Author: Calleen Hough

What’s the use?

A sign that you have hit the bottom is that you start feeling sorry for yourself. The difference between a believer and non-believer is when a non-believer hits the bottom, he gives up. When a believer hits the bottom, he looks up. David said, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee” (Psalm 73:22) when he realized that he had been feeling sorry for himself.

It is not unusual to feel sorry for yourself when everything seems to be going against you. David said in his discouragement, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning” (Psalm 73:13-14).

David had seen the wicked prospering and evil men literally getting away with murder. It did not seem fair that David was constantly in trouble and plagued with adversity. David said, “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end” (Psalm 73:16-17).

What David understood was that the wicked were separated from God. They could only do evil because they had not godly influence in their lives and their only opposition was a conscience that had been numbed to the existence of God. Even though their lives seemed easy, David knew that they were suffering from their sinful behavior and would one day be judged for the wrongs they had committed.

The reason why believers do not give up when they hit the bottom is because God is there waiting for them to look up. When David realized it was foolish for him to feel sorry for himself, he began to focus on the future and what he had to look forward to rather than his present circumstances. What gave him hope was that he would never be alone and would eventually triumph over his greatest enemy, death.

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou has holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. (Psalm 73: 23-24)

I’ve got to stop this

When the Israelites reached the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for 40 years, an alliance was formed between the tribes of Rueben and Gad and half of the descendants of Joseph that were born to his oldest son Manasseh. Each of these men, Rueben, Gad, and Manasseh, were first born children that had lost or not received the blessing that typically went to the first male child in a family. These tribes did not dwell in the Promised Land, but chose to occupy territory outside the borders on the other side of the Jordan River.

Even though they did not cross over the Jordan River with their brethren to occupy the land that they had inherited, they overcame the inhabitants of the territory they requested from Moses and were able to control the land until they were taken int captivity by the Assyrians. The difference between the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and Manasseh and the rest of the Israelites is that they did not return to their homes after their captivity.

The Israelites were taken into captivity because they did not observe the Sabbath as God had commanded them to. The law about the Sabbath recorded in Exodus 23:10-11 said, “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let is rest and be still.” Although God is perfect, he is not a perfectionist. When he created our world, he limited himself to six days of word, then he ceased from his activity. God commanded man to follow his example because he knew that we would not want to stop producing of our own free will.

Man by nature is greedy and selfish. His drive to accomplish things and be successful makes it very difficult to stop working once he gets started. The main reason God stopped working after he created the world was so that he could do something else, go on the next thing so to speak. God is not sitting idle in heaven. He is working, a different kind of work than creating the universe.

The Sabbath was designed to be a transition point, a continual shifting of gears so that progress could be made. Instead of doing the same thing over and over, a person could stop one activity and start another. The Sabbath was intended to be like a period at the end of a sentence. Without the period, the sentence keeps going and eventually becomes confusing and illogical. Many people reach the end of their work life and wonder about their careers, why did I do that for so long; why didn’t I stop 20 years ago?

The captivity of Israel was a forced rest in which the people had to leave their homes and possessions and live in the territory of their captors. The purpose of their captivity was to refocus the Israelites attention on what really mattered, their relationship with God. During their captivity, the Israelites were no longer free to worship God and could not make sacrifices to him as they had in the Promised Land. They witnessed pagan rituals and were restricted from warfare.

It is not known why no organized return took place from the Assyrian captivity, but it may have been because the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and Manasseh never regained their focus. Without God’s blessing, these people lacked purpose and had no vision for their future. It is possible that once their work was interrupted by captivity, they could not start over and did not know how to do anything other than what they were told to in Assyria.

Although the Ruebenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh never returned, their land was repopulated by a mixed race of people that became known as the Samaritans. The Samaritans were despised by the Israelites and travel through their land was avoided at all costs, but during one of his trips to Galilee, Jesus passed through the land and stopped to talk to a woman that had come to draw water from Jacob’s well. During their conversation, “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life: (John 4:13-14).

The Samaritan woman Jesus spoke to was stuck in the past. Jacob’s well had existed for hundreds of years and was a symbol of the prosperity he and his family enjoyed before the famine that drove them into Egypt for survival. Since then, Moses had delivered the Israelites from bondage and brought them to the Promised Land, and yet, the woman was still living a meager existence, struggling to survive. Jesus later revealed himself as the Messiah and let the woman know that her focus on the past had caused her to miss the most important event on God’s calendar.

Paul talks about entering into a permanent rest in Hebrews Chapter 4. “For we which have believed do enter into rest” (Hebrews 4:3). The rest that Paul is speaking of is not a result of our own effort, but Christ’s completed work on the cross. “God’s rest is entered when the believer is confidently assured within and outwardly lives peaceably in the assurance of God’s daily provision” (2663). This rest is prompted by a realization that we cannot reach perfection, that our own works will fall short and the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

A better life

If you looked up the meaning of every name in a family lineage in the Old Testament of the Bible, you would probably find that the names tell a story about the journey that the family has traversed. The family of Judah started with three sons; Er, Onan, and Shelah (Genesis 38:3-5). Judah’s first son, Er was so wicked the LORD slew him (Genesis 38:7). When Er died, it became Onan’s responsibility to produce a male heir for his brother’s wife. Onan’s refusal to fulfill his obligation caused him to be slain also.

Eventually, Judah impregnated his daughter-in-law, Tamar and produced twin sons, Pharez and Zarah.

And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

The name Zarah means to shoot forth or to appear (2224) and the name Pharez means to break out (6555).

Zarah is not mentioned in 1 Chronicles, Chapter 4 among the family of Judah, so it is possible he died childless like Er, but there is one man, Jabez who may have been his descendant. Jabez is not connected to any other relative of Judah and is given two verses to capture his biography in a list of names tied to Caleb, the first of Judah’s family to settle in the Promised Land.

And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that thou wouldest bless me in deed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested.

The name Jabez means to grieve or be sorrowful (3258). Sometimes Jabez’s name is translated pain, which is another word for sorrow. Jabez was not satisfied with his life of pain and wanted to become great, so he prayed that God would bless him. As illogical as it may seem, most people do not believe that God wants to bless them and therefore, do not ask for his blessing. It is possible to change your life, but you first have to realize that only God can change the future and you must ask him to do it.

Changing the course of a family legacy is comparable to changing the course of a river. For years, perhaps decades or even centuries, water has been following the same course, traveling from mountain peaks to the oceans below along pathways that have been forged through rocks and debris. Dams and channels are necessary to overcome nature’s force.

Many people enjoy going with the flow. They do not want to rock the boat or cause any friction in family relationships. The problem with going with the flow is that you will end up at the same destination as your ancestors, which could be a life of pain and sorrow.

Jabez knew there was a problem that needed to be overcome in order for his life to be different. Jabez prayed that God would keep him from evil, “that it may not grieve me” (1 Chronicles 4:10). Jabez understood that the reason he was grieved was because he was suffering the consequences of the evil that had become a part of his life. “One of the most marked features of the ungodly man is that his course is an injury both to himself and to everyone around him” (7451). It is likely that Jabez’s trouble was not a result of his own actions, but those of his family. He may have inherited his mother’s sorrow, but he did not have to keep it and pass it on to the next generation.

A large Family

I was typical in the time David lived for a man to have a large family. Children were considered to be a blessing from God and in particular, sons were a sign of God’s favor. Although it was intended that a man have only one wife, it was customary for men to have multiple wives based on their ability to financially support them. Therefore, the number of wives a man had was an indication of his wealth.

David had at least seven wives and 20+ children. During the first seven years of his reign as king, while he was living in Hebron, he had six wives. After he became king of all Israel and was living in Jerusalem, he married his seventh wife Bath-Shua (1 Chronicles 3:5). It appears that the children born by Bath-Shua became David’s primary family and eventually, one of her sons, Solomon succeeded David as king of Israel.

Solomon, who was probably the richest man to ever live, had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Even though Solomon was capable of supporting all of his wives, it is questionable whether or not he actually loved any of them. As king of Israel, he only needed one heir and could not have spent any considerable amount of time with his children given that there were probably hundreds if not thousands of them.

David’s intention of establishing God’s kingdom on Earth led him to the battlefield where he was extremely successful and obedient in following God’s commands, but his home life was a different story. Somehow, David missed the point when it came to setting a good example in his home. There is only one way to explain his failure as a father. The love he had for God did not translate into loving other people.

God’s birthplace

David said, “The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Psalm 87:2). The word translated loveth, ’âhêb (aw – habe´) “is equivalent to the English ‘to love’ in the sense of having a strong emotional attachment to and desire either to possess or to be in the presence of the object” (157).

Zion is one of the hills on which Jerusalem stood. David captured it and called it the city of David after he conquered the Jebusites when he was made king of all Israel. Zion represented a significant victory for David and marked a turning point in his relationship with the LORD. After the city of David was established, there was a time when God’s promises were no longer being fulfilled, but were being enjoyed by David.

David no long had to believe in God’s faithfulness, he could see it. Sometimes when we are exercising our faith, we think that we know how God is going to work things out for us and therefore, that we understand his ways. When God does actually work things out, we see that the result is nothing at all like we expected. God is in the business of doing the impossible. We cannot even imagine what he is going to do because we always think in terms of what is possible.

The key to praying effectively is to realize that we do not know what God is doing. Although God has an individual plan for each of our lives, God has a master plan that encompasses every detail of every life throughout eternity. Answering our prayers is only a part of why God seeks to have a relationship with us. The real reason God develops our faith is so that he can use it to answer other people’s prayers.

David’s conquest of the Jebusites and occupation of Zion made it possible for a new covenant to be established. The covenant God made with Abraham was a stepping stone. The Israelites had to be dwelling in the Promised Land before a new covenant could be made in which a savior would be born that would take away the sins of the world. Once Zion was occupied, the Messiah’s birthplace was secured.

True happiness

I am a results oriented type of person. I like it when I accomplish things and can say that it gives me a lot of happiness when things work out the way I want them to. I think this is what God intended when he decided to bless Abraham and his descendants. One aspect of being blessed is prosperity, but I think happiness has more to do with results than it does the kind of results we get. In fact, “the state that the blessed one enjoys does not always appear to be ‘happy'” (835).

David said about the LORD, “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand” (Psalm 84:10) and he identified three ways that someone could be blessed. “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house…Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee…Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee” (Psalm 84:4,5,12). David’s view of being blessed involved connection with the LORD and in essence was about having a relationship with the God.

Connection with God produces results. One of the results of being connected to God is righteousness. David said, “Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps” (Psalm 85:13). The word translated righteousness is tsedeq (tseh´ – dek). Tsedeq is a relational word that has to do with being faithful to each other’s expectations (6664). From this perspective, you could say that righteousness is about never being disappointed.

Another result of being connected to God is peace. David said, “I will hear what God the LORD shall speak: For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints” (Psalm 85:8). The word translated peace, shâlôm (shaw – lome´) is derived from the word shâlam (shaw – lam´) which means to finish or complete (7999). When I finish something, the feeling I get is peace. There is usually a sense of satisfaction, just because the job is done, but there is also a relief if I know it is complete and I will hot have to do the task ever again.

David said in Psalm 85, “Mercy and truth are met together: Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10). The idea of righteousness and peace kissing each other is that joining the two together produces a good result or a better result than if they were not joined together. If I complete an assignment and am not disappointed, I will be better off than if I completed it, but am disappointed with the result. It doesn’t give me much satisfaction to complete something if I don’t like what I end up with.

Mercy and truth are like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Each half of the pair can exist independently and bring pleasure, but when you combine them, it is like magic. The result is phenomenal; nothing can be compared to it. Mercy and truth make it possible for me to live my life with no regrets. The affect of mercy and truth coming in contact with each other (God) in my life is that I no longer want to do things that will make me unhappy.

For example, if I were to complete a bank robbery and escape with a million dollars and never get caught, I would have to live the rest of my life with the guilt of committing a crime and lying to protect myself. Even though I would be rich, I could not live the same way I would if I had earned the money. Mercy and truth make me do the right thing not only so that I will be satisfied with the result, but everyone around me will be satisfied also. The word mercy or checed in Hebrew “refers primarily to mutual and reciprocal rights and obligations between the parties of a relationship” (2617).

The basis of truth is trustworthiness. Another way of looking at truth is believing or trusting in something or someone (539). The more trustworthy I am, the more people will want to be around me and be a part of my life. Although I would like to think that it only matters if I am happy, the truth is that if everyone around me is unhappy, my happiness will be more difficult to maintain. Sometimes the best way to achieve happiness is to make sure everyone else is happy. Although I cannot make anyone happy, I know I can make them unhappy by doing things that are mean or spiteful. Mercy and truth make me realize that happiness is found in relationship, and therefore the more relationships I have, the more I can be truly happy.

Unfinished business

Some people have a problem with unfinished business. Whether it is making your bed before you leave in the house in the morning or returning a call from a prospective client before you go home for the night, there are certain things that have to be done or you feel unsettled, unable to rest or enjoy yourself.

When Abner came to David to offer his support, David brought up some unfinished business that he wanted Abner to take care of. “And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul’s daughter, when thou comest to see my face” (2 Samuel 3:13).

Michal loved David and she had helped him escape from her father when Saul was trying to kill David. “But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish” (1 Samuel 25:44) after David left in order to spite him. The betrayal hurt David and caused him to be disgraced among the people of Israel. He didn’t feel he could effectively reign over the kingdom until his wife was returned to him.

In Psalm 45, David said, “The king’s daughter is all glorious within: Her clothing is wrought of gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: The virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: They shall enter into the king’s palace” (Psalm 45:13-15). It was a great moment for David when Michal joined him in the king’s palace. David’s victory over Saul was marked by the return of his devoted wife, Saul’s daughter Michal, to his side, but there was some other unfinished business that still needed to be taken care of.

In Psalm 43, David said, “Why art thou cast down O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” (Psalm 43:5) and in Psalm 44, “Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors a scorn and derision to them that are round about us” (Psalm 44:13). After the Philistines killed Saul and his sons, the people of Israel, “forsook the cities and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them” (1 Samuel 31:7), so David prayed to the LORD, “Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercy’s sake” (Psalm 44:26).

In Psalm 49, David used a parable to evaluate his situation from an eternal perspective. David compared the person that trusts in his wealth to the upright man that puts his trust in God. David concluded, “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning” (Psalm 49:14). David realized that some business cannot be taken care of in a day or may be left until death brings about a change in circumstances. The ultimate victory for David was that death was not the end. Because God’s kingdom is eternal and will continue after death, David said:

They that trust in their wealth, and boast of themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him…But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: For he shall receive me. Selah. (Psalm 49:6-7, 15)

Who’s your daddy

Your family and its history have a lot to do with who you become. Even though God creates each one of us as an individual with unique characteristics, the influence of our family ultimately determines what the final outcome will be when it comes to who we are and what we do in our lives.

“And Ram begat Amminadab; and Aminnadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah” (1 Chronicles 2:10). The name Nahshon or Nachshôwn (Nakh – shone´) in Hebrew means enchanter (5177). Nachshon is derived from nâchash (naw – khash´) which means “to hiss, i.e. whisper a (magic) spell” (5172). “And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse” (1 Chronicles 2:11-12) the father of David.

David had seven brothers and at least two sisters. His sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail had four sons, Abishai, Joab, Asahel, and Amasa who were among David’s mighty men, Joab being commander of David’s army after he became king. These men were not born into a good family. They did not have the advantage of money and education. They were shepherds.

It says in 1 Samuel 22:1-2:

David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him.

David changed the course of his family’s history when he became king of Israel. During the years that he was hunted by Saul, David and his family were transformed. They did not become a family of royalty, living in the lap of luxury, they were warriors, adept at traveling the countryside unnoticed until they decided to engage in warfare. They frustrated their enemies and were feared by all who came in contact with them.

David’s mighty men were the best of the best because of their courage and willingness to risk their lives for David’s cause. It’s no wonder they were extremely successful because they had nothing to lose and everything to gain if David became king. I believe the reason David did not give up when he was discouraged was he did not want to disappoint the men who had stood by him and protected him against Saul’s army.

We all have a conscience

It’s easy to assume that a Godless person is also a lawless person, but that is actually not the case. Paul said in Romans 2:14-15, “For when the Gentile, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another…” The conscience inside every person bears witness to God’s law. Even if they have not been told it is wrong, everyone knows killing another person in wrong.

A person that does not violate his conscience will do well in life regardless of whether or not he has a relationship with God. The purpose of having a relationship with God is not so that you will know what is right, it is so that you will do what is right. It is possible to do what is right without the help of God, but every human effort will fail at some point because we are not perfect and have a sin nature.

The Edomites, the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau were most likely good, hard working people. The only problem was that they married into a bad family. “Esau took wives of the daughters of Canaan” which means he brought himself under the curse issued by Noah. Esau made a conscious decision to do what he knew was wrong. For many years, hundreds of years, his descendants prospered and established a thriving community in the land that was to be inherited by his brother Jacob.

Esau’s intention was to beat the system. He thought he could keep his brother from receiving the blessing promised to him by joining forces with the Canaanites and teaching them how to do things right. In addition to kings that reigned over the people, Esau’s sons became dukes (1 Chronicles 1:51-54), guides that were familiar with the customs of the people that could through association teach them different ways of doing things (5021). Knowledge was transferred from generation to generation so that learning became a part of the lifestyle of the Canaanites and led them to increasingly successful practices over time.

Two sides to the story

As they say, there are always two sides to every story. In order for there to be a winner, there must be a loser. Even God has chosen a side. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13). The enemies of Israel were not faceless, unknown people. They were the people that had been cursed by God. Beginning with Cain and Abel, there was an intentional effort to separate good from evil and in the end, there could be only one winner.

The struggle between good and evil started in the garden of Eden, but it was really the sons of Noah that determined the boundary lines. Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth were given the opportunity to start over after the flood. With a clean slate, they could have established a society where morality was the norm, but shortly after leaving the ark, sin began to creep in again.

“And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drunk of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without” (Gen 9:20-22). As a result of this incident, Noah cursed Canaan and said, “A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (Gen 9:25).

“The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan” (1 Chronicles 1:8) populated the area known as the Promised Land, but it was primarily Canaan that was targeted when the descendants of Jacob came to take possession of the land.

Hundreds of years passed between the time when Ham uncovered his father’s nakedness and the Israelites moved into the Promised Land. It doesn’t seem fair that a curse should affect people so many generations later. Of course, the other side of the story is that Shem was blessed because he covered his father’s nakedness and Abraham happened to be his descendant, the one on whom the blessing eventually fell.

Sometimes I’ve wondered to myself, why was I born into a family that is so messed up? Why did my dad become an alcoholic? Why was I raped? Sometimes it seems like I must have been cursed. Then I think about being saved and all the wonderful things that have happened to me since I accepted Jesus as my savior and I realize how blessed I now am. I’ve lived both sides of the story. The good news is, thanks to Jesus, we get to choose which side we want to be on.