prayer

Evil in the sight of the LORD

Many of the kings of Israel and those who ruled in Judah near the time when the people were taken into captivity were described as doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD. One king in particular, Manasseh, king of Judah was called out for his evil practices. It says in 2 Chronicles 33:2 that Manasseh “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.” An abomination defines “something or someone as essentially unique in the sense of being dangerous, sinister, and repulsive to another individual (Genesis 43:32; 46:34; Proverbs 29:27). When used with reference to God, this word describes people, things, acts, relationships, and characteristics that are detestable to Him because they are contrary to His nature, such as things related to death and idolatry (Deuteronomy 14:3); people with loathsome habits are themselves detestable to Him (Deuteronomy 22:5)” (H8441). Manasseh “rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and erected altars to the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them…And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers…Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:3-9). The Hebrew word that is translated astray in 2 Chronicles 33:9, taʿah (taw-awˊ) was used by the prophet Isaiah in reference to mankind’s universal need for salvation. Isaiah said about Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

According to the prophet Jeremiah, Manasseh was responsible for the kingdom of Judah being destroyed by God. God told Jeremiah, “I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 15:3-4). God’s denouncement of Manasseh’s idolatry included a judgment against Judah for doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD. God said:

Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.” (2 Kings 21:12-15)

God indicated that his chosen people had been provoking him to anger, “since the day their fathers came out of Egypt” (2 Kings 21:15). While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God, it says in Exodus 32:1, “The people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ‘Up make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

It says in 2 Chronicles 33:10-11, “The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to the people, but they paid no attention. Therefore, the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.” God warned Manasseh that he was going in the wrong direction, but he ignored God’s message. The Hebrew word that is translated paid no attention, qashab (kaw-shabˊ) “denoted obedience that was expected after the hearing” (H7181). John the Baptist preached to crowds of people prior to Jesus’ ministry. John’s message was simple, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). It says in Matthew 4:17, after Jesus’ ministry began, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” The Greek word that is translated repent, metanoeo (met-an-o-ehˊ-o) means “to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider” (G3340). Repentance has to do with changing one’s mind. Manasseh did not repent of his sin, therefore, the LORD brought upon him the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, “who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon” (2 Chronicles 33:11).

Second Chronicles 33:12-13 tells us about Manasseh:

And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

Manasseh learned from his experience of being taken into captivity that the LORD was God. Afterward, he changed his mind, and decided to humble himself greatly before the God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 33:12).

Manasseh’s repentance resulted in him being restored to his position as king of Judah. Afterward, Manasseh “took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:15-16). The actions that Manasseh took demonstrated that his repentance was genuine and that he was willing to do what God expected of him. Manasseh started doing the opposite of what he had been doing before, making it clear to everyone that he had changed his mind during his captivity in Babylon.

Trusting in God

King Hezekiah’s devotion to God was well-known not only by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, but also by people in the surrounding nations who were enemies of Israel. In order to undermine Hezekiah’s godly influence, and to keep the people of Judah from trusting in God, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message. The message stated:

“‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.’ But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.’” (2 Kings 18:19-25)

Sennacherib reminded the people of Judah of their past mistake of trusting in Egypt to fight on their behalf instead of trusting in God to deliver them from their enemies. Sennacherib implied that Hezekiah had offended God by taking down the high places and altars that people were worshipping at rather than God’s temple, and then, lied about being sent by God to destroy Judah. Sennacherib’s intention was to confuse the issues and to instill fear in the people so that they would stop trusting in God. Hezekiah had warned the people about Sennacherib’s tactics and “spoke encouragingly to them, saying, ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God’” (2 Chronicles 32:7-8).

The Rabshakeh who delivered the king of Assyria’s message spoke in the language of Judah so that everyone listening could understand what he was saying. The people were instructed to remain silent (2 Kings 18:36), so the Rebshakeh continued unabated with his verbal attack, stating:

“Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” (2 Kings 18:28-35)

Sennacherib painted a pretty picture of captivity, making it seem as if the people of Judah would be better off living under his control. His claim that none of the gods of the nations had been able to deliver his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria was actually true, and was probably taken to heart because the northern tribes of Israel had been captured and the Israelites living there carried away to Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). The mistake that Sennacherib made was comparing the Israelites situation to that of the other nations. Sennacherib asked, “Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:14). Sennacherib likely understood that the Israelites reliance upon God was necessary for them to be delivered from his hand. Therefore, he did everything he could to undermine their faith. Sennacherib argued, “Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:15).

We are told in 2 Kings 17:7 that God allowed the northern tribes of Israel to be taken into captivity because of their sin against him. Second Kings 17:9 states, “And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right.” It says in 2 Kings 18:37 that the men who had received the message from Sennacherib, “came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabeshakeh.” And after the men arrived, “As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD” (2 Kings 19:1). Tearing ones clothes and covering oneself with sackcloth were signs of mourning and of deep distress. These acts demonstrated Hezekiah’s humility and his willingness and ability to approach God with a reverential attitude. Second Kings 19:14 tells us, “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.” Spreading it out before the LORD meant that Hezekiah recounted the message, emphasizing the particular points that he thought would be of interest to the LORD. It says in 2 Kings 19:15-19:

And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

King Hezekiah realized that although Assyria had triumphed over the gods of the nations, they “were not gods, but the work of men’s hands” (2 Kings 19:5). Hezekiah said of the God of Israel, “you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth” (2 Kings 19:15). Hezekiah’s prayer request was based on God’s ability to do what he could not, defeat the Assyrian army. Hezekiah knew he didn’t stand a chance if he went up against Sennacherib using the same tactics that the other nations had, “an arm of flesh” (2 Chronicles 32:8) or physical strength. Hezekiah prayed, “O LORD our God, save us, please” (2 Kings 19:19). The Hebrew word that Hezekiah used that is translated save, yashaʿ (yaw-shahˊ) refers to “compassionate aid in time of need (2 Kings 6:26, 27; Psalm 12:1 [2]); the salvation that only comes from God (Isaiah 33:22; Zephaniah 3:17)” (H3467).

Isaiah the prophet was sent to Hezekiah with a message from the LORD. He said, “Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard” (2 Kings 19:20). As a result of Hezekiah trusting in God, an angel was sent, “who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword” (2 Chronicles 32:21-22). The word of the LORD that was spoken through Isaiah concerning Sennacherib indicated that he had been used by God to destroy the nations, but because Sennacherib had raged against God in his letter to Hezekiah, his power was revoked. Isaiah prophesied:

“Have you not heard
    that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
    what now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
    into heaps of ruins,
while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
    are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
    and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
    blighted before it is grown.

“But I know your sitting down
    and your going out and coming in,
    and your raging against me.
Because you have raged against me
    and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
    by which you came. (2 Kings 19:25-28)

God said that he had determined Sennacherib’s role long ago and that he brought to pass all that Sennacherib claimed he had accomplished. Even though Sennacherib was not trusting in God, God used him to fulfill Israel’s destiny. God told Sennacherib, “I will turn you back on the way by which you came” (2 Kings 19:28). The phrase turn you back means that God made Sennacherib retreat. The basic meaning of the Hebrew word shuwb (shoob) “is movement back to the point of departure” (H7725). Shuwb is also associated with the process of conversion. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption.” In Sennacherib’s case, God demonstrated his superiority and caused Sennacherib’s plan to overthrow Judah to come to nothing. As a result, Sennacherib, ”returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword” (2 Chronicles 32:21).

Dependence on God

God’s covenantal relationship with Abraham, and later the nation of Israel, was based on a promise that created a dependency upon God that was intended to ensure the promise would be carried out. God told Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). God’s active, personal involvement in creating the nation of Israel began with his deliverance of Abraham’s descendants from slavery in Egypt. The LORD told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmaster. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:7-8). God said that he had come down to deliver his people out of the hand of the Egyptians. The Hebrew word that is translated come down, yârad (yaw-radˊ) basically connotes movement from a higher to a lower location, but “yârad” is used frequently of ‘dying’” (H2381). God’s plan of deliverance began with him removing his chosen people from the land of Egypt, but ultimately it was carried out through his Son Jesus’s death on the cross. When Moses asked God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:13-14). “The expression ‘I AM’ is the translation of the Hebrew word Yhwh (H3068), vocalized ‘Yahweh’ and translated ‘LORD’ (See Exodus 6:3)…The meaning of Yhwh is not completely clear to biblical scholars, though it seems to suggest the timelessness of God, who is the very foundation of all existence. Jesus alluded to this name of God in John 8:58 when he declared, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am” (note on Exodus 3:14).

The Hebrew word that is translated deliver in Exodus 3:8, nâtsal (naw-tsalˊ) means “to snatch away” (H5337). A word in the New Testament with a similar meaning is harpazō (har-padˊ-zo). Harpazo is used in Revelation 12:5 in reference to Jesus’ ascension into heaven and in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in reference to believers being caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. “Deliverance often indicated the power of one entity overcoming the power of another.” The Apostle Paul talked about Jesus’ power over death in his second letter to the Corinthians. Speaking of the resurrection body, Paul said:

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies…So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power…I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:35-57)

Paul’s statement that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50) was intended to jolt his fellow Israelites into the realization that the promise God made to Abraham was not about establishing a nation that consisted of mortal beings, but one in which the power of sin and death had been overcome.

Initially, the Israelites were completely aware of their dependence on God. After they had left Egypt and were about to cross the Red Sea, it says in Exodus 14:9-10, “The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. When Pharoah drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.” Moses told the people of Israel, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14). Later, after they had entered the Promised Land, the Israelites experienced numerous victories over the people of Canaan because they were depending on the LORD. But as time went on, the people of Israel stopped inquiring of the LORD and eventually, asked the prophet Samuel to appoint a king to rule over them, “that we may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:20).

The various kings that led Israel and Judah were inconsistent in their commitment to follow God’s commandments. Near the end of Israel’s existence as an independent nation, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah walked in the ways of King David, “He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments…His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah…In the third year of his reign he sent his officials…And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the LORD with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people” (2 Chronicles 17:3-4, 6-9). When the Moabites and Ammonites and some of the Meunites came against him in battle, Jehoshaphat prayed for God to intervene. Jehoshaphat said:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Jehoshaphat acknowledged that the people of Israel were powerless against the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites and said that he didn’t know what to do. The Hebrew word that is translated know, yada (yaw-dahˊ) refers to experiential knowledge and is used to describe the way that God knew Abraham, “He cared for him in the sense that He chose him from among other men and saw to it that certain things happened to him. The emphasis is on the fact that God ‘knew’ him intimately and personally” (H3045).

God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer immediately. It says in 2 Chronicles 20:14-17, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, ‘Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.’” Because Jehoshaphat acknowledged his dependence on God, the LORD said the people of Israel would not need to fight in the battle, he would fight for them. All they had to do was stand firm and hold their position (2 Chronicles 20:17). This is similar to the advice that Paul gave believers in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said that we are to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11).

It says in Proverbs 3:5-6 that we should trust in the Lord will all our heart, and not depend on our own understanding. “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (NLT). When it was time for them to stand firm and hold their position, Jehoshaphat told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to “Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established” (2 Chronicles 20:20). And, Second Chronicles 20:21-23 states:

And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.

Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8, NLT). The people of Judah didn’t know what to expect when they started marching toward the great multitude coming at them from Edom, but “when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, the looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped” (2 Chronicles 20:24).

Our dependence on God is something that needs to be acknowledged in each and every situation. When we put our trust in the Lord, he promises to take care of all our needs. When Jesus was asked the question, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?,” He answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:28-28). Jesus went on to describe himself as the good shepherd. It says in John 10:6, “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.” Jesus went on to explain, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door, If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:8-11). Jesus later described himself as the true vine and said his Father was the vinedresser. “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit…As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:1-5).

The Greek word that is translated abide in John 15:4, meno (menˊo) means “to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy) and is spoken “of the relation in which one person or thing stands with another, chiefly in John’s writings; thus to remain in or with someone, i.e. to be and remain united with him, one with him in heart, mind, and will (John 6:56; 14:10; 15:4-7; 1 John 2:6; 3:24; 4:15, 16)” (G3306). Shortly before his death, Jesus prayed that his disciples would be one even as he and his Father were one (John 17:11). Jesus prayed, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through your word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them as you loved me” (John 1716-23).

Jesus invited everyone to come to him and be a part of the oneness that he had with his Father, but he focused his attention particularly on those who recognized their dependence on God. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). In another conversation, Jesus warned his disciples to not be anxious about their lives, but to put their faith in God. Jesus said to his disciples, ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you” (Luke 12:22-31).

Prayer

It might be easy to think that prayer is a quick way for us to get God to do what we want him to. When a fig tree withered at once after Jesus cursed it, Jesus’ disciples wanted to know, “’How did the fig tree wither at once?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith’” (Matthew 21:21-22). A potential explanation for Jesus cursing the fig tree may be found in the parable of the barren fig tree which is recorded in Luke’s gospel. Jesus said, “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. ‘Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground.’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ It seems that the incident was a parable of judgment, with the fig tree representing Israel (note on Mark 11:14, KJSB). If that is the case, Jesus’ lesson about prayer would appear to be about believers acting in accordance with God’s will rather than us getting God to do what we want him to. The vinedresser in Jesus’ parable didn’t want to give up on the fig tree, but we know from the parable of the tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) that no fruit was ever produced by Israel, and like the wicked tenants, they killed their master’s son so that they could have his inheritance (Matthew 21:38; Matthew 26:3-4).

Jesus said, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:32-35). Jesus said these words in the middle of his Olivet Discourse, which was primarily focused on his second coming and the final judgment of all the nations. The dire need for prayer during this time period and the challenge of exercising one’s faith could be why Jesus used the remarkable example of causing the fig tree to wither at once in order to get his disciples’ attention before speaking to them about this topic. Jesus went on to warn his disciples about being ready (Matthew 24:36-51) and watching for his second coming (Matthew 25:1-13) and then, told them the parable of the talents to illustrate the system of rewards that will be used to compensate God’s servants for their faithful service (Matthew 25:14-30) before concluding his sermon with a description of the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).

Matthew’s gospel associates Jesus’ most notable and comprehensive teaching on prayer with his Sermon on the Mount. According to Matthew, Jesus stated, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly (Matthew 6:5-6). Jesus likened God answering a believer’s prayer to receiving a reward. The Greek word that is translated reward, misthos (mis-thosˊ) means pay for service, in the sense of a reward that will be received in the afterlife (G3408). From that standpoint, prayer can be thought of as a type of work, spiritual work that one is compensated for when you get to heaven. Jesus talked about receiving pay for service in his parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Jesus said:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denariusa day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:1-16)

The thing to note about Jesus’ illustration is that everyone received the same wage regardless of the amount of work that was accomplished. Jesus described the master of the house as a generous man who was continually looking for people to hire and one who promptly paid his workers at the end of the day. The interesting thing about the dispersing of the wages was that the master instructed his foreman to begin with the last person hired and end with the first. Jesus concluded his illustration with the statement, “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). Jesus seemed to be discouraging his followers from working longer and harder than they might otherwise have, but it seems unlikely that was what he was intending to convey.

The Greek word that is translated last in Matthew 20:16 is eschatos (esˊ-khat-os). Eschatos is a superlative of the Greek word echo (ekhˊ-o). Echo is used “generally and most frequently, to have, to possess externally, to have in one’s possession, power, charge, control: for example property (Matthew 13:12; 19:21, 22; Mark 10:22, 23; Luke 18:24; 21:4). In figurative phrases: to have years means to be so many years old (John 8:57); to have a certain distance means to be a certain distance away (Acts 1:12). Spoken of what is said to have in, on, by, or with himself, i.e. of any condition, circumstances, or state either external or internal in which one is” (G2192). In this context, Jesus’ reference to the last could be interpreted to mean the worst or the farthest away from the kingdom of heaven. The Greek word that is translated first in Matthew 20:16 is protos (proˊtos). Protos is a superlative of the primary preposition pro, which refers to “’fore,’ i.e. in front of, prior (figurative, superior) to” (G4253). In this context, Jesus’ reference to the first could be interpreted to mean the best or the closest to the kingdom of heaven. So, when we think about prayer and the rewards that one will receive for doing it, you could say that those who are the least qualified to do it, will comparatively, receive the best compensation for their work; or that those who pray the most should not expect to get any more than what Jesus has promised them in the Bible.

Jesus’ twelve apostles understood the importance of prayer and according to Luke’s gospel, asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1). Jesus said to them:

“When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudencehe will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks fora fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:2-13)

Luke’s abbreviated version of The Lord’s Prayer was likely a paraphrase of what was expressed in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13). The key points were showing reverence for God and seeking to be aligned with his kingdom, God’s daily provision, forgiveness of sins, and our avoidance of temptation. In his follow-on comments, Jesus emphasized God’s willingness to respond to our requests, but closed with the question, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11:12) as if to point out that God is not only willing to respond to our requests, but will give us exactly what we ask for. But then, Jesus concluded, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). Jesus’ statement implied that the Holy Spirit was the good gift that we would be asking God for. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard anyone ask God for the Holy Spirit when they were praying. I think the thing that believers misunderstand about the Holy Spirit is that he has the power to do all the things that we would like God to do for us, but the only way that the Holy Spirit can do them is in and through us.

Upside down

God’s intention in delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt was for them to become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). “God made a conditional promise to the Israelites that if they would obey him and keep his covenant, he would regard and treat them in a special way. The people chose instead to make a golden calf and forsake the God who rescued them from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 32:1-24). That event, as well as persistent infidelity throughout most of their history, greatly limited the extent to which the Israelites could realize these promises” (note on Exodus 19:5, 6). Near the end of King David’s dynasty, God intervened in Israel’s circumstances in order to correct the nation’s course so that his plan of salvation for the world would not be disrupted. It says in 2 Kings 21:10-13:

And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

The phrase “wiping it and turning it upside down” was intended to express the process God would use to transform the situation that Manasseh had gotten himself and his kingdom into. The Hebrew words mâchâh (maw-khawˊ), hâphak (haw-vakˊ), and pânîym (paw-neemˊ) have to do with changing a person’s countenance or the look on one’s face (H4229/2015/6440). In English, we might tell a person who is smiling about breaking a rule or law to “wipe that look off your face,” meaning that the person’s expression is inappropriate for a person who has done something wrong. Manasseh showed no remorse for the atrocities he had committed (2 Kings 21:16) and so, God was going to do something about it.

It says in 2 Chronicles 33:10-13:

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

Manasseh’s repentance was rewarded by him being returned to Jerusalem. It says that Manasseh humbled himself greatly before God and prayed to him (2 Chronicles 33:12-13). In other words, Manasseh was converted, he became a believer.

Manasseh’s distressful situation caused him to turn away from his sin and toward God. When God said that he was going to “wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down” (2 Kings 21:13), he was talking about emptying the city and its king of their pride. The Hebrew word pânîym, which is translated upside down, is derived from the word pânâh (paw-nawˊ). Pânâh means “to turn; by implication to face, i.e. appear, look etc…Most occurrences of this verb carry the sense ‘to turn in another direction’; this is a verb of either physical or mental motion…Used of intellectual and spiritual turning, this verb signifies attaching oneself to something…In an even stronger use this verb represents dependence on someone” (H6437). The Hebrew word hâphak, which is translated turning in 2 Kings 21:13, is used in 1 Samuel 10:6 to describe Saul’s conversion. “The meaning of ‘transformation’ or ‘change’ is vividly illustrated in the story of Saul’s encounter with the Spirit of God. Samuel promised that Saul ‘shalt be turned into another man’ (1 Samuel 10:6), and when the Spirit came on him, ‘God gave him another heart’ (1 Samuel 10:9).

The term upside down is also used in the New Testament in reference to the effect of the Apostle Paul preaching the gospel. Acts 17:1-7 tells us:

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

The Jews who were jealous of Paul said that he and Silas had “turned the world upside down.” In this instance, upside down was intended to refer to being disturbed or unsettled, but the Greek word anastatoo (an-as-tat-oˊ-o) carries with it the connotation of a spiritual uprising or a spiritual awakening. Anastatoo is derived from the word anistemi (an-isˊ-tay-mee), which means “to stand up” (G450). Jesus used anastatoo to refer to his resurrection. Jesus told his disciples, “The Son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise (anastatoo)” (Mark 9:31).

Manasseh’s conclusion “that the LORD was God” (2 Chronicles 33:13) was the result of him being returned to Jerusalem after having been captured with hooks and bound with chains and brought to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11). Manasseh’s world had literally been turned upside down. The fact that Manasseh was restored to his former position and served the LORD faithfully afterward (2 Chronicles 33:14-17) shows that God’s intended purpose was accomplished, even though the process was painful and Manasseh’s circumstances were severe. Following a brief reign by Amon, Manasseh’s son who abandoned the LORD (2 Kings 21:22); Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson, who was only eight years old when he began to reign, led Judah through a period of great revival. It is said of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:25, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

Spiritual Communication

Jesus told a Samaritan woman he met at Jacob’s well, “God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). The term spirit, or in the Greek pneuma (pnyooˊ-mah), refers to God as an immaterial being. Jesus also used the word pneuma to refer to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). John later explained that those who believed in Jesus received the Holy Spirit, but not until after Jesus was resurrected. John 7:37-39 states:

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, asthe Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus associated being filled with the Spirit with quenching your thirst and indicated that the Holy Spirit provided an abundant source of spiritual nourishment and capability. “The Holy Spirit prompts one to do or restrain from doing particular actions (Acts 8:29, 39; 13:2, 4; 15:28; 16:6, 7)” and “serves the medium of divine communications and revelations (Acts 7:55; 11:28;21:4; Ephesians 3:5)” (G4151). The Spirit and God the Father are used interchangeably in some passages of Scripture to refer to God as a spirit being (Acts 5:3, 9 [cf. 5:4]; Ephesians 6:17).

Paul talked about receiving wisdom from the Holy Spirit in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul said:

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:6-11)

Paul referred to God’s wisdom as a secret and hidden wisdom that is revealed through the Spirit. Paul was talking about the spiritual communication that takes places between a believer and God after a person has been born again. Jesus told the Jewish ruler Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit; he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit’” (John 3:3-6).

Paul indicated that God reveals things to believers through the Spirit. Therefore, it is not only necessary for believers to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but also to remain under his constant influence. God’s grace, or what is called in the Greek charis (kharˊ-ece), refers in a figurative or spiritual sense to “the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life” (G5485). King David is an example in the Old Testament of how God communicated with believers before they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband, Uriah in order to conceal his sin, the LORD sent Nathan to David. “Nathan used his parable (2 Samuel 1-4) to skillfully bring David to condemn himself, and David painfully realized the consequences of his sin” (note on 2 Samuel 12:1-14). At the end of Nathan’s parable, 2 Samuel 12:5-9 states, “Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?”’” David seemed to be unaware of what he had done until Nathan’s parable stirred up his righteous indignation. At the point when David felt contempt for the man who had stolen his neighbor’s sheep (2 Samuel 12:4), Nathan gave David’s conscience a spiritual jab by stating, “You are the man” (2 Samuel 12:7).

Spiritual communication is a two-way exchange of information between God and believers. Not only does God reveal things to believers through his Spirit, but he also listens and responds to us when we pray. David spoke to the LORD the words of a song that is recorded in 2 Samuel 22. David said:

“In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry came to his ears.

“Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations of the heavens trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he was seen on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness around him his canopy,
    thick clouds, a gathering of water.
Out of the brightness before him
    coals of fire flamed forth.
The Lord thundered from heaven,
    and the Most High uttered his voice.” (2 Samuel 22:7-14)

David called to the LORD. The Hebrew word that is translated called, qara (kaw-rawˊ) can mean to summon or call aloud, addressing a person by name (H71721). David said of the LORD, “he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears…He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind” (2 Samuel 22:7, 10-11). David’s depiction of the LORD coming to his rescue was intended to convey spiritual activity that was undetectable to the natural senses. David imagined the LORD riding on a cherub and flying on the wings of the wind, but in actuality, the LORD was engaging with David in his mind through the Holy Spirit.

Paul explained in his letter to the Corinthians that God’s thoughts are transmitted to believers through the Holy Spirit who speaks to us in our hearts or minds. Paul said, “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him. So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The Greek word that is translated interpreting, sugkrino (soong-kreeˊ-no) means “to judge of one thing in connection with another, i.e. combine (spiritual ideas with appropriate expressions) or collate (one person with another by way of contrast or resemblance)” (G4793). The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to see God in a way that makes sense to us as human beings. David’s description of the LORD riding on a cherub and flying on the wings of the wind made sense to him from the perspective of God being able to transcend the distance between heaven and earth and to be with David in a brief moment of time.

The Greek word sugkrino is derived from the words sun (soon), which denotes “union; with or together,” and krino (kreeˊ-no), which means “to judge in one’s own mind as to what is right, proper, expedient” (G2919). Krino also refers to discriminating between good and evil. When the Holy Spirit is at work in believers, he is helping them to discriminate between good and evil. The Holy Spirit communicates to believers what is the right, proper, expedient thing for them to do based on God’s will for their lives. Paul talked about this in the context of the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which is the adjustment of the moral and spiritual thinking to the mind of God. “In Titus 3:5, ‘the renewing of the Holy Spirit’ is not a fresh bestowment of the Spirit, but a revival of His power, developing the Christian life, stressing the continual operation of the indwelling Spirit of God” (G342). Paul concluded his discussion of wisdom from the Spirit with the statement, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Spiritual discernment is the result of the Holy Spirit interpreting spiritual truths. Therefore, unbelievers to not have that capability. Paul said the things of the Spirit of God are folly or absurdity to the person that has not been born again, as was demonstrated by Nicodemus when he asked Jesus the question, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4). With regard to spiritual communication, Jesus likened the influence of the Holy Spirit on a person’s heart to the wind that causes things to move without any physical evidence of its presence. Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

He rescued me

The LORD’s relationship with the people of Israel was, for the most part, one-sided throughout the Old Testament. God wanted a relationship that would be mutually beneficial and wanted his people to love him as much as he loved them. The opening line of Psalm 18, “I love you, O LORD, my strength” (Psalm 18:1) indicated that David felt love for the LORD, a kind of love that was affectionate and caring toward the other. The Hebrew word that David used for love was racham (raw-khamˊ) which means to fondle (H7355). Racham refers to the expression of love through compassion and mercy. David wanted to reciprocate the mercy that he himself had received. It was the type of mutual affection that the LORD sought from his people.

David used the term LORD to address God (Psalm 18:1). It was not only respectful, but also a sign of his devotion to him. The name Jehovah or Yahweh is derived from the Tetragrammaton YHWH. No vowels were used to form God’s personal name, so the exact pronunciation and precise meaning is unknown. “God chose it as His personal name by which He related specifically to His chosen or covenant people” (H3068). One way of looking at Psalm 18:1 would be to say that David believed the LORD’s strength was in him. Because of that, David pledged his love to the LORD, and he was committed to waiting for his deliverance.

In Psalm 18:2, David referred to the LORD as his rock, his fortress, his strength, and his deliverer. All of these things relate back to God’s ability to keep David out of harm’s way. For the most part, David was traveling in uncharted territory. Otherwise, he would have been an easy target for Saul’s experienced warriors. The images David created of God’s divine protection showed that his journey was not an easy one. Between the lofty mountain tops and craggy cliffs were deep valleys and flowing streams that were difficult to cross. David said, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation; and my high tower” (Psalm 18:2, KJV). A high tower was basically an inaccessible place that someone could enter, but not escape from. It was used as a last resort to avoid death. David knew that the LORD had chosen him to be the next king of Israel, but would not give him the throne until Saul was dead. Therefore, David had to fight to the death and win.

David discovered a connection between calling out to the LORD and being saved from his enemies. David said, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:3, KJV). David’s cry to the LORD for help was more than just a silent prayer. The Hebrew word that is translated call, qara (kaw-rawˊ) means to call out and may signify the “specification of a name” (H7121). “Basically, qara’ means ‘to call out loudly’ in order to get someone’s attention so that contact can be initiated.” More than likely, David vocalized Jehovah or Yahweh, the Jewish national name of God.

David’s use of the verbs “will” and “shall” in Psalm 18:3 indicated that his cry to the LORD and answer from him had not yet taken place. It is important to note that David often wrote down his prayers and petitions to the LORD in advance of actually making or getting them. David had no way of knowing how things would turn out, but his faith gave him the confidence to believe it was only a matter of time until the LORD would do something on his behalf. I believe David started every day with an expectation that he would see God’s deliverance before the sun went down. One thing that is certain about David’s relationship with the LORD was that he constantly reminded himself God was in control.

David’s emotions were always evident in his prayers to the LORD. He didn’t try to sugar coat things or make it seem as if everything was fine, when in actuality he was scared to death. The fourth verse of Psalm 18 reveals that David was fearful for his life. Clearly, David’s enemies were closing in on him and he felt a real sense of danger as he prayed, “The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me” (Psalm 18:4). The cords of death were feelings that David had of being caught in a trap that he couldn’t escape from. David knew he would be killed if Saul’s men ever got their hands on him. The only way that David could avoid death was for Saul to be killed instead of him. David spoke of being surrounded and of being overtaken by the raging waters of a flood. These images depict David’s emotions as being out of control. David’s fear was based on real circumstances, but his imagination may have gotten the better of him at this particular point in time. What may have been going on was a test of David’s resolve in which he was made to face the emotions that were constantly battling against his confidence in the LORD. David had to exercise self-control in order to experience the complete deliverance the LORD wanted him to have.

David said, “In my distress I called upon the LORD, to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18:6). David’s distress was a result of his awareness that his enemy was about to overtake and kill him. David was so close to death that a psychological or perhaps a spiritual crisis was happening to him. Some people have said that in a near-death experience their lives have passed before them. It is possible that David was imagining himself in hades, the world of the dead, and in the shock and dismay of his experience, he audibly cried out to God, saying, help me! The Hebrew term translated cried, shava means to halloo (H7768), a command used to incite dogs to the chase during a hunt. In other words, David was saying, sick ‘em or get ‘em, LORD, with respect to the enemies that were chasing him.

David’s acknowledgment that God had heard his voice was based on his belief in God’s faithfulness, rather than an audible response from him. When David said “my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18:6), David knew that the LORD didn’t have a physical body as he did, but David was certain that God was able to, and actually did hear him. One of the things that is not known about the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ is what role he played in God’s relationship with his people prior to his birth. David may have been aware of the presence of Jesus throughout eternity and probably identified his prayers with him even though Jesus had not yet been born. David said, “From his temple he heard my voice” (Psalm 18:6). David associated God’s presence with a temple, but one had not yet been built on earth. David may have been referring to God’s heavenly temple, the place where Jesus is now.

David said in Psalm 18:7, “Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.” David may have associated God’s anger with an earthquake because of the violent nature and uncertain feeling one gets when he is in the midst of it. The Hebrew words that are translated trembled and quaked are connected to the emotion of fear. Trembled or raʿash in Hebrew means to undulate or to move with a smooth wavelike motion (H7493). On the other hand, ragaz (raw-gazˊ) means to quiver (H7264). Both of these terms represent visible expressions of emotion that are usually associated with fear. David’s experience with God was unique in that he saw the LORD as a man with emotions like everyone else. The Hebrew word that is translated angry in Psalm 18:7 is charah (khaw-rawˊ). It means to glow or grow warm (H2734). David was probably using this word figuratively to describe the physical signs of God’s anger. The idea David wanted to convey was that God does get angry and reacts to circumstances that upset him.

David created a mental image of God descending from heaven in order to communicate the idea that God was getting personally involved in his situation. David said of God, “He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet” (Psalm 18:9). The Hebrew word translated bowed, natah (naw-tawˊ) means to stretch or spread out, but it also “connotes ’extending something outward and toward’ something or someone…This is a figure of God’s active, sovereign, and mighty involvement in the affairs of men” (H5186). David indicated that God came down from heaven. David was depicting physical movement that was not actually necessary. God did not need to come down in order to see what was going on, nor did he need to leave heaven in order to get involved in David’s situation. God could have taken care of things from his throne room in heaven. What David may have been trying to convey was the departure from heaven that Jesus made in order to save David from spiritual death. David spoke earlier about the cords of Sheol and the snares of death (Psalm 18:5). What may have been on David’s mind was the ultimate death that he would experience in the form of separation from God. David pictured God bridging the gap between earth and heaven so as to rescue him from death. That is what Jesus did when he came to earth as a man.

David said that the darkness was under God’s feet (Psalm 18:9). David may have meant that God was triumphing over or defeating the darkness. In other words, God was taking the gloom away from David’s perception of the situation. Even though, nothing had really changed at this point in David’s prayer, it is evident that a shift occurred in David’s view of things. After David imagined God coming to his rescue, he felt different about his circumstances. The thought of God descending from his throne to rescue him made David feel more hopeful about the future. Once David was focused on what God was doing, instead of what his enemies were doing, he realized that his situation was completely under control and his deliverance had already been taken care of.

David expressed in Psalm 18:10 that God responded to his cry for help as if speed was of the essence. David said, “He rode upon a cherub and flew; yea, he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.” God’s speedy response demonstrated the importance of David’s request. God did not waste any time getting to David’s location. One of the things that seems evident from David’s description of God’s travel to him was that God was able to move from his position in heaven. He could leave heaven if he chose to. Although David did not mention his relationship to the LORD, or speak of the love between them in this instance, it seems likely that David’s cry for help was interpreted in such a way that God knew his presence was needed and any delay would make the situation worse.

An interesting aspect of God’s travel is contained in the phrase, “he came swiftly on the wings of the wind” (Psalm 18:10). The Hebrew word translated wind, ruwach (rooˊ-akh) “is regarded in Scripture as a fitting emblem of the mighty penetration power of the invisible God. Moreover, the breath is suppose to symbolize not only the deep feelings that are generated within man, such as sorrow and anger; but also kindred feelings in the divine nature. It is revealed that God and God alone has the faculty of communicating His Spirit or life to His creatures, who are thus enabled to feel, think, speak, and act in accordance with the Divine will” (H7307). It could be that David’s prayer resulted in a type of filling of the Spirit in which his body was spiritually strengthened as a result of God’s Holy Spirit coming inside him, rather than an outer presence, such as God standing by his side. The important thing to note is that David’s emotions were transformed by his experience.

David said, “He made darkness his covering; his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water” (Psalm 18:11). The Hebrew word that is translated covering, cathar (saw-tharˊ) means to hide by covering (H5641). In other words, whatever we are looking for is out of view because there is something between it and us. Something may appear to be missing, when in reality, our view is blocked or inhibited by some other thing that has gotten in the way. The word David used in Psalm 18:11 that is translated “made” is shiyth (sheeth). “Generally speaking, this word is a term of physical action, typically expressing movement from one place to another. Often it expresses putting hands on someone or something” (7896). If you can imagine God putting his hands on the darkness and causing it to block our view of him, you might understand why David said “he made the darkness his covering.” What David was really saying was that God had placed the darkness in between the two of them so that David could no longer see his face. David was separated from God by his difficult circumstance.

It’s possible that the reason God seems to be hidden from us when the storms of life hit us hard is because we don’t imagine him to be the author of our difficult circumstances. When David prayed to God for deliverance (Psalm 18:3), David may have thought that he would be taken out of his difficult circumstances, rather than being made to stand up against them. As David waited on God, it seems likely that he was anxious to become king, but unwilling to watch Saul and his son Jonathon to be killed in battle. The dilemma David faced was his victory coming at the cost of Jonathon, his best friend’s defeat. David had to accept the fact that God could not make him king without his enemy’s family being completely destroyed.

David’s transition from feelings of hopelessness and despair to an expectation of victory over his enemies began with an awareness of God’s presence. David said, “Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds” (Psalm 18:12). David’s description of hailstones and coals of fire breaking through the dark clouds around him presented the image of God’s power breaking forth as if he had taken off a cloak or had released himself from the constraints of a hidden identity. David said God “gave his voice” (Psalm 18:13). The Hebrew word translated gave, nathan (naw-thanˊ) means to deliver, place, or set up (H5414). David depicted God using his voice to place or interject his power into the situation. David also used lightning as an emblem of conflict or military engagement. He said of God, “And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them” (Psalm 18:14). The phrase David used, he flashed forth lightnings or in Hebrew rabab (raw-babˊ) baraq (baw-rawkˊ) might be translated, he drew his sword (H7232/H1300). In this context, David would have been signifying the start of a battle or the initiation of conflict. Perhaps, this view of the fourteenth verse of David’s psalm would be more appropriate in the context of the transition David was engaged in; from seeing himself as a victim to seeing himself as the victor over his enemies. The primary shift that was occurring in this section of David’s psalm was a shift from inaction to action. David was relying on the Lord to rescue him, but a dual effort was necessary for David to be completely delivered from his enemies. Although the Lord was the primary actor, it could be said that David was also involved in the action that was taking place. David’s action, even though it was unseen, was the activation of his faith. David began to believe that God would save him.

In his struggle to overcome his enemies, David came to a point where he connected with God in a personal, intimate, and completely unique way. It might be said that David was actually saved in that moment in time. I believe David came to the realization that God was not distant and uninvolved in his life, but was actively and continuously working toward the goal he had established for him, to make David king over Israel. One way of describing what happened to David would be to say that the blinders were taken off or his blindfold was removed. It was as if David could see, for the first time in his life, the reality of who God was and what he was doing for him. David acknowledged this moment in time by stating, “At your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils” (Psalm 18:15). A rebuke is a form of correction (H1606). David may have felt he was being scolded or chided by God for his doubt and perhaps even unbelief. The blast of the breath of God’s nostrils was perhaps meant to be a depiction of an awakening in David’s mind. The Hebrew word translated blast, neshamah (nesh-aw-mawˊ) can be interpreted as divine inspiration (H5397). We might think of it today as an “aha” moment, when everything suddenly clicked and David understood God’s intention.

David used an illustration of God’s supernatural power to depict him as the omnipotent Savior of his life. He said, “Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare” (Psalm 18:15). Many people do not recognize God as the creator of the universe. Some people might even deny his existence, but David was showing us that God’s existence cannot be denied because his power to control his creation is evident in the miracles he performs. An experience that was a significant part of the Hebrew culture was the parting of the Red Sea, when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt. Their experience of walking across the sea on dry land was a continual reminder to God’s people that they were able to do extraordinary things when they obeyed God and trusted in his power to deliver them. David’s own deliverance was an extraordinary feat because Saul hunted him down with an army that far surpassed his own group of men’s ability. David’s men might be described as a rag, tag bunch of misfits that had never fought a significant battle in their lives (1 Samuel 22:2). And yet, God used these men to conquer not only Saul and his army, but the entire Philistine nation, including a band of giants that had terrorized Israel for decades (2 Samuel 21:15-22). David’s final victory is recorded in 2 Samuel 21:22 where it says, “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants” (KJV).

God’s active involvement in the lives of men is not always evident. Because we cannot see it, we may assume there is nothing going on in the spiritual realm. David described an intervention that came from heaven when he said, “He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters” (Psalm 18:16). The Hebrew word translated sent, shalach (shaw-lakhˊ) means to send away, for, or out (H7971). “The most frequent use of shalach suggests the sending of someone or something as a messenger to a particular place.” On high refers to altitude (H4791) and indicates that David’s help was coming from a place above the earth. Heaven might be thought of as a place far away, perhaps in outer space, even beyond the reach of space travel. But, it shows in Genesis 28:12 that a ladder was able to reach to heaven. It says specifically that Jacob saw, “a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” As a result of his dream, Jacob concluded that God was there with him in the place where he was sleeping. He stated, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17). David believed his rescuer was being dispatched from a place above the earth, but not necessarily far away from it. One way of interpreting David’s statement he sent from on high would be, God sent his angels down a ladder from heaven to me.

David never gave up his faith. He declared, “He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19). David felt that the reason God kept him from being killed by his enemies was because of the relationship they had. The Hebrew word translated delighted, chaphets (khaw-fatesˊ) means to incline or move in closer (H2654). David was not claiming favoritism, the overlooking of the claims of some so as to gratify the wishes of special friends, but recognized that God had answered his prayers and helped him to escape death. Therefore, David concluded that God had a favorable disposition toward him and his heart was prompting him to take a certain course of action that would result in the death of Saul rather than himself.

An aspect of David’s faith that was similar to that of Christians today was his ability to walk with the LORD. Even though he was not filled with the Holy Spirit, David communicated with God and was able to receive directions from him. David’s relationship with the LORD was not dependent on a prophet to speak for the LORD. The Psalms are examples of the types of conversations David had with his Heavenly Father. There was a two-way flow of information and David often prayed with the expectation that God would answer him. In light of David’s constant verbalization of his petitions, it is no wonder that David was aware of God’s involvement in his life. Whenever something happened, good or bad, David attributed the outcome to the LORD, Jehovah.

David’s understanding of the will of God was expressed in his statement, “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him” (Psalm 18:30). David saw that God did things in such a way that it was always evident when he was at work. David’s picture of God’s will was perfection, or in the Hebrew, tamiym (taw-meem) which means to complete or accomplish something (H8549). David saw evidence of God’s work and concluded that he always finished what he started. It might have been easy for David to think that God had changed his mind about making him king when the years passed by and Saul remained on the throne, but David learned that God’s timing often required him to wait for the outcome he desired. Therefore, David knew that it was only a matter of time until Saul’s reign ended.

When David said that God’s way was perfect, he meant that over the course of his lifetime, he would see that everything God predicted or promised would happen, just as he said it would. God had a perfect track record. Together, David’s two statements, “his way is perfect” and “the word of the LORD proves true” meant that God would never disappoint him. As with some of our own experiences, David realized that God’s ways were not always easy or pleasant, but he was willing to submit to God’s plan because he had learned that God was able to decide what was best for him.

David declared, “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” (Psalm 18:32, NKJV). David’s statement about having strength and his way being perfect was connected to his relationship with God. In order for God to make David’s way perfect, he had to transfer some possession of his own to him. The Hebrew word translated way, derek means a road, or figuratively a course of life (H1870). “In another emphasis this word connotes how and what one does, a ‘manner, custom, behavior, mode of life.’” David’s behavior was like God’s in that he did God’s will rather than his own. David linked his own behavior to God’s with the two statements, “This God—his way is perfect” and “makes my way perfect” (Psalm 18:30, 32). Tamiym, the Hebrew word translated perfect, is derived from the word tamam which means to complete. “The basic meaning of this word is that of being complete or finished, with nothing else expected or intended” (H8552). With regards to David’s relationship with God, tamiym was probably meant to convey the idea of complete obedience. David did everything that God asked him to.

David used the image of a deer scaling a high mountain to depict the confidence he had in God’s protection. He said, “He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights” (Psalm 18:33). The Hebrew word that is translated heights, bamah (maw-mawˊ) “can be understood idiomatically for authority” (H1116). David was most likely implying that God had given him all the authority he needed to triumph over his enemies. It’s possible that David’s heights were associated with demonic forces. David did not speak directly of engaging in spiritual warfare, but often suggested that God’s deliverance was supernatural and transcended the realms of heaven and earth.

Another place where a similar passage is found is Habakkuk 3:19. He said, “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” Habakkuk’s declaration came at the end of his statement of faith in God’s provision. In the reference note on Habakkuk 3:18-19, it says, “Habakkuk has learned the lesson of faith (2:4)—to trust in God’s providence regardless of circumstances. He declares that even if God should send suffering and loss, he would still rejoice in his Savior-God—one of the strongest affirmations of faith in all Scripture. His book reflects the spiritual odyssey of every true believer—consternation with the injustice of life, consideration of God as sovereign and conclusion that God can and must be trusted.” It is likely that Habakkuk chose this passage from David’s psalm with the intention of connecting the two men’s circumstances. Evidently, Habakkuk expected to have his faith tried in the same way that David had. What could be the most important aspect of Habakkuk’s repetition of David’s words was his belief that God was sovereign over the difficult circumstances of life. With regards to spiritual warfare, Habakkuk reaffirmed the notion that high places represented the ultimate victory; the believer’s victory over doubt and fear.

As a servant of God, David was expected to do extraordinary things that were beyond his human capabilities. David said of God, “He trains my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze” (Psalm 18:34). David used a metaphor to explain the supernatural strength he received from the LORD. The Hebrew term David used for war is derived from the word lacham (law-khamˊ) which can be used to describe hand-to-hand combat (H3898). The Apostle Paul often described spiritual warfare using terms that were similar to hand-to-hand combat, such as wrestling against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12) and beating the air (1 Corinthians 9:26). The bow of bronze David referred to was most likely meant to represent the hardened heart of the unbeliever. Therefore, David’s arms, which represented the seat of his strength, could have been his verbal testimony of faith in God. In the case of the giant Goliath, David’s declaration of victory before the battle had even begun (1 Samuel 17:46) was a sign of his faith, a testimony to his belief in the God that Goliath was defying.

David’s vast experience with warfare didn’t keep him from relying on the LORD for each of his victories. David credited his skills to the enabling power of God and said, “For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me” (Psalm 18:39). To be equipped with strength meant that David was equipped with the necessary weapons to fight his enemies effectively. The Apostle Paul described weapons that believers are expected to use in spiritual battles. Paul said, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:13-14). Paul indicated that truth was similar to the belt that the LORD equipped David with for strength. The Greek word Paul used for truth, aletheuo (al-ayth-yooˊ-o) means to deal faithfully or tell the truth (G226). Aletheuo is derived from the word alethes (al-ay-thaceˊ) which means “true (as not concealing)” (G227). In that sense, you could say that David didn’t carry any concealed weapons; the entire disposition of his inner man was in full view.

David’s promotion to an exalted position in God’s kingdom required a transformation of his inner man. His dramatic leap from a shepherd boy to the king of Israel took David from a very private intimate relationship with the LORD to one that was observed by everyone, including believers today. Considering that there was probably no other person in the Old Testament that received as much attention as David did, except perhaps, Abraham, his transformation was a prominent aspect of Israel’s history. David described the end result of his transformation in Psalm 18:43, where he said, “You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.”

David worshipped God like no other man in the Bible. His intimacy with the LORD was revealed in many of the Psalms he wrote. David said, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation” (Psalm 18:46). David’s declaration that the LORD lives implied that God was aware of what was going on in David’s life and could appropriately adjust his response to David’s circumstances in real time. God didn’t have a plan that was set in stone, but a defense that was unshakable. On two separate occasions, David was caught off guard by Saul’s sudden attack with a javelin, but God kept Saul’s spears from piercing David and both times he was able to slip away unharmed (1 Samuel 18:11; 19:10).

Satan’s primary objective is to keep us from doing God’s will. Satan influences his agents, our enemies, to do his work so that the plans and purposes of God will be interrupted. David said of God, “You exalted me about those who rose against me; you rescued me from the man of violence” (Psalm 18:48). David’s main concern was his adversary, King Saul, but the focus of his attention likely included overcoming the spiritual forces that wanted to deter him from being obedient to God’s will. The day to day struggles that David faced when he was being hunted by Saul were probably the greatest challenge of his life. The battle was just as real as, and perhaps even more dangerous than, his triumph over Goliath. The hardest part of David’s obedience was the ongoing need for him to say yes to God over and over, and over again; day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year.

The Hebrew word that is translated rescued, natsal (naw-tsalˊ) means to snatch away, whether in a good or a bad sense (H5337). A similar word that is used in the New Testament is harpazo (har-padˊ-zo) which means “to seize (in various applications)” (G726). This verb conveys the idea of force suddenly exercised. One of its most significant uses is in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where Paul talked about the sudden coming of the Lord. He said, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The ultimate deliverance every believer will experience is a deliverance from life apart from God. While some people may view death as separation from their loved ones, those that have been saved know that death brings not only a reunion with our loved ones, but also unites us with our Lord, Jesus Christ. When David said, “You exalted me above those who rose against me” (Psalm 18:48), he may have been referring to his victory over sin and death. The Apostle Paul talked about the believer’s triumph over death in the context of a mystery. He said:

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)

In exchange for his deliverance, David promised to be a witness to what God had done for him among unbelievers. He said, “Therefore will I give thanks to you, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name” (Psalm 18:49). The extensive definition of the term yadah (yaw-dawˊ) indicates that David was most likely speaking on behalf of the entire nation of Israel or congregation of believers when he gave thanks to God (H3034). David seemed to be focusing on the end result of not only his own deliverance, but also God’s deliverance of all mankind. In that sense, David was saying that his life would be a continual testimony, for many generations to come, of the great work that God had done to rescue him. It is still true today that David’s story has a great impact on people that read the Bible. Without David’s testimony, it would be much harder for unbelievers to understand God’s grace and mercy.

The importance of giving him thanks and celebrating God in music is evident in David’s declaration of praise to the LORD. David was a skilled musician and wrote many heartfelt hymns as a testimony to God’s deliverance throughout his life. The Hebrew term translated thanks, yadah literally means to use the hand (H3034). This word can be interpreted to mean both playing an instrument, as well as worshipping with the hand(s) extended toward heaven. David’s example of worship was never repeated by any of the kings or other leaders of God’s people. Clearly David’s passion for God was unsurpassed and his skill in communicating with the LORD was second only to Jesus.

God’s will

The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had the distinct advantage of knowing exactly what God wanted them to do. God told Abraham, “Go from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). Later, God confirmed his covenant with Abraham and said, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-15). After the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, Exodus 13:21-22 tells us, “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” One of the provisions that God made for the people of Israel to receive instructions from him in addition to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that led them along the way was by answering questions through the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim were a part of the breastpiece of judgment that the priest wore along with his linen ephod. Exodus 28:15-30 states:

“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.”

This is the first reference in the Old Testament to the sacred objects called the ‘Urim and the Thummim.’ They were used by the priests to receive divine messages and were kept in the high priest’s breastplate. The mention of the ephod in connection with simple oracles (1 Samuel 23:6, 9-12) suggests that at times these objects may have been associated with the priest’s ephod. No one knows what the Urim and Thummim looked like or how they worked, but it appears that they provided only yes and no answers. Sometimes no answer was given at all. This would explain King Saul’s inability to get an answer from God on two different occasions (1 Samuel 14:36, 37; 28:6). The Urim and Thummim are not mentioned in the Old Testament between the early monarchy and postexilic times. This was the period of the prophets, when God revealed himself much more fully than in simple answers to questions posed by priests. Quite possibly the lack of description of the Urim and Thummim was deliberate, in order to prevent copies from being made” (note on Exodus 28:30). The Urim and Thummim were placed on Aaron’s heart. The Hebrew word leb (labe) is used figuratively “very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect…The heart includes not only the motive, feelings, affections, and desires, but also the will, the aims, the principles, and the intellect of man. In fact, it embraces the whole inner man, the head never being regarded as the seat of intelligence. While it is the source of all action and the center of all thought and feeling the heart is also described as receptive to the influences both from the outer world and from God Himself” (H3820). The placement of the Urim and Thummim on Aaron’s heart was likely intended to represent the notion of his will being subject to divine influence so that God’s will would ultimately be carried out.

David’s encounter with Ahimilech the priest resulted in him being able to escape from Saul’s army and to gather together about 400 men who traveled with him from that point forward (1 Samuel 22:1-2). When Saul confronted Ahimilech about what he had done, Ahimilech answered the king, “And who among your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him?” (1 Samuel 22:14-15). It appears that David had made a practice of seeking God’s will before he initiated his military campaigns. 1 Samuel 23:1-5 states:

Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

The Hebrew word that is translated inquired in this passage, shaʾal (shaw-alˊ) means “to ask” (H7592). The questions that David asked God required a simple yes or no answer and suggest that he was using the Urim and Thummim to inquire of God. 1 Samuel 23:6 tells us that “when Abiathar the son of Ahimilech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.” Afterward, we are told that David requested that the ephod be brought to him, implying that he wanted to use Urim and Thummim to make his inquiry. 1 Samuel 23:9-14 states:

David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.” Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

Saul was the reigning king over Israel and had the power and authority to kill David if he wanted to, but it wasn’t God’s will for him to do that. Saul’s will and God’s will were in direct conflict with each other and so, God helped David to escape from Saul’s army throughout David’s exile from his kingdom.

Psalm 63 provides some insight into what was going on inside David while he was in the wilderness of Judah (1 Samuel 22:5-23:4). David began by recalling the connection that he had with God when he was worshipping him in the sanctuary. David said:

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands. (Psalm 63:1-4)

David was used to praising God in the temple of the LORD, but after his exile, David realized that he needed to and could connect with God anywhere. David said, “So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands” (Psalm 63:4, emphasis mine). The phrase, in your name had to do with David’s personal relationship with the LORD. You might say that David and God were on a first name basis, they knew each other well enough that David could talk to the Lord about his problems because they were used to speaking to each other on a regular basis. The Hebrew word that is translated lift up in Psalm 63:4, naçah (naw-sawˊ) “is used of the undertaking of the responsibilities for sins of others by substitution or representation (Exodus 28:12; Leviticus 16:22; Isaiah 53:12; cf. 1 Peter 2:24)” (H5375). This verse indicates that David knew the Lord as his Savior and in that sense, had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

David went on to say in Psalm 63:5-8:

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

David used the phrase shadow of your wings in other psalms that were about God protecting him from his enemies. In Psalm 17, which is titled “A Prayer of David,” David focused his attention on the reward he would receive for doing God’s will. David prayed to God:

Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who surround me.

They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
They have now surrounded our steps;
    they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion lurking in ambush.

Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their womb with treasure;
    they are satisfied with children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
    when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. (Psalm 17:8-15)

David expected to see God’s face and to be satisfied with his likeness when he awoke, indicating that David believed he would be with God in a physical sense at some point in the future. Jesus referred to death figuratively as sleeping when he told a crowd that was mourning the death of a Jewish ruler’s daughter, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping” (Matthew 9:24). When Jesus took the girl by the hand, Matthew tells us that “the girl arose” (Matthew 9:25) or in the Greek, egeiro (eg-iˊ-ro) which means “(through the idea of collecting one’s faculties) to waken (transitive or intransitive), i.e. rouse (literal from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figurative from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence)” (G1453).

Beholding God’s face (Psalm 17:15) was another way of David saying that he was going to be in God’s presence. “The reward of God’s people is often described as enjoying his presence (cf. Psalm 16:11; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 21:3; 22:3, 4). This is referred to as being with Christ (John 12:26), seeing Christ’s glory (John 17:24), and sharing in Christ’s glory (Romans 8:17, 18; Colossians 3:4). All saints will reign with Christ and sit in judgment even over angels (Daniel 7:22; Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 22:5). This expectation of believers is called ‘an inheritance’ (Matthew 25:34; Acts 20:32, Romans 8:17; Hebrews 9:15) and is secure in heaven (1 Peter 1:4). This secure hope, which is an ‘anchor of the soul’ (Hebrews 6:19), ought not to lead one to complacency but rather should challenge one to press forward and endure hardships for Christ’s sake (2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 3:14; 2 Timothy 2:1-5; Revelation 2:10). Christ will reward those who have performed distinguished service with incorruptible crowns of righteousness, life, and glory (1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4)” (note on Psalm 17:15). Even though David’s awareness and understanding of God’s will for him may have been limited, he seemed to realize that the kingdom that Samuel had anointed him to reign over was an eternal kingdom and that God’s goal for David’s life was for him to enter into a state of righteousness that would result in him being transformed into the likeness of God.

Jesus explained to his disciples that he had come down from heaven not to do his own will, but to do the will of his Father. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:38-40). The Greek word that Jesus used that is translated raise, anistemi (an-isˊ-tay-mee) is derived from the words ana (ah-ahˊ) which means “up” (G303) and histemi (hisˊ-tay-mee) which “means ‘to make a stand,’ means ‘to appoint’” (G2476). Histemi is translated fixed in Acts 17:31 where Paul explained to the men of Athens that God would judge the world based on Jesus having been raised from the dead. Paul used the inscription he found on an altar in the Areopagus to start the conversation. Paul said:

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22-31)

Paul said that God had given assurance to all by raising Christ from the dead. The Greek word that is translated assurance, pistis (pisˊ-tis) refers to reliance upon Christ for salvation and as a technical term is indicative of the means of appropriating what God in Christ has for man, resulting in the transformation of man’s character and way of life. Such can be termed gospel faith or Christian faith (Romans 3:22ff.)…Spoken by analogy of the faith of the patriarchs and pious men from the Old Testament who looked forward in faith and hope to the blessings of the gospel” (G4102). Pistis appears in Hebrews chapter eleven 25 times, which begins with the statement, “Now faith (pistis) is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation” (Hebrews 11:1-2), and continued, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:32-34).

David’s ability to do God’s will was based on his faith in a redemption that would not be made available to everyone until hundreds of years after his death. Psalm 54 records David’s thoughts about the outcome of his conflict with Saul when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?” (1 Samuel 23:19; 26:1) and explains to us why David was confident in spite of a serious threat to his life. David said, “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder my life” (Psalm 54:4). David used the proper name of God Adonay, which literally means “my Lord,” instead of YHWH the divine name of God, “which was held by later Jewish belief to be too holy to utter. This designation points to the supreme authority or power of God (Psalm 2:4; Isaiah 6:1)” (H136). Jesus was referred to as “the Lord” throughout his ministry, but “chiefly in the gospels before the resurrection of Christ (Matthew 21:3; 28:6; Luke 7:13; 10:1; John 41: 20:2, 13; Acts 9:5; 1 Corinthians 9:5). David concluded his song with the statement, “For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies” (Psalm 54:7) The he that David was referring to that would deliver him from every trouble was the Lord, Jesus Christ who is identified in the book of Revelation as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

1 Samuel 24:1-7 tells us that David had an opportunity to kill Saul and eliminate the threat to his life, but David’s heart struck him and he couldn’t go through with it. It states:

When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

After he left the cave, David called out to Saul and brought to his attention the fact that he had let him escape. David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed. See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it’” (1 Samuel 24:8-11). David concluded by stating:

After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. (1 Samuel 24:14-20)

Saul’s change in attitude was a result of David showing him kindness in spite of the harsh treatment that he had received from the king. Saul said of David, “You are more righteous than I” (1 Samuel 24:17). The Hebrew word that is translated righteous, tsaddiyq (tsad-deekˊ) appears in the Song of Moses as part of a description of Israel’s Messiah. Deuteronomy 32:4 states:

“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just (tsaddiyq) and upright is he.”

David’s demonstration of the characteristic of tsaddiyq indicates that he was doing God’s will when he let Saul escape from the cave in the wilderness of Engedi. When David’s heart struck him (1 Samuel 24:5), he was likely being convicted by the Holy Spirit that he was about to commit a transgression or to cross over the boundary of right and enter the forbidden land of the wrong (H5674). The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of obedience to superiors and doing the will of God from the heart in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said, Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by way of eye-service, as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free” (Ephesians 6:5-8).

Turmoil

David’s defeat of the giant Goliath was a high point in his leadership of the nation of Israel. 1 Samuel 17:50-51 tells us, “David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of his sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.” Goliath was a powerful man, a warrior and a tyrant, who was considered to be the hero of the Philistines. When David killed Goliath, his stature rose above that of Goliath’s and he was celebrated among the people of Israel. Even though David was a youth and had only fought in a single battle, the women sang about him, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). 1 Samuel 18:8-9 goes on to say, “And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?’ And Saul eyed David from that day on.” Saul was aware that the kingdom of Israel had been taken from him and was told that it would be given to someone, “who is better than you” (1 Samuel 15:28). Saul may or may not have realized that David was going to be his successor, but it is clear from his reaction to the people’s celebration of David that Saul was jealous of him and afterward wanted to get rid of David.

David and Saul’s relationship started out on a positive note. David was selected to play music for Saul when he was tormented by an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14-18). 1 Samuel 16:21-22 states, “And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.’” The dramatic shift in Saul’s attitude toward David may have been a result of demon possession. 1 Samuel 18:10-11 tells us:

The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

The Hebrew word that is translated harmful in 1 Samuel 18:10, raʿ (rah) means “bad or (as noun) evil…The basic meaning of this word displays ten or more various shades of the meaning of evil according to its contextual usage. It means bad in a moral and ethical sense and is used to describe, along with good, the entire spectrum of good and evil; hence, it depicts evil in an absolute, negative sense, as when it describes the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9; 3:5, 22)” (H7451).

The effect of Saul’s attack on David is recorded in Psalm 55. In this psalm, David expresses his deep distress over the situation and cries out to God for deliverance. David begins his prayer by stating:

Give ear to my prayer, O God,
    and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
Attend to me, and answer me;
    I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
because of the noise of the enemy,
    because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
    and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
I would hurry to find a shelter
    from the raging wind and tempest.” (Psalm 55:1-8)

David likened Saul’s raving to a storm, a “raging wind and tempest” (Psalm 55:8) and admitted that the terrors of death had fallen upon him, fear and trembling had taken root in his soul (Psalm 55:4-5). The contrast between David’s response to the giant Goliath and King Saul was likely due to the fact that Saul had been anointed King of Israel and was operating under God’s authority. David identified Saul as “a man my equal” (Psalm 55:13) and understood that the evil forces behind Saul’s attack were ordained by God (1 Samuel 18:10). David said:

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God’s house we walked in the throng.
Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart. (Psalm 55:12-15)

David indicated that evil had made its home inside Saul. The Hebrew word that is translated heart in Psalm 55:15, qereb (kehˊ-reb) means “the nearest part, i.e. the centre…On many other occasions, however, the word is utilized abstractly to describe the inner being of a person. This place was regarded as the home of the heart from which the emotions spring (Psalm 39:3[4]; 55:4[5]; Lamentations 1:20). It was also viewed as the source of thoughts (Genesis 18:12; Psalm 62:4[5]; Jeremiah 9:8[7]), which are often deceitful, wicked, and full of cursing. Yet wisdom from God can reside there also (1 Kings 3:28). This inner being is also the seat of one’s moral disposition and thus one’s affections and desires…The Lord promised to place His law in the inner beings of His people Israel (Jeremiah 31:33; see also Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26, 27)” (H7130).

Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven and at one point told the Pharisees who had asked him when the kingdom of God would come, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20-21). The phrase in the midst is translated within in the King James Version of the Bible and refers to something “inside” (G1787). Jesus’ declaration that the kingdom of God is inside you was likely related to his repeated focus on the condition of one’s heart. Jesus used the example of a tree’s fruit to explain that the heart is where our spiritual conduct originates. Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37). Jesus went on to explain through the parable of the sower that the heart is where God’s word is processed and utilized by our spirits. Jesus said, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart” (Matthew 13:18-19). The term sown was being used by Jesus metaphorically to represent the sowing of spiritual things in preaching and teaching (G4687). The fact that God’s word is sown or scattered around in the heart indicates that we are only responsible for what happens after it lands on us. We can decide to ignore what we’ve heard or contemplate and meditate on its meaning in our heart.

David’s attitude toward God is reflected in the psalms that he wrote and other psalms that were written during his reign. Psalm 42:1-4 states:

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
    as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    a multitude keeping festival.

The comparison of the soul’s thirst for God to a deer that pants for flowing streams is a fitting illustration of every person’s need for spiritual refreshment. In this passage, the psalmist expresses his need for an intimate connection with God. He uses the phrase pour out my soul to convey the idea of holding nothing back, being completely transparent about what is going on inside him. Conversing with his own inner being, the psalmist states:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God. (Psalm 42:5-6)

The term cast down signifies depression (H7817) and suggests that the psalmist has reached a low point in his struggle against despair. His question, “Why are you in turmoil within me?” (Psalm 42:5) indicates that the psalmist was experiencing a great deal of intrapersonal conflict. The Hebrew word that is translated turmoil, hamah (haw-mawˊ) means “to make a loud sound; by implication to be in great commotion or tumult” (H1993), conveying the notion of disturbing the peace. The psalmist continued:

I say to God, my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:9-10)

The psalmist refers to God as his rock and yet, asks the question, “Why have you forgotten me?” (Psalm 42:9), suggesting that God had stopped paying attention to what was going on in his life. The rhetorical question, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:10) implies that the psalmist was being taunted because of his faith. As the conflict between David and Saul heated up, it seemed that God’s protection of David had been removed and that he was being left at the mercy of a ruthless killer. 1 Samuel 19:1-12 states:

And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.

David’s sudden bolt through the window was likely the result of a fight or flight response to Saul’s repeated attempts to kill him. There is no indication that the LORD ever told David that he needed to run for his life. It appears that David was reacting to the situation rather than trusting God for his safety.

David’s soul was affected by what was happening to him and it caused him to react in a way that seemed to be contrary to his personality. David was known as a man of valor (1 Samuel 16:18), and he had conquered the 9 foot giant Goliath with seemingly little effort on his part, but Saul’s raving and his repeated attempts to pin David to the wall brought the terrors of death upon him (Psalm 55:4). David exclaimed:

But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
    I utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice. (Psalm 55:16-17)

David used the Hebrew word hamah, which is translated moan in this verse, to describe his communication with God. David didn’t try to hide the turmoil that was going on inside of him, but instead, he expressed the agony that his soul was experiencing in an open and honest way.

Jesus understood the agony of the human soul. It says in Mark’s gospel that when Jesus took his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray the night before his crucifixion, he “began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death’” (Mark 14:32-34). The soul is “that immaterial part of man held in common with animals. One’s understanding of this word’s relationship to related terms is contingent upon his position regarding biblical anthropology. Dichotomists view man as consisting of two parts (or substances), material and immaterial, with spirit and soul denoting the immaterial and bearing only a functional and not a metaphysical difference. Trichotomists also view man as consisting of two parts (or substances), but with spirit and soul representing in some contexts a real subdivision of the immaterial. This latter view is here adopted.” The soul “belongs to the lower region of man’s being…However, animals are not said to possess a spirit; this is only in man, giving him the ability to communicate with God” (H5590). In his distress, Mark tells us, Jesus “fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:35-36). The issue that was troubling Jesus was his betrayal into the hands of sinners (Mark 14:41). Jesus referred to Judas Iscariot, one of his twelve apostles, as “the betrayer” (Mark 14:44). The Greek word that is translated betrayer, paradidomi (par-ad-idˊ-o-mee) is derived from the words para (par-ahˊ) which means near or “at (or in) the vicinity of” and didomi (didˊ-o-mee) which means “to give.” The idea that these words convey is that of a convenient transfer of custody. Judas, a member of Jesus’ inner circle, made it easy for the Jewish religious leaders to arrest him in private.

David’s conflict with Saul didn’t involve hand to hand combat, as was the case with the giant Goliath; and yet, David described his conflict as a battle. David said of God, “He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me” (Psalm 55:18). The many that David was referring to may have been Saul’s army, but it is more than likely that David was being attacked in his inner being by the turmoil of his own thoughts. David eventually came to the conclusion that God would stand by him because Saul had violated his covenant. David said:

My companionstretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
His speech was smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

But you, O God, will cast them down
    into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you. (Psalm 55:20-23)

Trust, the safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else, was an important part of Jesus’ ministry on earth. In the Greek language, the words trust and hope are sometimes used interchangeably (G1679). Jesus told his disciples that they should believe in him (John 14:1). The Greek word that Jesus used, pisteuo (pist-yooˊ-o) “means not just to believe, but also to be persuaded of; and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon” (G4100). Pisteuo appears in John’s gospel more than 100 times and is used by Jesus eight times in John 3:10-21 to explain to Nicodemus the meaning of being born again or born of the Spirit. Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:14-18).

The psalmist’s statement, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:5) was repeated at the end of Psalm 42 for emphasis and appears again at the end of Psalm 43. The purpose of this repetition was likely to drive home the point that turmoil can be a recurring problem that needs to be dealt with in a consistent manner whenever it crops up in our souls. The psalmist’s answer to the problem of turmoil was to “Hope in God” (Psalm 42:5, 11; Psalm 43:5). The Hebrew word that is translated hope, yachal (yaw-chalˊ) means “to wait; by implication to be patient” (H3176). The transition of leadership from Saul to David has been estimated to have taken as long as thirteen years. It is likely that David spent as much as a decade running from Saul before he was finally relieved of the constant threat on his life. This period of time, though marked with inner turmoil, was a time of great spiritual growth in David’s life. Shortly after he took the throne, David was able to conquer the city of Jerusalem. “The fortress Zion (2 Samuel 5:6, 7) was almost invulnerable, located as it was in the mountains of Judah. It was a strategic military site, centrally located between Judah in the south and the rest of Israel in the north. It also dominated the main trade routes in the area…Members of the nation of Israel had been living in the area, but the central fortress remained in the hands of a group of Amorite people called ‘Jebusites.’ After David captured the fortress, he began to rebuild and expand the city, making it the seat of his kingdom” (note on 2 Samuel 5:6-10).

An answer to prayer

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount included many practical teachings about spiritual life. One of the important topics that Jesus addressed was prayer. Jesus told his followers:

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:5-15)

Jesus contrasted public prayer with private prayer and referred to those who were fond of praying in the sight of others as hypocrites. The Greek word that is translated hypocrites, hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-taceˊ) means “an actor under an assumed character (stage-player)” (G5273). Instead, Jesus said that believers should, “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). The Greek term that is translated secret, kruptos (kroop-tosˊ) has to do with that which is hidden in the human heart. Jesus concluded that forgiveness, or the lack thereof, was the deciding factor when it came to God answering our prayers.

Jesus used the parable of the unforgiving servant to illustrate his point about God’s attitude toward forgiveness. When Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Matthew 18:21). Jesus said to him:

“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servantfell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:22-35)

Jesus indicated that we must forgive our brother from our heart. The phrase from your heart denotes a change in attitude toward something or someone. In Jesus’ parable, mercy was the key to being able to forgive others (Matthew 18:33). The Greek word eleeo (el-eh-ehˊ-o), which is translated mercy in the English Standard Version of the Bible and compassion in the King James Version of the Bible, is “spoken of the mercy of God through Christ or salvation in Christ: to bestow salvation on…The general meaning is to have compassion or mercy on a person in unhappy circumstances. Used transitively in the passive, to be pitied, obtain mercy, implying not merely a feeling for the misfortunes of others involving sympathy (oiktirmos [3628], pity), but also an active desire to remove those miseries” (G1653).

“The book of 1 Samuel presents in detail the transitional phase between the period of the judges and the period of the kings…Samuel bridged the gap between the periods of the judges and kings in that he was the last one to serve as a judge in all Israel and that he anointed the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David” (Introduction 1 Samuel). The book of 1 Samuel opens with the birth of Samuel which was the result of God answering his mother Hannah’s prayer. 1 Samuel 1:9-20 states:

After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”

Hannah’s emotional plea for a child was witnessed by Eli the priest, but 1 Samuel 1:13 tells us, “Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard.” Hannah described herself as “a woman troubled in spirit” and she told Eli, “I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:15). The Hebrew word qasheh (kaw-sheh), which is translated troubled, indicates that Hannah was in a painful situation (H7186). Hannah’s complaint was that her rival’s constant provocation had made her bitter and her misery was beyond what she could bear. It says in 1 Samuel 1:6, “And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.”

Hannah’s situation was attributed to the LORD’s sovereign control of her ability to have children. The Hebrew word that is translated closed in 1 Samuel 1:6, çagar (saw-garˊ) means “to shut up” and is used figuratively as “to surrender.” “In the books of Samuel, cagar is used in the special sense of ‘to deliver up,’ implying that all avenues of escape ‘are closed’” (H5462). It seems likely that the LORD had intentionally kept Hannah from having children so that she would surrender this aspect of her life to him. When Hannah got to the point where she was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, “the LORD remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the LORD’” (1 Samuel 1:19-20). The Hebrew word that is translated remembered, zakar (zaw-karˊ) is properly translated as “to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember; (by implication) to mention…Remembering in ancient Israel was a major aspect of proper worship, as it is today” (H2142).

First Samuel 1:11 tells us that Hannah vowed a vow and said that, if the LORD would remember her and give her a son, “then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” A vow is a “voluntary promise to give or do something as an expression of consecration or devotion to the service of God” (H5087). After Samuel was born, Hannah told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever” (1 Samuel 1:22). Hannah’s understanding of the temple of God’s purpose was that it functioned in a similar way to what heaven does now that Jesus is seated at the right hand of his Father. In order for Samuel to appear in the presence of the LORD, he would have to have access to the holy of holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Leviticus 16 indicates that only Aaron, the high priest, was allowed to go inside the veil, before the mercy seat that was on the ark once per year on the Day of Atonement. The book of Hebrews explains that Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf into the inner place behind the curtain, “having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20). The earthly holy place was a temporary structure that provided a way for sacrifices to be made to God, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12). Thus, Samuel’s dedication to the LORD was meant to be a type of spiritual rebirth, similar to what Christians experience when they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit (G3824). Hebrews chapter 10 tells us that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all and states specifically, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12-14).

Samuel’s sanctification was attained through Hannah’s Nazarite vow on her son’s behalf. Hannah said, “then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head” (1 Samuel 1:11). “The term Nazarite means one who is consecrated to God” (H5139). The Hebrew word naziyr (naw-zeerˊ) is derived from the word nezer (nehˊ-zer). “A masculine noun meaning consecration, an ordination. This could be the consecration of the high priest (Leviticus 21:12); or of a person taking a vow as a Nazarite (Numbers 6:5, 7, 9, 12)” (H5145). It says of the person who has taken the Nazarite vow, “All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD” (Numbers 6:8). The Hebrew word qadosh (kaw-dosheˊ), which is translated holy in Numbers 6:8, is also translated saint (Psalm 106:16) and is derived from the word qadash (kaw-dashˊ) which means “to be holy, to sanctify” (H6942).

When Hannah brought Samuel to the temple to give him to the LORD, she told Eli the priest, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted my petition that I made to him” (1 Samuel 1:26-27). The fact that the LORD granted Hannah’s petition was a remarkable feat in and of itself, but the important thing to note about Hannah’s situation was that she had the kind of faith that prompted her to go to God for help. There are very few instances recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible where an individual prayed to God and only once do we see a situation like Hannah’s where a woman prayed for her individual need and received an answer from God. Jesus said that when we pray to our Father in secret, or as Hannah did, from our heart, he will reward us. The idea behind the Greek word that is translated reward is that of repayment or of giving something back (G591). Hannah’s reward is mentioned in the context of Eli’s negligence as a parent. It says in 1 Samuel 2:12, “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.” The text goes on to state, “Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt” (1 Samuel 2:17). Then, 1 Samuel 2:18-21 tells us:

Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

One way of looking at Hannah’s reward was that the LORD gave her back what she gave to him, but even more so, because she had three additional sons, as well as two daughters.

When Hannah gave Samuel to the LORD, she prayed a second prayer that is recorded in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Hannah’s prayer was similar to Mary’s song of praise, also known as The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Hannah’s prayer opened with the statement:

“My heart exults in the Lord;
my horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation. (1 Samuel 2:1)

The Hebrew word that is translated salvation in this verse, yᵉshuwʿah (yesh-ooˊ-ah) means “something saved” (H3444). Jesus is a Greek form of yeshu’ah. In the final verse Hannah’s prayer, there is a reference to Israel’s Messiah (1 Samuel 2:10), suggesting that Hannah knew about and had personally received salvation through Jesus Christ. Whether Hannah was already saved when she asked God to give her a son or her salvation was the result of her receiving an answer to prayer isn’t clear in her story, but it can be assumed that she believed God was listening when she spoke to him in her heart (1 Samuel 1:13). After a fig tree quickly withered that Jesus had cursed earlier in the day, his disciples were amazed and asked him, “’How did the fig tree wither away so soon?’ So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive’” (Matthew 21:20-22, NKJV)