Author: Beth Duncan

1 Samuel 30:3 When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
You may have heard the expression: “You know you’ve hit bottom when there is no where to go but up.” David is there. He conquered a giant, was anointed as (future) king, was relentlessly pursued by the current, crazed king who wanted to kill him, lost all hope and let despair whisper to his heart, defected to the enemy and served as a loyal servant for a year, was rejected by the rulers of the enemy as not being trustworthy because of the enemy status, was sent home, dejected, from the battlefront, and returned to said home only to find it had been burned to the ground and all his property and both his wives had been taken. That’s pretty far down. And then his men talk of stoning him because they blame him for their situation. Further down still.
1 Samuel 30:4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
For some, this might have proved to be the final straw. For a lesser man, it might have pushed him over the edge. And David definitely feels despair at his present circumstances, but some how, some way, God uses all of this to bring David to the end of himself, his strength, and when David gets there, squarely at the end of his own resources, he finally turns back to God and finds strength where it’s always been—in God. When he returns to God’s strength, finally things start to look up for him.
1 Samuel 30:6a David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for this scripture. Being at the bottom of that pit of despair, staring at the ruins of your life is an incredibly difficult place to be. Thank You for Your loving compassion, which can take our ashes and turn them into Your beauty. Help us never forget that You are the source of our strength. Draw us closer. Amen.
1 Samuel 30:6b …But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Have a blessed day

1 Samuel 29:6a So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army….”
When we first met David, he was getting ready to defeat Goliath, the Philistine, enemy of Israel. Now he has been loyal servant to the Philistines for a year. Let that sink in a minute. How did David go from champion of the Israelites to lackey of the enemy?
1 Samuel 29:6b “…From the day you came to me until today, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you.”
It would be pretty easy to pin it all on Saul, and Saul’s behavior definitely plays a role in the situation, but David is fully responsible for where he is right now. He took his eyes off of God. He told lies in his heart that led to despair, that led to his turning inward instead of to the LORD, that led him to flee, that led him to be a servant for the enemy. Now what?
1 Samuel 29:7 “Now turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for showing us how easily and quickly we can fall when we take our eyes off of You. Thank You for not giving up on David and not giving up on us. Help us to seek You, to trust You, to cling to You always. And when we do get distracted by the world and lose sight of You, bring us back to You quickly and safely. You are our refuge. Amen.
1 Samuel 29:8 “But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
Have a blessed day.

1 Samuel 28:5-6 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. Terror filled his heart. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
Way back in 1 Samuel 12:14-15, when God told the Israelites that He would give them the king they insisted on, He told them that if they and the king they so desperately wanted would fear, serve, and obey Him, all would still be well, BUT if they (and their king) rebelled against Him, “then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.”
1 Samuel 28:15a Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?…” 
We are seeing the fulfillment of that in this chapter. Saul, who started out with great promise, has moved so far away from God that God no longer answers Him because Saul has utterly ignored all God has told him to this point. Saul reaches out to Samuel from beyond the grave because he wants assurance about the upcoming battle with the Philistines, but the hand of the Lord is already against Saul, and he learns from Samuel that he and his sons will die in the battle and “…the LORD will give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines” (v19).
1 Samuel 28:15b “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me….”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the reminder that when we seek You earnestly and wholeheartedly, we will find You. Help us to come to You seeking Your will and not our own. Soften our hearts. Make them fertile ground for Your love. Amen.
1 Samuel 28:16-17 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has departed from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done what He predicted through me….”
Have a blessed day.

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.