The halfbaked Bard

Adonijah wanted to raise himself as king. For that he found allies in Joab and Abiathar the priest, who were loyal to David. He goes on to sacrifice much sheep, cattle and fattened calves. A pseudo-fear of God. Pseudo-closeness to God. Pseudo-devotion. Doing Godly things, doesn't make Him approve your plans. His own plans will only happen for sure. Do you want to keep Him in line with your plans or do you want to be in line with His plans? Later Solomon is anointed the king in the proper way. Are you like Adonijah, praying and fasting, asking for an answer, pleading for an approval of a plan that in in your heart. You make it so godly, that you would want to allure and attract God's attention and then gain his approval. Placing God in the centre of your will looks very good in worldly perspective. But more important is placing yourself in the centre of God's will. Seeking what is God's will is more important than getting His approval regarding our will.  For

Nathan the prophet comes into the scene very rarely. He makes sure he does what the Lord expects him to do and then just disappears. One instance was convicting David of his sin. Another instance was prompting David to anoint Solomon as king. He never lingers around after his job is done. He doesn't wait for acknowledgement or gratitude or anything else. He just leaves the scene after the job is done. Lord help me today to have the wisdom to be a blessing in other's life and not expect anything in return. Just leave the scene without wanting to be acknowledged or appreciated or wanting to receive any words of honour or gratitude. Let me do it for you. Let me do it out of my love for them. Let me play the second fiddle.

How important and Godly it is to discipline your children. Today's world is overprotective of their children. I'm not talking about punishment with a rod. But disciplining a child should be what runs through the mind of a parent always. A child is given to your hands. He is your responsibility. Loving and encouraging him alone will not let him bloom. When he makes a wrong choice, he needs to be course corrected. Otherwise his mindset would become as if ' everything is okay', 'all roads lead to Rome' and 'everything in this world is acceptable'. David failed to discipline his son Adonijah, failed to even ask him, 'Why are you doing that?' Probably not when Adonijah raised himself as king. But it is said, David never disciplined him at any time. How saddening? A wonderful king, a humble person, a man after God's own heart, always forgiving, never forgetting his love to his friend, turns out to be a poor father. He did not punish Amn

Read 1Kings:1:1-4 This is one great attribute of king David. That God Himself calls him a man after His own heart. He learnt from his previous mistakes. After his repentance, it becomes a closed chapter in his life. A sin of Bathsheba will not repeat with a sin of Abishag.  Let us learn from David, to ask for grace not to repeat our sins. To have a will power (not by our strength) to renounce and throw it away far from us. When we realize that a particular act of ours has hurt God, does it hurt us? Do we hate it and abhor it as He does? He has thrown it away far beyond in the depths of a sea tied to a stone, but have we? Do we hate what God hates?

  All of you look at my people with contempt. Including king David. Can't blame him though. My own people despised him as he was on his way to capture the city of Jerusalem, saying even the lame and the blind could keep him out. We were proud. All the other nations were driven out from the land that flows with milk and honey. Except our fortified city. We Jebusites were proud of it. And as their king, I Ornan had a role to play in that too. We forgot that it is not by anyone's might that Israel is being established in this land. I mean, the stories if true, lasting for years, decades and centuries of bringing them from the mighty Egyptians and outrunning them in the Red sea, drowning and destroying them all. Slowly but steadily travelling as nomads through the wilderness and coming to the land of Canaan, ousting each and every single king here. Everyone except us, the Jebusites because of our fortified city. Some had alliances with their kings. Some had given over t

2Sam:23:24  I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing. What is it that you give to the Lord? Your remnant? Time - when you are too comfortable? When you have nothing else to do? Or when you are too tired; you want to finish it off? As a ritual? Or as the most important thing in your life? Giving the most important part of your day? Money  - pennies as alms? But shouldn't you give your all? Then what would I live with? But what is the attitude? That it is all mine and I will spend the way I want for my happiness? Or it is all His? It is His gift? Life - waiting for settling in life and then pursuing God? Waiting for retirement to serve the Lord? Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Eccl:12:1 If you give the Lord what is remaining and spent the rest of it all for yourself - the question you need to ask yourself is, "Do you love Him enough?"

2Sam:24:14 But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is great. Given a choice between falling in the hands of the Lord or man as a punishment, David chooses the former because of the rich mercy of God. Yes he knew that "His mercy endures forever" Isa:54:7 For a brief moment I abandoned you. But with great compassion I will take you back. He is a God whose love embraces when he also punishes.  Psalm:30:5 For His anger lasts only for a moment. But His favour lasts a lifetime. Exo:20:6 Showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Oh! What a privilege to fall into the hands of God. I have an assurance that though He may slay me, yet i will trust Him. (Job:13:15).

How do you know that you have grown in the Lord and have gained maturity? David was not even bothered after he committed the grievous sin of adultery and murder. Only when Nathan, the prophet specifically told him, you are the one, were his eyes opened. But to the fag end of his life, just after he took a census of his country to know how many capable warriors were there in his county, he feels remorseful. His conscience pricked immediately after he was self oriented and proud. Well! Not as serious a sin as the first one, right? But definitely conscious stricken. How did David change? He was more open to the Holy Spirit. He was more in tune with Him. That there need not be an elder to come and prick your conscious. But he was in line with God Himself, that he knew His standards and also knew where he himself stands. How are you? Have you grown in your standards or degraded yourself? Does your conscience prick you even if it is a small and silly mistake according to the worl

David taking the census was not overtly wrong. But it angered and saddened the Lord because his trust was misplaced. From God, his eyes deviated to his country, his people. Do you put your pin on your strongholds! Or in God alone.

Psalm:46:10 Be still and know that I am God. In chaos, you wouldn't know Him as God When you are restless, you wouldn't be able to In confusion and anxiety and fear, Nay! You wouldn't It is only in rest, you would, my dear one. Elijah realizes, God is not in the storm Not in the earthquake, nor in the fire And then there was a gentle and soft whisper A still small voice, he could experience Him. Only by being still, you could know Him Only by being restful, that's His promise And rest comes from Him too; Come to me All who are weary and tired, I will give you rest. Rest in Him alone; rest in His loving bosom There is no other place you could find rest Rest He assures; and through it He Himself gives Therefore, there is no other place you are meant to be. Here is what the bard wrote about rest sometime back.  Rest And also about repose.... repose

Jashboem Eleazar Shammah 2Sam:23:15-17 David out of his desperation asks for water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem which was then occupied by the Philistines. The Three (among the Thirty elite and valliant group of David's fighting men) sneaked through the Philistines, drew water from the well and brought it to David. David shocked to see their loyalty and ardence, pours it out as an offering to the Lord, saying it is as valuable as the blood of the Three. Valliance and ardence and bravery. Love to the king beyond their own life. Loyalty no matter what. Not foolishness but wisdom and surity to fight for. That was the Three. When listed in the Bible, these come as first of the mighty men of David. If God would list His mighty men /women - where would I come in the list? Abou Ben Adhem was happy he was first in the list of men loved by God, though he couldn't feature in the list of people who love God ( Abou Ben Adhem - by Leigh Hunt) Are you too?

Do you feel unworthy? Do you fear you are unequipped? Do you feel the battle is too heavy on you? Do you feel untrained? 2Sam:22:34-35 He makes me surefooted as a deer Enabling me to stand on mountain heights He trains my hands for battle He strengthens my arms to draw a bronze bow. Not only does the battle belong to the Lord. It is His responsibility to train and to equip you to face the battle, hold you safe beyond the reach of your enemies and let you be victorious. If the Lord has placed you in a position, do not doubt. He will equip you. Trust in the perfect plan of God for your life.

Not only does the angels hold my hand (Ps:91:12), also my God holds my hand (Ps:37:24). Not only does the Son hold me in His palm, but the Father also (John:10:28-30). No one can snatch me from His hands. Not only does He prevent my foot from striking a stone (Ps:91:12), He makes me surefooted as a deer (2Sam:22:34) and enables me to scale any wall (2Sam:22:30) and makes my path wide so that I wouldn't slip and fall (2Sam:22:37). No wonder it is said He is mindful of me Ps:8:4

The Lord lights up my darkness 2Sam:22:29b Darkness is fearful; Darkness is uncertain Darkness is unsure; Darkness is inconsistent The Lord lights up my darkness. Darkness is frightening; Darkness is dreadful Darkness raises all sort of impossibilities The Lord lights up my darkness. Darkness is awkward and so is it awful Darkness is awry and so is it crooked The Lord lights up my darkness Darkness is jittery and creates anxiety Darkness raises up your heartbeat and holds your breath The Lord lights up my darkness Darkness is horrifying; Darkness is dubious Darkness is hazy; Darkness is insecure The Lord lights up my darkness Darkness is skeptical; Darkness is mistrustful Darkness is indecisive and suspicious The Lord lights up my darkness Hold fast to the light, lest you should plunge in darkness Hold tight the source, lest you should be fearful The Lord lights up my darkness  Here is what the bard wrote sometime back about the same light. From Psalm18 (Same what David wro

2Sam:22:21-25 The Lord rewarded me for doing right He restored me because of my innocence For i have kept the ways of the Lord I have not turned from my God to follow evil I have followed all his regulations I have never abandoned his decrees I am blameless before God I have kept myself from sin The Lord rewarded me for doing right He has seen my innocence. These are not the words of a person who has tried not to commit sin - like Joseph of the old testament, like Jesus, but a man who failed miserably, King David. He preaches fiercely of his innocence, having kept the ways of the Lord, being blameless, kept himself from sin. How could he? Did he forget what he exactly did? No! To be precise; His God forgot. A genuine repentance cleansed him of his sins. His conscience is clean. God never keeps a record of the sins repented. Such beautiful is the invitation for this relationship of rest in Him. Though you may stumble, you will not fall. We New testament Christians have a ste

2Sam:22:7 In my distress, I cried out to the Lord Yes, I cried to my God for help He heard me from His sanctuary My cry reached His ears. It is the right response to cry out to the Lord for help in times of distress. And you can be sure, those cries won't go wasted. Those cries will reach His ears. Ps:56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book God listens. God pays attention. And in 2Sam:22:17 David continues to say -He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. The Lord will act on your behalf. If the Lord is on your side, who can be against you? In Malayalam there is a wonderful beautiful word which all would love to hear - Saramilla. It is okay is not a correct translation. To hear Saramilla fills our hearts. It means I am there with you in this. God says Saramilla.

Refuge:He is my refuge. Psalm:18:3 & 2Sam:22:3 David uses different terms like these, describing what His God is to him. He is my rock, my fortress and my Saviour. He is my shield. Today we will see what he means, by saying God is my refuge. Refuge -is the state of being safe, Or sheltered from pursuit, danger or difficulty. The sense of security that God is my shelter. I can run to Him; no matter how big my problem is. "He alone is my refuge, my place of safety" Ps:91:2 Is it? Is He alone? Do you run to Him alone? Or medicines? Physicians? Lawyers? Or other expert opinion? If they fail, only then do you run to Him? "He will rescue you from every trap And protect you from deadly diseases" Ps:91:3 He is our Great Physician!He is our healer. Jehovah Rapha is His name. Ps:91:6 Do not dread the disease that stalks on the darkness Ps:91:10 No plague will come near your home. "He will cover you with His feathers He will shelter you with His wings His

Psalm: 18:3 2Sam:22:3 Shield of love; He Himself is a shield around me The power that saves me, my place of safety If that is true, why do I get hurt often? Why is it that I fall and stumble? One is because, often I try to stick out my hand And point to the arrows passing by. Trying to guide God; Trying to bring a solution on my own. Your job is to be in the Shield; covered by His love. Eventhough I walk through the valley of shadow of death I fear no evil, for you are with me . 'Nother one is because, He lets few arrows to come by. Knowing for sure, they will not harm your, nor smite you. Not letting you go through, more than what you can. Yet it strengthens you, it motivates you. It helps you to trust in the Shield. Pro:2:7 He is a shield to those who walk with integrity, Whose walk is blameless, who lives with surity that He is the Lord's beloved, he is his Abba's Hence living with reverence and awe and love responsibly!

Saviour - The Lord is my Saviour 2Sam:22:2 & PS:18:2 The Lord is my Saviour, Saviour - A term commonly and often inadvertently used. Tip of tongue of every believer - The Lord is my Saviour But do they really mean - Not so sure! Saviour from eternal punishment, yes from eternal hell Unquenchable fire, undying worms, fiery lake of burning sulphur Torment day and night forever and ever From second death, from eternal seperation from unending love From condemnation, from final judgement, from sin itself For those who put their trust in the One, Jesus Who though being equal to the Father, humbled Himself To obedience, to death on the cross, though He knew it beforehand Why? To pay the penalty of my sin: of yours too It was instead of you and me, He chose to receive the punishment He died so that we could live, you could live If only you would believe, His death becomes true for you Whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life And because He was sinless,

2Sam:22:2 and Psalm:18:2 He is my fortress.... The Lord is my fortress Not just a place to run to In times of trouble, in times of need When all help is lost, no hope. He is a shield around me Ps:3:3 He surrounds me with His shield of love Ps:5:12 Underneath me, all around me Is the current of His love - ST Francis His love covers me; His love hugs me . Nothing will be able to tear it apart Nothing will be able to take away that assurance It was more than the nails, that hung Him there. It encompasses me, it envisages me It circumscribes me, never to leave nor forsake me. Without boundaries, without limit No malevolent eye can beat against me. Living in the fortress of love Brings more of assurance than security Security is against fear of worse Assurance is a way of life which gives identity. No matter what; I am His beloved No matter what; I am His own Nothing in this world absolutely nothing Can seperate, take me out of this fortress of love.

The Lord is my rock! 2Sam:22:2 Psalm:18:1 Rock and not shifting sand. My feet is on firm ground. I have no fear of falling. Even if I stumble I will definitely not fall. Rock and not a log Which is uncertain and unstable. The foundation on whom I stand Will never sleep nor slumber. Rock and not a pebble, flint or a boulder Which will just slip away. My boundaries have fallen on pleasant places For they have been established by Him. Rock and not even fertile land Which I could use for cultivation. Not to trust in my own merits or talents Only You and You alone I trust. Rock and not water, stagnant or running Which is unclean or ever-changing My hope is built on Christ the Righteous And the unchanging everlasting God. Make sure your feet is on this Rock. Jesus the rock of salvation. Not in anything else, not church, Not assets or talents or relations. Established on this truth, let us firm our feet on this Rock, let us renew our lives through a rejuvenated relation with Him.

It is said about at least four battles of David's men with the philistines in 2Sam:21. In all of them David's valliant men kept on fighting. And in all of them they found victory, no matter how big the giants in the opponent army was. Keep fighting your battles. Do not give up. The Lord is the one who gives victory. Keep fighting your battles. Do not give up. The Lord is on your side. Keep fighting your battles. Do not give up. The war is already won. Keep fighting.

David was very quick to amend To search for what went wrong Correct the course:quick he was To seek the Lord, and ask why? Though the Lord answered him It was not his fault, but Saul's But he was quick to sort another's wrong For the sake of his people. Willing to amend your mistake is good But better is to admit your team's Though the fault is not obviously yours But your team's, causing a common wrong It's our mistake, let us amend Vs it's not my mistake, don't bother The team has gone wrong Let's work out together to rectify My brother has done it the wrong way Let's sort it out together for him As a church let's help him Not to point fingers at him That's brotherly affection and love This is how they know we are Christians We are Christians, by our love By our love, we are Christians! 2Sam:21:3

Psalm:45:10 Listen to me O royal daughter, take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away. How mean? Is it really a word from God? Advising a woman to forget her father's family as she gets married. Men can use this as a Trump card to call on their wives to love their families as their own. But what about the admonition to men that follows, to husbands! Psalm:45:11 For your royal husband delights in your beauty. Delighting in your wife is the prerequisite. She is flesh from your flesh and bones from your bones. She is the one, created by my Father in heaven to be help (even if I like it or not, it is i who need help), from my own rib, not from my back bone, the weaker one. She needs love, care, delight. In your love, in your delight, she becomes so satisfied that she considers the love of her own family of lesser value. Just like Jesus meant to hate your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your own self, so does God mean when He says to

2Sam:19 While David was returning back to Jerusalem, after the death of Absalom; there arose an argument between the people of Judah and the rest of the men of Israel. Last verse - The argument continued back and forth and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel  What a sad state? At the time of rejoicing, there is arguement and shouting  Well others would be watching too - What a poor testimony? What if the king comes to know of it; how sad he would be? Your talks, your fights, your arguements are all being watched, both by people around and by God Himself. Oh! Be careful little tongue what you say Oh! Be careful little tongue what you say For the Father up above Is looking down with love So, be careful little tongue what you say.

Love is an emotion, which never could be deciphered, Neither intellectually, nor chemically, And that is why it is said of love - as blind! It is illogical, irrational, unfathomable. Oh! Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you. Words of a king, about his son, a rebel,  After he was killed, this is love. Even if He doesn't, we want to make it clear. These were the words of three young men Ripe in their youth, about to be thrown into the furnace, Because they loved their God, this is love. A man betrothed to a girl, knows she is pregnant. Continues to love her unendingly, confused though. Knows this child is God incarnate Himself, accepts her. He knew her not until the Son is born, this is love. Father forgive them, they know not what they do. Words of the Redeemer, interceding for His assassins. The jeerers, the torturers, but continues to love them. It is for them He is dying, this is love. While I was utterly helpless, Christ died, While I wa

The world is desperately trying to create a name. A name that would last long, even after your death, you would want people to remember you - As a man of may be knowledge, success, fame, wealth, innovation, ideas or talents. And definitely men would want their legacy to continue through their children. Not just men, women too. For what? If you look deep down, how absurd to be wanting to be known even after you are dead and gone. How does it even matter? Would a person be sitting in heaven (or hell) and following up what is happening to the name you created? During his lifetime, Absalom had built a monument to himself in the King's valley, for he said, "I have no son to carry on my name." He named the monument after himself and it is known as Absalom's monument to this day. 2Sam:18:18. But he is still known as the son who rebelled against his father and died a fool's death, not for the monument. All you do for your own name's sake is futile and temp