What extent would you seek to correct a wrong deed that you committed? Would you be willing to work to the same extent if the deed was committed by someone else such as a close friend, child, or spouse? How would you react if you are wronged and you did nothing but good to help the offender? Could you forgive and forget? Could you forgive if someone else made amends? 1 Samuel chapter tells the story of David, Nabal, and Abigail where help is rendered, offense is given, peace is restored, and God displays His faithfulness. Continue Reading…
Archive - May, 2010
Abigail’s insightfulness secures her legacy: 1 Samuel 25 and 26
Waiting for deliverance from God refines character: 1 Samuel 23 and 24
How often do you want to take revenge into your own hands because of the wrongs that you have faced? Do you ever feel that when you seek to do what is true and good you only find yourself in moretrials, tribulation, and problems? Does life teeter on a scale of equality and fairness that always need to be balanced out if situations do not seem fair? In 1 Samuel 23 and 24 David seeks to honor God in his choices and actions as he faces problems by seeking out what God would want him to do even if it was contrary to the natural inclination of men. Continue Reading…
Calamity ensues and God’s sovereignty endures: 1 Samuel 21 and 22
How do you live with the actions and choices made throughout your life? Are we to live in constant fear of what we do in life? How can we have confidence to press on in difficult times? Did these thoughts of doubt and fear go through David’s mind after the wicked deeds of Saul in 1 Samuel 22? In 1 Samuel 21 David has departed from Jonathan after he learned with certainty that Saul was desiring to kill him. David’s flight from Saul leads him to Nob where Ahimelech the priest lived and served the Lord. Continue Reading…
Faith, purpose, trust, and friendship: 1 Samuel 19 and 20
What would you do if you knew that God was calling you to do a great work but the time was not right because there was an insurmountable barrier that God needed to move before you could do anything? This is the situation that faces David in 1 Samuel because he has been anointed by Samuel as the next king of Israel but he cannot take possession of the throne because Saul was still king. Could David have done anything through his own strength to resolve the problem of his not inheriting the throne immediately? David did the most daring thing he could by resting in God’s promise and providence as he awaited for his rule of Israel to begin. There are moments in my life that I wait just as David did for God to fulfill his promise and the temptation to fulfill my needs of through my own strength is ever present. Resting in God is difficult because we are giving up authority to God trusting that He knows exactly what we need. Continue Reading…
David fights Goliath as a jealous Saul looks on in 1 Samuel 17 and 18
Is it easy to become too familiar with stories in the Bible causing us to not reread them to discover the truths they hold. In 1 Samuel 17 the story of David fighting Goliath is retold but it was easy for me to want to read the story with less attention to detail because I know the story? The story of God using a small shepherd by to kill the champion of the Philistines exemplifies God using strength found in weakness to bring down the powerful but what else is conveyed in the story of David and Goliath? What were the thoughts and feelings of the men in the army of Israel as they were facing Goliath? What changes are evident in Saul’s leadership of the people? Did Saul’s lack of dependance upon God transfer into the men he led causing them to become fearful? Continue Reading…
Many questions answered by God’s sovereignty: 1 Samuel 15 and 16
How are we to look upon failure in light of Saul’s kingship over Israel? What is God rejecting in Saul? Can we ever fail completely before God? Since God chose Saul as king over Israel didn’t he already know that Saul wouldn’t be a faithful king? Is Saul’s kingship an illustration of how apart from Jesus Christ we are unable to follow God? What traits did Saul exhibit that led to his turning aside from God? What does Saul’s failure mean for me today? How do I reject God as Saul did by choosing my own way over the way that God desires for me? How can I guard my heart from turning aside from God? The reading of 1 Samuel chapter 15 caused me to ask a lot of questions about who God is and His sovereignty. It is easy to look at the story of Saul’s kingship and think that he was cheated out of ruling Israel. The choice I make on a daily basis to either follow God’s commands or seek my own glory and way was the same choice that was faced by Saul when he was king over Israel. Saul chose to seek out his own way apart from God. I believe that God is sovereign and whatever He chooses to do is wholly right so when I see that the kingdom was taken away from Saul I can trust that God did it for His purpose and glory. Continue Reading…
Trust and dependance develop by following God: 1 Samuel 13 and 14
There is a distinct change that has takes place between 1 Samuel chapters 12 and 13. The story that concluded in chapter 12 was the start of Saul’s reign where Samuel was telling the Israelites of their disobedience against God by seeking a king to rule over them and at the beginning of chapter 13 we are told Saul was thirty years old when he became king, he reigned for thirty two years, and a war with the Philistines has been ongoing. How much time passed between the events of chapter 12 and 13? Why do we jump to this point in the reign of Saul? What happens in Saul’s reign that makes this time noteworthy? Continue Reading…
One person devoted to God will make a difference: 1 Samuel 11 and 12
How long will the people of Israel stray away from God and not turn to Him for their needs? How often do I stray from God’s desire for my life? This journey that the Israelites have taken mirrors my journey as a christian because I have moments when I am fully focused on God where I have gleaned great truths from Scripture, there are other moments when the flesh within me is raging, seeking to make me succumb to wickedness, and there are moments where I feel lost wondering when I will be delivered. Continue Reading…
God’s sovereignty displayed in the refinement of life: 1 Samuel 9 and 10
What would you do if you were walking down the street and someone came up to you and said that you were now the president? Would you take them seriously? I would think the person was crazy. In 1 Samuel 9 and 10 we are introduced to a Benjamite named Saul who is from the smallest tribe of Israel, and his family was the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul will be transformed from a man of no renown to a man lifted up and blessed by God to lead the Israelites as their king. Continue Reading…
Jesus Christ is the only hope for today and forever: 1 Samuel 7 and 8
“If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3 NASB Look at the language that Samuel uses to speak to the Israelites. Is the deliverance from God something conditional that needs the positive response of the Israelites before it will come to pass? Continue Reading…
