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Author Archives: John D. Willome

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About John D. Willome

I post a blog of daily devotions that are my prayer journals based on scripture.

1 Kings 11:1-13

12 Feb

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.

Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.

On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.

The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command.

So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.

But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”
1 Kings 11:1-13

Dear God, I don’t want to fall away from you. I can feel arrogance in me. I’m sorry. I can feel haughtiness in me. Self-righteousness. Self-sufficiency. Self-reliance. I’m sorry. I need you and only you. Nothing else will satisfy my soul. Being liked by others won’t do it. Success won’t do it. Being admired won’t do it. These things will all walk away from me in a heartbeat and if I worship them I’ll chase them and beg them to stay. I’ll do anything to make them stay. Then I will prove they are my god and you are nothing to me. But I reject those gods. I repent for my sense of taking over and accomplishing things on my own. For my desire to be important. For wanting political influence and power through those who govern. For being distracted by any of that.

I was just (foolishly) briefly scrolling through Facebook this morning and I saw a post from an acquaintance who was encouraging people to vote a specific way but included the phrase “praying for wisdom and discernment.” She’s fooling herself if she thinks that’s what she’s doing. At least, if she thinks you’re the god (little g) she’s praying to. But have I been any different lately? Maybe not to that extreme, but I can feel the life-creep away from your heart.

Father, I give my life to you. I. This moment. In this day. Holy Spirit, please walk with me today and help me to have ears to hear you and eyes to see.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 12, 2026 in 1 Kings

 

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Nehemiah 1:1-4

11 Feb

1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 

Nehemiah 1:1-4

Dear God, the first time I remember reading these words was just over 23 years ago. They were actually life-changing for me. I saw something in Nehemiah that I didn’t see in myself at the time. I was a Christian. I loved you. I worshipped you. I loved my family. I studied scripture. But what you showed me in Nehemiah in these four verses was that I lacked compassion for others and a motivation to act on it. Sure, if someone I knew was having a hard time, I would reach out to them or try to comfort them. I remember in the summer five years earlier when my wife and I were generous to someone we came across with. So I wasn’t heartless or even selfish. But I still insulated myself in my safe middleclass world and didn’t really expose myself to other people’s pain. That’s what I heard you tell me. That I wasn’t really willing to touch other people’s pain. I threw that out in my prayer that day. That you would make me willing to touch other people’s pain.

You answered that prayer a few weeks later when a friend invited me to tour a nonprofit in South Waco called Talitha Koum. With that, you sent my entire life into a new direction. Now, 23 years later, I not only help underprivileged people as a vocation, but I also reach out and volunteer for other organizations to help people. I don’t say this to pump myself up or to make myself look good. I say it because, in the end, it’s what Jesus called us to do. We can’t just love you with all we have. We have to love our neighbors as ourselves. Why? Well, 1.) we are your Plan A for the world and there is no Plan B. And 2.) it is good for me to get out of my selfish tendencies and put, as Rotary International puts it, service above self.

Father, I’m going to be speaking at a church on Sunday, and I think I’m going to end up, basically, giving my testimony. Not of how I got “saved” and first came to faith in you, but how you and I have been working out my faith over the last 26 years (when I started doing these prayer journals). It’s been a slow process, but it’s been awesome. And you are patient with me. You are kind. You are loving. Thank you for meeting me here. Thank you for revealing my deficiencies to me 23 years ago. Thank you for continuing to reveal my deficiencies even up to today. I love you. I worship you. I give you my heart and soul.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2026 in Nehemiah

 

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Psalm 84

10 Feb

Psalm 84

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
    to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul,
    I will shout joyfully to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young
at a place near your altar,
    O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!
4 What joy for those who can live in your house,
    always singing your praises. Interlude

5 What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,
    who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
    it will become a place of refreshing springs.
    The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.
7 They will continue to grow stronger,
    and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.

8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, hear my prayer.
    Listen, O God of Jacob. Interlude

9 O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!
    Show favor to the one you have anointed.

10 A single day in your courts
    is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
    than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
    He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
    from those who do what is right.
12 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    what joy for those who trust in you.

Dear God, I have a friend who died less than two weeks ago. I just found out yesterday. He was a complicated man who had a lot of hostility towards anything Christian. He was a good man who tried to be moral, but pain exuded from him. He was always negative. Always biting. He didn’t abide me ever talking about you, so I tried to be your presence to him while not using the explicit words. And he paid me the compliment one time of saying that he thought my faith was genuine. I think I was able to show him a Christian who loves you and loves others.

I know he grew up in a devout Christian home, but he had things about him they couldn’t accept and it pushed him away from both them and you. He was just so angry, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a reason for his anger. Some sort of trauma that happened to him that fueled his pain and hostility.

I had a dream last night about a visitation from you in the person of Jesus. It was a modern visitation. I don’t remember specifics, but my wife was there and two other people were there, although I don’t remember who they were. It was a very warm and comfortable visitation. Affirming. I don’t know what it means, but I’ll take it. When I woke up at about 3:00 I lie in bed a while and found myself praying for my friend. He’s gone and I don’t know how prayers for the dead work, but while I was praying I got a vision of Jesus praying for the people who were killing him while he was on the cross, asking you to forgive them for their sake and through their ignorance. Did that prayer help them? Absolve them? Did you forgive them?

Father, if it is possible to ask for forgiveness on behalf of this man, I ask that you please forgive him. I suspect at one point, even as a boy, he had a moment of accepting the role of Jesus in his life even though I feel certain some pain from the outside must have happened to him to drive him away from his family, the church, and you. Will you hold that against him, or will you understand? If my prayers make a difference for him, I pray that you forgive him. He didn’t know what he was doing. I pray that he might find his peace and dwell in your home, your courts, forever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Mark 6:53-56

09 Feb

53 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore 54 and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, 55 and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

Mark 6:53-56

Dear God, Mark/Peter seem to be painting a picture here. I kind of picture Elvis or the Beetles being mobbed by crowds wherever they went, except instead of people just wanting to be close to their celebrity, these people just wanted to be healed or get something miraculous out of Jesus. They were desperate for hope. Fans of Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny just want to be close to power and celebrity. But what’s described here is people just wanting to be set free from pain and disability. And maybe also hoping to get a glimpse of Jesus performing a miracle.

So why am I here today? Am I just here to use you? Am I desperate to get a piece of you so I can have my life be a little better? And if I am, is that the worst thing? I mean, Jesus healed a lot of people who were motivated in this way. So were they wrong to want healing from him even though they didn’t totally understand who he was?

There’s a danger in coming to you selfishly. It become very prosperity gospel-ish. And while I shun the idea of being here because I want something material from you, I do come to you with prayers of supplication for family and friends, my world, my life, etc. But it’s determining what I should expect and not expect from you that is a little tricky. And again, why am I here? Is it to get these things, or is it because I simply love and appreciation you.

It’s also a little like my complicated relationship with donors where I work. Am I in relationship with them so they will give our clinic what I want them to give, or am I in relationship with them to love them as much as possible? I hope it’s the latter. That’s the line I try to walk.

Father, I appreciate the gifts you give, but I want you to know I’d be here even if there was nothing. The closer I get to you and become like you are calling me to be the more at peace I am. So maybe that’s why I’m here. For the peace. Regardless, I’m here to worship you, to ask your favor on those I love, and while I still don’t understand the difference my prayers make for them or myself, Jesus seemed to think it was important to bring those requests to you so I bring them to you now. For my family. For my friends. For my community, state, and country. For our leaders. For our world. For your Church. Help us to be your ambassadors in this world so that others might know you and find the narrow gate.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2026 in Mark

 

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Forgotten

08 Feb

Dear God, I dreamt about my grandparents last night. I’m not sure where that dream came from, but it seemed fairly clear and significant. While it’s hard to say a lot of the details of the dream, it focused around their church, First United Methodist Church, back in Junction City, Kansas. I used to visit it with them whenever I would see them in the summer. They were pillars of that community at the time. They were loved and appreciated. They were part of the core of that church. Then my grandmother died fairly suddenly in 1992 and my grandfather move to Texas to be closer to my parents and had a long decline with Alzheimer’s, dying in 1999. It’s been over 30 years since they were part of that church family, and I would venture to say they have been forgotten. But how much of their legacy in that community remains?

Maybe I thought of this because my wife led singing for a double funeral this week for a couple who had been married over 68 years, and been part of our church for more than all of that time. They were respected, appreciated, and loved. They left a mark. There were 16 priests at the funeral because one of their son’s is a priest and while he was in seminary his mother would take treats and blessings to all of the young men in seminary. He was a fireman, among other things. And in your mercy, you enabled them to die within days of each other. The community really feels their loss. And yet, one day, 34 years from now, much like my grandparents, they will likely be forgotten. Time moves on. As Gary Thomas put it in Sacred Parenting, we are born we have children, and then we get out of history’s way. Yes, we contribute to history, but very few of us will ever have our names attached to something or be remembered. What I offer this world is my life, my actions, and how both of those things will touch other lives and fall like dominoes into the future. But in the long run, I will be forgotten.

Father, my grandparents’ names might be forgotten, but the vibrations of their lives carry on. They carry on in my father, in me, and in my children. They carry on in my aunts, uncles, and cousins. But more than that, they carry on in lives that experienced the vibrations of their actions who have no idea where those vibrations came from. And my life will be the same way one day. I will be forgotten. My name will disappear. And that’s okay. I don’t need people to remember my name so that I will be honored. Yes, there’s a sadness to know that my grandparents won’t be remembered because they mean a lot to me. But they’re fine now. They’re with you. And I’ll be with you someday. And even though I might be the lowest in your kingdom, I will still be able to worship you, love you, and live with the results of the life you gave me. Father, help me to be exactly who you need me to be today. The Gospel reading is about us being salt and light to the world. Make me salty today, but that saltiness can only come from you. That light can only be a reflection of you. Help me to be a conduit of you today through my worship of you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 8, 2026 in Musings and Stories, Miscellaneous

 

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1Kings 3:3-15

07 Feb

Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

“Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all his officials to a great banquet.
1 Kings 3:4-15

Dear God, I’m 55 years old and I still feel like such a kid. I don’t know how old Solomon is here, but he identifies himself as being young. He also feels the need for wisdom. But how is he defining wisdom? How do I define wisdom?

It’s hard to know what to pray for in Solomon’s situation. But are any of us really in a different situation that Solomon was? Sure, I’m no king, but I have a life you’ve out into my stewardship. What will I do with it? What should I ask you for?

I think the big thing is that what I really want is to know that I’ll become more and more like you and that I will be the man you want me to be, keeping from sinning and never missing the opportunities you give me. But you can’t give me that without me working it out with you. It takes my submission. It takes my devotion. It takes my self-discipline to make myself your disciple.

Father, I don’t want anything from you for the future. I just want the strength in this moment to be with you. I just want to know you. I just want to be the way Jesus taught me to be. I just want the fruit of your Spirit and I know the way to get there is to be here with you. So here I am. I love and worship you. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2026 in 1 Kings

 

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Numbers 22:15-21a

06 Feb

15 Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time. 16 They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him:

“This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me. 17 I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!”

18 But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God. 19 But stay here one more night, and I will see if the Lord has anything else to say to me.”

20 That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”

21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. 

Numbers 22:15-21a

Dear God, I was thinking a lot about this story over the last two weeks. Ever since I was listening to a podcast from the Bible Project on the Book of Jude, and it referenced Balaam and how awful he was. I’ve never read this story that way, although it’s obvious that Balaam is always referenced within other scripture as a bad person.

A lot of the problem seems to center around this passage, so I thought I would take some time with it and also look at a commentary to see if it could help me. Without the commentary, the only sense I could make of your anger with Balaam was that back in verse 12 you not only told Balaam to not go with Balak’s men, but you also said, “You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!” He only told them men you told him not to go with them. You didn’t give the entire message. They didn’t report back to Balak that you refused to curse Israel. That might have changed Balak’s reaction. Maybe you were mad that Balaam wasn’t giving the whole message.

So that’s my theory. In the commentary on Numbers from Mastering the Old Testament, James Philip points out that it is odd that Balaam would entertain Balak’s men a second time and approach you a second time. What was it about him that hoped you would change your mind? Did he hope to get in good with Balak and his men? Did he hope for wealth? It was seemingly foolish for him to even approach you again, but to his credit at least he did that. Then Philip quotes Gordon Wenham’s commentary on Numbers, which says, “Balaam may go, but he may say and do only what God permits. The listener or reader is meant to be surprised and to ask himself why this apparent change of mind on God’s part? Will Balaam really be allowed to curse Israel after all? The next scene answers such questions beyond ambiguity.” Here’s the part I liked from Philip. He said, “…God was reading the prophet’s heart and, seeing the mixed motives there, and the desire for gain, said to him in effect, “Very well, have your own way and go with him”–in the spirit of Psalm 106:15, “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

Where does that leave me? Well, it makes me wonder about my mixed motives. Do I really love people or am I just trying to make myself look good? Do I really care, or am I trying to get what I want out of a relationship? How are my motives “mixed” when it comes to following your directives for me or questioning them?

Father, I really do want to consider my life worth nothing to me (Acts 20:24). I want my motives to be pure. If I’m developing a relationship with a donor, I want it to be about caring for them and not about what I can get out of the relationship for me or for the agency I work for. If I’m working with a patient, I want it to be out of my love for them and not some kind of stroke my ego gets out of helping people. If I’m loving on my wife and caring about her needs, I want it to be purely out of love for her and not for how it might somehow get her to love me the way I think she should. If I’m here worshipping you, I want it to be out of pure love for you and a need in my soul for relationship with you and not so you will make me #blessed. So I give that desire of my heart to you today. Open my eyes to my mixed emotions and the angel that might be there to strike me from the path. Open my eyes as you opened Balaam’s that day. That’s a scary thing to pray, but it is all I know to bring you this morning.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2026 in Numbers

 

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2 Kings 2:1-12

05 Feb

2 As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon:

2 “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. 3 Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. 4 If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

5 “And there is something else. You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me when he murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt and sandals with innocent blood. 6 Do with him what you think best, but don’t let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.

7 “Be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Make them permanent guests at your table, for they took care of me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

8 “And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore by the Lord that I would not kill him. 9 But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him.”

10 Then David died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. 11 David had reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 Solomon became king and sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

1 Kings 2:1-12

Dear God, I had a few thoughts whileI read this passage this morning:

  • The author of this knew how it would end. He (I presume it was a man) knew Solomon would eventually fall away from you and become a bad king. He would marry a lot of women who had idols and he would worship their idols. So as the author is writing verses three and four, he knows Solomon won’t live up to this, Israel will be split from Judah, Israel will fall, and eventually Judah will fall.
  • David’s deathbed instructions for vengeance see so petty. Why did he never deal with Joab before? Why did he vow not to harm Shimei only to tell Solomon to kill him? It seems like an awfully heavy responsibility to lay on Solomon as he begins his reign. The first thing he is supposed to do is arrange for the deaths of two people? I don’t like that for Solomon at all.
  • I do like that David wanted Solomon to extend kindness to Barzillai. He remembered the kindnesses as well as the slights and sins.

Father, I guess the part that really sticks with me right now, the part that I want to carry with me into my day, is the idea that I should do everything I can to love you and love others well. Help me to do that. Help me also to let go of any bitterness I have in my heart and love the people who have caused me pain. I want to be your worshipper and ambassador today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 5, 2026 in 2 Samuel

 

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2 Samuel 24:1-17

04 Feb

24 Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.

2 So the king said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the tribes of Israel—from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south—so I may know how many people there are.”

3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?”

4 But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out to count the people of Israel. 5 First they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, south of the town in the valley, in the direction of Gad. Then they went on to Jazer, 6 then to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi and to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 7 Then they came to the fortress of Tyre, and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went south to Judah as far as Beersheba.

8 Having gone through the entire land for nine months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem. 9 Joab reported the number of people to the king. There were 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword, and 500,000 in Judah.

10 But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”

11 The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: 12 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”

13 So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”

14 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.”

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

19 So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked.

David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.

25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

2 Samuel 24

Dear God, some of these stories are so weird. I’ll confess that I don’t like them. It’s mainly the first sentence: Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. Why? Why would you set David up like this? Is this just the phrasing the author of 2 Samuel used instead of laying all of the blame on David? Did you really cause David to take the census?

What is the equivalent of “taking a census” in my life? I assume that “taking a census” was akin to putting his faith in numbers and not in you. Do I do that when I look at the size of my bank account and balance my checkbook? Do I do it when I check out the stats on this blog or my Substack for Parents of the Bible? Do I do it when I look at political polling and try to determine if “my side” will have more or less power and influence? Do I do it when I look to our military to be my protection instead of to you?

Father, the answer to all of those questions I just asked is probably, “Yes.” Yes, I sin whenever my put my hope, trust, and peace on the line against any of these things. Whenever I stop looking to you for my hope, trust, and peace, and I look to any of these things I am letting a piece of myself be torn from you. I’m sorry for that. Help me, Lord, to turn my life and my hope to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 4, 2026 in 2 Samuel

 

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2 Samuel 18

03 Feb

18 David now mustered the men who were with him and appointed generals and captains to lead them. 2 He sent the troops out in three groups, placing one group under Joab, one under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and one under Ittai, the man from Gath. The king told his troops, “I am going out with you.”

3 But his men objected strongly. “You must not go,” they urged. “If we have to turn and run—and even if half of us die—it will make no difference to Absalom’s troops; they will be looking only for you. You are worth 10,000 of us, and it is better that you stay here in the town and send help if we need it.”

4 “If you think that’s the best plan, I’ll do it,” the king answered. So he stood alongside the gate of the town as all the troops marched out in groups of hundreds and of thousands.

5 And the king gave this command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake, deal gently with young Absalom.” And all the troops heard the king give this order to his commanders.

6 So the battle began in the forest of Ephraim, 7 and the Israelite troops were beaten back by David’s men. There was a great slaughter that day, and 20,000 men laid down their lives. 8 The battle raged all across the countryside, and more men died because of the forest than were killed by the sword.

9 During the battle, Absalom happened to come upon some of David’s men. He tried to escape on his mule, but as he rode beneath the thick branches of a great tree, his hair got caught in the tree. His mule kept going and left him dangling in the air. 10 One of David’s men saw what had happened and told Joab, “I saw Absalom dangling from a great tree.”

11 “What?” Joab demanded. “You saw him there and didn’t kill him? I would have rewarded you with ten pieces of silver and a hero’s belt!”

12 “I would not kill the king’s son for even a thousand pieces of silver,” the man replied to Joab. “We all heard the king say to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, please spare young Absalom.’ 13 And if I had betrayed the king by killing his son—and the king would certainly find out who did it—you yourself would be the first to abandon me.”

14 “Enough of this nonsense,” Joab said. Then he took three daggers and plunged them into Absalom’s heart as he dangled, still alive, in the great tree. 15 Ten of Joab’s young armor bearers then surrounded Absalom and killed him.

16 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men returned from chasing the army of Israel. 17 They threw Absalom’s body into a deep pit in the forest and piled a great heap of stones over it. And all Israel fled to their homes.

18 During his lifetime, Absalom had built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and it is known as Absalom’s Monument to this day.

19 Then Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said, “Let me run to the king with the good news that the Lord has rescued him from his enemies.”

20 “No,” Joab told him, “it wouldn’t be good news to the king that his son is dead. You can be my messenger another time, but not today.”

21 Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The man bowed and ran off.

22 But Ahimaaz continued to plead with Joab, “Whatever happens, please let me go, too.”

“Why should you go, my son?” Joab replied. “There will be no reward for your news.”

23 “Yes, but let me go anyway,” he begged.

Joab finally said, “All right, go ahead.” So Ahimaaz took the less demanding route by way of the plain and ran to Mahanaim ahead of the Ethiopian.

24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates of the town, the watchman climbed to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked, he saw a lone man running toward them. 25 He shouted the news down to David, and the king replied, “If he is alone, he has news.”

As the messenger came closer, 26 the watchman saw another man running toward them. He shouted down, “Here comes another one!”

The king replied, “He also will have news.”

27 “The first man runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok,” the watchman said.

“He is a good man and comes with good news,” the king replied.

28 Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “Everything is all right!” He bowed before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise to the Lord your God, who has handed over the rebels who dared to stand against my lord the king.”

29 “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”

Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab told me to come, there was a lot of commotion. But I didn’t know what was happening.”

30 “Wait here,” the king told him. So Ahimaaz stepped aside.

31 Then the man from Ethiopia arrived and said, “I have good news for my lord the king. Today the Lord has rescued you from all those who rebelled against you.”

32 “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”

And the Ethiopian replied, “May all of your enemies, my lord the king, both now and in the future, share the fate of that young man!”

33 The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son.”

2 Samuel 18

Dear God, I wonder how much, through this entire episode with Absalom, David repented for what he did with Bathsheba way back when. The dominoes of that sin, in my mind, led to this situation. David lost the moral high ground with his children, so one of his sons, Amnon, raped one of his daughters, Tamar. David did nothing in response to this heinous act, so Tamar’s full brother Absalom killed his half brother, Amnon. Then David was forced to act and Absalom was exiled until Joab convinced David to bring him back. Then Absalom decides to lead a revolt against his father, his father flees, and all of it ultimately results in this moment when Joab kills Absalom in the midst of the revolt, and David mourns. Would it have been different if David had had some moral authority way back with Amnon and dealt with the situation appropriately then.

It just made me think of the movie Unforgiven. If the sheriff had just dealt with the cowboys appropriately at the very beginning of the movie, it would have prevented a lot of pain, suffering, and death down the road.

I can relate to David’s love for his son and his mourning over the tragedy. Our children will never know how much we love them until they have children of their own. Our decisions will sometimes be mysterious to them. The other thing about being a parent is that it gives me a glimpse into how much you love me. It is so incredibly easy to forgive me children when they hurt me. I know it’s harder for them to forgive me, just as it is harder for me to forgive my parents. But the forgiveness from me to them is very easy. If we are made in your image, and we love our children this much, then how much more do you love us? How much more do you mourn when we walk away from you?

Father, I’ve done my share of repenting as a father. I’ve repented to you. I’ve repented to my children. I’ve repented to my wife. I’m sorry for how I failed them and failed you. Not that I was a bad dad. I tried. You know I tried. But that didn’t keep me from making mistakes. That didn’t keep me from hurting them and you. And I’m sorry for that. Please don’t let my mistakes lead to tragedy. In my family, let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 3, 2026 in 2 Samuel

 

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