A Heart For Jesus

”And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.“ ‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬ “They” of course includes David. David “mourned” over Saul. Not only did he mourn, he wept and fasted! Saul, the one who was jealous of David and everything he did. Saul who tried to pin David to the wall, not once but twice with his spear to kill him! Saul who was always trying to hunt David down. Saul who allowed bitterness and envy to rule him. I personally would think David would celebrate that his tormentor was finally dead. But not David, he mourned, fasted and wept over the death of Saul.  I could learn a lot about forgiveness from David. It’s easy for me to want to hold a grudge, or want someone who has hurt me to     suffer hurt and know what it feels like. It’s easy to want to take revenge. But like David, Jesus calls me to    something m...

  “Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”” Psalms 3:1-2 NIV “How many are my foes”! Although David wrote this Psalm when he was fleeing from his son Absalom and his foes were likely those wanting to kill him, haven’t I ever felt this way? Have you?  My foes may be different. My foes are the lies I hear whispered in my head, “there is no salvation for (you) in God”. My foes are doubts and fears that creep in and try to tell me “I’m wasting my time; there is no hope for you”.  But notice how David reassured himself. “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” Psalms 3:3 NIV My shield. A shield makes me think of something that protects from something or someone else. A shield in David’s day was likely a piece of armor. Something that would protect from the enemies arrows. In Ephesians 6:16, Paul talks about the Shield of Faith. I am to “take up the shield of faith, wit...