.”“But God demonstrated his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This giving of myself, geez God expresses it to us through Jesus. Jesus expresses it to us through his cross and his death in our place. So what is our response then as as believers? First John four nineteen.“We love him because he first loved us.” Amen. Right? And so our love for for God is not self generated. It doesn't it doesn't come from us.We would naturally not love God Jesus this way. But it is an act of God's sovereign grace whereby through the gospel, we come to hear and to understand what Jesus has done for us. And that work of God by his spirit, this new birth, this regeneration explodes in our heart. We believe in Jesus, and the response to the love of God to us is that we love him. K?We don't take credit for that love. We would never come up with that love on our own. This is a part of God's good work in us. It is producing agape for God, agape for Jesus. But our agape of Jesus is different because we've never seen him.It is an unseen love or it's an unseen Christ that we are loving. I tried to think of some analogy of of this. And for obvious reasons in my life right now, I think about a parent's love for a child in the womb. Never seen that child yet. Love him or her already.Unseen child, love for the unseen child, love for the unseen Christ. The love that saving faith creates in us is a genuine love, but it is an agape kind of love even though we've never laid eyes on him. Unseen, yet we love him. Secondly, unseen, yet we believe in him. “Though you do not see him now, you believe in him.”Notice the tense change. The first clause was you did not see him, yet you love him, present tense. Here, you do not see him now, presently, yet you presently believe in him. Now I wonder, does this remind you of anybody? Somebody in the story in the gospels who, refused to believe something that he couldn't see.Now maybe this is coming to your mind already if you're with me. I think about the disciple Thomas. Do you know the story? I trust that you do. The story is that Jesus is resurrected from the dead.He makes his first appearance to the disciples in the upper room. Everybody's there except Thomas. And Jesus is there. He says, here I am. Give me food to eat.Believe. I'm alive. And the disciples, of course, are in awe at this, and they just are marvel at Jesus leaves. Well, Thomas comes in, and they're like, he's alive. And Thomas famously says this.“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Thomas is like the patron saint of the cynic or the skeptic. The kind of person who says, unless I have empirical evidence with my eyes, unless I can put this in a in a test tube and and sort of prove it, I will not believe until the empirical evidence that my own eyes have seen tell me that this is true. These are the people that refuse to believe the testimony of other people regarding Jesus' claims to deity, regarding the miracles that he did in his earthly ministry and his supernatural life, his resurrection, and all the rest. It's not enough for them.They refuse to believe unless they see it with their own eyes. Notice what happens to Thomas. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas imagine this moment, by the way.The disciples are like, we've seen him. We've seen him. We've seen him. Thomas said, I don't I refuse to believe. Now all of a sudden, Jesus is there.What's the look on Thomas' face? I want a picture of that someday in heaven. Jesus says to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” And Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God.”Notice Thomas doesn't say, okay. Well, let me come over there a second and see if I can put my finger in that hole. And how about if I put my side my fist in the side? He doesn't have to do any of that. He sees Jesus standing before him, and now it is enough, and he says, “My Lord and my God.”Notice the next verse though. Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Who is Jesus talking about in that verse? He's talking about us, isn't he?Has anybody here seen Jesus? I doubt it very much. And yet, there we have Jesus saying, the real blessing is not the person who is in the upper room and actually sees the resurrected Jesus. The real blessing is the person who doesn't see that and yet has put their faith and trust in him. He's talking about us.He's talking about 99.999% of people who have ever believed. He's talking about Old Testament saints. He's talking about Moses. He's talking about Abraham. He's talking about David.These are all people that they they they had revelation a little bit from God in the Old Testament. They believed in the coming Messiah. They believed in the one that God promised who would come. They never saw him, and yet they believed. The Old Testament states he's talking about every Christian after the ascension of Jesus.Here we are, having never seen him, and yet we believe. And here we are now in a central truth about the kind of faith that saves us. Christian faith, saving faith, has a kind of seeing, a kind of perceiving, a kind of discerning that goes beyond the eyes. Faith has its own eyes, if we could say it that way. Faith sees the unseen.The writer of Hebrews gives the classic definition. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” You know, Christianity, some people wrongly, in my opinion, accuse it of being somehow anti intellectual. It is not anti intellectual. It is a thinking faith.There is enough evidence in the world around us in the testimony of the eyewitnesses, and the story of Scripture that we can think deeply and intellectually about our faith. But here's the thing. There is not enough evidence to simply reason our way to saving faith. There comes a point where I have to see the unseen. I have to believe in something that I can't put in a test tube.I have to trust in the eyewitness account of others who saw these things. And if you're here today and maybe you have not yet believed, I want to encourage you, and my prayer has been before even preaching this message, that God would somehow use it for that person who maybe is high on the kind of the Thomas scale to help you realize that the faith that saves even by the description of Scripture is a kind of seeing that goes beyond the eyes. But it is a kind of seeing all the same. A kind of faith and trusting in the claims of Christianity, in the claims of Jesus being the Son of God, the eyewitness accounts of people who saw him dead and who saw him alive, and the testimony of two thousand years of Christians whose lives have been changed by faith in this Jesus. And maybe God would use this message to draw you into, finally, a faith relationship with Jesus and that you would put your hope and trust in him.That would be a great thing. And join the rest of us who have not seen Christ but who believe in him truly and fully. So unseen, yet we love him. Unseen, yet we believe in him. Thirdly, unseen, yet we rejoice in him.Again, the text. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him. And rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” And that little phrase right there, in my opinion, is one of the most sublime, one of the most wonderful little clauses in all of Scripture describing the Christian experience.Rejoicing with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Here, I think Peter is describing the Christian experience at its highest, at its its most joyous expression. Our faith sees through the gospel. Our faith sees the loveliness, the beauty, the desirability of Jesus. And inside, there is a kind of resting, trusting in who he is and the fact that he did indeed die for my sins.And there is then in this resting and this assurance that I have that Jesus indeed is not just the savior but my savior, there flows then within us a love, a gladness, a a joy. I mean, imagine somebody receiving Jesus as savior, knowing now my sins are forgiven. My guilt is not held against me. I have the righteousness of Jesus by justification. I have eternal life.I'm a child of God. Heaven and the new earth is mine forever. And on the other side of that being like, bummer. Can you imagine that? I mean, that would be so inappropriate.Right? How can you not have all of these things now by faith and truly in your heart believe them to be true and there not be joy from it? Are you with me? Indeed, joy inexpressible. The word here for rejoice in the original means this.Here's the lexicon. To experience a state of great joy and gladness, often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement. Some of you are getting uncomfortable now. To be extremely joyful, to be overjoyed, to rejoice greatly. And the lexicon adds this.I shout because of my joy. K? So glad that I'm just raw. But then Peter adds, this joy is inexpressible. So Peter takes it to another level then and says that it is beyond words or description.Now we've probably seen a child open a present or have some moment of such joy that they're just they they run-in place. Right? And they they go in circles like this. They're just they're just so excited. Right?They can't hardly contain themselves. There's an overflow of joy because of it. Adults, similarly, although somewhat more subdued, typically, we clap, we shout, we dance. There is a kind of joy that goes beyond verbal expression. That is this joy inexpressible.Now it would be easy for me right now to lay a massive guilt trip on the church and to say, alright, you Christian people. This is what it's supposed to look like all the time. And if you're here right now and you if I gave you the chance that you would run-in circles and dance and shout but not be able to say words, if that's not your experience right now, you're a bad Christian. And what's wrong with you people? And there are probably a few good meaning people here that would even amen something like that.It's about time we get more that way around here. But I suspect if I did that, most of us would leave very depressed. And I would as well because my Christian experience would not match up with joy inexpressible every moment of every day. My Christian experience and having been around this church long enough now, the vast majority of us are struggling to be faithful to the Lord in the ups and the downs of life. And there is a lot of times that I don't feel joy, I feel disappointment.And there are times that I don't feel joy, I feel depressed. There are times when the criticism hits home. There are times when the relationship struggles just cause despair. There are times where, like, following Jesus, it's not running in places like literally grabbing this leg and forcing it, you know, to follow the Lord and saying, I will, but inside, it doesn't feel like it. Can you relate to that?Life is painful. In fact, you could in mass Peter, why would you talk about joy inexpressible in the verse following the verses about fiery furnace trials? Like, how do those go fiery furnace trial, joy inexpressible? Like for me, when I'm in a trial, I'm not happy. And when I'm when I'm happy, I'm probably not in a in a trial at that moment.Right? I can have some joy inexpressible when everything is fantastic. I wanna live on that plane. Life isn't that way, though. And I have wrestled with this passage, and I wanna tell you what I think it's saying.At least at this point in my spiritual walk and my spiritual maturity and my understanding of scripture, maybe in ten years, I'll say, I think something different. But as best I can tell, this is what Peter is doing. Peter is describing here in such emotionally rejoicing language, he is describing the Christian faith as it can be, as it should be, and as it will be. As it can be, as it should be, and as it will be. Let's start with the as it will be because I think all of us are on the same page with this one.Who here wouldn't want to experience joy in Jesus like he's describing here? Well, be encouraged. Our entire eternity will be this. Listen, Christian. Our entire eternity is going to be the experience of perpetual and unending joy inexpressible.What am I talking about? I am talking about the day that is coming for us when we are standing in the presence of the Lord, when we are living on that new earth, when we are in our glorified bodies, when we have received all of the redemptive benefits that God has promised to us, when we are not living in this sin sick world anymore, when we are living in the next one, that experience there is going to be so far beyond this one and so far better than this one, I I wonder how we'll look back on these days. Imagine it. Every moment, joy inexpressible. That's our eternity.To think that our brothers and sisters who've died and have already gone there to think about Pete Erhammer and Merle McCleskey, two members of our church that died recently, both faithful, godly men. If we had, like, a little if we could FaceTime them right now and say, hey, Merle and Pete, how's it going up there? What would they say? I think they would say, it is so much better than I ever imagined. And we'd be like, why do you say that?I believe they would say, we have seen him. We've seen him in all of his glory, in all of his beauty, in all of his majesty. We have seen him. He talked to me. He talked to me.He ministered to me. He's seen me. I see him. You're not gonna believe what it's like. It's fantastic.Why? What's so great about there? There, the faith has become sight. And that sight is not Jesus in his more subdued, stealthy, incarnate human body. It is Jesus in all of the splendor that is his as the Son of God at the right hand of God the Father.And that will be for us since he is our savior, Lord, and friend. That will be for us a source of unending, unexhausting joy inexpressible. And our dear brothers and sisters, they're there right now, and they are experiencing that. And our faith, even right now, has capacity for that. And we have moments of that, but not like it is there.Psalm sixteen eleven, “in thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand is pleasures evermore.” And so Peter here is giving us a glimpse of what eternity's joy will be like. It'll be perfect joy. It'll be inexpressible joy, and that day is coming for us. But Peter is also here describing Christian faith as it can be and as it should be.And this is what I think he is getting at in context here in the passage is that heaven's joy is part of the present Christian experience. Only here, we have to fight for it. In this world and in this body, I have to fight for heaven's joy to be a part of my experience here. And the reason that it is a fight is because of indwelling sin. It is a fight because there are all of these joy stealers all the time that are wanting me to put my hope, trust, identity, and belief in them, but they are not Jesus.And they ultimately are disappointing. Trials are this. Trials cloud our thinking so easily. You know, in moments when I have spiritual clarity, and maybe you can relate to this, there are there are moments I could tell you some of the high points of my whole Christian experience where maybe it's on the other side of a trial or maybe it's in a particular worship service or there's something going on in my life. All of a sudden, I have clarity.Like I see things truly biblically. I see my life and I see my forgiveness in Jesus and I I don't know. I just have these sometimes these moments of clarity and I have inside of me, I just feel like a yes. There's a there's a genuine joy that I that I I'll have. And I'll bet, Christian, you've had some high points in your walk as well.Somehow, there's just a refreshment in your perspective, and there comes in your soul a kind of gladness in all that you have in Jesus and all that God has done for you and the love of God and just all the promises and the hopes that comes in him. These are wonderful moments in our life. But then we give into a temptation or some opportunity comes and we think there's greater joy in gossip or in porn than in Jesus and a life lived to his glory. There's more joy in having what my neighbor has or wishing he didn't have it. There's more joy in some other kind of sin or some good thing, but a lesser thing.And what happens in that? Where does the joy go? Boo. Out the window. Right?There it goes. Think of David as an example of this. David, King David, the the sweet singer of Israel, the writer of the Psalms, the man who God himself said was “a man after my own heart,” wrote beautiful language about his relationship to God, to the Lord. He says just says, “I love the Lord.” Right?“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” I mean, he he must have had such joy in his heart as he was writing such beautiful language about what God is like. What happened to David? One day David sinned with Bathsheba.And in Psalm 51, he describes the experience of one year of living without repentance. And he says, “my bones groaned within me.” And he writes in Psalm 51, his desire is this, “restore to me the joy of my salvation.” What did David miss in his time away from God? He missed that sense of gladness in God, that everything was right.I'm living for the glory of God. And maybe you're there right now. You remember good old days spiritually. You remember times of gladness in Jesus, but you've been living for something else. Or you've given into some temptation, and your heart longs for the good old days spiritually, so did David.He wanted that joy back, but it had been stolen from him. What is David writing in Psalm 23 or Psalm 51? It's the same thing that Peter's writing in First Peter one eight. What are trials? What is the what is “the valley of the shadow of death”?What do these have what to do with joy? Simply this. Trials magnify like nothing else the joy of knowing Jesus. And the result of that is that we love him more. Is this not true?Think about it in your own life. Think about it from scripture. The writer of Hebrews I'm gonna give you one example. The writer of Hebrews writes to a group of people that had gone through a particular experience. Listen carefully to what how he describes what they went through.This is Hebrews 10. “But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, in other words, after you had come to saving faith, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly be a And You're since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” He's talking about Christians who went through horrible experiences, persecutions, plundering of what they have. Imagine a Christian, for example, today living in Syria and seeing ISIS approaching. What would you expect to find in their hearts?Are they they're going, yes. Here they come. On one level, obviously, no. But on another level, all the trials and sufferings that come into our life do something good for us. They refine our thinking about what really matters in life, and they magnify to us the enduring value of knowing Jesus.Because, typically, all these trials involve losing something. They lost their possessions. Imagine, for example, that you're here in church, and we come to find out that even right now, there's a group of people, and they're robbing your house. How many of us are going, love that? We're not happy about that in one respect.But in another respect, if somebody did rob your house or like the family in our church whose house burned down this last year, give the testimony that spiritually, it's been a wonderful experience for them. Why? Because when your house burns down, it helps refine what really matters in life, doesn't it? And this is what trials do. They help us realize that these temporary things that in the matter in the end don't matter, that knowing Christ is the thing that matters.He is the enduring source of joy, and the joy in Jesus is magnified by the loss. Let me illustrate it this way. Let's just imagine that it's last week and you're in Phoenix. And you didn't realize it, but the Super Bowl was going on in Phoenix. And you're like, that's I've always wanted to go to the Super Bowl like you're a lifelong NFL fan.It's been a dream of yours, but they never have the Super Bowl in at Soldier Field, so you never have the opportunity. But you just happen to be in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Super Bowl is going on. You get online, and sure enough, there's a ticket. You buy this ticket. It's extraordinarily expensive, but you're like, I'm going anyway.It's a once in a lifetime chance. And so you go to the Super Bowl and you got your ticket and you you go in there and you're like, okay, where's my seat at? They say it's up there. And the next guy goes, it's up there. And the next guy goes, it's up You're in the last row of the stadium.You're all the way at the top. You're sitting behind a pillar next to a drunk guy. And you're sitting there, I can't believe this is gonna be my Super Bowl experience sitting here. And you're, like, looking around the pillar trying to see the game. When all of a sudden the guy comes up to you and says, he goes, hey.How'd you like to be in the front row? And you're like, really? He goes, here's the thing though. To be in the front row, you gotta give me your back row ticket. Now what would be the natural response to that?No problem. Best day of my entire life. You bet. You can have this ticket right here. You just frame it for all I care.You can have that. I get the front row ticket. And so down you go all the way to the front row, and there you are, best seat in the house, 50 yard line. The game's going on in front of you. And and what do you do in the entire game?You're watching the game, but every once in a while, you're looking back up at the seat that you were supposed to be sitting in. And you're thinking to yourself every time you look at it, what? Yes. Right? Look where I am.Look what I have. Fantastic. How many of us would be in the front row going, oh, the old ticket. Sounds like a country song. Right?The old ticket. Maybe I shouldn't have given that up. We don't think that. Why? Because we realize what we have.And trials are that for us. Suffering is that for us. It is always loss. Trials are it's a loss of my health. It's the loss of my job.It's the loss of my spouse. It's the loss of my financial security. It's it's somehow it involves the losing or the threatening of losing something that I am deeming valuable, but they are always things that are temporary. Even life itself is the loss of something temporary. I don't get to keep any of these things anyway, including my life.But as I go through these trials, they are and I'm losing things or maybe losing things. They are reminding the Christian that there is one thing that is enduring. There is one possession that trumps all of them. It is the front row ticket. And my joy is in this, not in that.Are you with me? And so we have to live our lives. And this is what Peter is saying. You haven't seen him, but you love him. You don't see him now.You believe in him. And the result of my gladness, my hope, my assurance being in Jesus and not in these other things is that I can have a joy that is paired with the pain. I can have a joy in the midst of the sorrow. I can have joy in the midst of the plundering of my possessions. I can have joy in the midst of the cancer treatment.I can have joy in the midst of the marital counseling. I can have joy in the midst of the painful pregnancy. I can have joy in the midst of anything that is temporary because my joy isn't something that is eternal. Right? And this joy, in the words of the old preacher, the world didn't give it, and the world can't take it away.Trials magnify what really matters. When I think about things that I've gone through in my life, I turned 47 two weeks ago. I'm not the oldest in the room, and I am not the youngest anymore. I've been around the block a few times, and I've had a few hard things that I've gone through. When I think about even the worst moments of my life, I look back at them now, and I can appreciate them because God used them in my life to refine my faith, to get my clinging from things and people and affirmation from people and a host of other things.And they have been good for me. Good for me. And I got a long way to go in this. And you catch me on the wrong day, and you're gonna walk away thinking he ain't living out his sermon very well. But neither are you, friend.And that's why heaven will be all of us living the sermon out perfectly. Joy inexpressible, filled with glory, seeing him by sight, being in proximity to him, knowing his love, not by faith, but by the full experience of human sensory knowledge to touch him, to hear him, to see him will be for us as a joy that our hearts can't even imagine now. And that day is coming. So how about you, friend? You're in a trial right now?You got some pain going on? Is your joy in the thought that maybe that trial's gonna go away? Is your joy in the thought that maybe that pain will go away? You got everybody praying that God would take the pain away. Might not the actual solution be pairing the pain with joy in the Lord?“Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.” And that is how we live the Christian life in the ups and the downs, in the trials and in the blessings, awaiting a day when our faith will be sight and we will see him. That will be a great day. Amen.Would you please join me for a word of prayer?* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

Psalm 105

bible psalms king david verses psalm 105

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2026

mp3

Hope in the Waiting - Day 2- I Have Heard Your Prayers And Seen Your Tears

Walk Boldly With Jesus

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2026 13:28

Hope in the Waiting - Day 2- I Have Heard Your Prayers And Seen Your TearsIsaiah 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.”I love this verse because sometimes, when we have been waiting a long time for an answer to prayer, we begin to wonder if God is really listening. Maybe you have prayed the same prayer over and over again. Maybe you have cried more tears than you can count. If that is you today, I want you to hear these words personally: God has heard your prayers, and He has seen your tears.Just as it says in Isaiah 38:5, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.” When I read this verse this morning, my first thought was of a friend of mine. She is really struggling right now, and I felt like God was talking to her when He said, “I have heard your prayers and seen your tears.” Then I got to thinking, and I actually have several friends who are struggling right now. Struggling with some really difficult issues. For all of you who are struggling right now, I want you to know that you are not alone. Life can be incredibly difficult, and sometimes it feels like one hardship gets piled on top of another. We have certainly walked through difficult seasons in our family too, and looking back, I can see that God was with us through all of it.What if you can't see that? What if you don't know where God was in all of it? You can be someone who loves God, someone who has a close relationship with God, and also you can question where God is and what his plan is. King David was anointed, and he had a very close relationship with God, yet even He questioned God. In Psalm 13:1-3 “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” Have you had these thoughts before? Have you, or are you going through something, and you are wondering how long you have to endure the suffering before God will save you, before He will answer your prayers?If this is your first time, I want to let you know that this is okay. Sometimes, we can make our pain worse because, on top of the pain of the situation, we feel guilty because we are questioning the Lord, or we are mad at the Lord. Sometimes our minds say things like, “If I were a good Christian, I would just trust God,” or “I've had a relationship with the Lord a long time; I shouldn't be worried or questioning.” God can handle our questioning and our anger. He is strong enough for anything you have for Him. He wants you to turn to Him in times of need. You are not the only person angry with God and questioning how long you will have to suffer. Trust me. There are many people in the same boat. Please let the guilt go. Please do not judge yourself for questioning. David questioned often; just read the psalms, and you will see just how often, and yet God chose David's lineage to bring forth the Savior of the world. Second, I want you to know that this scripture verse is for you. God wants to talk directly to you right now when he says, “I have heard your prayers, and seen your tears.” He is there with you, even when you can't see Him or feel Him. He is there every moment of your life. I know it is a struggle sometimes, many times, to understand why you had to go through some of the things you had to go through. I know that not knowing is sometimes the hardest part. I want to assure you that things will get better. I don't know how, and I don't know when. I do know that God wants ridiculously good things for you. It says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God will get you through these difficult times, and there will be great times on the other side of this hardship. Just hang on. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you will make it through this hard time.I would like to give you two things that may help get you through this difficult time. The first is from the same psalm that I read from earlier. In Psalm 13, David was questioning the Lord and asking how long he was going to have to suffer. Then he ended the Psalm with verses 5-6: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise, for he has been good to me.” David does question the Lord, and then he turns back to praising the Lord. Praising the Lord in a difficult time can really help us get through that difficult time. Now, I can already hear some of you saying, “But what if I am struggling to trust in God's unfailing love?” or “What if I don't know what to say?” This is ok. God knows this. When I struggle to believe in something, I go to Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Sometimes, we get to a place where we can't pray. Has this happened to you? If so, I want you to know you are in good company. I am not sure if you know this or not, but Mother Teresa had this happen to her. She was so close to the Lord; she was doing His work every single day, and yet she went through really long, like several years long, dry spells where she could not pray. She would enter into her prayer time, and nothing would come. The enemy has a way of making us feel like we are the only ones that these things happen to and that we are awful people because of it. I just want you to know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I think that is part of the reason why God raises up Saints. I think we usually put them on pedestals, and when we do, I think we are missing the point. I think the Saints are actually to show us very real people who are not perfect; they made mistakes, in some cases big mistakes, and yet still were capable of carrying out God's work. God does not use perfect people. He takes broken, imperfect people and makes them perfect through His grace. I think the Saints are showcasing God's redemption. If you read about the saints, you will quickly take them off the pedestal, and you will be able to see parts of yourself in them. If God could turn their lives around so completely, He could do it for all of us.The second thing is to read Scripture. If you are going through a difficult time and you are questioning if God is there, reading Scripture can be helpful. Seeing how God has shown up for others in the past can help you see how He may show up for you. If you struggle to trust in the Lord, read passages that talk about God's faithfulness. If you struggle to believe God loves you, read passages on God's love. I have recently learned of something called scripture writing. I had no idea what this was. Well, obviously, I could deduce what it meant, but I didn't know how to do it. How do you know what scripture to write? How much to write? I had several questions. The truth is, there is no one way to do it. The point is to familiarize yourself with Scripture, and you remember things better when you write them down. However, I like it when things have directions that I can follow. So, if you are like me, here is what I do. I go online and Google scripture writing plans. There will be tons of images that come up. Most of them have a theme, so I pick one that I feel resonates with me for that month. One month, I picked Be Bold; another month, I picked Repentance & Renewal. Then the plan tells you which verses to write each day. It is usually just a verse or two. I just got a notebook, and each day, I write the verse for the day. It has been really great, and I enjoy those 5-10 minutes with the Lord. If you are struggling right now, maybe give scripture writing or praising the Lord a try and see how you feel afterward. If you are not sure you know what to say when praising the Lord, you could always listen to Christian music and let the artists praise for you. If you are not sure what to pray, you can pray the scriptures. The Book of Psalms is also a great place to go for praising the Lord. If you feel like you can't praise the Lord in your circumstances, you can borrow David's praises. You will get through this hard time. God is with you! You are not alone. He may let you fall, but He will be there to catch you and put you back on even stronger ground. You are amazing, and God loves you more than you will ever know.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you be with everyone listening to this today. I ask that you let them see where you are in all of this. Lord, sometimes we don't understand Your plan or why we have to go through the hard times. We ask that you bless us with a supernatural trust in you. We ask that you help us to feel you in those really hard times. Lord, we ask that You fortify us with strength and protect us when we are weak. Lord, some of us are going through really difficult times and can't see the way out. I ask that you shine a light on each step of the way and fill us with assurance that you are there and are leading us out. Lord, I thank you for being strong enough to handle our questions and our anger. I thank you for your mercy that when we are angry with you or question where you are, you do not get angry with us. I thank you for the graces you give us each and every day. Lord, we love you and are constantly amazed by you. Father, we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus's holy name. AmenThank you for joining me on this journey to live boldly with Jesus. Do you know someone who has been praying and waiting for a long time? Would you consider sharing this episode—or the Hope in the Waiting series—with them? Sometimes God uses us to bring encouragement to someone who really needs it. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!Today's Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, you're not children anymore. You are fully grown. You lean on my Father. You lean on the Spirit. Be bold. Be my representatives in all that you do and all that you think. I'm with you.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

#200 - Dinesh D'Souza

The Eric Metaxas Show

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026 39:57

Today On The Eric Metaxas Show, Dinesh D'Souza joins Eric to discuss his new book The Stones Cry Out and the archaeological evidence he believes supports the historical reliability of the Bible.Dinesh and Eric discuss discoveries connected to King David, the Exodus, Balaam, Belshazzar, Jericho, Caiaphas, and the world of Jesus. They also explore why Dinesh believes biblical archaeology has increasingly forced skeptics to retreat from claims that major biblical people and events were simply invented, and why he sees the growing number of discoveries as especially significant in a secular age.Later, Grace Precious Metals CEO Bill Armor joins Eric to discuss the “Everything Bubble,” stock-market valuations, and precious metals.⭐ ORDER NOW:Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World

jesus christ history world bible exodus llc honest prophecy medicare king david archaeology enrollment balaam caiaphas belshazzar ppo dinesh d everything bubble pffs

Episode 460: Sony Cancels PHYSINT, XBOX & Kojima Take Over | Wolverine Reviews | BLIZZCon | Zelda Ocarina of Time- ILP# 460

Iron Lords Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026 384:39

ILP# 460 9/13/2026https://lordsofgaming.net/LORDS AFTER DARK on Insider Game App! ANDROID: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.insidergaming.appIOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/insider-gaming/id67539846481) ADVANCEDGG Use Code "IRONLORD" for 10% off https://advanced.gg/pages/partner-ironlords?_pos=12) VALARI PILLOW Use Code "ILP15" valari.gg/?ref=ironlordspodcastroundtable3) ILP MERCH: https://ironlordspodcast-shop.fourthwall.com/collections/allsofgaming.net/4) NZXT & IRON LORDS PC Use Affiliate LINK: https://nzxt.co/Lords5) HAWORTH Gaming Chairs & ILP Use Affiliate LINK: https://haworth.pxf.io/4PKj7M*********************************************************ILP# 460 9/13/202600:00 - ILP 460 Pre-Show15:03 - ILP#460 Intros (Gamescom/PAX West)51:40 -Crazy Taxi Closed Network Taxi1:07:18 - Armatus Impressions1:12:15 - DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World Impressions1:14:21 - FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE Impressions1:18:29 - FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION Impressions1:21:22 - Rose Experience Joins The Realm1:27:50 - Mr Bad Bit (PlayStation Trophy Room) Joins The Realm1:30:35 - K Asante (Gaming Circle Podcast) Joins The Realm1:53:18 - Wolverine Review Impressions & Controversy3:35:46 - XBOX Saves Kojima & PHYSINT from Sony5:52:36 - BLIZZCon 26 Announcements5:56:11 - Zelda Ocarina Of Time Remake5:58:10 - Don Otaku Joins The Realm6:18:35 - ILP Outros*********************************************************Welcome to The Iron Lords Podcast!Be sure to visit www.LordsOfGaming.net for all your gaming news!ILP Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6XRMnu8Tf1fgIdGlTIpzsKILP Google Play:play.google.com/music/m/Iz2esvyqe…ron_Lords_PodcastILP SoundCloud: @user-780168349ILP Itunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/iron-…uiR-IgF6cE9EQicIILP on Twitter: twitter.cm/IronLordPodcastILP on Instagram: www.instagram.com/ironlordspodcast/ILP DESTINY CLAN:www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Detail/178626The Iron Lords and the Lords of Gaming have an official group on Facebook! Join the Lords at:www.facebook.com/groups/194793427842267www.facebook.com/groups/lordsofgamingnetwork/Lord COGNITO--- twitter.com/LordCognitoLord KING--- twitter.com/kingdavidotwLord ADDICT--- twitter.com/LordAddictILPLord SOVEREIGN--- twitter.com/LordSovILPLord GAMING FORTE---twitter.com/Gaming_ForteILP YouTube Channel for ILP, Addict Show & all ILP related content: www.youtube.com/channel/UCYiUhEbYWiuwRuWXzKZMBxQXbox Frontline with King David: www.youtube.com/@xboxfrontlineFollow us on Twitter @IronLordPodcast to get plugged in so you don't miss any of our content.

Psalm 51 - In The Wake Of Sin

McGregor Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026 34:47

Psalms - Songs of the King "In The Wake Of Sin" (Psalm 51) 2 Samuel 11 and 12 record King David's epic failure: lust, coveting, adultery, premeditated murder, and a deceptive cover-up. It wasn't until the prophet Nathan confronted him that conviction and repentance came. Out of that wreckage David wrote Psalm 51, a song for Israel's hymnbook about the mercy of God. In this message, Pastor David Miller traces David's cry, his confession, the cleansing only God can give, and the repentance God makes possible. Along the way he draws the line most of us would rather avoid: forgiveness is full and free in Christ, and it still does not erase the earthly consequences of our sin. What David reaches for is not his record or his crown, but the mercy of a God who creates a clean heart in the people who cannot clean their own. Sermon Notes September 13, 2026 David Miller • Membership and Missions Pastor Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com New to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

god jesus christ israel plan psalm wake king david mcgregor psalm 51

Monday, September 14, 2026

Sound Mind Set

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026 10:16

King David's very vocal wrestling to accept God's forgiveness is a huge help to us as we navigate forgiving ourselves for our mistakes too - past and present.Psalm 25:4-12 NLT"Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord. The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. For the honor of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins. Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose."In David's personal processing and prayer, He reminds himself of God's goodness and confesses the truth that that goodness is greater than any sin he could ever commit. Finally, David declares that God is the only one who will lead us out of our sin and into safety and security.Think of an area of your life that you need help in forgiving yourself?As I read parts of the passage again, notice how David prays, then in verse 8, he changes to a declaration of what God does, but then in verses 11 and 12 he goes back to personal prayer:"Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow….teach me, for you are the God who saves me… I put my hope in you. Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love…"Here's the turn: The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.And now back: "For the honor of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins… He will show them the path they should choose."David was bold in his brokenness. God is inviting you to the same as you share your heart with Him.What is an area of your life that you can be bold in your brokenness before God?Let's pray using David's own words: “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by Your truth and teach me. I put my hope in You. Remember me in the light of Your unfailing love, for You are merciful, O Lord. For the honor of Your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins. … As above, so below.” - Amen

god lord psalm amen king david o lord nlt

Love for the Unseen Christ - Part A

The Journey with Pastor Steve DeWitt

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026

Steve DeWitt Love for the Unseen Christ - Part A Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:6-8 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:8-9 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:8-9 Sermon Series: Spiritual ExilesMessage: Love for the Unseen ChristAirdate: 9/14-9/15/25Programs: 2356 & 2357It's great to see and an encouragement to us. We come now to God's word, and we are back in our series in First Peter today. You know, Peter wrote to exiles in Asia Minor this letter we call First Peter, but he really might as well have written it to us. It'd be easy to read this letter and to just change the personal pronouns, change the names, and insert our own names and our own church family because what he's talking about here is totally appropriate to us as well. He writes to Christians who are experiencing trials.They're experiencing loneliness. They are ostracized in their society. They are struggling to do, you know, Christian lifestyle in a very pagan environment, which, of course, is what we're doing as well. Here today, no doubt, we have people who are dealing with crushing trials, things that even as I say the word trial, boom, it comes to your mind, and you you're thinking about that, and you you brought that discouragement into this service with you, and you're hoping for a word from God to help you. And we live in this world that is increasingly difficult, I think, to live Christianly, especially in America as it continues to slide more secular.It makes you wonder what are the days ahead gonna be like? What's coming around the bend? What are our children, Lord willing, if they embrace the Christian faith, what are they gonna experience in living the Christian life in a, America that's going the direction that it is? I doubt it's gonna be easier for them than it is for us. So how do we prepare ourselves for the trials that lie ahead?And what Peter is going to talk about here, I believe to be the high point of his letter and really is one of the most wonderful passages in all of the New Testament. The word that comes to my mind with this verse is it's magisterial. I mean, it is just, it's a it's a wonderful, wonderful word that God has for us. And for me, it is a privilege to exposit it and to teach it today, and I hope the Lord blesses it truly. So let me read First Peter one verses eight and nine, our text today.“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Now I know it's been a couple weeks. We had snowmageddon in the in between here, but I hope you haven't forgotten what Peter has been already saying to us and teaching us, especially in, the preceding verses where he talks about trials. And he compares trials to, the fiery furnace that gold would go to.So the analogy is our faith is like gold, and our trials are like fiery furnace. And he draws the analogy, and he says, you know, when they would purify gold, they heat up gold in a furnace. And when it it's heated, the impurities rise to the surface, and they're able to skim off those impurities. And the net effect is that the gold is unveiled in a more valuable way, a more wonderful way. Its genuineness is revealed, but it is also purified by the heat of the trial.And this is intended, I think, to get us ready for what is to come. In fact, he says that. He says at the end of verse seven, that “our faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Now that revelation for us personally will either happen when Jesus returns and there is the revelation of Jesus in this world, or personally, it's going to happen when we die. Because when we die, something becomes true in our faith that has never been true before.What is it? All of a sudden in that moment, I will see him. Right? I am going to see the Lord. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”And that moment of death for us will be when our faith becomes sight, as the as the hymn writer writes. So this moment will be a wonderful, wonderful moment. But for now, it highlights the fact that we are believing in somebody, trusting in somebody, talking about somebody, singing songs to somebody, gathering in the name of somebody that none of us have ever seen. Is that weird? I mean, if if just your average person was to they didn't know anything and they walked in here and they were like, hey.What are you guys doing here? You're like, oh, this is a church that we're all about Jesus here. Really? You're all about Jesus? Yeah.We worship him. We sing to him. We try to live our lives to his glory. Really? Really?What's he what's he what's he like? What's he look like? I don't know. Never met him. The guy would probably be like, these people are strange.Right? I mean, what is going on here in living the Christian faith following the ascension of Jesus when Jesus went to heaven? Other than the Apostle Paul in Scripture, we don't know of anybody who's actually seen Jesus. Right? We are all living a kind of faith and a belief in somebody that we have never met, which on the surface looks strange and weird, like we're all nut jobs somehow.Is this kinda like a religious version of marrying a woman you've never met? Is it eHarmony for eternity? Or is there something else going on, something more wonderful that is going on here? And, of course, Peter writes this letter. And Peter, of all people, is himself an eyewitness.Right? I mean, other than Jesus' family, Peter probably had more eye time with Jesus than anybody else. He was part of Jesus' disciples. He lived with him for three years. They ate.They talked. They they, ministered together. He went to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration. He was there in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was part of the inner three.Jesus appeared to Peter after the resurrection more than anybody else. So you could say that Peter, of all people, had eye time with Jesus, and now here he is writing about people who have no eye time with Jesus. You might think that Peter be like, oh, you age of minor people. I've seen him. I know.You have no idea what you're missing. And we, of course, are in the same situation here today, singing “Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon his throne.” “Your great name.” These songs, very Christ centered, uplifting songs to somebody we've never seen with our eyes. And Peter writes here so wonderfully about the Christian experience post ascension.And he says here, you have never seen Christ, yet three things are true. We love him, we believe in him, and we rejoice in him. And let's just walk through the text here now, those three things. First of all, unseen, yet we love him. “Though you have not seen him, you love him.”Now for us, love and sight naturally go together. You sometimes hear couples, they'll say, oh, it was love at first sight. Well, now on my side of the marital covenant, I will say to you that only a very superficial understanding of love would make that kind of statement true. What kind of love or is is Peter talking about? That kind of love?Is it a is it a is it a marital love? Is it I mean, it it's not. It's not an erotic love. It's not even a friendship love that is used here. In fact, the Greek word in this text is that Greek word that the New Testament writers pulled and infused with all kinds of redemptive truth and meaning.Agape love. Agape is the is the word there. We've talked about this at length here at Bethel. We've defined it as self giving for the good and joy of another. It is a kind of love, the kind of love that God has.It is a it is a love of a different kind, a love of a deeper quality. It was this love, this agape love that God expressed to us when he sent his Son Jesus into this world. “For God so loved, agape the world, that he gave his only Son,” John three sixteen. It is this agape love that Jesus expressed to us as he hung on the cross. “Greater love is no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friend.”“But God demonstrated his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This giving of myself, geez God expresses it to us through Jesus. Jesus expresses it to us through his cross and his death in our place. So what is our response then as as believers? First John four nineteen.“We love him because he first loved us.” Amen. Right? And so our love for for God is not self generated. It doesn't it doesn't come from us.We would naturally not love God Jesus this way. But it is an act of God's sovereign grace whereby through the gospel, we come to hear and to understand what Jesus has done for us. And that work of God by his spirit, this new birth, this regeneration explodes in our heart. We believe in Jesus, and the response to the love of God to us is that we love him. K?We don't take credit for that love. We would never come up with that love on our own. This is a part of God's good work in us. It is producing agape for God, agape for Jesus. But our agape of Jesus is different because we've never seen him.It is an unseen love or it's an unseen Christ that we are loving. I tried to think of some analogy of of this. And for obvious reasons in my life right now, I think about a parent's love for a child in the womb. Never seen that child yet. Love him or her already.Unseen child, love for the unseen child, love for the unseen Christ. The love that saving faith creates in us is a genuine love, but it is an agape kind of love even though we've never laid eyes on him. Unseen, yet we love him. Secondly, unseen, yet we believe in him. “Though you do not see him now, you believe in him.”Notice the tense change. The first clause was you did not see him, yet you love him, present tense. Here, you do not see him now, presently, yet you presently believe in him. Now I wonder, does this remind you of anybody? Somebody in the story in the gospels who, refused to believe something that he couldn't see.Now maybe this is coming to your mind already if you're with me. I think about the disciple Thomas. Do you know the story? I trust that you do. The story is that Jesus is resurrected from the dead.He makes his first appearance to the disciples in the upper room. Everybody's there except Thomas. And Jesus is there. He says, here I am. Give me food to eat.Believe. I'm alive. And the disciples, of course, are in awe at this, and they just are marvel at Jesus leaves. Well, Thomas comes in, and they're like, he's alive. And Thomas famously says this.“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Thomas is like the patron saint of the cynic or the skeptic. The kind of person who says, unless I have empirical evidence with my eyes, unless I can put this in a in a test tube and and sort of prove it, I will not believe until the empirical evidence that my own eyes have seen tell me that this is true. These are the people that refuse to believe the testimony of other people regarding Jesus' claims to deity, regarding the miracles that he did in his earthly ministry and his supernatural life, his resurrection, and all the rest. It's not enough for them.They refuse to believe unless they see it with their own eyes. Notice what happens to Thomas. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas imagine this moment, by the way.The disciples are like, we've seen him. We've seen him. We've seen him. Thomas said, I don't I refuse to believe. Now all of a sudden, Jesus is there.What's the look on Thomas' face? I want a picture of that someday in heaven. Jesus says to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” And Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God.”Notice Thomas doesn't say, okay. Well, let me come over there a second and see if I can put my finger in that hole. And how about if I put my side my fist in the side? He doesn't have to do any of that. He sees Jesus standing before him, and now it is enough, and he says, “My Lord and my God.”Notice the next verse though. Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Who is Jesus talking about in that verse? He's talking about us, isn't he?Has anybody here seen Jesus? I doubt it very much. And yet, there we have Jesus saying, the real blessing is not the person who is in the upper room and actually sees the resurrected Jesus. The real blessing is the person who doesn't see that and yet has put their faith and trust in him. He's talking about us.He's talking about 99.999% of people who have ever believed. He's talking about Old Testament saints. He's talking about Moses. He's talking about Abraham. He's talking about David.These are all people that they they they had revelation a little bit from God in the Old Testament. They believed in the coming Messiah. They believed in the one that God promised who would come. They never saw him, and yet they believed. The Old Testament states he's talking about every Christian after the ascension of Jesus.Here we are, having never seen him, and yet we believe. And here we are now in a central truth about the kind of faith that saves us. Christian faith, saving faith, has a kind of seeing, a kind of perceiving, a kind of discerning that goes beyond the eyes. Faith has its own eyes, if we could say it that way. Faith sees the unseen.The writer of Hebrews gives the classic definition. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” You know, Christianity, some people wrongly, in my opinion, accuse it of being somehow anti intellectual. It is not anti intellectual. It is a thinking faith.There is enough evidence in the world around us in the testimony of the eyewitnesses, and the story of Scripture that we can think deeply and intellectually about our faith. But here's the thing. There is not enough evidence to simply reason our way to saving faith. There comes a point where I have to see the unseen. I have to believe in something that I can't put in a test tube.I have to trust in the eyewitness account of others who saw these things. And if you're here today and maybe you have not yet believed, I want to encourage you, and my prayer has been before even preaching this message, that God would somehow use it for that person who maybe is high on the kind of the Thomas scale to help you realize that the faith that saves even by the description of Scripture is a kind of seeing that goes beyond the eyes. But it is a kind of seeing all the same. A kind of faith and trusting in the claims of Christianity, in the claims of Jesus being the Son of God, the eyewitness accounts of people who saw him dead and who saw him alive, and the testimony of two thousand years of Christians whose lives have been changed by faith in this Jesus. And maybe God would use this message to draw you into, finally, a faith relationship with Jesus and that you would put your hope and trust in him.That would be a great thing. And join the rest of us who have not seen Christ but who believe in him truly and fully. So unseen, yet we love him. Unseen, yet we believe in him. Thirdly, unseen, yet we rejoice in him.Again, the text. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him. And rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” And that little phrase right there, in my opinion, is one of the most sublime, one of the most wonderful little clauses in all of Scripture describing the Christian experience.Rejoicing with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Here, I think Peter is describing the Christian experience at its highest, at its its most joyous expression. Our faith sees through the gospel. Our faith sees the loveliness, the beauty, the desirability of Jesus. And inside, there is a kind of resting, trusting in who he is and the fact that he did indeed die for my sins.And there is then in this resting and this assurance that I have that Jesus indeed is not just the savior but my savior, there flows then within us a love, a gladness, a a joy. I mean, imagine somebody receiving Jesus as savior, knowing now my sins are forgiven. My guilt is not held against me. I have the righteousness of Jesus by justification. I have eternal life.I'm a child of God. Heaven and the new earth is mine forever. And on the other side of that being like, bummer. Can you imagine that? I mean, that would be so inappropriate.Right? How can you not have all of these things now by faith and truly in your heart believe them to be true and there not be joy from it? Are you with me? Indeed, joy inexpressible. The word here for rejoice in the original means this.Here's the lexicon. To experience a state of great joy and gladness, often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement. Some of you are getting uncomfortable now. To be extremely joyful, to be overjoyed, to rejoice greatly. And the lexicon adds this.I shout because of my joy. K? So glad that I'm just raw. But then Peter adds, this joy is inexpressible. So Peter takes it to another level then and says that it is beyond words or description.Now we've probably seen a child open a present or have some moment of such joy that they're just they they run-in place. Right? And they they go in circles like this. They're just they're just so excited. Right?They can't hardly contain themselves. There's an overflow of joy because of it. Adults, similarly, although somewhat more subdued, typically, we clap, we shout, we dance. There is a kind of joy that goes beyond verbal expression. That is this joy inexpressible.Now it would be easy for me right now to lay a massive guilt trip on the church and to say, alright, you Christian people. This is what it's supposed to look like all the time. And if you're here right now and you if I gave you the chance that you would run-in circles and dance and shout but not be able to say words, if that's not your experience right now, you're a bad Christian. And what's wrong with you people? And there are probably a few good meaning people here that would even amen something like that.It's about time we get more that way around here. But I suspect if I did that, most of us would leave very depressed. And I would as well because my Christian experience would not match up with joy inexpressible every moment of every day. My Christian experience and having been around this church long enough now, the vast majority of us are struggling to be faithful to the Lord in the ups and the downs of life. And there is a lot of times that I don't feel joy, I feel disappointment.And there are times that I don't feel joy, I feel depressed. There are times when the criticism hits home. There are times when the relationship struggles just cause despair. There are times where, like, following Jesus, it's not running in places like literally grabbing this leg and forcing it, you know, to follow the Lord and saying, I will, but inside, it doesn't feel like it. Can you relate to that?Life is painful. In fact, you could in mass Peter, why would you talk about joy inexpressible in the verse following the verses about fiery furnace trials? Like, how do those go fiery furnace trial, joy inexpressible? Like for me, when I'm in a trial, I'm not happy. And when I'm when I'm happy, I'm probably not in a in a trial at that moment.Right? I can have some joy inexpressible when everything is fantastic. I wanna live on that plane. Life isn't that way, though. And I have wrestled with this passage, and I wanna tell you what I think it's saying.At least at this point in my spiritual walk and my spiritual maturity and my understanding of scripture, maybe in ten years, I'll say, I think something different. But as best I can tell, this is what Peter is doing. Peter is describing here in such emotionally rejoicing language, he is describing the Christian faith as it can be, as it should be, and as it will be. As it can be, as it should be, and as it will be. Let's start with the as it will be because I think all of us are on the same page with this one.Who here wouldn't want to experience joy in Jesus like he's describing here? Well, be encouraged. Our entire eternity will be this. Listen, Christian. Our entire eternity is going to be the experience of perpetual and unending joy inexpressible.What am I talking about? I am talking about the day that is coming for us when we are standing in the presence of the Lord, when we are living on that new earth, when we are in our glorified bodies, when we have received all of the redemptive benefits that God has promised to us, when we are not living in this sin sick world anymore, when we are living in the next one, that experience there is going to be so far beyond this one and so far better than this one, I I wonder how we'll look back on these days. Imagine it. Every moment, joy inexpressible. That's our eternity.To think that our brothers and sisters who've died and have already gone there to think about Pete Erhammer and Merle McCleskey, two members of our church that died recently, both faithful, godly men. If we had, like, a little if we could FaceTime them right now and say, hey, Merle and Pete, how's it going up there? What would they say? I think they would say, it is so much better than I ever imagined. And we'd be like, why do you say that?I believe they would say, we have seen him. We've seen him in all of his glory, in all of his beauty, in all of his majesty. We have seen him. He talked to me. He talked to me.He ministered to me. He's seen me. I see him. You're not gonna believe what it's like. It's fantastic.Why? What's so great about there? There, the faith has become sight. And that sight is not Jesus in his more subdued, stealthy, incarnate human body. It is Jesus in all of the splendor that is his as the Son of God at the right hand of God the Father.And that will be for us since he is our savior, Lord, and friend. That will be for us a source of unending, unexhausting joy inexpressible. And our dear brothers and sisters, they're there right now, and they are experiencing that. And our faith, even right now, has capacity for that. And we have moments of that, but not like it is there.Psalm sixteen eleven, “in thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand is pleasures evermore.” And so Peter here is giving us a glimpse of what eternity's joy will be like. It'll be perfect joy. It'll be inexpressible joy, and that day is coming for us. But Peter is also here describing Christian faith as it can be and as it should be.And this is what I think he is getting at in context here in the passage is that heaven's joy is part of the present Christian experience. Only here, we have to fight for it. In this world and in this body, I have to fight for heaven's joy to be a part of my experience here. And the reason that it is a fight is because of indwelling sin. It is a fight because there are all of these joy stealers all the time that are wanting me to put my hope, trust, identity, and belief in them, but they are not Jesus.And they ultimately are disappointing. Trials are this. Trials cloud our thinking so easily. You know, in moments when I have spiritual clarity, and maybe you can relate to this, there are there are moments I could tell you some of the high points of my whole Christian experience where maybe it's on the other side of a trial or maybe it's in a particular worship service or there's something going on in my life. All of a sudden, I have clarity.Like I see things truly biblically. I see my life and I see my forgiveness in Jesus and I I don't know. I just have these sometimes these moments of clarity and I have inside of me, I just feel like a yes. There's a there's a genuine joy that I that I I'll have. And I'll bet, Christian, you've had some high points in your walk as well.Somehow, there's just a refreshment in your perspective, and there comes in your soul a kind of gladness in all that you have in Jesus and all that God has done for you and the love of God and just all the promises and the hopes that comes in him. These are wonderful moments in our life. But then we give into a temptation or some opportunity comes and we think there's greater joy in gossip or in porn than in Jesus and a life lived to his glory. There's more joy in having what my neighbor has or wishing he didn't have it. There's more joy in some other kind of sin or some good thing, but a lesser thing.And what happens in that? Where does the joy go? Boo. Out the window. Right?There it goes. Think of David as an example of this. David, King David, the the sweet singer of Israel, the writer of the Psalms, the man who God himself said was “a man after my own heart,” wrote beautiful language about his relationship to God, to the Lord. He says just says, “I love the Lord.” Right?“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” I mean, he he must have had such joy in his heart as he was writing such beautiful language about what God is like. What happened to David? One day David sinned with Bathsheba.And in Psalm 51, he describes the experience of one year of living without repentance. And he says, “my bones groaned within me.” And he writes in Psalm 51, his desire is this, “restore to me the joy of my salvation.” What did David miss in his time away from God? He missed that sense of gladness in God, that everything was right.I'm living for the glory of God. And maybe you're there right now. You remember good old days spiritually. You remember times of gladness in Jesus, but you've been living for something else. Or you've given into some temptation, and your heart longs for the good old days spiritually, so did David.He wanted that joy back, but it had been stolen from him. What is David writing in Psalm 23 or Psalm 51? It's the same thing that Peter's writing in First Peter one eight. What are trials? What is the what is “the valley of the shadow of death”?What do these have what to do with joy? Simply this. Trials magnify like nothing else the joy of knowing Jesus. And the result of that is that we love him more. Is this not true?Think about it in your own life. Think about it from scripture. The writer of Hebrews I'm gonna give you one example. The writer of Hebrews writes to a group of people that had gone through a particular experience. Listen carefully to what how he describes what they went through.This is Hebrews 10. “But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, in other words, after you had come to saving faith, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly be a And You're since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” He's talking about Christians who went through horrible experiences, persecutions, plundering of what they have. Imagine a Christian, for example, today living in Syria and seeing ISIS approaching. What would you expect to find in their hearts?Are they they're going, yes. Here they come. On one level, obviously, no. But on another level, all the trials and sufferings that come into our life do something good for us. They refine our thinking about what really matters in life, and they magnify to us the enduring value of knowing Jesus.Because, typically, all these trials involve losing something. They lost their possessions. Imagine, for example, that you're here in church, and we come to find out that even right now, there's a group of people, and they're robbing your house. How many of us are going, love that? We're not happy about that in one respect.But in another respect, if somebody did rob your house or like the family in our church whose house burned down this last year, give the testimony that spiritually, it's been a wonderful experience for them. Why? Because when your house burns down, it helps refine what really matters in life, doesn't it? And this is what trials do. They help us realize that these temporary things that in the matter in the end don't matter, that knowing Christ is the thing that matters.He is the enduring source of joy, and the joy in Jesus is magnified by the loss. Let me illustrate it this way. Let's just imagine that it's last week and you're in Phoenix. And you didn't realize it, but the Super Bowl was going on in Phoenix. And you're like, that's I've always wanted to go to the Super Bowl like you're a lifelong NFL fan.It's been a dream of yours, but they never have the Super Bowl in at Soldier Field, so you never have the opportunity. But you just happen to be in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Super Bowl is going on. You get online, and sure enough, there's a ticket. You buy this ticket. It's extraordinarily expensive, but you're like, I'm going anyway.It's a once in a lifetime chance. And so you go to the Super Bowl and you got your ticket and you you go in there and you're like, okay, where's my seat at? They say it's up there. And the next guy goes, it's up there. And the next guy goes, it's up You're in the last row of the stadium.You're all the way at the top. You're sitting behind a pillar next to a drunk guy. And you're sitting there, I can't believe this is gonna be my Super Bowl experience sitting here. And you're, like, looking around the pillar trying to see the game. When all of a sudden the guy comes up to you and says, he goes, hey.How'd you like to be in the front row? And you're like, really? He goes, here's the thing though. To be in the front row, you gotta give me your back row ticket. Now what would be the natural response to that?No problem. Best day of my entire life. You bet. You can have this ticket right here. You just frame it for all I care.You can have that. I get the front row ticket. And so down you go all the way to the front row, and there you are, best seat in the house, 50 yard line. The game's going on in front of you. And and what do you do in the entire game?You're watching the game, but every once in a while, you're looking back up at the seat that you were supposed to be sitting in. And you're thinking to yourself every time you look at it, what? Yes. Right? Look where I am.Look what I have. Fantastic. How many of us would be in the front row going, oh, the old ticket. Sounds like a country song. Right?The old ticket. Maybe I shouldn't have given that up. We don't think that. Why? Because we realize what we have.And trials are that for us. Suffering is that for us. It is always loss. Trials are it's a loss of my health. It's the loss of my job.It's the loss of my spouse. It's the loss of my financial security. It's it's somehow it involves the losing or the threatening of losing something that I am deeming valuable, but they are always things that are temporary. Even life itself is the loss of something temporary. I don't get to keep any of these things anyway, including my life.But as I go through these trials, they are and I'm losing things or maybe losing things. They are reminding the Christian that there is one thing that is enduring. There is one possession that trumps all of them. It is the front row ticket. And my joy is in this, not in that.Are you with me? And so we have to live our lives. And this is what Peter is saying. You haven't seen him, but you love him. You don't see him now.You believe in him. And the result of my gladness, my hope, my assurance being in Jesus and not in these other things is that I can have a joy that is paired with the pain. I can have a joy in the midst of the sorrow. I can have joy in the midst of the plundering of my possessions. I can have joy in the midst of the cancer treatment.I can have joy in the midst of the marital counseling. I can have joy in the midst of the painful pregnancy. I can have joy in the midst of anything that is temporary because my joy isn't something that is eternal. Right? And this joy, in the words of the old preacher, the world didn't give it, and the world can't take it away.Trials magnify what really matters. When I think about things that I've gone through in my life, I turned 47 two weeks ago. I'm not the oldest in the room, and I am not the youngest anymore. I've been around the block a few times, and I've had a few hard things that I've gone through. When I think about even the worst moments of my life, I look back at them now, and I can appreciate them because God used them in my life to refine my faith, to get my clinging from things and people and affirmation from people and a host of other things.And they have been good for me. Good for me. And I got a long way to go in this. And you catch me on the wrong day, and you're gonna walk away thinking he ain't living out his sermon very well. But neither are you, friend.And that's why heaven will be all of us living the sermon out perfectly. Joy inexpressible, filled with glory, seeing him by sight, being in proximity to him, knowing his love, not by faith, but by the full experience of human sensory knowledge to touch him, to hear him, to see him will be for us as a joy that our hearts can't even imagine now. And that day is coming. So how about you, friend? You're in a trial right now?You got some pain going on? Is your joy in the thought that maybe that trial's gonna go away? Is your joy in the thought that maybe that pain will go away? You got everybody praying that God would take the pain away. Might not the actual solution be pairing the pain with joy in the Lord?“Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.” And that is how we live the Christian life in the ups and the downs, in the trials and in the blessings, awaiting a day when our faith will be sight and we will see him. That will be a great day. Amen.Would you please join me for a word of prayer?* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

Psalm 104

bible psalms king david verses psalm 104

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026

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What the Bible Actually Says About Money and Stress

Alliance Church - Hortonville

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026 33:37

Why does money cause so much stress, in your marriage, in your head, in your late night worries? It is one of the most universally exhausting realities of modern life, and Pastor Brandon opens up the honest, biblical conversation about it that a lot of Christians have never actually heard. Money is not a financial issue. It is a discipleship issue.This sermon kicks off a new teaching series at Alliance Church on what the Bible actually says about money. He leans into the numbers first. A 2026 Certified Financial Planner Board survey found 57% of Americans say money has caused tension in their closest relationships. Money and marriage. Money and mental health. Money and identity. All tangled up. And Jesus talked about money more than almost anything else, because he knew what it does to the human heart.Then Pastor Brandon takes the church to one of the most powerful, and least quoted, prayers in the Bible. 1 Chronicles 29:10 through 16. At the end of King David's life, David dedicates the entire royal treasury and his personal fortune to building the temple. The leaders and officials follow him, wholeheartedly and freely. And in the middle of all of it, David pauses to pray. He does not thank God for the money. He praises God for who he is. Then he says the line that reframes everything. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory. Wealth and honor come from you. Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.That is the whole sermon in one prayer. He puts it simply. You do not own your money. God does. You are the manager. He is the owner. And once that truth lands, everything else in your financial life starts to reorient. The Cheetos analogy alone is worth 30 seconds of your day.Then Pastor Brandon lands the sentence that will sit with you all week. If you have a money problem, most of the time you actually have a theology problem. Stinginess, anxiety, tight fisted living, panic about the paycheck. Those symptoms almost always trace back to a distorted view of who owns what.He closes at the cross with Romans 8:32. If God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Generosity does not start with better math. It starts with a bigger view of the God who has already given us everything in Christ.If money is a source of stress, shame, or quiet fear in your life, this teaching from Pastor Brandon is one of the most freeing places to begin.

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King David And His Friends

Pablo Azurdia Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2026 69:01

Send us Fan Mail In this life people come and go, some stay for the long haul, and others, for the short haul. In King David's life time, he encountered many significant people that played a key role in his monarchical reign. In this episode, we will engage and investigate in Scripture whether the people surrounding him were his friends or foes. May you be blessed by this audio sermon! Support the show

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2 Samuel Ep. 01 | God Does Not Need Our Help - Audio

Hope Fellowship Church

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2026 53:17

This fall we embark on a journey through the book of 2 Samuel. In 2 Samuel, we get an up-close and personal look at King David - the "man after God's own heart" whose life and kingdom, in many ways, point prophetically to Jesus, but who equally demonstrates the fallibility of the human heart. The book clearly reveals the painful effects of sin on sinners and equally the faithfulness of God in those moments of brokenness in our lives. This week's teaching is taken from chapter 1, so grab your bibles, and lets dive in together.

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Psalm 103

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2026

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We Three Kings 7

The Table Dallas

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2026 55:18

It's astonishing how easily we spot hypocrisy in other people while remaining completely blind to it in ourselves. We can watch someone cut a corner, act selfishly, or abuse their leverage, and our blood boils. Yet we can walk around with our own quiet compromises for months without losing a wink of sleep.In 2 Samuel 12:1-15, King David has been doing exactly that. Months have slipped by since Bathsheba came to the palace and Uriah died on the front lines. The baby is born, the cover-up worked, and life in the royal court has moved on. Then the prophet Nathan requests an audience. Instead of coming in hot with accusations, Nathan tells a simple story about two neighbors and a stolen lamb. Let's sit in on this conversation and watch what happens when a defended heart suddenly runs out of room to hide.

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Psalm 102

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2026

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Live to Love Scripture Encouragement John 19.7-8

Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2026 1:49

John 19:7-8 “The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.' Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;” Have you ever had an “oops” moment? That's a time when you got new information that you wish you had heard before you did something you wish you hadn't done? Pilate didn't have a problem executing a man pretending to be a king, but it certainly must have caused him to rethink what he had done if indeed this man was the, not a, but THE son of God. That would be a big oops. I've felt that way about my sin against Jesus, have you? King David confessed to God, “Against You, and against You only, have I sinned.” Oops! I need to rethink who I've sinned against like Pilate did that day. You notice John said Pilate was “even more afraid.” That means he was already afraid. Thinking about what he had done to Jesus in light of this knowledge increased his fear. It should have the same affect upon us if we stop and think about our sin and see it rightly. Holy Spirit, fill us with a fear of sinning against You, our Father, and His beloved Son. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

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PUBLIC READING OF SCRIPTURE: 2 SAMUEL 18 & JOHN 16

Behold Israel

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2026 31:55

Experience the striking shift from tragic earthly heartbreak to transcendent eternal hope in this live Scripture reading. Journey through the breathless sorrow of **2 Samuel 18**, where King David mourns the tragic fall of his rebel son, to the intimate comfort of **John 16**, where Jesus promises His disciples that their impending grief will turn to unshakeable joy. Brought vividly to life, these passages contrast the unraveling of human kingdoms with the glorious victory of an eternal Comforter.Connect with us on social:Telegram: @beholdisraelchannelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/amir.tsarfati/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beholdisrael/X: https://x.com/beholdisraelYouTube: https://youtube.com/@beholdisrael

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2 Samuel 20a

israel king david 2 samuel joab

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2026 26:00

King David led quite a life. He had incredible highs, and some mind-numbing lows as well. Today we see him once again threatened by someone who wanted to take over - this time a rebel named Sheba. This guy was pretty charismatic - he told the men of Israel that they should abandon David, and so they did. David also had a man named Joab to contend with. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/621/29?v=20251111

Psalm 101

bible psalm psalms king david verses

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2026

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Review: The Lessons of David (Level 3 | 121)

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2026 12:38

Explore the profound lessons from King David's life. Discover why David was called "a man after God's own heart" as we delve into his faith, humility, and unwavering trust in God. Compare David's godly leadership with Saul's worldly reign, highlighting the importance of obedience and patience in following God's plan. Learn how David's life exemplifies the power of repentance, forgiveness, and God's grace, even in the face of grave sins. Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @realbiblebriefX: @biblebriefFacebook: @realbiblebriefEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.orgWant to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out our partner Biblingo (and use our link/code for a discount!): https://biblin...

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2 Samuel 19 9-43b

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2026 25:59

How do you normally respond to those who have hurt you, or done you wrong? The world would say, get em back! Give them a taste of their own medicine. But God would have us go in a far different direction, and it's modeled by King David in the story before us. David is about to show tremendous compassion and mercy to the people who wronged him, and that should be our response too. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/621/29?v=20251111

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Psalm 100

bible psalms king david verses psalm 100

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2026

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Caught Red Handed Part 1 (2 Samuel 12)

Wisdom for the Heart

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2026 26:44 Transcription Available

Share a commentA year of silence can look like success on the outside and feel like slow collapse on the inside. We pick up the story of King David after 2 Samuel 11, when adultery and murder seem safely buried, and we ask the question nobody wants to answer: what does hidden sin do to a person over time? Pulling language from Psalm 32, we talk honestly about guilt and shame, sleepless nights, and the heavy hand of God that won't let a true believer settle into the mud. Then we follow the moment God breaks the stalemate by sending Nathan. Instead of a public takedown, Nathan tells a tender story about a poor man's lamb, and David's outrage flares. That's where the trap closes, the defenses fall, and the prophet delivers the line that still echoes through every conversation about accountability and repentance: “You are that man.” We unpack why we're often quickest to spot a small version of our own sin in someone else, and how spiritual blindness can coexist with strong moral opinions. We also explore the meaning behind “caught red-handed,” why people hunger for forgiveness without questions, and why no religious system can simply wipe stains away on demand. Finally, we walk through the consequences Nathan names, the reaping-and-sowing principle that follows even real forgiveness, and what this teaches about Christian leadership, integrity, and spiritual restoration. If this challenged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review with the line that hit you hardest.Learn more about twenty-five years of global impact, and reserve tickets to our gala. https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/25 Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/Support the show

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Review: The Life of David (Level 3 | 120)

Wisdom for the Heart on Oneplace.com

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2026 16:16

Discover the extraordinary life of King David. From humble shepherd to Israel's greatest monarch, David's journey is filled with faith, triumph, and human frailty. Explore key moments like his defeat of Goliath, friendship with Jonathan, and ascension to the throne. Delve into the Davidic Covenant and its messianic implications. Learn about David's military conquests, his role as a psalmist, and his deep relationship with God. The episode also addresses David's moral failings, including his affair with Bathsheba and its consequences.Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @realbiblebriefX: @biblebriefFacebook: @realbiblebriefEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.orgWant to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out our partner Biblingo (and use our link/code for a discount!): https://biblin...

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Caught Red Handed Part 1 (2 Samuel 12)

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2026 26:44 Transcription Available

god psalm caught pulling king david handed 2 samuel 12 commenta

King David: Restraint Over Anger

Bible Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2026 34:01

David has endured Saul's repeated attempts to kill him, yet once again he shows restraint and refuses to harm the king. But when a foolish man insults him, David's patience gives way to anger—and the future king sets out for revenge.

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King David - Why am I so SAD?

Women's Bible Study

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2026 55:03

Sadness. Today we will learn from King David who spent a lot of time feeling sad and depressed from life, from sin, from the people who hurt him and from feeling God wasn't really paying attention.

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The Life and Leadership of King David (Part 2)

The Leader’s Notebook

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2026 53:17

In this episode of The Leader's Notebook (Ep. 329), I continue the story of David through one of the darkest and most difficult seasons of his life. From his covenant friendship with Jonathan and his desperate escape to Gath, to the humiliation of pretending to be insane, David finds himself with no home, no resources, and seemingly no future. Yet even in the lowest moments, the hand of God is still upon him. Psalm 34 becomes David's testimony of that deliverance: “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” As David gathers a band of unlikely men at the cave of Adullam, God begins rebuilding what appeared to be completely broken. Through David's failures, resourcefulness, loyalty, and refusal to take Saul's life into his own hands, we see a powerful reminder that God's purposes do not depend on our circumstances. When crisis comes, we must learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord, seek His direction, and trust Him with our destiny. God is still at work when the promise seems farther away than ever. – Dr. Mark Rutland Chapters (00:00:03) - The Leaders Notebook(00:00:26) - David's Journey from Bethlehem to Prison(00:04:03) - David and Jonathan: The Covenant(00:10:19) - David on the Journey from Ramah to Gath(00:13:39) - David flees to the cave of Adullam(00:19:25) - The Righteous Men of Israel(00:26:23) - The Life of King David(00:33:30) - The Story of Abigail(00:36:59) - David the Great(00:44:19) - Leadership in a Crisis(00:50:52) - David's Road Trip

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David's Last Words (Level 3 | 119)

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2026 13:55

Explore the final chapter of King David's life in this episode. Witness David's preparations for the Jerusalem Temple, his charge to Solomon, and his prophetic last words. Delve into the Davidic Covenant, the transfer of kingship, and the spiritual legacy of Israel's greatest monarch. This episode highlights David's unwavering faith, his role as a messianic prophet, and the significance of the Temple project. Discover how David's final actions set the stage for Solomon's reign and the future of Israel.3Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @realbiblebriefX: @biblebriefFacebook: @realbiblebriefEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.orgWant to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out our partner Biblingo (and use our link/code for a discount!): https://biblin...

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September 8, 2026, Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Rosary (Sorrowful Mysteries)

Daily Rosary

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2026 29:21

Friends of the Rosary,Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We rejoice in her birthday, as the Church has done from the earliest times. In Mary, all human nature is exalted.This is one of the three birthdays in the Church Calendar—the Birth of Jesus (December 25), the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24), and the Birthday of Mary. All three were born without original sin, although Mary and Jesus were conceived without sin, and St. John was cleansed of original sin while in the womb at the Visitation.Mary was "of the lineage of Abraham, born of the tribe of Judah and of the progeny of King David, from whom the Son of God was born, made man by the work of the Holy Spirit, to free humanity from the ancient bondage of sin," the Roman Martyrology states.Mary, the spiritual mother of all men, was born to be the mother of the Savior of the world and the holiest of God's creatures.Because of her Son's infinite merits, she was conceived and born immaculate and full of grace.Through her, Queen of heaven and of earth, all grace is given to men, and by the will of God, we receive the gift of faith to grow in likeness of their Head, Christ the Lord.Let us often call upon the Blessed Virgin as "Cause of our joy", one of the most beautiful titles in her litany. September 8 is a day of Thanksgiving celebration!Ave Maria!Come, Holy Spirit, come!To Jesus through Mary!Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.Please give us the grace to respond with joy!+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New YorkEnhance your faith with the new Holy Rosary University app:Apple iOS | New! Android Google Play• ⁠September 8, 2026, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Don't Stay Stuck: Trust God for a Breakthrough

The Tom Short Show

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2026 15:20

King David referred to God as "the Master of the Breakthrough." Just like water can break through a dam, God is able to break through when we are suffering and flood us with His grace, love, and joy. I experienced this yesterday! Join me for Today's Daily Word & Prayer to learn more.

Day 2943 Wisdom Nuggets – Proverbs 4:10-19 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek ©

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2026 10:00 Transcription Available

Welcome to Day 2943 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2943 – Wisdom Nuggets – Proverbs 4:10-19 Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2943 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2943 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The title for today's Wisdom-Trek is: The Two Paths – The Radiance of Dawn Versus the Stumbling of Darkness On our previous podcast, on Day Two Thousand Nine Hundred Forty-Two, we listened as Solomon recalled how his father, King David, sat him down and urged him to treat wisdom as the supreme thing—the principal goal of human life. We saw how prizing and embracing divine wisdom places a garland of grace on our heads and decks our lives with a glorious crown of dignity. Today, as we step onto Day Two Thousand Nine Hundred Forty-Three of our ongoing trek through God's Word, we advance directly into Proverbs chapter four, verses ten through nineteen. In these ten verses, Solomon presents us with one of the defining metaphors in all of Scripture—the stark contrast between the two paths of life. Having spent over fifty years focusing on and studying Biblical wisdom, and having accumulated seventy years of life experiences—watching men and women choose their trails and live out the long-term destination of those choices—I can assure you that there is no neutral ground on life's journey. You are either walking on the illuminated path of wisdom that grows brighter every day, or you are stumbling blindly down the dark alley of wickedness. Let us open our minds and hearts to the first logical section of this fatherly counsel, as recorded in the New Living Translation, grouping together the deeply connected, contiguous thoughts found in Proverbs chapter four, verse ten, verse eleven, verse twelve, and verse thirteen. My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long life. I have taught you wisdom's ways and led you on straight paths. When you walk, you won't be held back; when you run, you won't stumble. Carry out my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. Look at the warm, protective tone Solomon uses as he resumes his address! In verse ten, he promises that listening to his counsel will result in a long, fruitful life. In Hebrew thought, length of days is not merely a quantity of years, but a quality of existence characterized by divine favor and purpose. Notice the traveler's imagery Solomon deploys in verse eleven and verse twelve! He states, "I have taught you wisdom's ways and led you on straight paths. When you walk, you won't be held back; when you run, you won't stumble." In the original Hebrew, "straight paths" translates as ma'galey yosher—describing smooth, level tracks cleared of dangerous boulders and hidden traps. This connects us directly back to what we studied in Proverbs chapter three, verse six, where God promised to make our paths straight when we trust Him with all our heart! When you walk along wisdom's trail, you do not experience the constant friction and anxiety that plagues those who walk in deceit. Even when you accelerate your pace to run—taking on large responsibilities or building a family legacy—you move forward with confidence, free from the fear of tripping. Then look at the intense command in verse thirteen: "Carry out my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life!" The word for instruction here is musar—moral discipline and training. Solomon tells us to hold onto musar like a swimmer clinging to a lifeline in a rough sea. In my seventy years on this earth, and my fifty years of studying the Scriptures, I have seen that the moment an individual lets go of moral discipline, their spiritual momentum collapses. Guarding God's instruction is the absolute key to authentic life! Having established the safety of the straight path, Solomon shifts his focus to the competing trail, issuing a series of rapid-fire warnings against setting foot on the path of the wicked, linking together the contiguous thoughts in Proverbs chapter four, verse fourteen, verse fifteen, verse sixteen, and verse seventeen. Don't do as the wicked do, and don't follow the path of evildoers. Avoid their way, don't even go near it; turn away and keep moving. For evil people can't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest until they've caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence! Look at the relentless escalation of action verbs in verse fourteen and verse fifteen! Solomon commands: "Don't do as the wicked do," "don't follow the path of evildoers," "avoid their way," "don't even go near it," "turn away," and "keep moving!" Notice that six-fold barrage of defensive commands! Solomon knows how subtle moral compromise can be. You don't start out intending to ruin your life; you simply linger near the wrong trail, curiosity takes over, and suddenly your feet step onto the path. This connects us directly back to our study in Proverbs chapter one, verses ten through fifteen, where violent men urged the youth to join their gang, and chapter two, verses twelve through fifteen, where evil men turned from upright paths to walk down dark alleys. Solomon's advice here is absolute: do not negotiate, do not investigate, do not even go near their trail—turn your back and keep moving forward! Look at how Solomon exposes the twisted nature of wickedness in verse sixteen and verse seventeen! He reveals that evil people literally cannot sleep at night until they have committed an evil deed, and they cannot rest until they have caused someone else to stumble. He declares that "they eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!" In the Ancient Israelite divine-council worldview, wickedness and violence—chamas—represent spiritual rebellion against Yahweh's cosmic order. Those who feed on wickedness are actively aligning themselves with dark spiritual principalities that crave disorder and ruin. Over my seven decades of living, I have watched individuals become so consumed by bitterness and greed that doing wrong became an actual addiction, destroying their peace. Solomon now brings this sermon to a dramatic climax, contrasting the ultimate reality of both trails in the famous words of Proverbs chapter four, verse eighteen, and verse nineteen. The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness; they have no idea what makes them stumble. What an exquisite contrast in poetic imagery! Look first at verse eighteen: "The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day." In Hebrew, this describes the light of dawn—orach tzaddiqim—breaking over the horizon, slowly dispersing the shadows, and steadily growing in brilliant intensity until it reaches the blazing brightness of noon! This is a magnificent promise for your daily trek. When you commit your life to Yahweh, your spiritual journey may start like a faint sliver of morning light. But as you walk in obedience, study His wisdom, and practice integrity, your path becomes progressively clearer, brighter, and more radiant! In stark contrast, look at verse nineteen: "But the way of the wicked is like total darkness; they have no idea what makes them stumble!" The Hebrew word used for total darkness here is aphelah—a thick, suffocating gloom. While the righteous walk in a daylight that grows brighter and brighter, the wicked stumble through a darkness that grows thicker and thicker. The ultimate tragedy of the wicked is that they are so blind to spiritual reality that when catastrophe strikes, they don't even understand why they fell! Over my fifty years of searching the Scriptures and seventy years of walking through life, I have seen these two verses played out in countless lives. I have watched elderly men and women who spent their lives seeking God's wisdom reach the autumn of their years with radiant faces, reflecting the full brightness of midday light. And I have watched those who chose moral shortcuts end up in deep, bitter confusion, stumbling in total darkness. As we complete our study of Proverbs chapter four, verses ten through nineteen today, evaluate the trail beneath your feet. Are you lingering anywhere near the dark paths of compromise, or are you walking on the highway of the righteous? Turn away from the darkness, fix your eyes on...

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The Cover Up Part 1 (2 Samuel 11:6-27)

Wisdom for the Heart

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2026 26:40 Transcription Available

Share a commentThe most unsettling scandals aren't the ones that start with failure. They're the ones that continue with planning. We take a hard look at the definition of a cover-up and why the attempt to hide wrongdoing so often becomes more reprehensible than the original act, then we connect that pattern to everything from corporate deception to the Bible's most famous leadership collapse.We walk through 2 Samuel 11 as King David responds to Bathsheba's pregnancy, and we track his choices through four clear steps: staying calm, applying pressure, conspiring to kill, and keeping up appearances. Along the way, Uriah's integrity becomes the unexpected spotlight, refusing comfort while fellow soldiers sleep in the open field and the Ark of God remains with the troops. Even David's attempt to lower Uriah's convictions through drunkenness fails, exposing just how far a cover-up will push a person who's desperate to control the story.We also slow down for the personal warnings the text brings: physical maturity doesn't exempt us from sin, spiritual maturity doesn't exempt us from catastrophic sin, and “Bathshebas come in many disguises” today. We talk about the collateral damage that follows, including how Joab reads David's weakness and gains power, proving that hidden sin rarely stays contained and never stays private.If you care about biblical leadership, integrity, accountability, and the real cost of damage control, listen through to the end. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the moment that hit you hardest.Learn more about twenty-five years of global impact, and reserve tickets to our gala. https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/25 Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/Support the show

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The Sin of the Census (Level 3 | 118)