But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Psalm 3:3.

With the memory ever before him of his own transgression of the law of God, David seemed morally paralyzed; he was weak and irresolute, when before his sin he had been courageous and decided. His influence with the people had been weakened. And all this favored the designs of his unnatural son….

While the king was more and more inclined to desire retirement and solitude, Absalom sedulously courted the popular favor…. Day by day this man of noble mien might be seen at the gate of the city, where a crowd of suppliants waited to present their wrongs for redress. Absalom mingled with them and listened to their grievances, expressing sympathy with their sufferings and regret at the inefficiency of the government.

By his remarkable beauty, winning manners, and pretended kindness, he cunningly stole the hearts of the people. He did not possess benevolence at heart, but was ambitious and, as his course shows, would resort to intrigue and crime to obtain the kingdom. He would have returned his father’s love and kindness by taking his life. He was proclaimed king by his followers in Hebron, and led them out to pursue his father.

In humility and sorrow David passed out of the gate of Jerusalem—driven from his throne, from his palace, from the ark of God, by the insurrection of his cherished son. The people followed in long, sad procession, like a funeral train.
Many who see not as God seeth, but view matters from man’s standpoint, might reason that with David there might have been excuse for repining and that the sincerity of his repentance years before might have excepted him from present judgment…. David utters no complaint. The most eloquent psalm he ever sang was when he was climbing Mount Olivet, weeping and barefooted, yet humbled in spirit, unselfish and generous, submissive and resigned.
Conflict and Courage p. 181
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for me. I need clarity in my life. Mary
—–My neighbor called and asked for prayer for her brother who is in the hospital his lungs are filled with fluid his name is Jerry he has been in an out of the hospital several times with a bad heart he is the last of her siblings. Mary
——Pray for our family…Brian has not had much work this month and it looks like it’s going to continue. Esther
—–This morning, as my dad heads into knee replacement surgery, I would like to ask that you all send a little extra prayer, well wish, good vibe, hope, (whatever your thing is ). .. his way. Thank so much!! Cheri
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Dear Friends,

When Eileen was six, she and her cousin, Annie, often played together. One day, as they were playing, they noticed DJ, Annie’s little brother, who was two at the time eating something. They walked over to see what he had. There he was, happily eating live, wiggling worms! Eileen and Annie thought that was “yucky” and took the worms away. DJ began to cry. After talking their problem over, they decided that they would cook the worms for him. That would dry his tears.

Alabama is very hot in the summertime—hot enough that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. So, they decided to fry the worms there. They explained to the whimpering DJ, that they were going to make the worm taste better for him. It didn’t take long before the worm was hard and stiff. They girls then picked it up and gave it to the boy. DJ ate it happily. He seemed to like fried worms much better than live ones, so they helped find him more.

A little later, I decided it was time to check on Eileen and see if she was alright. I walked around the trailer park until I found them. When I saw them putting worms on the hot sidewalk, I was shocked. As I looked around I could see many dried worms. Hating to see any animal hurt or killed, I explained that what they were doing was very wrong.

Taking Eileen by the hand and leading her into the house, I told her that she could not play outside for the rest of the day. This would help her remember to be kind to animals. Eileen was not happy. She felt that she was being treated unfairly and told me so. Finally, she was able to make me understand why they had done what they did. As I listened, I could see that in their childish reasoning that they were doing what they thought was right. I had misjudged their motives.

How often we misjudge one another. How often we “jump to conclusions” before we really know all of the circumstances. How often we condemn before understanding their motives. Our Dear Saviour said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matt 7:1-5 He did not mean that we should allow wrongs to exist, but that we should “[not judge] according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24

Just as it was right to stop Eileen and Annie from feeding DJ worms, so we are told that there is a time to judge. We should, however, be very careful not to shun, not to gossip, not to discourage, not to condemn. Instead, restoration should have a part with the judgment.

While it is true that when we see a wrong, we should not keep silent, we should to very careful of our own motives and work with that individual in a loving way. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal 6:1,2

Let us ask for wisdom, that we might not misjudge another’s motives. Let us ask for the eyesalve of the Holy Spirit that we may work for the erring as Jesus did, seeking for their restoration, for if we do not approach them correctly, we will drive them further away from the right path. Let us, when corrected, study and pray to see if we truly, have strayed, and if so, step back upon the right path, but if not, stand firmly for the right.

Rose

Superficial Beauty
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