“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Psalms 119: 167

My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

If we, the bride, the church know the will of the Lord and do accordingly only then we can grow spiritually.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated that within us, the bride, the church evil thoughts against our enemies should never arise and we must safeguard ourselves. 

Next what we are meditating upon is that 2 Samuel 2: 8 – 17 But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim; 

and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 

Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David. 

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 

And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. 

Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 

And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. 

So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

When we meditate about the above-mentioned verses, after David had blessed the men of Jabesh who buried the body of Saul and after the men of Judah anointed David as a king over them, Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim; and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

My dear people, when we meditate here, we see that Israel and Judah are separated as two. After the death of Saul, we see that Abner the commander of Saul’s army made his son Ishbosheth as king. This is because if we give place for the evil spirit in our soul, those people with that spirit will not obey the word of the Lord and according to their own desire they will lead the church of God. When they lead in this manner, they will do things which are not the will of God. Because of doing so, they will lose the salvation that they must receive. This is because they do not have the knowledge about God they cannot overcome the enemy in the fight and in their spiritual life they will fall down. To ensure that we do not fall in our spiritual life in this manner, we must always be humble and with the fear of the Lord. Also, since the fear of the Lord, humbleness was not present in Abner, the commander of Saul’s army the war there was fierce, and God is showing us this as a pattern. We must not be in this manner but always know the will of God and submit ourselves to be as those who do in this manner.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

       - To be continued