Month: July 2020

1 Samuel 26:8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear….”
A lesser man might have let Abishai have his way. This is the second time that the Lord delivered Saul to David in a manner that would allow Saul to be easily overpowered and killed. Abishai saw it as a gift from God, an easy way to get rid of a ruthless, crazy enemy. But David said no. 
1 Samuel 26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
My question is why. Why does God deliver Saul into David’s hands a second time if He does NOT want David to kill him (and He does not). What does David need to learn that this situation will help reinforce? Trust in God that He is who He says and will do what He promises? To see through insincere apologies from people like Saul? Proof that God is still with him even in difficult situations? I don’t know.
1 Samuel 26:10 “As surely as the LORD lives…the LORD Himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for David’s example of understanding and trusting Your will and Your plan. Help me to align myself so completely with You and Your will that even when I have doubts or confusion, I can clearly see Your path. Draw me closer. Amen.
1 Samuel 26:11 “But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”
Have a blessed day.

1 Samuel 25:21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.”
In the last chapter, Saul is delivered into David’s hands, and David humbles himself in the Lord, allowing God to work matters according to His plans, not David’s. But in this chapter, David is mad. Nabal has slighted him, and David vows his revenge by killing all the males by daylight. In the span of a chapter, David has forgotten that it’s not about him, it’s about God.
1 Samuel 25:22 “May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”
Commentary suggests David may have reacted this way because Nabal is an equal. If my life is any indication, I think he just reached a level of frustration that overflowed. I know I knock myself out in my roles—Christian, wife, mother, sister, teacher—and when my efforts are overlooked or ignored, especially when it happens in multiple areas in my life at once, I am apt to explode at the perceived injustice, to think, “How is it that I’m knocking myself out and nobody notices, nobody acknowledges?” Even thinking about it makes me frustrated and angry.
1 Samuel 25:26 “And now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, since the LORD has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands….”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for loving me enough to keep reminding me that this life, my work, the roles that I fulfill—none of it is about me. It’s about You. Help me to work for You, to rest in You, to be rewarded by You. Always. Help me to humble myself in Your strength. It’s not about me, Lord. It’s about You. Always. Help me never to lose sight of that truth. Amen.
1 Samuel 25:29 “Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God….”
Have a blessed day.

1 Samuel 24:3 [Saul] came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.
There are few times in life when one is as vulnerable as when attending to the call of nature. Saul has made David’s life a nightmare with his jealous, bitter rage. David was reduced to running for his life and hiding in caves. And now God delivers Saul to him. Saul is at his mercy. David’s men are encouraging him. But David has a heart for God. David has not given himself over to bitterness, anger, and jealousy. He didn’t seek revenge. He sought God.
1 Samuel 24:4 The men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when He said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
I have a tendency to allow myself to get caught up in anger and bitterness. It’s darkly consuming. It never ends well. David might have felt a momentary thrill of victory if he had killed Saul, but when the rush of anger faded, he would have realized the error of his actions. And it would have been way too late.
1 Samuel 24:10 “This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Anger and jealousy can take on a vengeful life of their own. Thank You for the God-centered humility that David shows in this chapter. Thank You that his humility isn’t human weakness but strength in You. Help me not to give myself over to anger and bitterness. Help me to seek Your face always. Give me strength. Draw me closer. Amen.
1 Samuel 24:19 “When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today.”
Have a blessed day.

1 Samuel 22:8 “Is that why you have conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me as he does today.”
Way back when I first met Saul, he put me in mind of Shakespeare’s Macbeth—brave and promising. But just like Macbeth, Saul let’s power go to his head. He loses whatever moral compass he might have had; he doesn’t seem to care about anyone other than himself. His life becomes so twistedly narcissistic that everything seems a personal attack and everyone who opposes him must die. This path is a sad and frightening descent into madness and is incredibly hard to witness.
1 Samuel 22:13 Saul said to [Ahimelek], “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”
David’s path is quite different. He definitely loses his way when his fear leads him to lie to Ahimelek, a lie that costs Ahimelek his life, but throughout these chapters, commentary points me to Palms that show David’s inner progression back to God, his submission to God even in his fear. 
1 Samuel 22:15 “Was that the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant…, for your servant knows nothing about this whole affair.” 
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for a clear picture of what happens when we ignore You and focus on ourselves (Saul’s decent into madness) and what happens when we turn our hearts back to You (David’s journey through his fear into obedience to You). Give us strength to walk the path You place us on. Draw us closer. Amen.
1 Samuel 22:16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.
Have a blessed day.

1 Samuel 20:2 Then David…went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he is trying to kill me?”
David knows that Jonathan loves the Lord. He also knows that he can trust Jonathan. (1 Samuel 18:1 speaks of an immediate bond between the two, a knitting together of souls, implying a bond closer than brothers.) In chapter 20, David seems to be checking himself through Jonathan, basically asking Jonathan to help him check his actions and motives—Did I do or say something to justify Saul’s behavior? Am I in the wrong here? Do I need to realign myself with God?
1 Samuel 20:3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes….Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”
How wonderful to have a friend you can trust, a friend who loves you enough to tell you hard truths if needed, a friend who loves God, who holds up God’s mirror of truth in your life. We all need people in our lives who love God first, whom we trust enough to ask hard questions about our actions and motives, and whom we trust enough to listen to what they have to say. 
1 Samuel 20:4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the example of godly friendship between David and Jonathan. Help us to seek out people in our lives who will hold up Your mirror of love and truth for us as we try to make sense of this world. Draw us closer. Amen.
1 Samuel 20:13 “But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace.”
Have a blessed day.

1 Samuel 18:12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul.
David is a man after God’s own heart. It is his utmost priority. All that he does is for the LORD. He has the mindset I strive to emulate. Commentary put it this way: “I’m doing things for the LORD. I love the LORD, and my reward is from Him.” This mindset allows him to stay focused and stay humble. He doesn’t seek fame, and it doesn’t go to his head when it finds him, because he is focused on the LORD.
1 Samuel 18:13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns.
I don’t think that’s the default hardwire for humans. We work our butts off for ourselves, so that someone will recognize and reward our hard work. But that can lead to huge egos (if that hard work is recognized and rewarded) or bitterness and anger (if we feel we are working so hard and nobody cares or recognizes it). 
1 Samuel 18:14 In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for showing us a better way than working for ourselves for our own recognition. I want off of the worldly roller coaster of working for myself, hoping someone notices and rewards my hard work. I want a heart like David’s, a heart that loves You above all else, a heart that works for You and not for recognition or praise, a heart that understands that You see and reward those who stay focused on You—Your will, Your way, Your love and grace and mercy. Help me, Lord. Draw me closer. Amen.
1 Samuel 18:15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.
Have a blessed day.