Shalom,


Proverbs 16:20:


20 He who deals wisely and heeds [God's] Word and counsel shall find good, and whoever leans on, trusts in, and is confident in the LORD -- happy, blessed, and fortunate is he.


The word "good" above is the Hebrew word, "towb". It means:  good in the widest sense; beautiful, best, bountiful, good, excellent, happiness, prosperity, wealth, welfare. Every good thing that God our Father has, He has given us. The key to accessing these things in our lives is found within His Word! Dig in and find the treasure that is yours as a born again child of the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible! What in the world would YOU let hold you back?


Galatians 5:6 says this:


6 For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision  nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.


It is NOT keeping the Law, or even the 10 commandments, that pleases the Father! He is pleased when we operate in faith (Hebrews 11:6)! And this faith will ONLY operate when we walk in love! Jesus said that their were 2 commandments that covered the entire Law and the Prophets! Matthew 22:37-40:


37 And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it. you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.


Walking in the love of God, which means treating every person the way God treats you (as being precious and valuable), will cause your faith to work and produce. THIS will bring glory to God and cause people to want to know more about the great God that YOU serve! AMEN! Do you remember this older Hillsong song called "What The Love Of God Can Do"?

In 2 Samuel l9-20 we see David being inconsolable because of the death of Absalom, even though his people had won a great victory for him! I really like this explanation from the Bible Exposition Dictionary: Old Testament:



It was very unlike David to be insensitive to the sacrifices his men made as they served him (see 23:13-17; 1 Sam 30:21-30), but that day he was so obsessed with the death of Absalom that he could think of nothing else. By isolating himself from his men, the king turned a military victory into an emotional defeat. David was not only a great warrior but also a deeply emotional poet and musician, a man who could go from the depths of despair into the heights of glory while writing one psalm. David had experienced a difficult time after the death of Amnon (13:37-39), and the death of his favorite son Absalom left him inconsolable. David's attitude puzzled his followers, who saw Absalom as a liar, a murderer, a traitor, and a rebel.

Certainly we expect a father to grieve over the tragic death of a son and over-look the son's mistakes and sins. But leaders must still lead, even if their hearts are broken; that's one of the prices that leaders must pay. On October 10, 1950, Sir Winston Churchill was introduced at the University of Copenhagen as "the architect of victory" in World War II. Churchill replied: "I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside." David the father forgot that he was also David the king and that he still had his crown because his brave soldiers put the good of the nation ahead of their own personal interests.

What Joab said to David woke him up and he set about on a course of forgiveness for all those involved so that the nation could heal and move on. Many very complex situations can be remedied with  grace and mercy! Remember the commandment of Jesus found in Romans 12:18:


18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.


This is not speaking of national peace from war, but of personal peace between people. Refuse to hold anything against anyone! Remember that God has said that vengeance is HIS (Romans 12:19)! We can forgive, because God Himself has our back! AMEN!


Shalom in Him!