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1 Samuel 11

13 May

11 About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.

2 “All right,” Nahash said, “but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!”

3 “Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!” replied the elders of Jabesh. “If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms.”

4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the people about their plight, everyone broke into tears. 5 Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh.

6 Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. 7 He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” And the Lord made the people afraid of Saul’s anger, and all of them came out together as one. 8 When Saul mobilized them at Bezek, he found that there were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000[b] men from Judah.

9 So Saul sent the messengers back to Jabesh-gilead to say, “We will rescue you by noontime tomorrow!” There was great joy throughout the town when that message arrived!

10 The men of Jabesh then told their enemies, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do to us whatever you wish.” 11 But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments. He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together.

12 Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, “Now where are those men who said, ‘Why should Saul rule over us?’ Bring them here, and we will kill them!”

13 But Saul replied, “No one will be executed today, for today the Lord has rescued Israel!”

14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.” 15 So they all went to Gilgal, and in a solemn ceremony before the Lord they made Saul king. Then they offered peace offerings to the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites were filled with joy.

1 Samuel 11

Dear God, I like this story because it shows Saul growing in a good way. We get so many negative stories about Saul, it’s good to see a good one. In this case, there were a lot of people who doubted him as their leader, and he wasn’t giving them much reason to change their mind. Then, when he heard about Jabesh and the people there, your power came upon him and he turned into a leader. A leader that not only the people could believe in, but also a leader that he could believe in. I don’t think he thought that much more of himself as a leader than his doubters did. In fact, he probably had mercy on them because he could see where they were coming from.

I talked a couple of nights ago at the Bible study I was leading about “imposter’s syndrome.” I get it all the time. In fact, right now, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by a particular challenge at work. It’s hard to figure out how to solve. What will I do? I thought I had at least an initial solution yesterday, and I started to not only celebrate, but also think about how it seemed like you were providing for us. Then the rug got pulled out from under me, and I was back at square one. What to do. I’ve been in this job 20 years, and I’ve earned a lot of credibility with the people I work with and the community. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still get really insecure about who I am and what I’m capable or not capable of doing.

Father, Saul’s biggest problem was that he took this glory and started to cling to it as his own. I do not want to do that. I do not want glory of power for myself. I have someone who is about to start working for us who seems to be content just being a behind-the-scenes worker at this stage of his life. No glory needed. I want to be that way too. I can’t help but be the face of our organization, but I want to decrease as much as possible so that you might increase through me and into the world. For your glory, and your glory alone, oh, Lord!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 13, 2026 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 8:1-9

09 May

8 As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 2 Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. 3 But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

4 Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5 “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

6 Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. 7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

1 Samuel 8:1-9

Dear God, you know this story has always confused me a little. Why weren’t you angry with Samuel in this story? Eli’s sons were doing bad things and you ended up not only cursing him and his boys, but their lineage as well. It seems like Samuel allowed the same things to happen with his sons, but you took this one more personally: “…they are rejecting me, not you.”

There are a lot of things to look at in these nine verses. There’s the two boys and their greed. Maybe they got more of a pass than Eli’s boys did because they were only accepting bribes and perverting justice and not taking sacred food from the Temple or sleeping with women who served at the Tent of Meeting. Maybe what they were doing could be considered blaspheming the Holy Spirit. 1 Samuel 2:17 says, “The sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.” So maybe Eli’s sons were worse as far as worshipping you. But as judges of the people, Samuel’s sons were not good.

Another aspect of this story is the foolishness of the elders to think that a king would solve this problem. Why would they think that? That’s just ridiculous. They’ll see soon enough that kings are fallible too.

Samuel’s anger. I’m honestly surprised he was upset with the Israelites. Maybe he was just upset with what the requested and not their frustration with his boys. Maybe he understood where they were coming from. But you let him off the hook. You didn’t take the blame for it because it wasn’t anything you did wrong. No, it’s more that you placed the blame on the elders and were disappointed at their foolishness.

That takes me to the last thing. You tried to tell them how foolish this was for them to ask. “Okay, we’re going to do this, but here’s what’s going to happen.” That takes us to verses 10-18 where Samuel tells them what a king will do. Their foolish reply? “But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.'”

Father, are there foolish things I ask for? Is there any area in my life where I’m rejecting your leadership? Am I letting anything fester out there that will lead others into foolishness? Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to love. I’m thinking about one person I know who’s getting married soon. They’ve been with their significant other for a long time. Prepare their heart for marriage. Prepare their mind. I pray that you will raise up people, books, articles, or whatever in their lives to give them the foundation they need to go through the rest of this life together.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 9, 2026 in 1 Samuel

 

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2 Samuel 5:1-5

27 Jun

5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. 2 Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ ” 3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Dear God, and so there it is. David is the publicly agreed upon king over all of Israel. It just occurred to me that, even though it wasn’t a democracy, both Saul and David were only accepted as kings over Israel after popular consensus was given by the people–or at least among those who were high ranking or in some sort of leadership in their smaller communities. Almost an electoral college process. Now, from here on it will be all about nepotism and family succession, but for these first two there needed to be agreement among the people for it to happen.

I was talking with a pastor friend earlier this week about what the most biblical form of government was. What would you love for us to be able to do if we were capable of it? I guess it’s the judges system that the Israelites had for the first 400 years post-Egypt. But, to be frank, I don’t think the people, as a whole, were capable of it–especially in good times. In fact, I don’t know of any form of government that works really well. We are just so sinful and tempted to either go our own way and divide against each other or the leaders are too tempted by the power to remain true to you and servants to their people. Even David will succumb to the temptation of his power over others. Even in a practical sense, he was above the law. He never paid a direct price for stealing a man’s wife, getting her pregnant and having him murdered. Anyone else would have been tried, convicted and killed in that society, but the only explicit thing he got was a scolding from Nathan. Yes, he paid a lot of other prices for that sin, but the society seemingly couldn’t or chose not to touch him. Honestly, I don’t know that there was much value in typing anything in this paragraph except to say that, as Americans, we tend to be very proud of our form of government and some have deemed our constitution as divinely-inspired, but I don’t really see any particular advocacy for our type of government in anything I read in the Bible.

Back to David, so now he is king. Looking back on his first 30 years of life, he had a very unpredictable path to the throne. Saul reigned for 42 years and was 72 when he died, and David was 30 when he became king over Judah. Assuming he was about 12 when Samuel anointed him and 15 (give or take a couple of years either way) when he killed Goliath, that would mean Saul was about 57 and had reigned 27 years when David came on the scene. Things went okay for the first few years as David developed as a warrior and leader. He killed his ten thousands and the women swooned. He married Saul’s daughter, Michal, at some point, but that wasn’t enough to help Saul feel better about things and so he started having to run. It’s unclear how long he and his 600 discontented men had to be on the run, but we know he had two obvious chances to kill Saul and take his kingdom along the way. He also loved Saul’s son and would have been very conflicted about taking the kingdom from Jonathan or even killing Jonathan’s and his first wife’s father. He accumulated some wealth along the way when he married Abigail, the widow of Nabal. And then, for at least 16 months, he was forced to live out of Saul’s reach with the Philistines. I am sure that at any given time during those roughly 18 years between Samuel’s first anointing and his coronation as king over Judah and then, ultimately, king over Israel, he wondered what the future held and how he would get what he had been promised and probably wanted.

There are two things that impress me about David. First, he truly leaned into you. He did a lot of bad things–at least as I see them. He killed a lot of innocent people. He lied to the priest. He lied to kings and princes of other areas. Honestly, I don’t know how to reconcile or justify some of those things except to say he did whatever he thought he had to do to physically survive. But he gave credit to you. He called on you. He repented to you. He lamented to you. He sought comfort in you.

Second, he didn’t take short cuts. He could have tried to defend himself and killed Saul the first time Saul threw a spear at him. He could have killed him while when he literally caught him with his pants down in the cave. He could have killed him in his sleep. he could have led his men in an attack of Saul’s men. He had chances to selfishly grab what he wanted but he patiently waited, even though he, at some level, probably felt entitled to that throne.

Father, as I close out this first 8 weeks of my time with these CMLS men, I thank you for leading me into this path of exploring 1 Samuel 8 through 2 Samuel 5:5. There is so much humanness there. I pray that the lessons have been seeds that have found some good soil. I pray that you will use this arc to help me then prepare the lessons for weeks 9 and 10. I want these men to know you. To hunger for you. to do something different in their lives. Oh, God, I know one of the other teachers is going to talk to them about time and how much time they are willing to give to what’s important in life: you, their families, and caring for themselves. Help me to feed off of that as well. Help me to tie all of this together for your glory. I want all of this for them and for you. Holy Spirit, please move in me and in them.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 27, 2025 in 2 Samuel

 

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David in Exile and Saul’s Demise – 1 Samuel 27-31

22 Jun

Dear God, it’s time to tie together the five days of prayer journals to make a lesson for the men tomorrow night. Help me, Father, do good work here. I want to speak to these men with your voice. I want to spread seeds that will find good soil. I want to glorify you in their eyes. I want them to love you with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and then love their neighbors as themselves. Help us, Father, to all get to that place.

When last we left off…

  • David had spared Saul’s life for the second time, and they each went on their way.
  • We talked about leadership and how one of the real traps for anyone is to give into feeling sorry for themselves or feel like they are not being respected as much as they think they deserve to be respected. This was Saul’s problem from the beginning, and we saw David give into it when he almost killed Nabal and his men for disrespecting him.
  • Although David had left his wife Michal back home, he picked up two wives after Nabal dies of “natural causes.

Page 328

David and Achish

  • There was no way David was going to trust Saul or even other Israelites again, but there was no way he would trust him or, more importantly, other Israelites like the Ziphites to not betray him to Saul. 1 Samuel 27:1 – 27 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”
  • David takes his 600 men and heads to the land of the Philistines and goes to Gath, one of the Philistine’s major cities. Note: Goliath was from there (1 Samuel 17:4). King Maoch had a son named Achish who liked David and let him stay there.
    • It’s unclear why Achish trusted David.
  • Saul hears David is in Gath and decides to give up looking for him anymore.
  • David wants more room to maneuver so he manipulates Achish into giving him his own town. 1 Samuel 27:5-6 – 5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 
  • David ended up living among the Philistines for 16 months.
  • When you have an army you don’t turn them into farmers or shepherds. They aren’t carpenters. They are fighters. So they make their living raiding other towns, killing everyone, and plundering their stuff.
  • He would go to the Girzites, Geshurites, and Amalekites and raid their towns. When he would bring back tributes to Achish he would lie and say he had been raiding Judah or other people the Philistines didn’t care about. This accomplished several things:
    • It protected Judah because the Philistines thought someone was already getting their plunder
    • It gave David something to live on and also things to give Achish as tribute
    • It made Achish think David was truly on his side and now an enemy of his own people. 1 Samuel 27:12 – 12 So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”
  • Now, the Philistines decide to move their army to Mt. Gilboa and attack the Israelites there. Achish puts David in an awkward position of making David and his men his bodyguards for the battle.
    • You can almost picture this as a movie and we cut to commercial when this scene ends.

Meanwhile…Saul and the Medium

  • Saul sees the Philistines gathering for battle around Mt. Gilboa at Shunem so he moves his army to Giboa to defend it. Keep in mind we learned way back at the beginning that Saw was 30 when he became king and reigned for 42 years, so he is presumably 72.
  • He has a bad feeling about this. 1 Samuel 28:5-6 – 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
    • Keep in mind a couple years back Saul had killed all of the priest except one who got away (Abiathar), took the Ephod and ran to David. We will see that Ephod come up for David later.
    • Also, would things have been different if David were there to fight alongside him?
  • Saul finds a medium, lies to her about who he is and gets her to work for him.
    • In Leviticus 19:31 and 20:6 (page 131), God had commanded Israelites to not consult with mediums. At some point in the past 42 years, probably when he was feeling closer to God, Saul had outlawed mediums. But he was desperate now because he wants to talk with someone who died.
  • She summons Samuel for him and it works. Remember, Samuel had not seen Saul since before he anointed David—except for the time Saul came looking for David when he was hiding with Samuel and Saul started prophecying.
  • Samuel does not have good news for Saul. 1 Samuel 28:15-19 – 15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the Lord has done for [b]Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

  • Saul is devastated and goes back to his army.


Meanwhile…David and the Philistines

  • All of the Philistine armies gather at Aphek, including David and his men at the rear with Achish as his protectors. They did a military review/parade by the king and Achish’s brothers.
  • The princes refused to allow David and his men to join them in the battle. 1 Samuel 29:4 – 4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? 
  • Achish tells David he and his men have to go and David protests. 1 Samuel 29:8 – 8 So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
  • Achish affirms that he believes in David, but this is the way it has to be.
    • David and his men cannot see it in this moment, but God is looking out for them in several ways that we will discuss in a bit.
  • 1 Samuel 29:11 – 11 So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

The first thing God did for David

  • They take three days to get back from Ziklag and find everyone and everything is gone and what’s left got burned down. It was the Amelekites.
    • They saw opportunity with all of the Philistine warriors off to battle
    • David probably wondered if he should have left some warriors behind. We will see why I say this later.
  • The author is careful to tell us no one was killed, but just taken captive
  • His discontented men are on the edge. 1 Samuel 30:6 – 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was [a]grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
    • Notice it said that David took this moment of despair to lean into God.
  • Remember in chapter 28 when we talked about Saul killing the priests except Abiathar and he ran to David with the Ephod? Here’s where it comes back into play. 1 Samuel 30:7-8 – 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

  • On their way 200 of the men are too tired to continue so they get left behind to guard provisions. 400 continue on.
  • They find an Egyptian who says he was an Amalekite slave who was left behind because he was sick. The Egyptian tells them what they had been up to. 1 Samuel 20:14 – 14 We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
  • They strike a deal with the Egyptian to help David and his men find the Amalekites.
  • They find the Amalekites, kill them and take back their own stuff plus the stuff that was taken from the other areas.
    • David claims the things from the other areas as his own. We will see why in a bit.
  • They head home and get back to the 200 left behind. The “wicked and worthless men” who got the stuff back said that the 200 should just get their wives and children and 1.) not get any of the stuff recovered and 2.) be sent away.
  • David uses this as a teachable moment and leads in the face of conflict with these men. 1 Samuel 30:23-25 – 23 But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” 25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
    • I think David wanted to emphasize to the men that God had provided for them. It’s so easy to seek God before something and then take credit for it after it’s happened.
    • I also think David wanted to set a precedent for leaving some men behind to guard things after seeing the devastation from not doing so.
      • Going back to his conflict with Nabal, he had left men behind to guard the provisions but hadn’t done it this time with the Philistines.
  • David sent the spoils he claimed from the attack back to the cities in Judah that had been raided. This will become important as he sets himself up as their future king next week.

Meanwhile…Saul’s Final Battle

  • We don’t get battle details, but it all goes poorly. The Philistines wipe them out, including Jonathan and two of his brothers.
    • At least one brother is not there and we will meet him next week.
  • Saul’s final moments. 1 Samuel 31:3-6 – 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers [a]hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.

4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and [b]abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.

  • Going back to David being spared from this battle, what might have happened if David had followed the Philistines into battle against the Israelites?
  • When the Israelites saw their army had lost, they evacuated their cities in the area and the Philistines moved in to occupy them.
  • The next day, the Philistines were looting the battlefield and found Saul’s and Jonathan’s bodies. The beheaded him (remember how David did this to Goliath?) and took the bodies and their armor back to their temple (remember how Goliath’s armor was at the temple when David went there needing a sword?).
  • The valiant men repaid a great debt to Saul. 1 Samuel 31:11-13 – 11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

Wrap Up

  • An implicit lesson from David’s experience – Don’t leave a flank of your life exposed. Christian singer said Satan tries to get into small areas of our lives while we focus on other areas.
  • God used even the Philistine princes to:
    • Save David from an awkward situation in battle.
    • Possibly keep him from becoming king
    • Save his wives and the wives and children of the 600 men.
  • My conundrum with Saul and living to serve God regardless of the cost.

Father, I give this preparation to you. I give these seeds to you. Holy Spirit, help them to find good soil. Prepare the hearts of the men for tomorrow night. I know they are going to be learning a lot about themselves through Joe’s DISC survey. I pray that this will all somehow work together for your glory in their lives and in mine.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 22, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 31

20 Jun

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.

4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.

7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. 8 So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31

Dear God, okay, here we go again. There’s so much here in each paragraph. I feel like I need to bullet-point what I’m seeing:

  • Would David and his men have made a difference? If they had been with Saul instead of absent or with the Philistines, would Saul and his sons have lived? We will never know, but it certainly seems that way. Were you maybe ready for Saul’s reign to end and to start the David era? Was this part of the plan. Saul was around 72 now so he lived an extraordinarily long time. It’s too bad his and his sons’ deaths weren’t peaceful.
  • The poor armor bearer. He was in a terrible situation too. I don’t know that I’d have behaved any better. Probably worse. I do not know who this person is, and his name is lost to history, but I do not envy him being faced with mercifully finishing off Saul. Then watching Saul kill himself. What a terrible day. What was left to do but kill himself? I suppose he might have felt some guilt for letting Saul get wounded in the first place and not being able to protect him.
  • The people back home decided it was time to evacuate. I don’t think I’ve noticed this before. The army was defeated. It was time to take what they could and run from the Philistines. How horrific too. All of this is just horrific. It’s a reminder of just how evil and cruel people can be to each other. And I’m including David in that and what he did to the villages where he killed and plundered to make a living.
  • After the Philistines established control over the local towns, they returned to the battlefield to assess the damage and see what they could take from the slain soldiers. Weapons. Jewelry. Clothing. Whatever was on them. Then they found the great prize of Saul and most of his heirs-apparent, so they took them as trophies and put them in their temple.
  • Now, this last paragraph reminds me of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea when they take Jesus’s body after the cross and care for it. The men of Jabesh-gilead sent their mightiest people to go and care for the bodies of Saul and his boys. What a great act of respect and mercy! I am sure there were a multitude of motivations in their action. Perhaps some pride. Perhaps some shame in letting it happen in the first place. Perhaps respect and love. Whatever the reason, it was a noble thing to do. Just like Nicodemus and Joseph, when they thought all was lost for the man they believed in taking the time to care for him. And maybe their motivations were as varied as the men of Jabesh-gilead that day.

Father, thus ends the tragic story of Saul. Part of me wonders if it would have been better if you had just left him alone when he was looking for the lost donkeys way back in 1 Samuel 9. But you had a plan and our lives are not our own. We get one life to live, and we think it is so precious, but as I’ve said many times in these prayers, life is cheap. I am 1/6 billionth (or so) of the earth’s population. I am 1/110 billionth of the earth’s history of humans. What gives me the most meaning is if my life is truly worth nothing to me, but is used by you as part of your plan. While my life is so small, you are the one true God, and if my life can be used in some small way by you then I become part of something so big that it doesn’t matter what it costs me. So I offer myself to you. I love you. I am here to serve in whatever way you wish.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 29

18 Jun

29 Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. 3 Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.”

4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying:

‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”

6 Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. 7 Therefore return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.”

8 So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

9 Then Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are as good in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 Now therefore, rise early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you. And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.”

11 So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 29

Dear God, the princes (I guess they were Achish’s brothers since he was a prince) were right to not trust David. Achish was being played the fool by David. We found that a couple of chapters ago when David was lying to him about where he would go raiding. He would kill enemies of Israel and take their stuff and tell Achish he was raiding the Israelites. This is just all so weird to me to seemingly hold up all of David’s activities here as noble. So much death and destruction. So much looting. So much deception. It’s no wonder you didn’t want him to build your Temple (spoiler alert) because he had too much blood on his hands. At some point, this apparently affected you too.

So David is spared from being in the upcoming battle. I can’t help but wonder what he would actually have done had he been there. I have to believe he would have helped Saul and Jonathan. If he saw men chasing them, he would surely have attacked them and killed them. He would have been the danger the Philistine princes foresaw. And that could have messed up his transition to king. Maybe David thought he was doing the right thing by being invited along with the Philistines to fight only to then turn on them, although it is definitely not clear which side his men would have been on. They had been chased by the Israelite army of Saul for years. Would they have been merciful and loyal to Israel or had they emotionally thrown in their lot with the Philistines? Keeping David and his men out of this particular battle saved some problems and answered some questions. It was a plan beyond David’s ability to know.

Father, you keep me from my own shortsightedness or foolishness all of the time. You shut down an opportunity here so that it will develop an opportunity there. In fact, one of my prayers is that the great sorrow in my life will be just that–you doing something through my pain that I cannot see. Making my pain count for your glory and your plan even if it costs me. So I submit to that and ask that you do for me what you did for David here–save me from myself.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 18, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 28

17 Jun

28 Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

2 So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”

3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.

4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.

7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”

8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”

9 Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”

10 And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”

11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.”

14 So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.

21 And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me. 22 Now therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.”

23 But he refused and said, “I will not eat.”

So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded their voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. 24 Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. 25 So she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

1 Samuel 28

Dear God, according the the statement back when Saul was crowned king over Israel that he was 30 at the time and would live to reign 42 years, Saul was 72 in this story. So I’m trying to picture 72-year-old Saul in absolute panic mode. David had been gone and out of the picture for 16 months. Saul had nothing to do but focus on the Philistines, and, again, I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like for Saul if he had had David as his ally leading the men into battle. And I suppose I’ll get to this later when I talk about Saul’s death in chapter 31, but where was Abner? How did he survive? He had to have been pretty old too at this time. Did the Philistines not pursue him as hard as they did Saul?

But I digress. Let’s stay on the scared old man who is grasping onto everything he can. I think that’s the picture I see of Saul right now. A man grasping onto everything he can, and it is slipping through his fingers. He wants to be a success. He wants to live forever. He wants to reign forever. He wants his family to reign forever. That’s all he wants. He doesn’t seem to be worried at all about the fate of Israel as much as he is about himself. A wise king who sought Israel’s best would have talked with Jonathan and had Jonathan work something out with David to come back. A wise king would have seen his limitations and let go of the situation. A wise king would have cared more about your glory than his own. But that’s not what kings do, is it? Power really does corrupt. It will corrupt David. It was already corrupting David. If David had been a judge I feel like he would have approached life completely differently. But as a king-elect he would have to do this weird dance of power with Saul and ultimately take over the kingdom. But again, I’ve gotten distracted away from Saul and the pain of this moment.

I think this passage is the key to this chapter for me:

4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.

Saul had choices when he was afraid. He could have just gone home and hid, retreating with his army and restrategizing, including maybe going and finding David. He could have just gone out and fought with his men regardless of his fear or the odds. His decision to inquire of you was a good one, but it was too little too late. He had abandoned the relationship with you a long time ago. His whole being at this point was about living for himself.

Father, I am sorry for the times I walk away from you and my only goal is to do things for myself. I am sorry for my selfishness. I am sorry for my self-pity. I am sorry for my pride. Help me to live Paul’s words in Acts 20:24. Help me to consider my life worth nothing to me. Help me to care about my neighbor more than myself. Help me to care about your kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven more than myself and what I perceive to be good for me. Help me to care about your will being done in all areas of our society, but through persuasion and not compulsion. Help my life to be a life that draws others to be closer to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 17, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 27

16 Jun

27 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” 2 Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. 4 And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.

5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7 Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

8 And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. 9 Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish. 10 Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of the Kenites.” 11 David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’ ” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. 12 So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

1 Samuel 27

Dear God, I really struggled reading this story this morning, so I needed the Communicator’s Commentary on 1 & 2 Samuel to help me digest it. Here is what Kenneth Chafin said about this passage:

This story was preserved to show how God was able to bless David even as he lived among Israel’s enemies. When the story was told later in Jewish households, everyone would have been delighted that David’s successful guile in deceiving the enemy. While what David did was considered normal in his day, modern-day readers may have difficulty with the unashamed deceit and extreme cruelty…To keep us from feeling morally superior to David, we need to remember that the same type of cruelty still goes on today, some of it sponsored by our own government and supported by some Christian groups.

It’s ironic that the part about cruelty being done today (which would have been the 1980s for Chafin but is 2025 for me) is part of this because I’m seeing cruelty done by our government towards specific people groups, and the only thing I can really think of as motive is to divide us as a population. I’m speaking of how we are deporting undocumented people here. Luring them into immigration centers as they try to work legally in the system and then deporting them. Doing mass round-ups. As I sit and think about it this morning, while I think there is some racism involved, it feels like the macro-level goal is to simply but a bigger wedge and divide into our society. To enflame anger or joy one way or another.

I saw people protesting in our town this weekend for the “No Kings Protest.” They were one two corners of our town square. But there was another guy driving back and forth with a “Trump 2025” flag flying from the bed of his truck. Everyone was staking out their claims to their position and building their trench bigger and bigger. Not that the protestors shouldn’t have protested. Not that the Trump guy shouldn’t have supported his thing. But somehow it feels like that juxtaposition of sides is almost more the goal behind the policies than the stated goals.

Okay, that’s enough about American politics this morning. Back to David. He’s running from Saul and he goes to the one place he feels like Saul will leave him alone. He won’t go into Philistine territory unnecessarily, and David’s presence among the Philistines probably makes him worry less about David one day replacing him as king. It solves a few problems.

As for what David does while he’s there…well, I guess if you have an army and their families that you’re traveling with, you aren’t exactly going to turn them into shepherds and try to make a living ranching and farming. No, if you have an army you make money with your army. You raid people, you kill them, and you take their stuff. I have such a hard time with this, and I don’t really know what to make of it, but, again, this feels like what happens under a “king system.” If you want a king for your land, this is what happens. When you have a “judge system,” then perhaps the one judge will groom his replacement. They will know they are chosen by you and not by birthright. If David had been the judge that replaced Samuel, things would probably have been very different. But Saul was the current king. David was the king in waiting from another family. Poor Jonathan was caught in the middle. And you would somehow use all of this, including David’s taking of Bathsheba and ultimately having Solomon, to provide the lineage for Jesus. Could you have done it otherwise? Yes. But this is how you chose to do it. What an amazingly redemptive thing for you to do.

Father, I love you. I worship you. I give you my ignorance and lack of understanding. I don’t know what it happening around me. But I know you want me to love. I know you want me to serve. I know you want me to teach. Help me to love, serve, and teach today. And use all of those actions to teach me as well. I want to know you more and more and more.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 16, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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David Spares Saul (Twice) and Nabal

14 Jun

Dear God, it’s time for me to put this week’s Bible study for the Christian Men’s Life Skills class on Monday together. This is week 6 out of 10, and I am so grateful for how it’s gone so far. Thank you. Thank you for leading me in this. Thank you for how you are blessing me through this. Thank you for the joy and encouragement it is giving me. Thank you for what you are doing for the men through the entire class. I can see some of them considering changes. I can see them softening. Maybe not all of them. And maybe some of them won’t change. Perhaps the seeds will find the hard path, the rocks, or the thorns. But I pray for their hearts (and for mine) and that they be fertile soil for your seeds to grow and flourish. With that said, here is my preparation for 1 Samuel 24-26.

Page 323

When last we left off

  • Saul was using and abusing (including murdering) a lot of people to kill David because he was insecure and selfish.
  • David was in the woods near Ziph when he and Jonathan committed themselves to each other one last time, with Jonathan acknowledging that David would be king and he would serve David.
  • The Ziphites, who were from Judah and you would have thought would have been loyal to David and his family, betrayed David and threw in their lot with Saul. 1 Samuel 23:19-20 – 19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”
  • Saul has finally found someone who will feel sorry for him, and it delights him. 1 Samuel 23:21 – 21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me.
  • David finds out Saul is in Ziph so he goes to Maon. Saul chases him around there until he finds out the Philistines are attacking so he breaks off the chase.
    • Imagine how much more effective Saul could have been as a king and general if he had David on his side and they were all fighting together instead of fighting each other.
      • Does that ever happen in your life. Do you get distracted by making someone a needless enemy instead of making them a friend at almost no cost to you?

David Spares Saul (good leadership)

  • Saul finishes fighting the Philistines, but he hasn’t forgotten David. He takes 3,000 men and goes hunting.
    • Keep in mind David has 600 men with him at this point.
  • Saul needs a place to use the bathroom and finds a cave.
  • As it happens, David and his 600 men are hiding in the cave.
  • Keep in mind, David’s men are tired, on the run, and started out as discontented men, even before they came to David. So they tell David in 1 Samuel 24:4, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’”
  • David responds by getting up sneaking over near Saul, taking a knife, and……cut off a piece of Saul’s robe and went back to the men.
    • How do you think the men felt about that decision?
  • David not only did NOT regret not killing Saul. He DID regret the disrespect he showed by cutting off the piece of the robe.
  • David tells his men he was wrong to cut off the piece of robe. 1 Samuel 24:6 – “The LORD forbid  that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.”
    • Do you think it was easy for David to go against his men in that moment?
    • Was David afraid he would look weak to his men?
    • What is David teaching them here?
    • What do you think it would have done to his relationship with Jonathan if David had killed Saul in that cave?
  • David restrains his men. 1 Samuel 24:7 – 7 So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.
  • David and Saul talk. 1 Samuel 24:8-21 – 8 David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. 9 And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? 10 Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. 12 Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? 15 Therefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

16 So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. 18 And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Therefore swear now to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”

  • Saul went home, but David stayed on the run.

Samuel Dies

  • 1 Samuel 25:1 – 25 Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of [a]Paran.
    • What were the implications for David now that Samuel had died?
    • Did Saul feel like he lost something too since Samuel had found him?
    • The Wilderness of Paran is pretty much the place where the Israelites lived for 50 40 years between Egypt and the Promised Land back in Exodus.

Nabal and Abigail (and David’s crisis of leadership)

  • Nabal was rich and had a lot of sheep and goats. 3,000. He lived in the Maon area That was on the  edge of the Wilderness of Paran.
  • 1 Samuel 25:3b – And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings.
  • David’s men would see Nabal’s shepherds and leave them alone.
    • Judging from David’s reaction later, it seems like David kept them at bay.
  • David needs some his provisions from Nabal so he sends 10 young men to ask for some help.
    • Part of the message is emphasizing how honorably David’s men have treated Nabal’s men and property.
  • Nabal doesn’t only decline, but he is rude about it. 1 Samuel 25:10-11 – 10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my [c]meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”
  • They report back to David, and David’s reaction is pretty harsh. 1 Samuel 25:13 – Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.
  • One of Nabal’s servants tells Abigail what is going on.
  • Abigail gathers up a tribute to David without Nabal knowing. 1 Samuel 25:18-20 – 18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. 

  • Meanwhile, David is heading towards Nabal’s place and feeling sorry for himself. 1 Samuel 25:21-22 – 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. 22 May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”
    • David is falling into the trap Saul fell into: Other people owe me things and when I don’t get what I’m owed I an justified in getting revenge.
  • Abigail finds David, gives him all of the stuff and David realizes he almost made a mistake. 1 Samuel 25:32-25 – 32 Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.”
  • Abigail gets home and finds Nabal partying with his friends and very drunk. She waits until morning to tell Nabal what she did.
    • When she does, Nabal has some sort of heart attack or stroke and immediately falls silent and dies 10 days later.
  • David decides to marry Abigail and another woman named Ahinoam of Jezreel.
    • It made sense for him to want to marry a rich, influential widow.
  • They throw in here that David’s wife Michal had been given to another man since it seemed David wasn’t coming back and, for all Saul knew, David had threatened her life.

Return of the Ziphites

  • The Ziphites go to Saul and tell him exactly where David is within their area.
  • Saul shows up again with 3,000 men. We don’t know why Saul changed his mind after the last meeting.
  • David sent out spies to figure out exactly where Saul was.
  • He finds Saul and takes his cousin, Abishai, the brother of his general Joab, to infiltrate Saul’s camp. 1 Samuel 26:7-8 – 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him [a]at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”
    • Abishai implies that David was wrong to let Saul go the first time, but they can finish this right now.
  • David forbids it with the same lesson he tried to teach in the cave about protecting God’s anointed. 1 Samuel 26:9-11 – 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” 10 David said furthermore, “As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.”
  • Verse 12b indicates God caused the deep sleep that put Saul at David’s mercy. 1 Samuel 26:12b – For they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.
  • David mocks Abner, the Saul’s cousin and head general.
  • David and Saul talk again, but this time, David lets Saul know that what he’s doing is hurting David. 1 Samuel 18-20 – 18 And he said, “Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand? 19 Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 So now, do not let my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
  • Saul says he’s sorry, returns Saul’s spear, and teaches everyone the lesson of not harming God’s anointed. 1 Samuel 23-24 – 23 May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.”
  • David went back to his men and Saul went home.

Wrap-Up

  • David had to lead his men and teach his men at the same time. He also had to go against their will when he had to have been tempted to go along with it.
  • Even David had a moment of self-pity. Feeling sorry for ourselves and thinking people or life owes us is one of the things the can harm us the most.
  • Saul wasted a lot of resources because of his selfishness and self-pity

Father, I will spend the next couple of days thinking about this before Monday night, but I pray that you will bless this preparation. Holy Spirit, lead me through this story for the next 60 hours or so. Teach me. Live through me. Love through me. And prepare the hearts of the men who will be there Monday. To you be all the glory, honor, and praise forever and ever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 26

13 Jun

26 Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” 2 Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had indeed come.

5 So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him. 6 Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?”

And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”

7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”

9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” 10 David said furthermore, “As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, and they got away; and no man saw or knew it or awoke. For they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.

13 Now David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off, a great distance being between them. 14 And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Do you not answer, Abner?”

Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you, calling out to the king?”

15 So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.”

17 Then Saul knew David’s voice, and said, “Is that your voice, my son David?”

David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 18 And he said, “Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand? 19 Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 So now, do not let my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”

22 And David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the young men come over and get it. 23 May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.”

25 Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still prevail.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26

Dear God, okay, it’s time for me to get back to this passage. I got distracted yesterday, but it’s time to dig in here. So what do I notice about this passage today?

  • The people of Ziph were caught in a tough spot and they picked their side. They were in Judah, and David was from their tribe and region. But the king had an army and could do some damage. Would they ingratiate themselves to Saul or hide David. There was obviously a large enough group that decided to side with Saul and get on his good side. In fact, it started back at the end of chapter 23. These were the same people who betrayed David when he was running from Saul before the cave incident, of whom Saul said, “The Lord bless you. At last someone is concerned about me!” I don’t know whether or not to feel sorry for them. I type this on the day before a lot of protests are planned around the United States against the current presidential administration. Some are choosing to go along to get along. Some are protesting. Some don’t know what to do. I’m in the third camp. I simply don’t know what you’re calling me to do in this. But I can see some similarities in these situations.
  • Saul has 3,000 men looking for David and his 600. The odds were against David.
  • Abishai, David’s cousin and Joab’s brother volunteers to go into Saul’s camp with David. This could be it. If they are discovered the entire thing would be over. David would be killed and the 600 would have nothing to live for.
  • You enabled all of this by causing deep sleep for everyone. It reminds me that we are not as strong as we think we are.
  • Abishai was ready to complete this coup right here and now. David knew better. I don’t know how much David was being noble towards Saul as your anointed vs. flashing forward to his own reign and expecting the same respect from the Israelites that he was showing Saul, but it was certainly wise of him to not let Abishai kill Saul and to explain his reasoning explicitly.
  • They take evidence (spear and jug) of their presence in the camp and leave.
  • Somehow, David is able to yell loud enough from a distance to be heard by Abner and Saul.
  • David mocks Abner. David had once served under Abner as a soldier and captain of men. Now, he was probably wondering why Abner wasn’t defending him to Saul. Why was Abner allowing this to happen?
  • Saul and David talk. This conversation is a little different. This time, David tells about how he feels wronged by Saul. Kind of a “look what you’ve done to me and put me through” moment. They drove him from his home (as well as his brothers and parents). He cannot live among his people (the people of Ziph even betrayed him twice). They have encouraged him to live with pagans and worship their gods for all they care.
  • Saul is once again repentant in the moment.
  • David returns Saul’s spear.
  • Everyone got to hear David repeat his respect for the life of your anointed.
  • David asks for your protection over his life as he protected Saul’s.
  • Saul blesses David.
  • Saul goes home, but David heads out, eventually going to live with the Philistines.

And, scene. What a needless mess. Saul distracted his army from what it should be doing. He caused his people to have to choose to betray David instead of everyone being united against a common enemy in the Philistines. He ran off his best warrior and 600 men who might have helped him fight the Philistines. In fact, and this is flashing forward, if he had kept David around he and Jonathan might not have died in chapter 31.

Father, I thank you for leading me through yesterday. I had a lot to think through, and I appreciate you putting people into my life who could speak your wisdom to me. Now, lead me today. Show me how to love today. Show me how to love tomorrow. Show me how to represent you to others. Help me to know what to say in any given situation.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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