When God Gets our Attention

 2 Samuel 21-23; 1 Thessalonians 1 

“During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so, David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, ‘It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house, it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.’”

2 Samuel 21:1

God used famine to get the attention of Israel’s leadership so he could communicate to them the bloodguilt they had inherited from Saul’s treatment of the Gibeonites. David then engaged the Gibeonites with the offer of reparations so they in turn would bless Israel. This astounding story reminds us that God is just. He hears the cry of the afflicted. God uses our resources, the weather, and other means to get our attention. As we humble ourselves and seek Gods’ face, he will give us a way forward. God held David’s and Israel’s leadership accountable for a prior king’s behavior toward a defenseless minority. How we treat the foreigner, the alien, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow is noticed by the Lord. The death of unborn children and the abuse of children and women all grieve God. The Church is to be God’s people expressing his kingdom values and ways on earth. When God gets our attention, we, too, must seek his face and plead the blood of Christ for our nation’s sin.

In what ways is the Lord getting our attention today?

“…for your glory, Lord.”