Thurs.’s Devo -David’s Return to Jerusalem

Read: 2 Samuel 19:11-20:13; John 21:1-25; Psalm 120:1-7; Provers 16:16-17 Israel wanted to bring David back as their king but Judah, his own tribe, was slow in responding. David sent the priests, Zadok and Abiathar to ask the elders of Judah why they hadn’t brought him back. Amasa, Joab’s cousin went around Judah drumming up support to bring David back. David promised to make Amasa commander of his army instead of Joab, because he did that for him. On his way back to Jerusalem he met the same men that he encountered when he left. Shimei, the one who had cursed David since he was from the household of Saul, was one of the thousand who came to meet him. He begged David’s forgiveness. Abishai wanted to kill him but David granted him mercy. Mephibosheth came and explained that what Ziba had said about him was untrue. His handicap had kept him from going with David when he left, but he had mourned for David the whole time he was gone. Ziba, the man that David had put in charge of Mephibosheth was there with his sons also. David divided the land of Mephibosheth between the two of them instead of giving it all to Ziba. Barzillai who had provided food for the king when he fled, came to bless the king. David wanted to take him to Jerusalem and take care of him but he told David he wast too old to travel. He gave him his son, Kimham to take back with him and bless. The leaders of Israel had an argument with the men of Judah over David. The men of Israel were upset that Judah treated David like he was theirs alone and not the king over all of them. They felt that Judah was being favored more than them since David was from their tribe and Jerusalem was near or in their land. Finally, Sheba from Benjamin blew a ram’s horn and yelled, “down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse.” He led a revolt and the men of Israel followed him. When David got back to his palace he secluded his concubines who had slept with Absalom and treated them like widows. He then sent his troops to stop Sheba’s rebellion. Abishai and Joab left with warriors to go after Sheba. They met Amasa. Joab killed Amasa so Amasa couldn’t take his place as the commander of the army. This rattled the army but they continued to follow Joab on his pursuit of Sheba. So many of the men we read about today were full of selfish ambition. They spent their efforts on jockeying for position on this earth. Instead of giving them the satisfaction of being important, it often led to their own death. Jesus taught to humble yourself and let God exalt you. In John, the disciples had gone back to what they did before they met Jesus which was fishing. Jesus showed up on the shore and called out to ask them if they had caught any fish. They hadn’t, so Jesus told them to put their nets on the right side of the boat. When they did, it was the same result as the first time they met Jesus. The nets were overfilled with fish. They remembered. John realized that it was Jesus on the shore and jumped into the water and headed to shore. Jesus had fish cooking and bread for them to eat. Jesus addressed Peter three times asking him if he loved him. Peter said yes all three times and Jesus responded each time for Peter to feed his sheep. Peter, in the natural, had a boat full of fish to feed people but God was telling Peter that within his own boat - his own self - he had the Spirit of God who could feed the people spiritually. He had been blessed with walking with Jesus and learning of him, now he was to share his knowledge with others. Lord, we have all been blessed with knowing you and having your Holy Spirit so may we be mindful to give out of our abundance to these in need.