SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/21/2020
11:12 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Manifestation of Meekness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:5
Message of the verse: “5 "Blessed
are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”
We
continue to look at stories from the Word of God to show us the manifestation
of meekness and in today’s SD we begin with a story about David that comes from
the book of 1 Samuel 24:1-8. We will
look first at the verses and then we will comment on it for a bit. “1 Now when Saul returned from pursuing the
Philistines, he was told, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of
Engedi." 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and
went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He
came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went
in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses
of the cave. 4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the
day of which the LORD said to you, ’Behold; I am about to give your enemy into
your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’" Then David
arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 It came about afterward
that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.
6 So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I
should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch out my hand
against him, since he is the LORD’S anointed." 7 David persuaded his men
with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And
Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way. 8 Now afterward David
arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the
king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the
ground and prostrated himself.” David
was a young man that God had chosen to be King of Israel and after going to
work for Saul, Saul tried to kill him on different occasions. The meekness of David that I see here is that
David had the power to kill Saul, but it was not going to bring glory to the
Lord as Saul was still the Lord’s anointed.
We
have a contrast in meekness from the story of King Uzziah who began to reign at
the age of 16 years old and he did right in the sight of the Lord. When he got to be older he became very proud
at all of the victories that God had given him and decided to offer a sacrifice
inside the temple, something that only priests could do. God caused him to become a leper and had to
live outside of the king’s palace the rest of his life.
As
far as looking at the NT stories of meekness we know that the greatest stories
come about our Lord Jesus Christ whose meekness, (power under control) is seen
in different parts of the gospel, especially during the time He would be
crucified.
Let
us look at the life of Paul who was also a person who was meek. When it came to education Paul was the most educated
of all of the apostles, and the one according to John MacArthur was used most
widely and effectively. Paul refused to
put any confidence in himself that is “in the flesh” according to Phil.
3:3. Paul knew that he could do all
things, but only “through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: These stories of the meekness of people from
both the Old and New Testaments show me exactly what I am learning from the
beatitudes, and that is that I cannot do things that please the Lord in my own
strength, but must rely upon the power of the Spirit of God who came to live
within me when I became a believer. The
first beatitude gives the groundwork, and that is I am “poor in spirit,” then I
am to mourn over sin, and now I am to be meek, have power under control, and to
stand up for my God so He receives glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
To continue to trust the Lord for grace in order to learn more about contentment,
humility, and to give me joy as I study His Word.
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