APRIL 24-25

“God desires to reveal His heart to us and to build His heart into us as we seek His face.” 
― Bill Mills, Adequate: How God Empowers Ordinary People to Serve

2 SAMUEL 10-14

11The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’(12:1-10)

LUKE 19:29-20:26

41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Jesus at the Temple

45When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be a house of prayer’^c ; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^d ”

47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

JOURNAL 

As humans we are so blinded by our fears and our pride. To see David fall in this way is just heartbreaking. How could he be so blinded after struggling for so long and then having so many gifts and really anything he wanted. I guess the answer is that without God, nothing can ever satisfy. No matter how much or how great...the longing will only be for more. Yet with God, no matter how little, there will be joy and a sense of having enough. 

David had stopped seeking God, he had stopped "needing" him. As a result he misused his power and did something awful. He broke up a marriage and murdered one of his own men. By the way Nathan presented this scenario, David realized the awful nature of his actions.

I think this is the meaning behind Jesus words that "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-". Peace with God is found in seeking him in all things and God therefore makes whatever circumstance one that has purpose, meaning and a sense of joy. That is the promise and that is the Kingdom of Heaven. 

6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7