Archive for the ‘1 Samuel’ Category
1 Sam 28-31, Psalm 18
Comments (5)- Saul and the Witch of Endor
- Achish Sends David Back
- Saul takes his life
When we left off Chapter 27 (go back and read from verse 8) David was attacking the Gershuritesm Girzites and Amalekites. Achish, who was a King of an enemy territory said “who are you killing” and David lied. He lied and said he was killing tribes of Israel to have favor with this man. Well, it worked.
So Saul so a fortuneteller type of woman and in a vision he saw Samuel. Samuel said:
The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.”
Ouch. Bad news for Saul. SO David next meeting with the Philistines wasn’t so good, they didn’t trust him as Achish did and sent him on his way. I don’t blame them for that. David finally seeks a word from the Lord afterthat realizes his camp was raided and the Lord brings back his family to him. PTL!
When David had inquired to the Egyptian servant David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.” This was a Hebrew law for him to follow. In Deuteronomy 23:15 it states:
If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.
And David being the good person starts an ordinance “All will share alike”. I know when you read that it sounds great, but would that work today? Heck no! Have you ever seen the movie Finding Nemo? The seagulls, when they see the 2 fish on the dock. We are the Seagulls….”Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine….” And if you disagree your crazy, let the government try to “distribute the wealth more evenly…ha.
So Saul dies and so do his sons just like the vision had said. (that saddened me…i liked Jonathon) It saddened me to see all this fighting still going on, and it still is today. The Israelites should have killed them all in an act of judgement from the Lord years ago, and when that didn’t happen it should have ended many times since. The Philistines offered Goliath to end this battle, and the Philistines never hold their peace promises. If you watch the news today, when you see someone make a Peace offering to Israel, know that even though they say it is, the enemy will always keep it temporary. They will always go back on their treaty. Since the beginning of time.
Psalm 18: A song of Thanks!
As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
Day 108 Psalm 17, 35, 54, 63
Saturday is a great time to read a few Psalms. Go outside and lay in the grass or on a blanket and just soak it in. Read them from your heart to His ears. Mean it when you say it. Desire to be that close with him.
Psalm 17: A few versus caught my eye, not becasue they spoke to me but becasue I had heard them before. Here is one of them
Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,
though you test me, you will find nothing;
I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. (V3)
Did you think of poor Job. (Wow, that seems like forever ago!)
But that you examine him every morning
and test him every moment? (Job 7:18)he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
But my favorite verse in this Psalm was
O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,
from men of this world whose reward is in this life.
Psalm 35 Seems harsh right?I read these Psalms in different ways sometimes. Sometimes I think of all the people in the world that affect me and my household from keeping peace in my home. Sometimes I think of sins that are all around us that are just evil, like TV producers, radio shows, books that pollute my children. In this case I actually thought of the author, David. This is how upset he was. He is a good man who is dealing with all this crap. And yet when the time comes twice when he can just take the situation into his own hands he doesn’t! He leaves it to the Lord. Even in verse 13 he admits his prayers seem unanswered…and he still waits on the Lords time.
Psalm 54This Psalm was written when the Ziphites had tattled on where David was hiding in chapter 23. Man, ever feel like nothing is going your way? That the whole world is against you but that you are a good person? David took his anger straight to the Lord. If we desire Justice on people who wrong us, this is exactly what we need to do…talk to the Lord about it! (and that’s it). Todd and I were sued once wrongly. Very wrongly. And I will be honest. This is excatly how I felt. I burned inside for justice. A long story short, it was cheaper to settle than it would have been to win the case. (made me even more angry) At that point I gave it to the Lord for justice.
Psalm 63: We have been reading the Bible and that will make us feel closer to God. He is filling us up with him. Making us feel peaceful, maybe in the most inopportune time in our life. Anyone who has a relationship with the Lord will love this Psalm. My favorite verse is
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you
Day 107: 1 Sam 25-27
Now Samuel Died. Oh how sad. Samuel has been with us from the time his mother Hannah prayed for him. He was given wisdom from the Lord as a boy. He was a leader, a prophet, he obeyed the Lord ever so carefully and he anointed the first 2 kings, Saul and David. Unfortunately he won’t get to see David reign.
It was interesting to read the Psalms so we knew really what David was going through. And most of the Psalms were a prayer to God about Him searching the hearts of man and that He take justice into His hands. A lot of the Psalms were about giving his future into the Lord’s hands.
The only other thing I noted was Saul. I could not help but to think how one track minded he had become. Here the Lord has anointed him the first king, just as the people had requested. He could have been great and been an example for the people to the Lord. Instead, he became obsessed with his “enemy” (or so he thought David was) I just can’t help but to think about how much stuff we concentrate on that does not matter.
Am I Saul or David? Truly something to think about. I need a thought check, a heart check, an action check, and a desire check of myself after reading this. Who in these stories am I more like?
Need a schedule?
Ok people…when I actually open my Bible to read I feel like we have actually made a dent! Feels good to see that my bookmark is actually moving! But sad because we are almost 1/3 done on this journey already together.
Here is the deal: This weekend we will be wrapping up 1 Samuel and a few of David’s Psalms. Starting next week we will be flipping between 2 Samuel, Chronicles and Psalms. Exciting! I am finding it to be really cool to read the Psalms David wrote when they occurred because through 1 Sam I think for a moment I just see him going here and then there and not really thinking about him as a real person with real emotions and thoughts and struggles. We need to relate to David the way God relates to us. And the Psalms are a way to do that.
So next week I thought you might need a fresh Schedule to print…because your gonna need it. Click here for a newly printesd schedule.
Day 104 1 Sam 21-24
David goes to Nob. So what? Nob is the priestly city in Benjamin territory. Saul is a Benjaminite.
The bread they are speaking of is the 12 loaves that are out on that gold table in the tabernacle representing the 12 tribes, that are only supposed to be eaten by the priest. Kudos to the priest for going outside their legalists comfort zone. However, I must say, this whole Nob thing really saddened me. It was not the “helping David” that cost them their lives. It goes back to the lie David told. His lie to help himself actually caused others to get hurt.
At first when I was reading that David left his family in the hands of the King of Moab I was like “what are you nuts!” but I forget where David came from. His mom is Ruth, the Moabite. Even though we don’t always understand God’s ways, He does. See who we got from this line of family, David.
As far as the rest of the story I really hope it was a personal read for you that the Lord was able to speak directly to you on a personal level. HE will use stories like to this reveal stuff about ourselves that we need changed. Or He will use a story like this to prepare us for an upcoming event that the Lord knows we will be faced with. For whatever the reason let David sparing Saul be a bold story that you need in your armor.
I don’t share much about me on this blog. I am certain you are thankful for that. But know that this story touched the core of me. Three weeks ago a “powerful” ruler set out to destroy us. Taking away a man’s way of earning a living is the modern day destroy sometimes. The evil thoughts one has when this is happening is indescribable. He lives 900 miles away while all this is happening. To then get word a week later of a Cancer in his family, and that he will need to visit us in Hendersonville to deal with in order to save her. And the burden is on us to research and care for them and his family. I am at Chapter 24.
Pray the Psalms be a strength for me to pull from this week.
Day 103: 1 Sam 18-20 and Psalm 11 and 59
Do you remember reading Joshua. Joshua is about walking by faith and obedience. We now are reading about young David, a man after God’s own heart and that is exactly what he is doing. A verse caught my eye, actually a word.
Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully (18:5)
Success according to the Lord means to be Wise, and prudent, to achieve a favorable outcome .
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9)
In a 3 chapter read about how jealousy ruined a once good and humble man, I confess I read about the love between Jonathon and David with jealousy. The love they have for each other is the love we are supposed to have for all of us. Could you imagine a world filled with that love? I want to be loved like that and I want to love another like that. Paul says in Galatians 5:14
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Psalms. Did you ever write anything? a love letter? a e-mail? a poem? a note to your child? It’s weird how we can say in writing what we sometimes can’t get the words to our lips. That is what I think of when I read a Psalm. It is the core of our thoughts. What we cannot always bring to our lips. David has written 73 Psalms and probably even authored some of the anonymous ones too. Read them as closely as you would read a letter you got in the mail from a loved one.
Psalms are written as a Worship also. I went to church twice this weekend. One of the times was for the message, the other was for the music. The music at my church this weekend was a complete and raw sense of Worship for me. The words in the song were what I wanted to say but couldn’t think of the words myself.
Psalm 11: is a Declaration of Faith! No matter what the danger, if we trust in God there is no need to panic!
Psalm 59: Prayer for protection and punishment: Wow.
Day 102 1 Sam 15-17
First and foremost. Happy Easter. A very fitting read today. He who has God on their side will overcome the enemy. These chapter are very familiar to most of us but maybe we never read them verse by verse like this. I know this story well because it is my favorite Veggie Tale cartoon. The Giant Pickle. What an awesome lesson not just for children but for all of us. So rather than talk about the story of Saul and the David and Goliath story, I will just point out some of the behind the scenes stuff and then go finish cooking my Easter Feast to the Lord.
Destroy Everything: (15:3) How many times do we fail at this? (cut out the sin in our lives…and we always leave just enough to be disobedient)
Kenites (15:6) Who are they? They are part of the Midianites. Moses father-in-law Jethro was a Midianite who helped him.
Amalekites(King Agag) 15:7: They were guerrilla terrorists, the first group to attack the Israelites. Evidently their form of war was on the weak and very cruel. Disgusting people they were. Their name in Hebrew is “Valley dwellers” and they come from a family line started between one of Esau’s descendants and his concubine. uggg. Click here for Amalek
Samuel’s reply in Chapter 15 :
But Samuel replied:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
How does God want us to take Samuel’s words on this side of Easter?
“You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mark 12:32.33)
1 Sam 16:1 “I am sending you Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. (feel free to rewrite king as KING!..Cause there is more to this verse)
Favorite verse of the read: The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Let’s take a minute to look at our heart for things not the things we do to please the Lord.
David is anointed secretly: This had to be done at this time, David was being ‘prepared’ by God. Saul, if he had known would have killed him.
Saul’s played the harp (16:23) Our spiritual gifts are a tool for God to use for His purposes. Playing the harp was a gift from the Lord. Look how it was used and the big picture here!
Last, How much armor were each of them wearing? Goliath: His armour was 125 pounds, his spear 15 pounds, David: Priceless.
David was wearing God’s armour. Ephesians 6:10-20
Day 101 1 Sam 13-14
Back in Deuteronomy 12 The Lord is specific about how an offering and where an offering to the Lord is made. For Saul to be ritualistic and to make an offering himself (like his pagan neighbors do) is like going to church to get to Heaven. A deed. So Saul, on his time line, not God’s make an unauthorized sacrifice, no priest attended. Idiot., Although this was not his first mistake. This read started off with Saul’s son defeating the Philistines in Verse 1 and in 4 Saul takes the credit for it. Uh chummm…anybody want to stop and recognize who really fights the winning battles? Our Lord.
(when Saul stayed back to let others fight…did anyone write Chicken in their Bible?)
As for the rest of the reading it was just really really cool that verse by verse I understand all that is happening. For years I would read a paragraph and understand the ‘Sum” of all of them, but now I can pick almost any verse and explain it to my children when they are going learn this. I know WHO is fighting (and when the scripture says the tribe name I usually write the family name because I know me…I will forget. For example at the end of 14 Moab and Ammonites (is Lot’s family) and Edom (wow…remember Esau).
I am sure all of you when reading they were eating the animal with blood still in them were like. “Oh no you di’idn’t!” That was repeated over and over from when Noah got off the Ark to the camp Leviticus. Uhhhh, I live a life of hearing things repeated to stay away from and I am sure God is like “Patricia Ann!! I have told you 10 times….
Anyway, tomorrow is Easter and this reading of the Bible has brought a new light to the Resurrection for me. I see so clearly that we greatly needed a Savior. I see so clearly that I greatly needed a Savior. No man except the Son of God can lead us. I am also very very thankful that God created me to be born on this side of the Cross.
Day 100!!! 1 Sam 9-12
Day 100. Listen, you have to know how big God is! I start everything and don’t stick to anything. I have project A.D.D. I love to start them and then BAM I cold dead stop. I don’t even last 4 hours on a diet! So for me to still be doing this JUST as strong as day 1 as day 100 is just God’s way of confirming that it was my time to read the Bible thru…because it is only with His power that I could be doing this.
Saul was a Benjamite. Wow, we ended the book of judges with the Benjamites ‘almost’ being wiped completely out. God knew then, that of that line we would begin our Monarchy and he gave them wives to continue their line. Saul here is a humble man (so far), and through Divine Appointment Saul is made king. Saul’s kingship really started on the right path. He wrote down his duties and “deposited” them before the Lord. None of the pagan kings were ‘under’ a god, they were the god.
In Chapter 11we have this thing happening between the Ammonites (booooo, descendants from Lot) and the men Jabesh Gilead. Why did the Ammonites pick them to pick on? Because they were sure that Israel would Never come to their rescue. Recall back to the end of Judges, when they called a war by pony expressing the body parts of that poor raped woman. One tribe did not show.
Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there. (Judges 21:8-9)
The book of Judges ended with judgement on the the Benjaminites. And it was done and handled. So the Ammonites were wrong…we did come to their rescue.
Chapter 12 This chapter is PACKED. If you didn’t get a chance to read or review the last few books, it is all right here in 1 small chapter. Samuel’s farwell speech, like all the greats that have been “speeched before ” always reminded them of where God had brought us from. Samuel reminds them of their prosperous times but more importantly of the times they FORGET about God. And then there it is…the ending. At the end of every Farewell Speech we get our “choice phrase” we are told to pick a path. (this is when my heart starts to beat really hard). The If’s…
Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God-good! But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. (14-15)
Day 99 1 Sam 4-8
I had an awesome day at the park and had an opportunity to read these chapters. I felt like I was reading a novel, I was talking to the characters “you took the ark?? what are you a moron!” God was very clear about the ark only being visited on the Day of Atonement by the High Priest (Eli) yet his 2 sons had some guts huh!
A prophecy statement made back in chapter 2 was fulfilled:
‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always
Do you remember back at the end of Judges 16 when they talked about their god ‘Dagon’, at the death of Samson, and I said we will talk about it again. Dagon was the chief god for the Philistines. See, not believing in one God is a huge deal because it takes the control and power back into our hands. We can make and choose a god if the one we are worshipping isn’t working to our benefit. Oh How fun is God, he crumbles that idol just to show Himself!
But these Philistines realized that God is powerful when the chips are down! (oh we need to search our hearts on that one! When we are down how we look up to Him, but when we are winning the battles, God is so easy to forget) The Philistines even “tested” the strength of our God by harnessing up a new mommy cow. Any of you a mom? Nothing separates us from our new babies. Our instincts are strong. But God “passed” their test not to allow himself to be tested BUT to show He is God.
SO Samuel says something that really caught my eye (and my heart)
“If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
Chapter 8. Israel asks for a King. Oh no. It wasn’t the asking of the the king that was wrong. God even said back in Deuteronomy I will give you a king, it was the reason why they wanted it that was wrong. So then the Lord has Samuel give them a warning of what would come if they truly had a king at this time and they still proceed. Let me dummy down….If I told you that winning the Lottery would only cause you grief and hard ache, and that the money would only bring trouble into your life…do you still want to win the Lottery? What is your faith in? God or Money? (we all know you cannot serve two Masters….so let your eye skim back up to that last scripture I pasted….”serve him only”.
