God's Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

It was because he had chosen to be his own plan maker that David found himself on the horns of this terrible dilemma where, no matter what course he followed, he stood to lose everything. This is one more Bible witness added to those we have already considered, testifying to the sorry outworking of human plan ning. As we study these biblical examples, the Holy Spirit will convict us that there is no safety in such procedures, and that God is the only One with the ability to plan for us and His work. David had put himself where he was, and human justice would appear to demand that David be severely punished in or der to teach him a thorough lesson. Although we do suffer vari ous consequences of sin, God does not punish us. If that were His way it was an opportunity for God to say, “David, if you had lis tened to Me and followed My directives, you would never be in the situation in which you now find yourself. It is time for you to learn this lesson. I am going to leave you to your fate so that in future you will remember from whence your plans are to come.” This is the character which Satan always seeks to attribute to God. Having led us to trust in our own ways and thus fall into sin, he argues that we can hardly expect God to deliver us from the entanglement in which we have enmeshed ourselves. He en courages us to trust even more in self and less in our heavenly Problem Solver. Firstly, Satan advises, we must extricate our selves from our difficulty, as a statement of good intention, and only then can we come to God with the hope of pardon and bless ing. This is a deception for which thousands have fallen, with the sad result that the more they try to solve the problem, the more complicated it becomes. If there is ever a time when we need to know how God will view our situation, it is when our own plan making has placed us in serious trouble. This knowledge, acquired from the study of such examples as God has given us in His dealing with the er rant David, will increase our faith in our divine Burden Bearer and arm us with the courage we need to lay all our troubles on Him. Although it is true that we still suffer the natural conse quences of our sin, as we turn to our infallible Problem Solver, we will be guided into the procedures we are to follow in God’s ways. Wise is the child of God who diligently studies God’s work ing with David and other Bible heroes in this light.