God’s Protection

1st Samuel 29

God saves David from a big mistake that would have cost him being king. David was lined up with the Philistines ready to go to war with Israel. David was going to war against his fellow man. The leaders of the Philistines saw David and were scared because they thought he might turn against them and kill them. We do not know what David would have done because he did not fight against the Israelites when Achish thought he was doing that already.

David departed from the battle line with his men and the chapter ends with that. The truth is God knew what he was doing because he was protecting David from a mistake that would have been devastating. God took him out of a situation that he might have gone into. God does the same thing with us. He allows us to be brought out of a situation for our protection and sometimes allows us to try and withstand it on our own.  God loves us a lot. He wants us to be protected. When we are in fellowship with God we can know were to go and what to do. When we are not that is when we most likely will make stupid decisions.

En-dor

1st Samuel 28

In the movie Star War: Return of the Jed the forrest moon planet in it was called Endor. It was home to the Ewoks. Now obviously this may show a little of my nerdyness but the reason why I bring this up is because En-dor gets brought up in this chapter and that is the only reason, there really is no connection. In this chapter we see just how far off Saul went in the deep zone. David is mentioned only in the first part but then we go and focus on Saul.

David was still in the land of the Philistines and serving Achish and now the Philistines were going to war against Israel. Interesting that David was now in a bind. 

Saul Seeks Help

Now Saul was in a bind not knowing what to do. He then realizes that he can turn to a witch to solve his problems. During this time there were mediums or witches and they were removed from the land. This was the practice of the surrounding nations to try to speak to spirits or the dead. This is something that God specifically spoke to Israel to not to do (Lev. 19:31). Saul had already disobeyed God by not listening to wait for Samuel and the sacrifice. He disobeyed God when he did not destroy the Amalekites when he was told to. He went to try to find help and he asked this woman to speak to the dead and more specifically to Samuel. 

The interesting thing was that she did and Samuel was there and speaking to Saul. Many people wonder about this particular passage and think about how could this happen. What we can see is that God allowed this to happen to speak to Saul. Saul needed to realize that he disobeyed God and God had taken the kingdom away from him. In this chapter we see that Saul will die in battle and so will his son, Jonathan. 

Tough News

Saul fell once he heard the news and did not want to eat or do anything. He realized the truth that was spoken a few chapters ago was true. I do not know if you you think about this but I wonder what would have happened if Saul would have repented and realized that he was in the wrong. In verse 15 we see that Saul is blaming God for not answering him but the truth is it was because of Saul. 

We have tough news too. In Romans 6:23 says that because of sin we receive death. If we stopped there that news would be tough. We would think, well how can I get past this point. All I have to hope for is hell and eternal death. That is very tough news. But it does not end there.  It continues by saying but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. He looks at our wretchedness and loves us and takes it away. The news may sound tough but it does not end there. It ends with hope and joy and life everlasting. Take hold of the hope that you have or can have. Grab hold of Jesus Christ the redeemer of lives. Do not forsake his doing and his salvation.

1st Samuel 27

The Bible is very honest with the people God uses. They have good times and they have bad times. They do the right thing and they do the bad thing. They show that they can overcome evil and how they can give into to evil. With our story and history of David we now see how he has done so well by clinging to the Lord. He killed the giant that everyone was afraid of, he did not take revenge on the king of Israel. He trusted in the Lord when he lived with his band of men in the wilderness. In this chapter we see some of David’s flaws.

I am Tired (vs 1)

David from his heart even said he would die from the hand of Saul. He was tired of being chased and instead of praying to God for strength to carry on, he decided that it would be best for him and his men to leave town and country and live with the Philistines. This may not seem that bad at first but what happens is we see some of the flaws of David coming out. This was not the best move for the soon to be king. 

I have been tired before and usually when we are tired is when we make very poor decisions. We know he was tired and being pursued and living in the wilderness. I know I would be sick and tired of that for some time. 

Downfall 

In verses 8 and 9 we see David battling the enemies of the Philistines. He was truly being a servant of Achish. He lied about who was going to battle with. Achish, the Philistine thought that David was attacking the people of Judah and David truly was not but lied about it. David was successful in this area as he was a gifted leader in battle. The truth is though the way David went about it was by being unfaithful. The truth is that Jesus has never let me or you down. He remained faithful even when it was the hardest to. He stuck it out. We are not perfect and yet he still remained faithful. He remained faithful to die for us even when we are faithless.  Jesus is my rock and my strength.

David lost faith in God who was his deliverer. David put trust in himself and his own actions. David will soon learn his mistake and turn back to the Lord.

Put your trust in Jesus

John 14:6 tells us to trust in the truth which is Jesus and he is our savior. I know I have done many foolish things before and have put my trust in myself and made stupid decisions. I need to realize that Jesus is my hope and Jesus is my answer. He is the way, truth, and life. No one can go to the father except through Him.

That’s What Friends Are For

1st Samuel 18

It is nice having good friends. God intended for us to have friends. We are relational people. Sometimes we choose people that are not very good friends or we are not very good friends to others. I remember growing up and having a friend that was awesome. We would hang out and do everything together. We would spend the night at each other’s house almost every night in the summer. When my friend would go away and see family for a couple weeks I remember how bummed I was because he was not around. 

In this chapter we see David moving up in the people’s eyes as a leader and Saul becoming more and more jealous of David. We also get to see a great true friendship exemplified in this passage.

True Friendship

Jonathan and David were true best friends. We see that their souls were knit together. In verse 1 we see that Jonathan loved David as his own or that he had an unconditional love for him. Jonathan than would give David his own robe. He would also give David his armor and even his sword, bow, and belt. Now we may be thinking that’s cool, that’s what friends do. The truth is what Jonathan did for David and gave him was very significant. 

David was a shepherd or a very low position. Jonathan was a prince. Jonathan gave David a robe. This robe symbolized that he was a prince. He was giving David something that was a sign of royalty. This also was showing that he believed that God has anointed David as king. He gave David his armor which was his protection which meant he cared more about the protection of David then himself. He gave his sword which remember not that many Israelites had swords during this time (13:19; 17:50). This was a very special gift of war. Everything that showed Jonathan’s importance was given to David to make him important. That is what a true friend does.

What kind of friend are you? Do you give or do you take? A true friend is someone that gives of themselves for the better of the other person. Do you want your friends to continually give and give? Evaluate your friends and how you with your friends. A friend should not cause you to sin. A friend should cause you to glorify God more. Jonathan stripped everything that made him royalty so David would be royalty. Would you do that for your friends?

Jesus is true Friend

In this story I could not help but reflect on how Christ had stripped himself of everything royal and godly for me. He was born into a manger, and being a man, lived a perfect and sinless life. He was beaten and bruised and hung on a tree for me. He rose again to conquer death and died to give salvation to sinful man. Jesus was like Jonathan in that he gave up everything for us so we can be considered righteous. Romans 5:8-10 For God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by they death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall be saved by his life. Christ not only gave us righteousness but took away our sin by paying the debt for us. A true friend sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). John 15:13 tells us that no one has no greater love than this to lay down his life for his friends. Jesus laid down his life for us and he calls friend. He is a true friend.

A New King

1st Samuel 16

I like movies were we see the underdog of the story when or overcome the enemy. For example I really like the movie Facing the Giants.” It is about a small underdog football team beating a successful established football team. The focus is on not winning but about trusting the Lord and letting His will take place. I have always been one to cheer for the underdog in games because I know the little guy can win.

In this chapter God is true to his word and is found a new king, David. The only thing is David was different than Saul, by a lot.

Meet David

God told Samuel to get up and start moving forward. He told him he found a new king and that he was from Bethlehem. This new king was the son of Jesse. Samuel went and met the first son named Eliab and Samuel thought, this guy is it. I don’t know why he thought that but God told Samuel, “Do not look on the outward appearance but on the inward, what God looks at.” He must have been tall and muscular. He might have been Mr. Manly man, I don’t know. The 2nd son passed by but it was not him either. Samuel went through 7 of sons and none of them were it. Then there was 1 more who was in the field and he was the youngest.

Samuel met David and saw that he was young, ruddy and had beautiful eyes. He was the one that God wanted to anoint and he was. It says a lot that David was not there with his family but that he was doing his job. He was being a shepherd. He was taking care of his father’s flock. Who would have thought this early on training was going to be for him as a shepherd over the whole nation.

David in Action

As soon as David was anointed the Spirit of the Lord was upon him and we see that the Spirit of the Lord departed Saul. It is sad but we see that a different spirit came upon Saul. Saul was afflicted with an evil spirit which I believe would be bitterness and guilt. He was on edge because of his sin and not repenting to God for it. Someone suggested that Saul get someone that can play the lyre which is like a harp to calm him down. This opened the door for David because he was also a skilled musician.

David would play the lyre for Saul and he would be comforted. Saul loved David and we see that David was issued into the service for Saul. How interesting that Saul the formal king would have the next king working for him. Soon Saul’s love for David would turn to bitterness and jealousy. 

The Underdog Wins

The reason why David is the underdog is because he was the unlikely candidate to become the king. He was young, inexperienced, not physically domineering. He was far from the world’s standard as a king for a nation. But God is great because through Him all things are possible (Luke 1:37). God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1st Corinthians 1:27). We need to know in our weakness that is how God will show his strength (2nd Corinthians 12:10). God does those things and I love seeing them brought out because it shows God’s glory. God is awesome and we see that he works everything out for his glory. David is going to bring the people closer to Him. David is small but God is mighty. We are weak but God is strong. May we continue to have that mind set in this life and the world will be amazed of what God will do for us.

Rejection

1st Samuel 15

Rejection is a hard thing to swallow some times. I remember asking a girl to one of our school things and she said no. That was hard because I thought she was going to say yes. The cool thing is that I did not end of going by myself. I went with a group of friends and it was more fun that way. Rejection hurts even more when it caused by our own faults. If you lied to a friend and they were mad at you and asked that you left them alone for a while, that hurts.

In this chapter we see Saul being rejected as king by God. It is not of anything other than Saul was leading the people down a very wrong path. He was doing more harm than good.

The Last Chance

In this chapter God gave Saul specific instruction. He was told to go and destroy the Amalekites. This was also what God said would happen in Exodus 17 upon the Amalekites in going to war with Israel. Saul was told to destroy everything, men, women, child, and animals. All seemed like Saul was listening but then we see that he kept the king alive and also the men took all the good sheep and oxen as spoil.

God wanted Saul to be obedient to his words but instead he was going along with them and adding his own twist on it. Saul was getting out of control and as Samuel was going to talk to him Saul built an altar to himself. We see the leaders of Israel before Saul who built altars but they built them to the Lord. They did out of appreciation for what God has done, but Saul was building himself one as if he was the one who brought victory. Saul’s pride was getting in the way and it was time for God to step in. 

Samuel confronted Saul and said, “You did not listen to God and because of that you are no longer king.” Saul did not take any of the responsibility, he blamed the people and said it was because of them that they kept the good animals alive. Then he tried to say it was because they were going to sacrifice them to the Lord. God said, “It is better to obey than to sacrifice.” To sacrifice is to obey and Saul rejected God’s word so God rejected Saul.

Saul acted like a child and asked for repentance but only because God rejected him. He should have asked for it before the judgment was given. God already had someone else in mind who will lead Israel. And we see from this chapter that Saul would disregard God’s Word. In the last chapter we see that Saul was leading his people into sin. We know leaders are not perfect because of sin. But when a leader who does not follow after the Lord and leads the people into sin is not a good leader. Saul needed to be removed because Israel would be going into a worse state. May you hold dear to the words of the Lord and when you have disobeyed them, return to God and ask for forgiveness. Remember obey is the key.