Free Daily Bible Study Podcast

1 Kings 10 | Philippians 1 | Ezekiel 40 | Psalm 91

Solomon’s glory as king of Israel reaches its pinnacle in 1 Kings 10. We read an initial report of Solomon’s great wisdom, wealth, and fame in 1 Kings 4, but we find a fuller inventory here in this chapter. Chiefly, these descriptions of Israel’s golden age under Solomon accomplish two things: (1) they provide a shadow of the glory of Christ’s greater kingdom, as we discussed in our meditation for 1 Kings 4–5, and (2) they provide some clues as to why nothing less than the coming of Jesus into this world could usher in that greater kingdom.

Part of the function of including the story of the queen of Sheba in 1 Kings 10 is to underscore how far short the descriptions of Solomon’s kingdom fall from actually depicting the full extent of his kingdom’s glory. The queen of Sheba’s independent findings help to allay our skepticism: “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me” (1 Kgs. 10:6–7).

In the same way, our own imaginations are too weak to fathom the riches of glory we stand to gain in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2:9–10, Paul writes this: “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, who searches out the depths of God, begins to reveal an inkling of the glory that is to be revealed—and on that day, when Jesus Christ returns, all we will be able to say will be, “Behold, the half was not told me.”

But if things were so good during the days of Solomon, why did Solomon himself fall away from worshiping Yahweh, as we will read about tomorrow in 1 Kings 11? What we learn from this story is that no amount of wisdom, success, wealth, and prosperity can provide us contentment outside of Christ. As Solomon grew to enjoy his vast possessions more and more, his heart fell away from enjoying the Giver of these good gifts first and foremost.

Solomon stands as a warning for us to guard our hearts from being drawn away to whatever treasures we might find in this life. For this, we need to pray for God’s Spirit not only to constrain our hearts from greed but also to teach us how much better Jesus is than the riches we can accumulate. For, in the words of Jesus, “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 9 | Ephesians 6 | Ezekiel 39 | Psalm 90

In 1 Kings 9, Yahweh accepts Solomon’s prayer from 1 Kings 8, saying, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time” (1 Kgs. 9:3). Yahweh does put his name in the temple, but importantly, Yahweh also provides explicit terms for this arrangement—terms that would affect the rest of human history.

First, Yahweh reiterates to Solomon the terms of the covenant he had made with Solomon’s father David. So, Yahweh says, “And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statues and rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever” (1 Kgs. 9:4–5). The establishment of the throne of David’s offspring after Solomon depended on the obedience of David’s descendants.

Second, Yahweh also clarifies that even the temple’s ongoing use as the dwelling place of Yahweh on earth depends on the perpetual obedience of Solomon and the rest of David’s descendants. So, if Solomon or his children turn aside from Yahweh, then Yahweh will raze the temple to the ground: “And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’” (1 Kgs. 9:8).

And in fact, David’s descendants do fall away from Yahweh—including Solomon himself, as we will see in 1 Kings 11. Within one generation, Solomon’s son Rehoboam would see both Israel split into two kingdoms (1 Kgs. 12) and the temple ransacked by the Egyptians, who steal all the costly treasures Solomon had built (1 Kgs. 14:26). All of this, however, is merely a precursor to the day when both kingdoms would go into exile and the Babylonians would destroy the temple altogether (2 Kgs. 25:9) to fulfill the word Yahweh had spoken to his people when he warned them against disobedience.

It is critical to note, then, that when Jesus came to be the new temple, he did not merely reunite Israel—and, he went beyond reconciling the nation of Israel with the Gentiles into a single body (Eph. 2:14–16). Ultimately, the temple of Jesus’ body had to be destroyed at the cross for the disobedience of God’s people and then, on the third day, that temple had to be raised up (John 2:19). Not a word that Yahweh had spoken would fall to the ground, but it was precisely through destroying his temple that Yahweh would atone for the sins of all his people, reconciling them to himself forever in peace and righteousness.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 8 | Ephesians 5 | Ezekiel 38 | Psalm 89

As Solomon prays to dedicate the temple in today’s reading from 1 Kings 8, his prayers provide important theological distinctions for understanding what it means for Yahweh to dwell in a physical location like this temple. First, Solomon is clear that no temple can contain Yahweh, the Creator of heaven and earth. He prays, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kgs. 8:27). To say that Yahweh would dwell among his people in the temple does not mean that this temple somehow contained or limited him.

Second, Solomon presses this point further with the eightfold repetition of the phrase “hear in heaven” (1 Kgs. 8:30, 32, 34, 36, 39, 43, 45, 49) after each petition that Solomon raises up. Yahweh would indeed dwell among his people on the earth in this temple, but Solomon has no delusions about the location of Yahweh’s true throne room—in the highest heavens. From there, Yahweh reigns as a king and a judge, sovereignly and providentially ruling over all of creation—but also hearing the prayers of even the weakest among his people.

Third, even though Solomon is exceedingly clear about the fact that Yahweh is not limited to his temple on earth, he nevertheless recognizes that Yahweh has indeed chosen to tie his name and his presence to this temple. This means that Yahweh has promised to respond to Israel’s prayers for relief from their enemies (1 Kgs. 8:33–34), from natural disasters (1 Kgs. 8:37–40), and for victory in battle (1 Kgs. 8:44–45). Even more, Yahweh has promised to hear the prayers of the foreigner who prays toward Yahweh’s temple (1 Kgs. 8:41–43) and to hear the prayers of Israel as they cry out to Yahweh for forgiveness from sin (1 Kgs. 8:31–32, 46–53).

This prayer is exceedingly important not only for understanding Yahweh’s relationship to his people through his temple but even more so for understanding Yahweh’s ultimate relationship to his people through his new temple, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus, Yahweh’s glory—the same glory that indwelt the temple so that the priests could not stand to minister (1 Kgs. 8:11)—indwelt human flesh. As a human being, Jesus uniquely bound himself to the limitations of humanity, but he also answered the prayers of those who have plead for forgiveness by offering himself up as a once-for-all sacrifice.

Today, all peoples—Jews and Gentiles, foreigners and children born to believers alike—may find salvation when they pray toward God’s temple built without hands, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Christ, God dwells with his people—today by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the church (Eph. 2:22), and forevermore in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 7 | Ephesians 4 | Ezekiel 37 | Psalms 87–88

As we began to review yesterday, the construction of Solomon’s temple is not a brand new idea at this stage in the story of God’s people. It is not as though Yahweh has been working on various plans for awhile and then he suddenly decides to build a temple to try something different in his relationship with his people. Rather, the idea of the temple—a holy dwelling place where Yahweh can meet with his people—has been present since the very beginning of the story in the Garden of Eden. In fact, the temple is specifically built to announce the coming re-creation of the Garden of Eden.

It is no surprise, then, that the temple is built to resemble a garden, as we read about in 1 Kings 6–7. Built into the very walls of the temple, we find carved garden imagery, including gourds, palm trees, and flowers (1 Kgs. 6:18, 29, 32, 35), as well as images of the cherubim who had been stationed at the entrance of the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life (1 Kgs. 6:23–29, 32, 35). The furniture of the tabernacle is also filled with garden imagery, including pomegranates and lilies that set atop pillars (1 Kgs. 7:18–20, 22, 42) and gourds surrounding the bronze basin (1 Kgs. 7:24). In fact, the brim of the bronze basin itself was shaped like the flower of a lily (1 Kgs. 7:26). Furthermore, the golden lampstands mentioned in passing (1 Kgs. 7:49) were to be shaped like trees, with branches and cups and calyxes and flowers, as we saw back in Exodus 25:31–40.1

Just as with the tabernacle, Yahweh is creating a new Garden of Eden where he can dwell in the midst of his people. The temple was meant to stand forever as the place where God’s glory dwelt in the midst of his people and the means by which God would renew creation, but that isn’t how the story goes. This temple is glorious, but it fails to usher in new creation. The people of Israel will continue to languish in the hardness of their hearts, and even King Solomon will soon begin to abandon Yahweh in order to worship false gods (1 Kgs. 11:4).

The message of 2 Corinthians 5:17 is critical, then: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Christ through his resurrection has accomplished what Solomon’s temple could not—he defeated sin, death, and the devil to renew his creation, beginning with us. If you are in Christ, you are experiencing glory unknown during the days of Solomon—a glory that will be made complete when Jesus Christ returns to finish renewing all of creation.

1 Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2006), 246–47.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 6 | Ephesians 3 | Ezekiel 36 | Psalm 86

In the beginning, God dwelt with his people in the temple of his creation—that is, in the perfection of the Garden of Eden. There, Yahweh walked among his people, who dwelt with their God without guilt and shame, in perfect intimacy and communion with him. Yahweh made his dwelling place in the midst of his people there until sin shattered that intimacy, forcing Yahweh to drive Adam and Eve out of the Garden and to place cherubim armed with flaming swords to guard the way back into Eden—and especially to guard the tree of life (Gen. 3:24). Ever since then, we have read about the gradual steps that Yahweh has taken to restore that intimacy with his people.

So, back in Exodus 25–31, Yahweh dictated to Moses the plans for the construction of the tabernacle. In those plans, Yahweh included detailed instructions about the courtyard, the two holy places, the furniture that should dwell in his house, the garments that the priests would wear as they ministered in the tabernacle, the material that should be used, and even the skilled craftsmen who would be filled with the Holy Spirit to lead the tabernacle’s construction. Through the tabernacle, Yahweh dwelt in the midst of his people, as the Israelites physically pitched their tents to surround the tabernacle (Num. 2).

For Yahweh to have a place for his holiness to dwell among his people, the tabernacle was a necessity, since it had been built specifically to be portable. The people of Israel moved from campsite to campsite, following the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, setting up the tent wherever they landed (Num. 10). But this arrangement had always been temporary. Moses spoke at multiple points in Deuteronomy of a specific place that Yahweh would choose to set his name (e.g., Deut. 12:5, 14:23, 26:2)—that is, a place where Yahweh would make a permanent dwelling place, rather than continuing to dwell in the portable tabernacle. David sought in 2 Samuel 7:2 to build this permanent house for Yahweh, but Yahweh told David that David’s son, instead, would build Yahweh’s permanent house in the temple.

We will continue studying the construction of Solomon’s temple tomorrow, but consider the breadth of the unfolding story of God’s word thus far. We have studied the whole scope of God’s story, from the creation of the cosmos to the construction of the temple, and all the while, we have inched closer and closer to the coming of God’s own Son into this world for the redemption of his people. This temple is a significant step forward, but even this will not be the pinnacle of history.

Today, spend time in prayer anticipating the day when Jesus Christ will permanently dwell with his people again, in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21:3).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 4–5 | Ephesians 2 | Ezekiel 35 | Psalm 85

The description of Solomon’s kingdom in 1 Kings 4 is overwhelming, with unending officials (1 Kgs. 4:1–19), wealth (1 Kgs. 4:20–28), and cultural achievements (1 Kgs. 4:29–34). It is staggering to imagine living in such a golden age of human flourishing, with seemingly limitless justice, peace, and prosperity. We cannot understand the glory of Solomon’s kingdom, however, without understanding the covenant Yahweh swore to David back in 2 Samuel 7. There, Yahweh said, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (2 Sam. 7:12–14). This promise forms the foundation of Solomon’s reign over Israel.

Now, we should not miss that the promise of providing offspring to David stands in a long line of promises concerning offspring in the Bible, as we discussed in the meditation for 2 Samuel 7. The offspring of David is also the offspring of Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3, 7), who is ultimately the offspring promised to the woman—the offspring who would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). In all of the cases where Yahweh promises offspring, there is an immediate fulfillment and an eschatological fulfillment. So, the promise to give Eve offspring was fulfilled in Seth (Gen. 4:25), and the promise to give Abraham offspring was fulfilled through Isaac (Gen. 21:12). For David, Solomon becomes the offspring whom Yahweh had promised to raise up and to establish his kingdom. But just as neither Seth nor Isaac totally fulfilled Yahweh’s promises concerning offspring, so also does Solomon fail to completely fulfill Yahweh’s promises to David. Solomon will eventually die, so that his throne, by definition, is not established forever.

These various offsprings, then, were merely part of the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promise—none was the final, single, eschatological offspring (Gal. 3:16). It is Jesus who would crush the head of the serpent at the cross and Jesus who would extend the blessings of Abraham to all the families of the earth. More than that, it is Jesus who built a permanent dwelling place for God in the church (1 Cor. 3:16), and it is the glory of Jesus’ kingdom that will shine so radiantly into eternity as to bring the glory of Solomon’s kingdom to nothing, since it is a mere shadow of the good things we have in Christ.

This description of the glory of Solomon in 1 Kings 4, then, is ultimately written to whet our appetites for the glory of Christ’s kingdom, which is far, far better.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 3 | Ephesians 1 | Ezekiel 34 | Psalms 83–84

Solomon’s kingdom rises to great heights primarily through the events in the story from today’s reading in 1 Kings 3. Solomon is not an ordinary king—although, as we discussed yesterday, he will also not be the ultimate messianic king who will completely save God’s people from the curse of sin and death in this world. Still, Solomon’s glory will surpass that of every king who will follow him because of the wisdom God grants him in this story.

Commendably, when Yahweh offers to give Solomon any gift whatsoever, Solomon asks merely for wisdom. He remembers that Yahweh had shown great, steadfast love to his father, David (1 Kgs. 3:6). He also recognizes his own limitations as “a little child” who does “not know how to go out or come in” (1 Kgs. 3:7). Looking upon the great multitude of Yahweh’s people, Israel, Solomon asks, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kgs. 3:9).

This request pleases Yahweh, who commends Solomon by acknowledging to him that “you…have not asked for long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right” (1 Kgs. 3:11). In other words, Solomon asks not to enrich himself but for gifts that will bless the people whom God has called him to shepherd as king. Therefore, Yahweh promises to give Solomon not only wisdom but also riches and honor to a level no other king would reach (1 Kgs. 3:13). Furthermore, Yahweh promises that he will give Solomon length of days if Solomon keeps Yahweh’s statutes and commandments all the days of his life (1 Kgs. 3:14).

The chief responsibility of a king is to govern and judge God’s people, so Solomon is right to ask for wisdom to allow him to fulfill his role faithfully and skillfully. Nevertheless, Solomon will fail to use this wisdom to keep his heart pure to follow after Yahweh. Instead, Yahweh will eventually send a different kind of wisdom—a personification of God’s own wisdom in Jesus Christ. So, Jesus is described as the word (lit., “wisdom” or “reason”) of God who became flesh (John 1:14) and as “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24).

One of the ways we ought to pray, then, should be to ask God, as Solomon did, for wisdom to live out our lives skillfully—not so that we may succeed in purely worldly ways, but that we may be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Cor. 1:30–31).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 2 | Galatians 6 | Ezekiel 33 | Psalms 81–82

In yesterday’s reading, we reflected on David’s greatest failure in life: his passive unwillingness to discipline or to set boundaries for those around him. In today’s reading, we see a further contrast between David and his son Solomon in David’s final words to his son.

On the one hand, David’s final words include a godly charge to follow carefully after Yahweh, taking care to keep Yahweh’s “statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn” (1 Kgs. 2:3). To David’s credit, he remains true to keep Yahweh’s statutes all the days of his life. Obviously, David sinned in major ways in his life, but whenever David does sin, he is quick to repent and to seek God’s forgiveness. In spite of his sin, David remains a man after God’s own heart to the day of his death.

On the other hand, David weakly asks Solomon to tie up the loose ends of his life by doing all of the dirty work that David had been unwilling to do for himself. So, David instructs Solomon to execute Joab for murdering two of David’s commanders, Abner and Amasa (1 Kgs. 2:5–6), and to bring justice on Shimei, who had cursed David while David was fleeing from Absalom (1 Kgs. 2:8). Solomon does put Joab to death for his murders (1 Kgs. 2:34), but he wisely and graciously gives Shimei a second chance. But when Shimei breaks the terms of his parole and leaves the boundaries of Jerusalem, Solomon carries out the justice that his father, David, had requested, by putting Shimei to death (1 Kgs. 2:46). And additionally, when Adonijah manipulates Solomon’s own mother, Bathsheba, to try again to usurp the kingdom, Solomon puts Adonijah to death without hesitation (1 Kgs. 2:25).

From all this, we might think that Solomon is the king who will usher the kingdom of God into this world. Solomon succeeds in strong, firm leadership in ways that his father, David, did not. Indeed, Solomon’s reign is marked by extraordinary glory, as we will see; however, Solomon neither shares his father’s weaknesses nor his father’s strengths. Where David’s heart followed after Yahweh all the days of his life, Solomon’s heart will be drawn away to worship false gods toward the end of his life.

Among the three kings God has given to Israel so far, none have faithfully shepherded God’s people. Instead, God will ultimately send a better king to shepherd his people, a king whose heart will remain faithful to his heavenly Father even to the point of death on the cross and a king who will one day return to execute justice on this earth. It is this king who deserves not only our obedience but our love, worship, and faith as well.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Kings 1 | Galatians 5 | Ezekiel 32 | Psalm 80

As we come to the end of David’s life, the stories we read not only prepare us for the transferring of the kingdom to David’s son Solomon, but they also give us deeper insight into David’s limitations as king. In today’s reading from 1 Kings 1, we see two specific failures of David as king, first in the reactionary timing with which Solomon is anointed king and second in contrasting Solomon’s first act as king with David’s history of passive leadership.

First, even though David is not yet dead, it becomes urgent to transfer the kingdom to David’s son Solomon officially when Adonijah, another son of David, claims the throne for himself. Wisely, Nathan and Bathsheba work together both to inform David of what Adonijah has done and to persuade David to anoint Solomon as king immediately. There seems to be a suggestion that David might simply go along with Adonijah’s claim to the throne, so Nathan warns Bathsheba, “Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon” (1 Kgs. 1:12). David was certainly a man after God’s own heart, but there is no question that one of David’s greatest failures was his tendency toward passivity when dealing with rebellious people in his midst.

Second, when Solomon takes the throne and Adonijah refuses to leave the horns of the altar in the courtyard of the tabernacle until Solomon promises not to harm him, Solomon’s response drips with royal wisdom: “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die” (1 Kgs. 1:52). In similar situations, David also was often willing to extend mercy, but David, unlike Solomon, had trouble laying down firm boundaries. For example, David accepted his son Absalom back into Jerusalem after banishing him for murdering Amnon (2 Sam. 14:33), but the utter lack of discipline for Absalom created the opportunity for Absalom to attempt to steal the throne from his father altogether (2 Sam. 15). Solomon, on the other hand, both forgives Adonijah and warns him sternly not to transgress further—and, as we will see in tomorrow’s reading from 1 Kings 2, Solomon means what he says.

It is striking that David—the greatest king in Israel’s history—should have such glaring flaws. All of this reminds us that David was not the ultimate Messiah, even if he was one of the clearest shadows of the ultimate Messiah to come. All of these figures fall short of redeeming God’s people permanently, and together, these stories form the backdrop against which Jesus shines in his glory most radiantly, since where they failed, Jesus succeeded. Let us rejoice in the glory of Jesus and put our hope exclusively in him.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Samuel 24 | Galatians 4 | Ezekiel 31 | Psalm 79

David sins at the end of his life by ordering a census of Israel. This sin is less well known than his adultery with Bathsheba, but that does not mean that it was less serious. In fact, in many ways, the people of Israel faced harsher consequences here in 2 Samuel 24 because of the census than they did when David took Bathsheba. Accordingly, there is much to learn from this passage.

First, we should guard ourselves from Satan’s diverse strategies by reminding ourselves that different stages of life will bring different kinds of temptations. Earlier in David’s life, lust and adultery were besetting issues, but now that David is older, the biggest temptation he faces is that of his own pride. The people of Israel belonged to Yahweh, so only Yahweh could order a census (Num. 1:2, 26:2). Moreover, Yahweh had commanded that Israel’s kings were not to focus on numbering their strength and power, which is why they were forbidden from acquiring many horses, many wives, or excessive silver and gold (Deut. 17:16–17), “lest [the king’s] heart turn away” from Yahweh. The fact that we have moved beyond certain sins in life should not lead us to believe that we have become invulnerable to all sins.

Second, David’s reasoning for selecting pestilence from among his options is instructive. Rather than choosing to fall into the hands of an enemy or a lengthy famine, David explains, “Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of a man” (2 Sam. 24:14). David’s punishment was not light, but his attitude can teach us to recognize the discipline of Yahweh as his fatherly kindness toward us (Heb. 12:7–11).

Third, David refuses to receive Araunah’s threshing floor for free. David says, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). For David, dealing with Yahweh’s wrath was never a quick fix so he could move on with his life—he was thoughtful about his interactions with Yahweh, and he took the atonement he needed seriously.

What we must see is that here, at the end of his life, David is neither beyond sin nor beyond Yahweh’s grace. At the end of 1 Samuel, we reflected on the fact that Saul had tragically built habits into his life against repenting, but we see the opposite with David. Even when he sins—sometimes sinning severely—David nevertheless confesses his sin, entrusts himself to Yahweh, and seeks costly atonement to cover his sins. And in the same way, let us pray that we too will walk in humility all the days of our lives, so that even when we sin, we are quick to seek forgiveness through the most costly atoning sacrifice of all—that of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.