“THE BEAUTY OF ISRAEL”

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 1

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Barren mountains rise above the ruins of Delphi in central Greece.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 1:19

The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, please grant that I may respond, as Jesus did, to those who have wronged me. Jesus said, as He hung on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” David’s response to the death of Saul, the man who sought to kill him, is a challenge to me. I pray for grace and power to be more gracious in my words. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

As I read today of David’s order to kill the Amalekite who brought Saul’s crown to David and lied about his role in Saul’s death, a story that no doubt he thought would curry favour for himself with David, I thought of the tribal societies in parts of Africa today. For example, the brutal, bloody terror of the regime of Idi Amin in Uganda was overturned by the present leader, Museveni. His strong rule has reduced the incidence of AIDS more than in any other country in Africa. The story is told that in his first cabinet meeting, Museveni took out his revolver, pointed it at each of his cabinet members, and said, “If any of you are unfaithful to your wives, I will personally shoot you dead.” He took other measures also, but the point I want to make is that in our culture here in most of the rest of the world, this kind of action is so foreign that I find it hard to understand that the cabinet members actually believed that they would be shot if they were unfaithful. I try to think back 3,000 years and the culture and practises are far more foreign to me than that of modern Uganda. Our son, David Reynold (blog photographer), and his wife, Kathy, are missionaries there. I know that I cannot do anything to help change the ancient cultures, but I’m working in my small way on the modern cultures. I must do my part to share the grace and mercy revealed in Jesus. God willing, tomorrow I’ll share more about the Ugandan leader.

Yours, trying my best to communicate information that is helpful,

David

P.S. Have you watched my video version of 100 Words lately? My son, Ron, has been filling in a lot lately, as I have not been well enough to record them. HERE is a link to a playlist of many of these videos.

This Ugandan grandmother would have lived through the brutal regime of Idi Amin. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) ravaged Northern Uganda for the last 20 years, causing the population of the north to live in IDP (internally displaced persons) Camps. In the last few years, people have begun returning to their villages.