Going After God's Heart in Prayer

In 2 Kings 20, Hezekiah falls ill and draws near to death. Isaiah the prophet tells him to set his house in order to prepare for his demise (v. 1). Hezekiah then prays, pleading his faithfulness and how he's done what is good in YHWH's sight (vv. 2-3). YHWH responds and sends a word to Hezekiah through Isaiah: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you" (vv. 4-5). YHWH says he'll add fifteen years to his life, and promises to deliver him and the city of Jerusalem out of the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (v. 6).

Why does God hear Hezekiah's prayer? Look closely, listen carefully. Does God respond to Hezekiah's prayer in this way by acknowledging Hezekiah's fidelity and good deeds? He says he had heard his prayer and seen his tears, right? Yes, but he doesn't say, "I know you have been faithful; I have seen your good deeds." No, but he does go on to tell us that he has a regard for his name and covenant. Doesn't he?

Is this line of interpretation heading in the right direction? It seems so. Look at v. 6b. There YHWH tells us why he's going to heal Hezekiah and protect the city. He's repeatedly appealed to the same reasons throughout Kings and indeed throughout the whole of Scripture. What are the reasons that YHWH will act? He tells us unambiguously: "for my own sake and for my servant David's sake." Not for Hezekiah's sake does God do what he does, at least not as the deepest motivation for his acting. No, it's for his own sake: for his glory and fame. It's for his servant David's sake: recalling God's sure covenant promises to David, fulfilled in great David's greater son, the Son.

God hears our prayers for the sake of his name, and in line with what he's promised in his word. This ought to instruct our prayers. We ought not to plead our goodness as the basis for God to act on our behalf. But we should go right after God's heart, asking him to stand forth in mercy and might for his glory, for his honor—for his name's sake! If there's anything that resounds throughout Scripture loud and clear, it's that God does all that he does for his reputation and fame. This needs to get into our bloodstream and prayers. And God's name, since it's who he is, and betrays his character, includes his faithfulness to what he's spoken. He will keep his word! Let's depend on it. And let's pray prayers that highlight that unassailable word and God's unswerving covenant purposes and promises.

And not incidentally, this is why we pray in Jesus' name. All God's promises are "Yes!" in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Jesus' name holds sway in heaven. Jesus' name is the name above every name. He's the king par excellence. He's kept the covenant, he's lived well, he's never sinned, he's been obedient to death on the cross, and he's risen to that exalted place at the right hand of God, as King of kings and Lord of lords! Forever, and ever! Allelujah! Allelujah!

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 31

Rounding off the book of Kings, I want to begin with an assertion about the book from Richard Hess: "Foremost in the book of Kings is the reign of the single God of Israel" (Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament, ed. Kevin Vanhoozer, 119). Hess then adds, "The final grand statement of God's sovereignty is that of 2 Kings 17, where the author reflects on the fall of the northern kingdom, attributing it to the worship of other dieties and the abandonment of the one true God of Israel" (120). God reigns, as noted many a time in earlier posts, not only in salvation but also in judgment. And so for her treachery, Israel goes into exile under Assyrian domination (2 Kgs. 15:29; 17:6).

The God who can touch a king and make him a leper (2 Kgs. 15:5) is the God who can call for the reigning superpower to be "the rod of his anger" (Isa. 10:5; 2 Kgs. 17:7-8, 20; 18:11). And then, after Assyria serves the Lord's purposes, she would be punished—repaid for her pride—and become a heap of ruins (Isa. 10:12ff; 2 Kgs. 19:21ff). And this comes both according to God's foreordination (2 Kgs. 19:25) and in response to Hezekiah's prayer (2 Kgs. 19:14-19). Well sure, for YHWH is the sovereign, he alone, over all the kingdoms of the earth; he has made heaven and earth. And he hears prayers "that all kingdoms of the earth may know that [YHWH is] God alone" (2 Kgs. 19:19). We then get a glimpse of his might, as YHWH responds to Hezekiah's plea and strikes "down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians" (2 Kgs. 19:35), effectively protecting Judah. For a time.

But Assyria is not the only instrument wielded by the Lord.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 30

We've seen in the history of Samuel and Kings that the LORD often saves Israel from foreign superpowers. But I think it's fair to say that he doesn't usually bless his people through a wicked king. Wicked kings usually bring destruction upon a people. Certainly that is in large measure the story of Kings. But because God is compassionate and gracious, and because he keeps his covenant promises, we see in 2 Kings 14 something unusual.

Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria in the fifteenth year of Amaziah, king of Judah (2 Kgs. 14:23). "And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD" (2 Kgs. 14:24). And yet God used him to restore the border of Israel, according to his word through Jonah (2 Kgs. 14:25). Why? "For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; for there was none to help Israel. But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash" (2 Kgs. 14:26-27).

Israel could not be blotted out. She was the chosen line, the line of the messianic seed. And so God's purposes would come to pass through a preserved people. His steadfast sovereign love endures forever!

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 29

In 2 Kgs. 9:1, we read that Elisha has one of the sons of the prophets head for Ramoth-gilead to anoint Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, as king over Israel. The problem here was that there was still a king in Israel, namely, Joram. But after Jehu was doused with oil, he heard this word from one of the sons of the prophets: "I anoint you king over the people of YHWH, over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of YHWH" (2 Kgs. 9:6-7). And so it all comes to pass (2 Kgs. 9:24-26, 30-37; 10:6-17). Go ahead and read the sobering, gruesome description of this whole affair. Nothing of the word of YHWH fell to the ground, a word he had spoken concerning the house of Ahab, for YHWH did what he said he'd do by his servant Elijah (2 Kgs. 10:10). And lest we suppose that Jehu acted out of step with God's will in this regard, we have this text: 2 Kgs. 10:30.

Now something sounds all wrong about this to our ears. Jehu is anointed to strike down the house of Ahab his master, and Jezebel and apparently all connected with her were massacred. Yet this was YHWH's vengeance, avenging on Jezebel the blood of YHWH's servants the prophets, and the blood of all YHWH's servants. Indeed God's ways are not our ways, but there they are, his ways in plain view in Scripture. Look at them head on, embrace them in faith, and bow low to worship the Lord who governs all things justly.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 28

As I move into 2 Kings for this series on "Calvinism Everywhere," I'm going to turn a corner and back away from trying to include as many statements as I readily see about God's absolute dominion. There's just so much there, on every page really. And a lot of this material is repetitive, including elements of God's reign already pointed up in Judges through 1 Kings (e.g., a king dies "according to the word of the LORD," 2 Kgs. 1:17; or an army is given victory from the LORD, 2 Kgs. 5:1; or YHWH calls for a famine, 2 Kgs. 8:1). Not that going over these things is unprofitable. It would be. But I simply want to focus on texts that angle in on the subject in certain ways. So I'm going to highlight certain passages only, those that are particularly striking or relevant or insightful for us, as I see things.

One thing to be duly reckoned with is how God's spokesmen (in this case, first Elijah, then Elisha) say that something will come to pass, and then it does (e.g., 2 Kgs. 4:16-17, where the Shunammite woman bears a son to her husband in his old age according to the word of Elisha; cf. 2 Kgs. 4:42-44). The prophetic word and God's will are one.

Another thing to take note of is how a man of God prays that God will do something remarkable and unusual, and he does it (e.g., 2 Kgs. 4:32-37, where Elisha asks YHWH to raise the Shunammite's son from the dead, and he is raised; or 2 Kgs. 6:18, when Elisha asks YHWH to strike the Syrians with blindness, and he does so).

Next, there's the divine sending of a deluding influence to cause the Syrians to flee before Israel: "the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, 'Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites  and the kings of Egypt to come against us.' So they fled away . . ." (2 Kgs. 7:6-7).

And then there's the divine prophetic prediction of Elisha that Ben-hadad king of Syria would die and Hazael would take his place and work great evil (2 Kgs. 8:7-15). For YHWH had shown this to Elisha (2 Kgs. 8:14; cf. 2 Kgs. 10:32). There's also the predication of the man of God from way back in 1 Kgs. 13:1-2 that Josiah would throw down idolatry in his zeal for the law of God, which came to pass (2 Kgs. 23:13-16). And this prediction comes 300 years before its fulfillment! (Never mind the incredulous scholars who scoff; what else would we expect from their unbelief?)

Where, please tell me, can anyone legitimately perceive a second or an inch or an action where the God and Father of the Lord Jesus does not reign by his almighty Spirit? I confess (willingly and freely, choosing my words advisedly, without any coercion) that I perceive none. This God—the God of the Bible—he reigns among the nations! And there is no other!

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 27

Moving forward through Kings, 1 Kings 22 relates Micaiah's prophecy against Ahab. Really all one needs to do is read it, meditate upon it, and push away all saccharine notions of a sweetie nice deity that flood in with this or that philosophical objection. So here it is (1 Kgs. 22:19-23):

And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.' Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.

What follows is predictable, for it was predicted (even Ahab heard it!). Ahab is struck in battle by a certain man who "drew his bow at random" (1 Kgs. 22:34). Random ha! The phrase "at random" is the ESV's effort to get across the Hebrew idiom "in his innocence/integrity" (so also the NIV, NAB, and NASB). The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates the phrase "without taking special aim." Those who've read the prophesy know for certain that this all, "random" arrows included, came to pass "according to the word of the LORD" (1 Kgs. 22:38). That is, Ahab believed the prophecy from the lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets (1 Kgs. 22:12, 22), rushed off into battle at Ramoth-gilead (1 Kgs. 22:29), and died (1 Kgs. 22:37), according to the word of the LORD.


The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, YHWH is his memorial name, this God, he is the God of bows drawn at random, bows that strike kings according to the prophetic word, which prophetic word revealed that YHWH's "declared disaster" (1 Kgs. 22:23) against a certain king included the means of a lying spirit in the mouth of the king's prophets.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 26

In 1 Kgs. 20:35ff, we read of one of the sons of the prophets who wanted to deceive Ben-hadad, king of Syria (see 1 Kgs. 20:38). So he "said to his fellow at the command of the LORD, 'Strike me, please.' But the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, 'Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have gone out from me, a lion shall strike you down.' And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down."

How shall we take "at the command of the LORD" and "you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD"? Was this prophet's word truly of YWHW? It would seem, in context, that it was. Nothing seems to point in the other direction. That the word was fulfilled also accords with the criteria for prophetic predictions given in Deuteronomy 18. Moreover, in the light of all of Scripture, and in the light of 2 Kgs. 17:25 in particular, I'm inclined to say that this was a predication truly based on "the command of the Lord." But whether I'm reading this one aright or not, 2 Kgs. 17:25 makes it abundantly clear that YHWH is the sort of God who sometimes sends lions to to take lives.

Do we have categories for this as we think about who God is and how he reigns today? It seems to me that the generality of us all have a category of "nice things" and a category of "bad things." We attribute the "nice things" to God; the "bad things" we attribute to another. That "another" may be Satan, may be nature, may be evil agency, may be chance or whimsy, but rarely do we conceive that YHWH is the kind of God who sometimes sends lions to take lives. We've got to read the Word of God more closely, and seek to see all through that enlightening lens. After all, we're in the story. And as characters of the grand narrative, we're either in step or out of step with the story's Main Character. Do we know and acknowledge who the Main Character really is? Do we know his character and ways?

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 25

The familiar Elijah narrative warrants careful consideration. But this post will only look at those elements that highlight the theme of this series on Calvinism everywhere. Feel free, however, to read that choice section of Old Testament narrative again and again. No one's stopping you from much instruction and encouragement. Even much fun.

Elijah predicts, as YHWH's spokesman, that "there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word" (1 Kgs. 17:1). And of course you know what happens, if only because it's included in this series of posts. And then we read, in the narrative of Elijah's conversation with the widow of Zarephath, that the God of Israel said this to the widow: "The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that YHWH sends rain upon the earth" (1 Kgs. 17:14). Then predictably, by now, we read in v. 16 the fulfillment of the prediction: "The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah." Are you yet getting used to that wonderful phrase, "according to the word the LORD"? And then, also predictably, shortly thereafter, there was rain (1 Kgs. 18:45). For the mouth of the Lord had spoken.

Next chapter, in the showdown with the prophets of Baal, after they've gone through their goofy gyrations, to absolutely no effect whatever, apart from lacerations and mutilations, Elijah prays to the Lord of heaven and earth: "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God . . . (1 Kgs. 18:37). So fire falls from Heaven and consumes offering, wood, stones, dust, licking up also the water in the trench. This is done, and I make note of it here, that we might know that YHWH, Father, Son, and Spirit, he is God. There is no other. This is his own world, and his will will be done. And so rounding off the narrative before Elisha's call, we read once again of more deaths predicted, as in the previous chapters, "according to the word of the LORD." See 1 Kgs. 19:17.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 24

In 1 Kings 14, Jeroboam's wife is charged to visit Ahijah, the prophet of the Lord. She meets this word for Jeroboam: "Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart . . . therefore behold, I will bring harm . . . (1 Kgs. 14:7-10). God had made Jeroboam king. He wasn't a self-made man. (No one is.) And yet Jeroboam cast God behind his back (1 Kgs. 14:9).

So YHWH promises to bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam (1 Kgs. 14:10). This will include much carnage for dogs and birds to eat (1 Kgs. 14:10-11). Can we be sure? Oh yes; "for the LORD has spoken it" (1 Kgs. 14:11). There then follows a word about Jeroboam's child alone going to the grave (1 Kgs. 14:13), which appears to be a good thing in the context, as in Abijah only, among all Jeroboam's offspring, did YHWH find "something pleasing." So the child dies, "according to the word of the LORD" (1 Kgs. 14:18). Now "YHWH will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam" (1 Kgs. 14:14). Remember, he is the one who raises up and throws down kings.

So Jeroboam breaths his last (1 Kgs. 14:19-20) and Nadab his son begins to reign over Israel (1 Kgs. 15:25). But his reign ends rather abruptly when Baasha conspires against him and slays him (1 Kgs. 15:27-28). "And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed . . . according to the word of the LORD" (1 Kgs. 15:29). And we're even told why YHWH sent this massacre: "It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel to sin . . . (1 Kgs. 15:30).

Then, although Baasha was exalted by God (it was the Lord's doing, again, as always), yet since he was made of the same stuff as Jeroboam, he hears a similar word about his house being swept away like Jeroboam's: 1 Kgs. 16:2-3. When Baasha sleeps with his fathers, Elah his son comes to the throne (1 Kgs. 16:6, 8), which is followed fairly swiftly by his assassination and replacement by Zimri (1 Kgs. 16:10). And "according to the word of the LORD" (1 Kgs. 16:12), Zimri lays waste to "all the house of Baasha" (1 Kgs. 16:11).

This is sordid stuff, isn't it? And it comes to pass, all of it, down to where the droplets of blood spattered, "according to the word of the LORD," a not insignificant phrase, a phrase to be pondered.  

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 23

So the divided kingdom was ultimately from God (1 Kgs. 12:24). And it would appear that the lion that killed the man of God in 1 Kgs. 13:24 was also from God as recompense for his disobedience to God's word. What's instructive here is how the immediate and broader contexts must be called to mind to conclude that the lion was sent by God. The snapshot (either the verse or paragraph, or if you were there without a biblical worldview) would simply picture a lion mauling a man. And why would any suppose that this was God's doing?

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 22

In response to Solomon's request (1 Kgs. 3:9), God was pleased to put wisdom into the mind of Solomon (1 Kgs. 10:24), more it seems than any before him or after him (save One, the Holy Son). His wisdom and wealth (which were connected) took away the breath of the Queen of Sheba (1 Kgs. 10:5). Although she had heard of Solomon's fame (1 Kgs. 10:1), upon seeing his wisdom she exclaimed, "The half was not told me!" (1 Kgs. 10:7).

But Solomon's wealth of wisdom did not keep him from making shipwreck upon the love of many foreign women, who stole away his heart after false gods (1 Kgs. 11:1ff). So Solomon worshiped abominations, doing evil in the sight of YHWH, not following him wholly as David had done (1 Kgs. 11:5ff). Almost needless to say, YHWH was angry with Solomon (1 Kgs. 11:9). The LORD told Solomon, "I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. . . . But I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen" (1 Kgs. 11:11-13). We see here, then, the raw and just reign of God.

Moreover, YHWH raises up an adversary against Solomon, not once (1 Kgs. 11:14), not twice (1 Kgs. 11:23), but thrice (1 Kgs. 11:36; 12:1, 15). And he did this not only from among the nations, but even from Solomon's own lusting loins, which produced Rehoboam. So Rehoboam gets one tribe from the Lord; and Jeroboam gets ten tribes from his hand (1 Kgs. 11:31). This division in the kingdom comes, remember, on account of corrupt worship (1 Kgs. 11:33). Because of this, though not forever, YHWH afflicts the offspring of David (1 Kgs. 11:39).

Now what shall we make of all this? Well, we shall make out in

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 21

First Kings 8 records Solomon's magnificent prayer at the dedication of the temple. The depths and heights of biblical theology and typology here reach far and climb high. And were I up to the daunting task, I'd do a whole series on this far-reaching sinew of Scripture that goes back to Genesis and forward through the cross and resurrection on into Revelation. Would that preachers took up this text in our churches for series of 10-12 weeks or more! There's so much here!

But, for now, we'll focus in on only a few elements to stay on topic: Calvinism Everywhere. The whole of 1 Kings 8:22-53 is a prayer. And so God's almighty ability to do what is asked for is assumed. Solomon was sure of God's ability to carry out what he purposed, for this God speaks with his mouth, and fulfills with his hand (1 Kgs. 8:24). I shall not highlight what is prayed for and then fulfilled, however, though that would be profitable. Rather I shall look at some portions where God has sent some providential dealing Israel's way (in line with the covenant curses of Deuteronomy).

On account of Israel's pervasive sinfulness and covenant-breaking—"for there is no one who does not sin" (1 Kgs. 8:46)—God fulfills what he threatened in Deuteronomy. Solomon knows these curses are coming; that's why he prays. And these are the coming covenant curses: defeat before the enemy (1 Kgs. 8:33); drought conditions (1 Kgs. 8:35); famine, pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, caterpillar, plague, sickness, siege conditions (1 Kgs. 8:37); exile into the land of their captors (1 Kgs. 8:46). These conditions, Solomon assumes, come about from the hand of the covenant Lord on account of covenant-breaking disobedience. When these curses fall, when Israel goes into exile, all will acknowledge the hand of YHWH (1 Kgs. 9:9). And the covenant Lord alone can deliver from the bitter fruit of faithlessness. He sends distress and destruction; he also sends salvation and deliverance. 


So behold your God, O man! And turn in trust and pray—toward the place where his name now dwells (Jn. 1:14; 2:18-22). For there is one mediator appointed between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5-6), the true temple, the ultimate meeting place with God, where God's holy presence fully and finally dwells (Col. 1:19; 2:9).

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 20

So on into the book of Kings. In 1 Kgs. 2:12 we read of Solomon's firmly established kingdom. But how did this come about when Adonijah had seized the throne with substantial support? Well, "it was [Solomon's] from the LORD" (1 Kgs. 2:15). Such is the way things tend to go when God governs the universe.

We also read that the LORD's word from 1 Sam. 2:27-36 was fulfilled: 1 Kgs. 2:27. As I said, such is the way things tend to go when God governs the universe.

This is Calvinism—God, sovereign everywhere. Come, join the joy ride. Come, and worship before the Lord.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 19

Second Samuel 24 begins with God's anger burning against Israel, and so YHWH incites David against them (2 Sam. 24:1). I discussed this in the last post on Calvinism Everywhere. Here I want to direct your attention to what happened after David's heart struck him (for taking a census) and he confessed his sin (2 Sam. 24:10).

Through the prophet Gad YHWH speaks and gives David three options from which to choose. For his sin, God could send three years of famine upon the land; or God could make David flee before his foes for three months; or God could send three days' pestilence through the land (2 Sam. 24:12-13). Which will it be, David, from the hand of the sovereign Lord? David chooses pestilence; so YHWH sends pestilence (2 Sam. 24:14-15). And 70,000 die.

Now consider those three options again. They assume absolute sovereignty. God's total control over nature, wills, and disease is plain. And it is at these three points that we moderns routinely refuse to recognize the hand of God. Nature? Come on. We know famines occur due to natural, not supernatural, processes (hence nature). God doesn't interfere with such things, at least not ordinarily. Right? And being chased by foes would mean God would have to bring some pressure to bear upon the human will, since being chased by men or not involves free choice. And we know God doesn't interfere with free choice. Don't we? And pestilence? You've got to be kidding. This is just pure biology and pathophysiology. Germs happen. Cells dysfunction. We can even describe the mechanisms of many diseases. But God sending disease? Sounds really primitive, even mean-spirited and bad-tempered, and (of course) unloving. So God wouldn't do that. God couldn't do that.

But there you have it. It's in the text. God will send one of the three options before David: famine, foes, or disease. (And, incidentally then, he'll withhold the other two.) Now what sort of God are we talking about to be able to bring such to pass? With whom are we reckoning? With whom do we have to do? The God of the spirits of all flesh, the God of heaven and earth, the God of armies. YHWH is his name, Father, Son, and Spirit, working his wondrous will from all eternity. O bow low, soul, and do obeisance, and marvel, and adore! Adore the God of Calvinism, the God of this world, the God of the Bible. Holy is he! (Ps. 99:5,9).

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 18

Reviewing the names of David's mighty men, 2 Sam. 23:9ff recounts the victories wrought by the Lord: "And YHWH brought about a great victory that day . . . and YHWH worked a great victory" (2 Sam. 23:10,12).

Now break your brains over these two texts juxtaposed: 2 Sam. 24:1 and 1 Chr. 21:1. Very likely here we have important critical issues (like time of composition) to consider when considering this sort of tension. But theologically (after all, I'm arguing, along with the Bible, that we live in a theocentric universe!) something like the cosmic stage of Job 1:6-12 undoubtedly undergirds the historical unfoldings in 2 Sam. 24:1. Ponder the scene of Satan getting permission from the Lord in Job 1, and ask yourself if the same sort of scenario might not fit 2 Sam. 24:1 and 1 Chr. 21:1. Although, I'll venture an addition: that God himself is said to incite David on account of anger makes this scenario slightly different from that of Job 1. For there Satan initiated; here YHWH initiates.

Oftentimes these texts are spoken of as problem texts. Okay, I know what is often meant, and I'm okay with this after a fashion. However, more and more I have a felt sense that the problem is in me, the problem is in us, not in the text. My head and heart are out of step with the Spirit, and my wisdom, as Job's (Job 38-41), falls far short of the counsels of the everlasting, infinitely wise triune God of Scripture—who has to lisp in infinite condescension to speak intelligibly to us!

So "I lay my hand on my mouth" (Job 40:4). And I tremble at "putting God in the wrong" (Job 40:8). I fear "darkening counsel by words without knowledge" (Job 38:2). I fear hearing the living Lord say: "Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me" (Job 38:3). His judgments, they are upright—they are altogether true and just, good and wise, faithful and everlasting! How "unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Rom. 11:33). "This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true . . ." (2 Sam. 22:31). A joy to declare it—yes!—this "LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation" (2 Sam. 22:47). Amen, and amen.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 17

Chapter 22 of 2 Samuel provides a Davidic song that David spoke to YHWH "on the day when YHWH delivered him from the hand of his enemies, and from the hand of Saul" (2 Sam. 22:1). The Psalter essentially reproduces this song as Ps. 18. And God's sovereign activity in the psalm ranges wide. To comment on that activity would be to comment on nearly every verse. I urge the reader to recall this song when reading through Samuel and read Samuel in the light of it. A most salutary exercise!

So one brief comment on the text. David, a military man through and through, says, God "trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze" (2 Sam. 22:35). By God David can run against a troop, and by God he can leap over a wall (2 Sam. 22:30). This man's military prowess was given him by God. Think about that. Meditate on what sort of sovereignty we're talking about for this to be true. How many variables are involved in David's being or not being the military man he was, and in David's achieving success or not in battle?

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 16

In an earlier post (Part 13) I pointed out David's plea for the Lord to thwart Ahithophel's counsel (2 Sam. 15:31). In 2 Sam. 17:14 it gets answered. And the means God used included David's encouragement to Hushai to return to Absalom to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:34). Awesome! 'Tis mystery all! So Absalom and his men thought the counsel of Hushai was better than Ahithophel's. And we're also given the reason why God "ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel." It's crystal clear: "that YHWH might bring harm upon Absalom" (2 Sam. 17:14).

Now how did God ensure that would happen? How did he know that they would embrace that counsel and not Ahithophel's, especially when Absalom had previously thought that Ahithophel's counsel was as from God? Well, isn't the answer obvious? God heard David's plea. And the Lord of the spirits of all flesh worked his sovereign will once again. Can what he purposes be turned back? Whatever is under the whole heaven is God's (Job 41:11). So let no one darken "counsel by words without knowledge" (Job 38:2).

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 15

In line with the subject matter of the previous post on Calvinism Everywhere, Part 14, consider also 2 Sam. 16:22-23. In fulfillment of 2 Sam. 12:11, Absalom "went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel." This accorded with Ahithophel's counsel (2 Sam. 16:21). Moreover, this counsel, we read, was esteemed both by David and by Absalom "as if one consulted the word of God"! Verse 23 adds, "so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed."

Is this shocking to you? Were David and Absalom wrong in discerning this counsel of Ahithophel "as if one consulted the word of God"? But it accords with that word in 2 Sam. 12:11 exactly. God's word came to pass yet again. And the only proper response—worship! Fear and trembling! Behold your God! Behold him ruling his world and creatures with infinite power and skill. And adore that holy majesty, hand over mouth, arms laid down, knees bowing low.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 14

Continuing with the fallout of David's sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 13ff, in the light of 2 Sam. 12:10-11, let's consider an intriguing passage: 2 Sam. 16:5-14. There we read of one Shimei who curses David continually. And Abishai didn't like this one bit (2 Sam. 16:9). "But the king [David] said, 'What have I to do with you . . . ? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, "Curse David," who then shall say, "Why have you done so?"'" (2 Sam. 16:10). Then David adds, "Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to" (2 Sam. 16:11). David appears to be interpreting this harassment in view of 2 Sam. 12:10-11. And he knows, in any case, that this could not happen unless the Lord had ordained it.

Now although we're not typically in David's position (at least I hope not!), do we ever respond this way, aware of our own sin and its social consequences? Do we acknowledge—ever—the Lord's sending a messenger of Satan to keep us humble? (2 Cor. 12:7).

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 13

Recall 2 Sam. 12:10-11. This prophetic word from Nathan to David comes within YHWH's rebuke for David's sin. We see this terrible word fulfilled in 2 Samuel 13ff; there we see the fallout of David's sin. To cite all the text would be to urge you to read it. And to read all the text in light of 2 Sam. 12:10-11 would be a lesson in God's glorious sovereignty governing all things according to his word.

As you read, consider how all the evils that arise in David's house have been brought to pass by the word of the Lord. We see rape, murder, deceit, inhumanity, intrigue, conspiracy, defection, treachery, all manner of evil. Even David's right hand man Ahithophel turns on him (2 Sam. 15:31). It is an awesome word given and effected by an awesome God. Look at it, and stand in awe. Does not beholding his glory herein cause you to tremble and bow low in adoration, to fear so great and awesome a God? It does me. I love the glory of this great God of Scripture. I want to see more of it and live in accord with it. But I will not worship that weak and pathetic god fashioned by man, a god who is at the whim of mortals.

Now zoom in on one frame of these unfolding scandals. David is on the run from Absalom in 2 Samuel 15. And in 2 Sam.15:25-26 he utters what might seem to some like a fatalistic word. But David knows that he lives and moves and has his being in the hands of YHWH (Acts 17:28; actually, even the pagans knew this!). He shall do this or that at God's good pleasure, if God wills, if God bestows favor, as God sees fit. Regarding Ahithophel's treachery and defection, David knows his only hope: a plea for the sovereign Lord to make Ahithophel's counsel foolishness (2 Sam. 15:31). Don't you want to live your life aware of the same sovereign divine reality? I do.