5.26.9 "Stay in the Vine"

"Stay in the Vine"

2 Samuel 9:1- 11:27
John 15:1-27
Psalm 119:53-70
Proverbs 16:1-3


In Psalm 119, we get to see into the heart of David. He has such a passion for the word! "I am angry with those who spurn your commands. For these laws or yours have been my source of joy & singing through all these years of my earthly pilgrimage." (119:53-54) "I am firmly anchored in your laws" (61) "I obey your laws with all my heart." (69) "Anyone is my brother who fears and trusts the Lord." (63)

Take special note of 119:55. David says "I obey them even at night and keep my thoughts, O Lord, on you. What a blessing this has been to me -- to constantly obey."

Now look at the reading from 2 Sam 11. This is David's "big fall". We've heard about the story of Bathsheba many times. This story is tragic on so many levels.

2 Sam 11:2 says "One night he couldn't get to sleep and went for a stroll on the roof of the palace... he noticed a woman..." Then things go awry. Do you remember what we just read in 119:55? "I obey them even at night and keep my thoughts..." Compare that with "One night... he noticed a woman."

What a contrast between this chapter and Psalm 119. What happened? How could this be?

We "know" this stuff. We're thinking "David! How could you do this! Remember all the things God has done in your life?? How could this be!" In our piety, we could even chastise David... but who of us has written Psalm 119? What puts us beyond this ability to fail? What can keep us from from the same situation?

John 15:4-5 says, "Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can't produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me. Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can't do a thing."

FOR APART FROM ME YOU CAN'T DO A THING. What is it in our nature that makes it so easy for us to forget that?!

David is so connected to the Word as he's writing Psalm 119. He's desperate for it. Dependent on it. For all we know, he could have written it the week before his rooftop stroll. But in the "comfort" of his state, his discipline dies, and he operates separate from the vine of God's Word.

"...apart from me you can't do a thing." Were Jesus' words. We need to remember that! In John 15:2-3 He says, "He lops off every branch that doesn't produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you."

Are you beginning to see the importance of staying in God's word? Who of us is beyond this?

We used to have a dogwood bush. We planted it on the side hill near our dining room window. We are not gardeners, and we let that thing go. MAN, DID IT GROW! It was crazy! We hacked it way down, and it grew a bit more respectably. If we don't "prune" the flesh with God's word, we are DESTINED for trouble.

David's branch was getting a little out of hand. He was not being pruned "by means of the command" of scripture. The discipline to keep his mind on the things of God was gone. There was no longer truth to hold him back.

Remember how David tried to cover up his sin by getting Uriah to come back from the battle? The only problem was Uriah's discipline: Knowing what his purpose was, he would not relax within the freedom he was given. He slept on the steps. It's not like David didn't have this discipline at other times of his life. Look at Ps 119:59,60 "I thought about the wrong direction in which I was headed, and turned around and came running back to you."

There is no excuse to falling into sin. We can't blame anyone else. I find it interesting that in Ps 119: 61 David says, "Evil men have tried to drag me into sin, but I am firmly anchored to your laws." Sure, no one could drag him to sin, but on that night on the roof, he so easily walked into it.

Lord, you are the vine, I am grafted to you not out of obligation, but of desperation. Hold me to your Word. Keep your hand on me to constrain me to do right. To guard my thoughts. Guard my intentions. Guard my times of peace. Help me to acknowledge my inability to accomplish anything unless you hold my hand. Sustain me through your word. I need you more at this moment than I even realize.

Today's proverb says, "We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God's hands. We can always 'prove' that we are right, but is the Lord convinced? Commit your work to the Lord, then it will succeed." (Prov 16:1-3)

Stay in the Vine today! ... and tomorrow... and... There is no way we can truly comprehend how important this really is!



Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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