Strive to Be a Man
(1Kgs 2:1ampsim12)
The word man in verse 2 has a different meaning from what we usually take it as. For example, Joab, a war hero known as a real man, in reality, ended his life as a coward. What matters is our last moment. 1Kings chapter 2 starts with David giving a charge to Solomon before he passes away. David advises Solomon to be strong and show himself a man in order to go back to the Fathers bosom. How can we be a spiritual man?
1. We need to abide by Gods command. As David said before he died 'I am about to go the way of all the earth,' which means theres no special life on earth. A spiritual man should accept this. He also told his son to strive to keep Gods commands voluntarily and walk in His ways every day(v3). Thus a spiritual mans life is to meditate on the Word, obey it and apply it. God promised that we will prosper if we obey the Lord Almighty and take his cross as our road in this evil and adulterous world. God gave us this order to make us prosper. Theres nothing in the world as great as this order in our life training for heavenly citizenship. The greatest example is Davids prosperity after passing through his 15 training courses, which made him a forefather of Jesus Christ. Compared to Davids, Solomons success, shining splendidly in the world, was so poor that he might have failed to enter the heavenly kingdom because of his wealth and honor. Unlike Solomon, Davids life was full of tears, troubles, and sorrow. In 2 Samuel 7, God revealed to him that his successor would be Solomon. But it was not easy for David to recognize his spiritual heir as it was with Jacob in Genesis. David confirmed Solomon to be his spiritual heir, whom he sired through Bathseba, not Adonijah the handsome prince, doing it just right before he died. Thus God fulfilled what he said in verse 4, that Christ will come through Davids genealogy. This is the true prosperity of a spiritual man. When we are ready to recognize our spiritual heir, we can carry out our mission well. A spiritual man is able to transcend even death through his faith. Would our most blessed will be a charge like Davids, which urges our child to keep Gods command?
2. We need to throw away our personal feelings and selfishness. Davids will now focused on his political statement. A spiritual person is strong in detail. Although Joab was faithful to David, he was not necessarily so in Gods kingdom. He killed people out of his own interest and feelings, not for the heavenly kingdom. So David tells Solomon to call Joab to account for the innocent blood he shed. No matter how resolute David was, he had a few people around him that he couldnt cut off easily. So he gave his charge to Solomon not because he had wisdom but because he relied on God, the provider of wisdom. We need to focus not only on visible capability but on faith, the invisible capacity. According to Henry Nouwen, the greatest violence to the handicapped is doing everything on behalf of them because they are powerless. Helping is in reality no help to them. The best help is living with them. Likewise, the best gift for our children is living with them in our married life. To be a spiritual man, we need to throw away our personal feelings. Yet we all chase our own interests. The same applies to our spiritual life. Sometimes someone elses application doesnt work in our life because weve just copied them. The best application is to forget about what weve done. Power belongs to the Lord. All we need to do is just to obey Him. The key to a true spiritual man is not remembering what weve done. A true spiritual man responds to the Word regardless of the pain that follows our application of the Word.
3. We need to reward or punish a person according to his merit or fault. David told Solomon to show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead, who helped David when he was in trouble. We should remember those who helped us when we were in need. The sons of Barzillai helped David, recognizing him as Gods selected one regardless of his appearance. On the contrary, Shimei, however, cursed David when he fell to ruin but later asked for his forgiveness. Later David told his son not to consider him innocent (v 9). In a sound Christian community, disciplinary action is inevitable. Shimei could be a faithful man in his own way, but he interpreted Gods voice as he pleased, unable to lay down his desire for what he wanted to possess. In contrast, David, who committed adultery, accepted Nathans warning as Gods mercy and grace. Thats why he was able to have sympathy for his peoples suffering and could lead them. The more spiritual sensitivity we have on our sins, the more successfully we become a spiritual man and enjoy prosperity. Those who dont know themselves cant be real spiritual men. David forgave Shimei and put him at Solomons disposal. But Shimei didnt repent of his sins. Forgiveness is one thing and judgment is another. Therefore a disciplinary action should be done on the basis of right cause. A real spiritual man is a person who doesnt exercise his power even though he has authority. We need to cut off the crooked Joab and the selfish Shmei within us. We also need to meditate on the Barzillai within us and keep activating him. Theres something that looks innocent within us but in reality is guilty.
Last week we had a special prayer gathering for KSAT applicants, entitled Repent if you pass and thank God if you fail! Many of the applicants in our church were the children of deacons or deaconess devoted to saving others, using their trial caused by their problem child as a healing herb. The applicants issues were parents divorce, depression, juvenile delinquency, premarital pregnancy, theft, alcoholism, obsessive friendship etc. Out of 213 grade 12 students of Hwimoon and Pangyo Church, 180 took the exam. 450 applicants and their parents attended the prayer meeting. Most of the test takers were present. Testimony was disbelieved by a student who failed his SNU exam. I prayed really hard for the prosperity of the weak and poor young students for the first and last time. The prayer meeting reminded us of the lyric 'May God bless my song to raise a bruised soul and call me a faithful servant!' Those young people took the trouble to make their parents spiritual men. May God bless the parents, who devoted themselves to saving others despite their trials for 15 years! May God bless their children, who stick to our church despite their trials!
I am about to go the way of all the earth,' he said. 'So be strong, show yourself a man, (1Kgs 2: 2)
