Good morning,
It’s a beautiful day in May and Yahweh has blessed you with life. To all the mothers I send a happy belated Mother’s Day with a cyber-kiss and a hug for being the instruments through which life is distributed. To my mother I send encouragement for having spent your first Mother’s Day without your mother, and that’s not to cast a damp spirit over this morning’s festivities. Life is erupting all around us. At service on Sabbath the Temple was buzzing with the sounds of babies laughing, crying, and some even singing, and it seems like every service nowadays is side-barred with the blessing of an infant. So Yahweh has been extraordinarily good to us by blessing us with fertility and expanding our territory, a thing we take for granted at times as a foregone conclusion. Married couples will have babies – that’s the blanket expectation, but its not always a given, just ask any couple sauntering away in frustration through the doors of a fertility clinic. So let us “Praise Yahweh” today for his gracious and loving hand that has delivered so many new voices and smiles to our tiny circle over the past few years, and with all the pending nuptials I have no doubt the carousel of newborns will continue to spin and the baby factory will continue to deliver.
David’s first child was to come by Bathsheba. It was a child that had been conceived through David’s injustice to Uriah. We all know the story that runs with all the twists of a daytime drama. “Man lusts after other man’s wife, man commits adultery with said wife, woman gets pregnant, man tries to come up with a way to cover sin, man murders woman’s husband, man thinks all is well, prophet puts man on blast.” David fell to his face in sackcloth and ashes to atone for his great sin because he knew that Yahweh absolutely hates injustice and takes up the cause of the have-nots. Yahweh likened David’s actions to that of a man who owned huge flocks of sheep and goats, and that same man defrauding another less fortunate man of his only goat which he had taken such good care of. The saddest part about this story is that by David’s reaction to Nathan’s description we can tell that David shared Yahweh’s disgust for injustice, David said the man should die today and no later. Nathan bluntly announced ‘thou art the man’. There are so many lessons to be extracted from this one story, it is sometimes so easy to see the faults of others but not quite as easy to see the fault in ourselves. King David had stooped himself to the lowest of lows and had broken the sacred commandment of Yahweh – ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’, and Yahweh held him entirely accountable.
The child however was innocent. David plead with Yahweh for many days to spare the life of the child. He writhed in the dirt refusing to eat and wash himself. He would not see anybody, but afflicted his very soul for the saving of the child. Can you imagine the anguish of the noble king trying desperately to take the judgment on himself rather than see his firstborn taken away. Yahweh in this case was exacting. Injustice will not be tolerated, and the needy shall not always be forgotten. The child was stillborn.
This shows much of the character of Yahweh. Though David had found favor with the Almighty since a youth he could not alter the consequences of his actions. Though the child was indeed innocent of wrongdoing Yahweh saw fit that it’s eyes should never see the light of day. Justice was doled out to the victim Uriah even in his absence; the sword was never to leave David’s house. This story is among my favorites in the scriptures because it is an example of what a perfect Father we serve. His love for David was indeed profound, yet He delivered justice, and that is the essence of the Spirit of Yahweh and the Spirit of the Law…to deliver justice to the oppressed.
Today I think we should reflect on this aspect of Yahweh’s character. Do you feel as though you are a victim of injustice? Father Yahweh will plead your cause. Justice does not come from the courts of man; from lawyers and judges of corruptible natures. It is not dispensed by the Supreme Court; it is not delivered through the imperfect laws of the hands of malicious men. It is only given at the hands of a merciful and just Creator who will stand in defense of His people and drive away the designs of the wicked as the wind drives away the chaff, so long as we place our trust in Him.
Marc Wellington
Scripture of The Day
Psalm 37:27-30 (New King James Version)
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. For Yahweh loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice.
Quote of the Day
Our government…teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. – Louis Dembitz Brandeis 1856-1941 American Supreme Court Justice
p.s. Thank you all for your prayers and loving condolences at the passing of my grandmother. At the risk of sounding cold and unfeeling, it’s time to continue the walk. So I rose up from my ’sackcloth and ashes’ as soon as I got word of her passing. As David said to his servants when they asked ‘how come you fasted and prayed when the child was ill but now that you have found out that the child is dead you rise up and eat?’ David’s reply – ‘I fasted and prayed when the child was sick because who could tell whether Yahweh would be gracious to me and spare it’s life, now he is dead so why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?’ Have a great day everybody!
