HFG Questions - Week of December 7
Presumptuous Titles
1 Samuel 24-26
Jason Wolin
When David was in the cave his men said to him, 1 Samuel 24:4 “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.’” David’s flesh would have undoubtedly agreed fully with that. David could have used seemingly biblical argumentation to support a desire of the flesh. What are ways we sometimes take biblical arguments to support desires of the flesh?
i.e. – I need time alone so I can be spiritually prepared to be a good father or mother when really you just want some selfish time
i.e. – you can’t have that because we need to be good stewards of our money when really you just want to use the money for something else
i.e.- let’s not go to the fairgrounds because its worldly when really you just don’t like the fair.
o Mark 7:11-13 is a great text that shows how man can take religion and twist it to his own fleshly ends. What is the core heart issue in sins of “corban?”
o How is hypocrisy a corban-type sin?
David could have easily said, “The Lord has delivered my enemy into my hands.” That would have been wrongly taking a situation and interpreting God’s will through it. People sometimes use phrases like, “The Lord moved me on from that ministry because x happened” or “I felt the Lord wanted me to stop serving in that ministry because of y situation.” This absolutely certainly could be the case. But the possibility also exists that a person is saying something like this to avoid a situation or run away from something difficult. In your own heart how do you guard against using phrases like this in a self serving way?
o What other subjective phrases do we use that have the potential to be misused?
o Is there a danger in avoiding all subjective phrases?
o What are some interpretations of situations that may be dangerous? (i.e. God gave us the money so we could buy __________. God used this situation to really close the door on missions this year. This might be God’s way of telling us to take it easy. )
o How do we interpret situations without being presumptuous or letting our flesh lead us?
David was promised the kingdom but certainly did not get it in the timetable he was hoping for. God had things to teach him and David was very submissive to that plan. David knew what it meant to wait on the Lord. There are many Psalms that address this theme of waiting. One that is particularly helpful is:
Psalm 130:1-8 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities
o What other texts have been significant in your life as it relates to waiting on the Lord?
o What is the right way to “wait upon the Lord” in an unemployment situation? In an engagement situation? In an interpersonal conflict situation? In an emergency situation?
o Why is waiting upon the Lord so difficult? What can we learn from David’s example?
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