2 Samuel – Chapter 2

Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 2 Samuel 2:10 – King Saul is dead, and we read from this chapter that David is crowned king over one of the tribes of Israel, Judah. Now In the Lord’s eyes, David is the rightful king of all of Israel for David was anointed king almost 20 years priors to this. Yet in those many years David was almost assassinated multiple times, chased out of his kingdom, and hunted down by Saul’s armies like a wild animal. While his rightful place was on the throne of Israel, and his time should be now because of Saul’s death, someone else is made king of Israel. Ish-bosheth, apparently a son of Saul, that isn’t spoken of in scripture prior to this, is anointed king and reigns for two whole years. After everything David went through the moment came for him to step into the call God had placed on his life…then…Ish-bosheth. Another season of waiting and difficulty began before he would be finally led into the place he knew God was calling him to. We too may find ourselves overly ready to step into that calling God has for us, and we may even see that door begin to open for us. Yet, like with David, something may arise and that door shuts again. How we handle ourselves in those moments is important. Will we remain faithful like David or will we lose it in frustration? Absolutely it will be discouraging and frustrating, but if the door was shut by the Lord, then while we may have thought it was time for that step, God knew it wasn’t time yet. Remain patient and trust the Lord that the door will be open for you when its time. If He’s called you to it, He’ll bring you into it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3021

2 Samuel 2 Daily DEVO After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2 Samuel 2:1 – At this moment David is at a huge turning point in his life. The king who has been chasing him for so long is dead. The chance for him to take his rightful place as the king is available. So what does he do? He asked God for direction. This needs to be us not only in our turning point moments but with the everyday decisions as well. We see David getting pretty direct answers from God, and if things happened like that we might ask God more. What we must understand is God still talks with us. If we seek Him out in His Word, pray diligently, and converse with other believes, that direction we’re seeking will come. How and when is up to God, but we just need to begin the process by seeking Him out for that direction. As we’ll continue to see with David, often the way he lived is something we should follow. Seeking God’s direction is one habit of David’s we should make our own. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 433

Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 2 Samuel 2:21 – Asahel had a mission, to reach and defeat his enemy Abner. In the middle of his pursuit his enemy sought to deter him, asking him to turn away from coming after him, but Asahel remained steadfast. Sadly the story for Asahel didn’t end well, but his drive for what he was called to do was something to admire. In this new year, you too have a calling to pursue. A mission that you are to go after like Asahel after his enemy. That mission is to grow in your walk with God and to help others in their pursuit of Jesus. In that mission know your enemy will seek to deter you from it, wanting you to turn away to so many other things. You though need to be hyper-focused on why you’re here, dismissing the temptations of our enemy to get you off pursuit. Be aware then that as you run this race that you will have an enemy seeking to get you off track, but the mission is far too important to shift directions on. Stay steady on the course, remain focused on the mission, and let’s get after it with what God is calling us to do. I love you, but Jesus love you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1861