“But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of the Lord” Acts 9:27. Saul had a problem … and he had no one to blame but himself. The last time he had been in Jerusalem, he had been a radical, up-and-coming student of Gamaliel who was eager to make a name for himself. When Jesus’ disciple, Stephan, was stoned, the cloaks of the executioners were laid at his feet while he gave approval to his death. Then, he was instrumental in the “great persecution” and ravaged the church from house to house. And he had left town with letters from the high priest to do the same in Damascus. That was when he met Jesus and eventually became a disciple himself, as powerful a force for God’s kingdom as he had been against it … but no one in Jerusalem knew this. So, it’s understandable that the Christians there “were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” It took the one nicknamed “the son of encouragement” to show Christ’s love by introducing him to the ones he had tried to destroy. In this world, be a Barnabas.  

“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes” Psalm 36:1. Evil is certainly loud … and flashy! And it abounds! Just turn on your TV or check what’s trending on social media and you would conclude that there’s not much that godly people can do in the face of such reckless hate. Has God lost? Are we truly alone? No, when Elijah felt this way after the wicked queen Jezebel threatened his life, God reassured him that He had reserved 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. So, where were they? Scattered throughout Israel. Evil in Elijah’s day, as in David’s, had grown so prevalent that the prophet seemed like an island in a sea of wickedness. And the waves were rough. Sounds like a Christian today. But God also wanted to show Elijah that He was stronger and still in control. Calling him to stand on the mountain while a great wind, earthquake, and fire tore the world apart around him, God showed Elijah that the world, for all its bluster and darkness, was nothing compared to the low whisper. Because of the powerful presence that Elijah felt in that, he covered his face. David concludes this also: “In Your light we see light.”

“Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’” 2 Kings 20:19. Hezekiah is normally thought of as one of the few good kings of Judah, a faithful servant of God. After all, when the Assyrians had already taken the northern kingdom off into captivity and threatened Jerusalem, Hezekiah stood firm for the LORD. He even prayed when he was sick at the point of death and God granted him fifteen more years of life. It’s not the foolishness of showing the Babylonians the riches of his nation that makes me think he tripped at life’s finish line, but rather his reaction when he heard what he’d done: he failed to provide for future generations of God’s kingdom. Who cares what happens to the church years after I’m gone … “if there will be peace and security in my days?” And so the twelve year-old Manasseh, the most wicked of kings and born during his life’s extension, would rule for 55 years after Hezekiah’s death. What’s our attitude about the future of the Lord’s church after we’re gone? What are we doing now to keep out the Manassehs and ensure a foundation for future Christians?

“They open their mouths against me; they say, ‘Aha, Aha! Our Eyes have seen it!’ You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O LORD, be not far from me!” Psalm 35:21-22. One of the great struggles we have in following Jesus as our example and model for our lives is His sinless perfection. We know our weaknesses, and though we are not where we used to be before we obeyed the gospel, we can become discouraged when we see how far we have to go to truly walk as Jesus did. As Jesus’ ancestor and a man after God’s heart, David is an encouraging study while we keep our Savior in view. In this psalm, he is aware that his enemies are watching him closely, just waiting for him to mess up. And, while they gloat and plot against him, returning evil for his good, David sins and falls short of the glory of God—like we all do—and his enemies cry, ‘Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!’ This would be discouraging indeed if this meant David’s final downfall—and this is where many of us see our spiritual situation in the world—but David knows that other eyes are upon him. God sees and will not let His child languish. While the world writes us off, God writes our names in the book of life.

“Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born’” Judges 13:8. God’s people had put away their foreign gods to serve the LORD, and now after Jephthah, the leader who was weak in faith, served for six years and three others judged Israel for a combined twenty-five, His people completed the cycle and returned to their sin. So, God sold them into spiritual slavery to the Philistines for forty years. The first lesson we should draw from this is that if we believe ourselves standing, we should be careful lest we fall. We should continually examine ourselves to see if we have compromised with the world, which is so easy to do! Second, God provided honest seekers, who were also products of a spiritually-idolatrous culture. Even though Samson would not be anyone to emulate, his parents truly want to know how to raise a child in the LORD who has been set aside for such a great purpose. He did it then; He can do it today! Third, even the best of parents will produce a Samson, who will be antagonistic towards all even though he was raised in the way God wants.