Subjected to jealousy

Lessons from David- 1 Samuel 18

It's good to be reminded of what David endured before he became King. Having been anointed by Samuel, and defeated Goliath, David is subjected to Saul's jealousy and suspicion. His God-given success (5) is a reminder to Saul of his own depravity.

David is unfairly treated, from being targetted with a spear (10), to being trapped with Saul's schemes. Saul had promised to give whoever slayed Goliath one of his daughters in marriage; now he seeks to avoid keeping his promise or, worse still, use it against David (21).

But God's blessing is such, that He even uses Saul's threatening challenge (24-25) to bless David, as he completes it successfully. This chapter highlights David's success -a gift from God- and God's faithful protection even when he is in mortal danger.

Psalm 4: Giving Him the glory

Lessons from David- Psalm 4

The secret of David's success against Goliath was that he recognised that God deserved glory, and Goliath was trampling that glory. David trusted that God would act for His own glory, and this Psalm explains more about how this relates to our relationship with God.

David's prayer shows that God is a righteous God who demands righteousness from His people. He gives relief from distress and mercifully answers prayer (1), but expects men to give Him glory and worship Him instead of false gods (2). The Lord has set apart the godly for Himself (3)- they are His and He defends them.

So if we seek to glorify God, we experience His protection and care. If we ignore Him, then we forfeit this blessing, and true joy. Our sin becomes a barrier between us and the God of holiness. This is why David says:
'In your anger do not sin... Offer right sacrifices (for us this means believing in Jesus) and trust in the Lord' (4-5).

Only God can show us what goodness is (6), and only He can give us soul-satisfying joy and peace:
'You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.' (7)

A daring act of faith

Lessons from David- 1 Samuel 17

The story of how David killed Goliath is well-known, but what is made pointedly clear by the writer of this book is that it was not a victory of skill and strength, but of faith. It's easy to miss that in the thrill of the story.

Saul and the Israelites were 'dismayed and terrified' (11) of Goliath's stand-off challenge. But look at David's reaction:
'Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?' (26)

Is David being young and foolhardy, or conceited as his brother accuses him (28)? No, David knows his God! He sees the 9ft tall armoured giant... then thinks of his God, who made the universe and formed the stars with His hands. No comparison!

David was filled with God's Spirit since his anointing by Samuel (16.13). He spoke with faith and courage from God's Spirit, who reassured him that the God he trusted in would not fail him. In earlier battles with lions and bears (34-36), David learnt the grace of God's protection and strength:
'The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' (37)

But more than Saul or anyone else, David recognises (in Spirit-given wisdom) that this is more than a physical battle. God's Name stands trampled by Goliath's pride- he has 'defied the armies of the living God' (36) in his challenge. And God's people needed to act to glorify God's Name. It is no testimony to God's power and might when His people run away in fear.

When he faces Goliath, David does so for God's glory, in God's strength (not his own):
'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the Name of the Lord Almighty... This day the Lord will hand you over to me... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel'. (45-46)

In humble simplicity, David the shepherd defeats Goliath the warrior- all through God's strength and power. It is notable that God uses the humble, lowly David rather than Saul the King or even Eliab the elder brother, because out of all of them, only David had faith that God would act to defeat Goliath and glorify His Name. We need the same faith.

Never judge a book by its cover...

Lessons From David #1- 1 Samuel 16

This is our introduction to David: he is a young shepherd boy, not counted as important and certainly not the future king Samuel was looking for. He is described as 'ruddy' with 'handsome features'- nothing to dislike, but nothing to impress either.

'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' (7)

This is immensely encouraging for us! We are not sized up by God in terms of height, muscles or social stature. He just looks at our hearts. God is not impressed by how much money or stuff we have- all He wants from us is a 'broken and contrite heart' (See Psalm 51). That means humility- we should recognise our need for Him. We don't need anything else, because God can meet all our needs anyway.

This is shown clearly when David is anointed and the Spirit of the Lord came on him in power (13). This then has the knock-on effect of being the reason for David entering Saul's service:
'He is a brave man... And the Lord is with him.' (18)

David's harp-playing gives Saul peace- already pointing towards Saul's defects as a king and how David is a better, more godly man. But it's notable that David starts small- he doesn't become king straight away. He has to wait, and go through a lot of troubled experiences first. God has much to teach him. And, through his experiences, we have much to learn too.

How can I trust the Bible? #2

How can you trust the Bible when it's so unscientific?

I've been asked this question so many times.

The idea that the Bible is unscientific probably comes from people's perception of the Genesis account of creation in six days, which contradicts their evolutionary science education.

There are several different Christian responses to the whole question of creation-evolution, and I don't want to tackle that issue now. Firstly, I want to combat this common stereotype that the Bible is 'unscientific'.

Christians believe that the Bible is the 'Word of God'. This means that although men wrote it, the words they were writing were given to them by God. They were 'inspired' by the Holy Spirit. God ensured that what they wrote was free from error.

Now God is the biggest, greatest Scientist in the universe! He INVENTED science! He created this incredibly complex universe and all its natural laws and delicate eco-balances come through His design.

So it's unsurprising that the Bible contains various comments that reveal an awareness of science far beyond its historical era, pointing towards God's authorship behind the human writers.

Look at Job 38:31: 'Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?'
Only in the last 30 years have we discovered what this verse means- scientists found that Pleiades is a loose cluster of stars, whereas Orion is a tight cluster. God thus is speaking to Job about His formation of the stars, something Job would not have understood but was led to write down.

Job 26:7 states 'He hangeth the world upon nothing', a bold statement regarding the gravitation of the earth that means it doesn't have to be supported by anything physical. At the time, ancient Greeks believed the world was held up by Atlas, and the Muslims believed the world was held up by a bull. The Bible was right.

Isa 40:22 says that earth is spherical: 'He sits upon the circle of the earth'.

And to top it all off, Job 38:14 states that the earth is spinning: 'The earth takes shape like clay under a seal'. What does that mean? Well, a Hebrew seal was a cylinder that you rolled along the parchment- it rotates on its axis. Here is a perfect picture of how the earth moves through space.

Luke also shows that the earth has different timescales, a concept unknown to the people of his day. Luke 17:24-25- 'I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.'
Jesus is talking about His Second Coming, and we know there will only be one Day of the Lord. But what do these verses say? Two people are in bed, sleeping- it must be night time. But two women are going about their daily work in the daytime. Thus this shows that when Jesus returns, half the world will be in daytime, and half in night time.

These are just a few examples of how the Bible makes scientific statements that are way ahead of its time. But really, you need to read it for yourself to see how amazingly practical a book it is. Unlike the Qu'ran, which is a collection of Mohammed's sayings, the Bible is a collection of 66 inspired books, which vary in genre from history, poetry, letters and law. You need to be aware of these differences in style when you read it.

This book, 'Dig Deeper' by Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach, is really helpful in explaining how to read the Bible:

Helping Christians who are married to non-Christians

Recently I posted a series of articles on Christian attitudes to dating and relationships, including the principle that Christians should not go out with, or marry, a non-Christian.

But what happens if you become a Christian AFTER marriage? Or what if you DID marry a non-Christian? Perhaps you know a Christian who is married to a non-believer. What help can you give?

Well I'd like to recommend John Dickson's 'Promoting the Gospel'. I found this book, which covers evangelism in all areas of life, particularly enlightening on the subject of mixed faith marriages. He looks at 1 Peter 3:1-2:
'Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.'

This is what he says:
'Peter plainly says that people can be won to Christianity through behaviour. Am I saying that faith in Christ can come about without hearing the gospel? No... people cannot put their faith in Jesus without first learning the gospel about him. However, this does not mean that hearing the gospel is the only cause of faith...
Peter's words in 1 Peter 3:1-2 are not intended as a "let-off" for those who are shy about Christ, but as an encouragement to those who find themselves in situations in which speaking about the Faith is difficult or inappropriate. The marriage relationship (the specific context of Peter's words) is a classic example...
[Be reassured that] the Lord of the harvest can win over our loved ones without a word (from you) by the power of a godly life.' (p100-101)

In other words, if your spouse is not a Christian, you need to:
1. Pray for them to be saved.
2. Continue as a Christian yourself- keep going to church and join a small group, or find a Christian friend of the same sex as you who you can meet up with for prayer and support. Don't struggle alone- get help! Finding someone else in the same situation could be really helpful for both of you (again same sex as you applies).
3. Live a God-honouring life before them, to point them towards Jesus.
4. Share the gospel with them when the opportunity arises, in a gentle and respectful way.
5. Don't nag them!
6. Guard yourself against lust and jealousy for Christian marriages in your church. Pray against discontentment. God has put you in this situation for a reason, to teach you new things, and He is in control. He works everything for the good of those who love Him, so trust that He knows what He's doing (Rom 8:28).

1 Corinthians 7 is really relevant to this situation:
'If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.'

In Corinth, people were becoming Christians, and then divorcing their unbelieving spouses. Paul says this is wrong! God is a God of faithfulness, who hates divorce. That is never what He wants you to do. Instead, God 'sanctifies' the unbelieving spouse- in other words, God makes special provision for His children who are married to unbelievers. He does not automatically convert the spouse, but He blesses the children of a mixed faith marriage.

Of course, this passage is not a justification for Christians, who have the choice of who they marry, to marry non-Christians. The question 'how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?' is a verse of encouragement to those in a very difficult situation, not a mandate to enter this situation. Paul makes it clear in this very chapter that if a Christian has the choice of whom they marry, they should definitely marry another Christian (v39). The whole point about retaining the place in life to which God has called you simply means that you can't get out of your marriage bond when you become a Christian.

Being a Christian married to a non-Christian is very tough, and no Christian should ever willingly choose this situation. But, as I can testify from witnessing it with my own eyes, God can certainly bring much blessing to those who seek to remain faithful to Him within a mixed faith marriage. The church needs to be particularly pro-active in supporting these marriages, particularly the Christian spouse, who can easily become isolated. Churches also need to be aware that a Christian married to a non-Christian will have to be sensitive to the needs of their spouse, which may mean a reduced involvement in serving in church life. If you are a Christian who is supporting a friend in a mixed faith marriage, or you are in a mixed faith marriage, keep praying for God to give you wisdom. I'd very much appreciate any comments you can make to share from your own experiences. May the Lord bless you!

How can I trust the Bible? #1

The Bible was written millennia ago and is translated from the original languages. There must be some element of human error within its pages.

Have you ever thought this? Or maybe been told this by someone else?

The trustworthiness of the Bible is really crucial -not only for my blog, which is based on what the Bible says, but it has huge implications for our lives.

My blog is called 'Treasuring Christ', and there is absolutely no reason why anyone should base their whole life around doing this, unless the Bible is true.

The reason that I treasure Jesus, is because the Bible teaches me that:
1. I'm separated from God by my sin
2. I've been rescued out of this separation by Jesus' death on the cross
3. I now have a place in heaven because of what Jesus has done for me

If you can identify with these three things, I'm sure you'll agree that it's essential to be able to show other people why you believe in Jesus. If you can't identify with these three things, I'm sure you're wondering why or how I can believe them. The reliability of the Bible is a key element in this discussion.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible far outweighs any other historical document in terms of reliability, as the table below shows:

Ancient Manuscript Date Earliest Copy No of Copies
Julius Caesar- Gallic Wars 100-44 BC 900 AD 10
Tacitus- Annals of Roman History100 AD 1100 AD 20
Plato- Tetralogies 427-347 BC 900 AD 7
Sophocles 496-406 BC 1000 AD 100
Aristotle 384-322 BC 1100 AD 5
New Testament c. 50 AD 130 AD 24, 633


We do not question the reliability of the works of Caesar, Plato and Aristotle, and yet we question the Bible when the statistics are far ahead in favour of it.

In 1947 the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, after being preserved for 1900 years. The text of Isaiah in the scrolls and in a text written 1000 years previously, only 17 letters were different- and these were mere spelling errors. No substantial changes had occurred, and the meaning was not affected. This testifies to the incredible accuracy of the Bible manuscripts. As a matter of fact, when copying Scriptures the Jews had very strict rules to abide to, such as:
The breadth of the column had to be 30 letters, length 48-60 lines
No word, letter or even a yod was to be written from memory
Only authentic copies were to be used as an exemplar
No one should take any notice of even a king when writing God's Name.

There are many more rules, and what they amounted to was not only incredible accuracy in copying, but exact spacing, so that they could instantly tell if the copy was incorrect, and if it was it would be rejected.

I thoroughly recommend this book by Amy Orr-Ewing if you have further questions about this:

How can I change my feelings?

I've been posting recently about relationships. I know this is a really tough area of life for many Christians (I certainly found it so, before I got married). I thought I'd use this post to deal with the whole issue of Christians falling in love with non-Christians. I know what it's like, because I've done it myself, but the way I dealt with it was pretty rubbish. I'd love to encourage you not to make the same mistakes.

So, the situation could be that you're a Christian, you're at school or at work, surrounded by non-Christians. At your church, there's a lack of people your own age of the opposite sex. In your daily environment, you're developing friendships with people naturally, through spending time with them, and gradually you notice yourself feeling something more than friendship for one of the guys/girls you know.

What do you do?

Well in practice there's several options:
1. You let things develop and you go out with this person.
2. You sit on the fence, telling the person that you can't go out with them, but you don't make any effort to avoid them or end the friendship. Things kind of hang around in the air uncomfortably- and something might happen.
3. You back off.

What are the consequences of these various courses of action?
With (1), you could end up marrying them, or break up with them. Neither of these options are very desirable. With marrying them, you might have 'followed your heart' but you won't have treasured Christ above the relationship. Your faith will probably suffer. By breaking up with them, it'll probably be really difficult and you'll both feel hurt and unhappy. During the relationship, you could also have made mistakes and gone too far. That's an added pain.

With (2), your witness as a Christian is not going to be that of a shining star (see Philippians 2:15). You run the risk of being flirtatious and leading someone on, which is cruel and unfair, and also of something happening unexpectedly due to the build-up of tension. If you've decided not to go out with someone, you need to make it clear by following through with your conduct... and this involves backing off.

With (3), it's definitely not going to be easy. You have to go against your feelings, and there may be some awkwardness with friendship groups and where you hang out etc. But (3) is the best option if you want to put Jesus first. (3) is the only option which makes it clear to the other person that you've made a decision that you're going to stick by. (3) is the only option in which people can see that Jesus means more to you than anything else... even your feelings. (3) is an option where God will be faithful, and help you through the pain and difficulty, because you're doing it to honour Him.

If you do choose (3), I strongly recommend that you get someone on board to help you. Find a trustworthy person at church, tell them about the situation, and ask them to pray for you. With their help and encouragement, you can get through it.

And believe it or not, you will find that your feelings follow your decision. It may take a while, but this is not the only area of life in which you shouldn't let your feelings dictate your actions. The Christian life is not based around feelings! It's about BEING something... being saved by grace... being loved by God. Our feelings take a while to catch up with those realities.