David Bahn – Reflections

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 14-16, Psalm 121.

2 Samuel 15:13-16

And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” ¹⁴ Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵ And the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” ¹⁶ So the king went out, and all his household after him. 

The accounts in 2 Samuel 14–16 unfold in the aftermath of David’s sin with Bathsheba, where the Lord’s word through Nathan begins to take shape within David’s own house: “The sword shall not depart from your house.” What follows is a steady unraveling – strained relationships, failed reconciliation, and a growing fracture that moves from family conflict to open rebellion. David’s passivity as both father and king allows the situation to deepen, and what was once hidden now becomes public. The result is exile, humiliation, and a kingdom shaken from within.

I am not inclined to be a micromanager in my leadership. Some might say I am not strong enough in confronting people, events, conversations, and situations that do not align with the mission of God or the word of God. That may be the case. But I tend to assume that those I am working with are people of good character with honorable motives.

Sadly, however, not everyone is of good character with honorable motives. We see that clearly in these chapters. Absalom takes advantage of his father’s grace and begins to insinuate himself among the people, saying, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice” (2 Samuel 15:4).

What a sad state of affairs. Absalom is usurping David’s throne, even after his father had restored their relationship. David, for his part, was too hands-off in dealing with the wayward and erring behavior of his own family. It is not accurate to say this is punishment for David’s affair with Bathsheba and his ordering the death of her husband. But it is surely the fulfillment of Nathan’s prophecy. Bloodshed would mark David’s family until the day of his death.

Yet even here, the Lord is at work – not withdrawing his promise, but humbling David and exposing the limits of his rule, leaving us looking beyond him for a better king. The Son of David would be all that David was meant to be and more – applying just the right balance of mercy and truth in every situation, remaining faithful to the Father no matter what, and redeeming a world that has more in common with David’s broken family than we would wish to admit.

There is no earthly king who will save us. But we have Jesus, the eternal king. “Thy kingdom come!” we pray.

PS: On this National Day of Prayer, we pray for all rulers – kings, elected officials, and all who are in positions of authority and public service. May God’s will be done in and through them all. Amen!

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 2 Samuel.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 12, 1 Chronicles 20, 2 Samuel 13, Psalm 120.

2 Samuel 12:1-9, 13-15

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” ⁵ Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶ and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸ And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. ⁹ Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? …¹³ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

Ugh! It’s the second move in a theory of sermon writing — the point where you get down to the root of the issue. It’s the “Houston, we have a problem” moment, when it becomes clear that we cannot wriggle out of the mess we’ve made. We’ve dug a hole so deep that the only option is to stop digging. It’s the turning point — when we move from the problem toward the possibility of a solution. Aha! Maybe there is a way out.

But David has to get there.

He has to hear the story of the poor man with a ewe lamb — a lamb he loved like a daughter — taken from him by a wealthy neighbor. David is incensed: “The man who has done this deserves to die!”

Funny how our anger can be stirred by someone else’s sin. We can get outraged at reckless drivers weaving through traffic, while we casually cut off someone going too slowly for our liking. We can be offended by those who skirt the law, while we quietly fudge on our own taxes. We all do it. We overlook the log in our own eye while pointing out the speck in our brother’s.

Sometimes we need to hear it plainly:
“You are the man. You are the woman.”

We all sin and fall short of God’s glory.

We regularly say the words from 1 John in worship:
“If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

But how quickly do we move on?
“But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Too quickly?
Too casually?

Thankfully, God’s forgiveness does not depend on the depth of our awareness. Jesus said of those crucifying him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” That word reaches us as well.

And just as David confessed his sin and received the assurance of forgiveness, so we are given that same gift of grace.

There are still consequences. The child dies. Absalom rebels. David lives with the sorrow his sin has unleashed — at least in this life. And yet we hear his confession after the child’s death:
“He cannot come to me, but I will go to him” (2 Samuel 12:23).

For one day a Son of David would come — to redeem a lost and broken world, to bear the sin of many, and to open the way to eternal life.

So the next time you hear those words,
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,”
pause.

Acknowledge it.

And then say with joy:
“But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 2 Samuel.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 19, 2 Samuel 11, Psalm 119:145-176.

Psalm 119:176

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
    for I do not forget your commandments.

2 Samuel 11:1-5

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

² It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³ And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

This is one of those biblical accounts that troubles us from more than one direction. We all know people who were unable to resist temptation and ended up damaging marriages and families. And we also know of situations where, at least outwardly, life seems to have been pieced back together — even appearing better than before. But as a good friend of mine says, divorce is the gift that keeps on giving. She says that from experience, having lived through the pain of a fractured family and the challenges of a blended one.

I also know of pastors who have fallen into sexual sin and made a shipwreck of their ministry and marriage — and others who have recovered, at least in part. But sexual sin carries deep and lasting consequences. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

In David’s case, this begins in part because he does not go out to war at the time when kings normally do. In the ancient Near East, kings typically went to battle in the spring, when the winter rains had passed, roads were dry, and armies could move and be supplied more easily.

David, however, did not go out. He stayed home. With time on his hands, he walked on the roof of his palace — with a clear view toward Uriah’s house. Whether this was the idle wandering of a bored man or something more, the text does not say. It does show, however, that David was not seeking the Lord in that moment.

David did not go out. He walked on the roof. He saw Bathsheba. He brought her into his palace. He committed adultery. And we know how the story unfolds — the murder of her husband and, eventually, the death of the child.

When we neglect our calling and lose focus in our daily walk, something begins to shift. God has given us a purpose — to declare the glories of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. When we drift from that purpose, we are not simply idle; we are exposed. And in that space, temptation often finds its opportunity.

We can thank God that our Savior — Jesus, the Son of David — faced every temptation known to man and yet remained faithful. He then offered himself on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world — for us, who like sheep have gone astray. This is never an excuse to let our guard down, but it is a deep comfort for those who have fallen.

Perhaps that is why we find such deep meaning in the words of Psalm 51 and sing, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…” This was David’s song of repentance — and it remains an invitation for each of us to return daily to God in repentance and faith.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 2 Samuel.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 8-9, 1 Chronicles 18, Psalm 119:121-144.

2 Samuel 9:2-12

(Selected Verses)

Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” ⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. ⁶ And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” ⁷ And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” ⁸ And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

⁹ Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. ¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. ¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

King David was ruthless in battle — hamstringing the horses of conquered enemies, lining men up to be executed, and overcoming thousands by the sword. He was a man of war. In the coming days we will read that he was not permitted to build a temple to the Lord for that reason. “You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth” (1 Chronicles 22:7–8).

Even so, however, there is a kind facet to David’s character that shows up in a striking way in the reading for today. When he discovers that Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth is alive – crippled in his feet, as we read earlier (2 Samuel 4:4) – we see a very different side of David.

I wonder what Mephibosheth’s life was like before David sent for him and provided so graciously for his welfare? Perhaps the family at Lo-debar were very kind to him. Maybe they cared for him as their own son. But it is likely that their resources were not nearly as expansive as what David could offer. What’s more, David had him eat at the king’s table. What care and compassion he was shown.

I cannot help but think of the widow of Nain whose son Jesus raised as they were on the way to bury him. I think of the man at the pool of Bethesda, who could not get into the water until Jesus told him to rise, take up his mat, and walk. I love thinking of the man who was let down through the roof where Jesus was teaching and who was healed because of their faith – the faith of the man and his friends. The woman with the 12 year issue of blood. The 12 year old girl. The blind man on the side of the road. Each were touched by the kindness of Jesus.

David is a type of Jesus. Jesus is called the Son of David. That title speaks to Jesus’ kingly authority — and also points us to the kind of mercy and compassion we see reflected, however imperfectly, in David.

I’ll be looking for opportunities to reflect the kindness of God to the people I encounter, and I encourage you to do the same. After all, we have seen the kindness of God in Jesus, as it says in Titus 3:4-5, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us…” And when we experience such kindness from others, we remember that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). It leads us to faith, to thanksgiving, and to lives that reflect that same kindness toward others, whether they are weak or strong.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 1 Chronicles 11-12, 2 Samuel 5, Psalm 119:49-72.

1 Chronicles 11:1-10

Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁶ David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander.” And Joab … went up first, so he became chief. ⁷ And David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ And he built the city all around from the Millo in complete circuit, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ And David became greater and greater, for the LORD of hosts was with him.

¹⁰ Now these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.

There is clear overlap between 1 Chronicles 11 and 2 Samuel 5, especially in David’s anointing as king and his capture of Jerusalem. Chronicles retells these events briefly, but then expands the picture. Chapter 11 turns to David’s mighty men, and chapter 12 adds what Samuel does not – a wide-ranging account of people from all the tribes who came to support him. Where Samuel tells the story, Chronicles highlights the unity of God’s people and the Lord’s hand at work.

The benefit of having both accounts is the perspective they provide. Samuel shows David as he was – both faithful and flawed. Chronicles shows David as the Lord used him – as part of his larger saving purposes.

And that broader picture is especially evident in the way each account speaks of David’s mighty men.

Even here the emphasis differs. Samuel reports their deeds; Chronicles highlights their role in God’s larger work through David. And I have to admit, I have a special place in my heart for David’s mighty men – because that’s what I called the elders at St. John, where I served as senior pastor for the last 16 years of my full-time ministry.

Over time, that group of men changed significantly. They moved from being a board to whom I was accountable to a group marked by prayer, encouragement, and mutual conversation and support. When we shifted to a policy-based governance model, the Board of Elders – as a board – went away. But the elders themselves did not. In fact, God allowed us to recruit many more, until there were about 40 men serving in that role. And yes, I called them David’s Mighty Men.

I do not presume to place myself on the level of King David. And these men were not called to go to war – except perhaps in the spiritual sense. But their support and encouragement meant more than I can say. One of the greatest gifts was our time together in prayer. Often the first 20 to 40 minutes of our meetings were spent almost entirely in prayer. As a pastor, I knew I could count on them – to stand in the gap, to lift me up, and to pray for the people of our congregation. They were a great blessing.

And in truth, we all need that. We need mighty men or wise women to walk with us in faith. God never intended us to be alone. From the beginning, he said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” We need one another. And in his grace, God gives us a community of people – redeemed by Christ, called to love and support one another in life and in faith.

Whoever those people are for you – mighty men or wise women – receive them as the gifts of God they are. Listen to them. Join them in prayer. Seek their guidance. Receive their support. Who says only King David can have such people in his life? Not God; that’s for sure!

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 1 Chronicles 9-10, Psalm 119:25-48.

1 Chronicles 10:13-14

So Saul diedfor his breach of faith. He broke faith with theLordin that he did not keep the command of theLord, and alsoconsulted a medium, seeking guidance.¹⁴Hedid not seek guidance from theLord. Therefore theLordput him to death andturned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Psalm 119:29-32

Put false ways far from me
    and graciously teach me your law!
³⁰ I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
    I set your rules before me.
³¹ I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
    let me not be put to shame!
³² I will run in the way of your commandments
    when you enlarge my heart!

If you’re looking for an object lesson in what it means to drift from God’s word — and a reason to pray Psalm 119 with some urgency — the life and death of Saul would be near the top of the list.

The Chronicler puts it very simply: Saul died for his breach of faith.

And when you step back and look at his life, it really does read like a tragedy. Here is a man who had everything — stature, strength, the Lord’s anointing, early success as a leader. And yet, over time, it all unravels. He turns away from the Lord, gives himself over to fear and pride, and loses the very thing that had made him king.

There are moments where it almost seems like he’s trying to set things right — casting out mediums, tearing down what is false. But even that feels more like desperation than repentance. Because in the end, when the Lord no longer answers him, Saul turns to the very thing he once condemned — seeking out a medium at Endor, grasping for a word from anywhere.

And that final battle? It becomes the last chapter of the story — defeat, a shameful death, and even in death, a kind of lingering disgrace.

I used to struggle with Psalm 119. Verse after verse about how great God’s laws are — not his promises of grace and blessing, but his laws, commands, and statutes.

And — good Lutheran pastor that I am — I think, “The law always condemns.” It accuses. It shows our sin. It reveals how far we fall short of what God demands. It creates a hunger for grace, to be sure. But its work is what we call an alien work. The law does not produce the faith and love God desires.

But then I started asking a different question: Whose laws do I love?

I can appreciate the laws of our country — the ones that protect us and give order to life. I’m grateful for good rules that let me drive safely and secure what I’ve been given.

But I also know there are other “laws” I’m drawn to — the ones that serve me. The eat-what-you-want, take-care-of-yourself, don’t-worry-about-others kind of laws. The ones where I decide what is good and what is not.

Those aren’t good laws. They’re certainly not worth loving. And they don’t lead to life.

God’s laws, however, are different. They are good. They do lead to life. And here’s the tension: while they guide us in the way of life, they do not save us. That has already been done.

So now, when I consider God’s law, I see it as a gift — good for me, and good for my neighbor. God doesn’t need my good works, but my neighbor does. God’s law shows me what love looks like in real life. It does not create faith, but where faith in Christ is alive, it begins to show itself — and the law helps give that life a visible form.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 1 Chronicles 6-8, Psalm 119:1-24.

Psalm 119:9-16

How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
¹² Blessed are you, O LORD;
    teach me your statutes!
¹³ With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
¹⁴ In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
¹⁵ I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

Names. Names. Names. More names. Names only a mother could love. Or a father – or our Father in heaven. These chapters of 1 Chronicles are not going to end up on many people’s “Most Favorite Bible Chapters” list. But there they are. Name after name, after name – with very little commentary throughout.

I’m guessing, however, that Levi, Aaron, and Issachar – among all the others – might be very interested in those names. They might have read the Chronicler’s account with keen interest. And if not they, then certainly their children and grandchildren would have. They might have remembered crazy Uncle Shimron (1 Chronicles 7:1) or Aunt Maacah (1 Chronicles 7:15). And who could forget great-great-great grandfather Aaron? Or great-great-great grandmother Miriam (1 Chronicles 6:3)?

Diane was recently filling in some family history. She wanted to know the birthdates of her grandparents on her dad’s side. In our hall hangs a large framed Bahn/Grimm family tree with names dating back to the 1600s in Germany. There’s even a Schwartzkopf in the bunch – am I related to the famous General Schwarzkopf? (Yes, I know: slightly different spelling.)

Those names matter – at least to us. They tell a story. They connect us to something bigger than ourselves. They remind us that we are part of a history that did not begin with us.

The same is true – even more so – with the names in Scripture. They are not filler. They are not accidental. They are part of the story God is telling – a story of promise, preservation, and fulfillment. Each name is a thread in the fabric that ultimately leads to Jesus. They anchor Jesus in the history of Israel and in the history of our world.

We’ll be reading Psalm 119 over the next days. This psalm celebrates the Word of the LORD in all its richness – every line, every promise, every command. Not just the familiar parts, but the whole of it. Even the sections we might be tempted to skim are included for a reason. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). That light does not shine only in the obvious places, but across the whole of God’s Word.

So even here – in the long lists of names – the LORD is at work. He is reminding us that his promises unfold in real lives, across generations, in ways both ordinary and remarkable. And he is inviting us not simply to look for what seems most interesting, but to trust that all of his word is given for our good.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 1 Chronicles 3-5, Psalm 118.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰ Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.

A brief mention in 1 Chronicles once captured the imagination of many. The prayer of Jabez became, for a time, something like a daily practice – a few words repeated with the hope that God would expand our influence and increase our blessing. It was simple, memorable, and appealing. But it also raised a question: Are we being invited into a posture of faith – or given a formula for results?

The prayer itself is faithful. Asking for God’s blessing, presence, and protection is a good thing. But Scripture presents Jabez’ prayer as a description, not a prescription. The danger is subtle: prayer can become a technique for securing outcomes, rather than a response of faith that rests in God’s gracious will. Jabez’s story is best received not as a method to replicate, but as a reminder that the Lord hears and answers according to his purposes – often in ways that go beyond what we ask or expect.

That tension shows up elsewhere in Scripture. In Genesis 48, Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manasseh – not as a sentimental gesture, but as a decisive act that reshapes the future of Israel. With Reuben’s failure, the birthright is not lost but redirected (alluded to in our reading from 1 Chronicles 5). Joseph receives a double portion through his sons. And yet even here, expectations are overturned as the younger is set before the older. Once again, God’s purposes move forward – not by natural order, not by human expectation, but by his gracious choosing.

That is what makes the prayer of Jabez so easy to misunderstand. We can be tempted to believe that there might be a way – a set of words, a pattern of prayer – that ensures a certain outcome. But the story of Scripture points us in a different direction. As the 1 Samuel video pointed out in the incident of the stolen Ark of the Covenant, God is not a trophy.” God is not managed by our methods. He is to be trusted as our loving Father in heaven.

The good news is not that we have found the right prayer to unlock blessing, but that God has blessed us in the heavenly places with every spiritual blessing in Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). God himself has drawn near in Jesus. In him, we are already blessed beyond measure – not according to a formula, but according to his amazingly abundant grace. And so we pray, not to secure a future of our own making, but to receive what he is pleased to give – trusting that his purposes, however surprising, are always good.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 4, 1 Chronicles 1-2, Psalm 117.

2 Samuel 4:4

Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

When I am confronted with chapters like 1 Chronicles 1-2, I really have to buckle down to read through all those names. Most of them carry little meaning for me: Er, Zerah, Jerahmeel, Chelubai? These all stand in Judah’s line, but with very different legacies. Er is remembered for his wickedness, Zerah as the head of a family line, Jerahmeel as a largely forgotten clan ancestor, and Chelubai (Caleb) for faithfulness. Together, they reflect the mix of failure, obscurity, and trust through which God continues his work.

Then there’s Mephibosheth. Somehow I remember his name – Jonathan’s son whose feet were crippled and who is mentioned here in 2 Samuel 4. We will come across him several more times in 2 Samuel. He becomes a noteworthy example of the kindness of David – who remembers and provides for him for years. David is a type of Christ – one who gives us a hint or a picture of certain facets of Christ’s character. He was by no means perfect; in that he does not exhibit the character of Christ.

But David’s care for Mephibosheth is a picture of Christ’s care for the weak and broken, the humble and forgotten. Jesus showed that in his healing, comforting, loving, and encouraging of the least and last.

Even in lists of names we barely recognize, the Lord is quietly at work – carrying forward his purposes through generations that lived, died, and awaited what he would yet do. For God knew their names, and inspired the writers of the Sacred Scriptures to list them for our learning.

That learning is not merely to be an exercise in memorization. Christians are to reflect the character of Christ. We will not be content merely to remember people’s names – a good thing to do, no doubt – we will care for them as we are able, honor and respect, them as a reflection of God’s love for us all.

Next time you come across a list of names in the Bible, look carefully. You may find some people there who are actually important. But make no mistake, those whose names we read and quickly forget are not forgotten by God. Thanks be to God that he calls us by name into his kingdom of grace and life. He knows us, loves us, and has our names written in the book of life.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).