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Monday
The First
Lesson
2 Samuel 16:23-17:14
23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those
days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God: so was
all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out
twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David
this night:
2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed,
and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him
shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom
thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be
in peace.
4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of
Israel.
5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let
us hear likewise what he saith.
6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him,
saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do
after his saying? if not; speak thou.
7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath
given is not good at this time.
8 For,
said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be
mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed
of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and
will not lodge with the people.
9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place:
and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at
the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter
among the people that follow Absalom.
10 And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of
a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father
is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.
11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered
unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by
the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own
person.
12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be
found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground:
and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not
be left so much as one.
13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel
bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river,
until there be not one small stone found there.
14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of
Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.
For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel,
to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
1st Lesson Questions -
Have I ever been "chafed" in the mind, "as a bear robbed of her whelps"? (V. 8) Why? Was Hushai's plan beneficial to David? How so? RESOLVE.
The Second
Lesson
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that
ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in
the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
4 But
in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in
much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings,
in fastings;
6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by
the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as
deceivers, and yet true;
9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live;
as chastened, and not killed;
10 As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many
rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
2nd Lesson Questions -
This passage describes what the apostolic ministry faced in Paul's day. What's changed from his time to ours? What are today's afflictions, necessities, distresses, stripes, et al which the ministry must endure? (V. 4,5) RESOLVE.