RSS

Tag Archives: Faith

1 Samuel 22

07 Jun

22 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.

3 Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

5 Now the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

6 When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him— 7 then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? 8 All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.”

9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

11 So the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub!”

He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”

13 Then Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?”

14 So Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house? 15 Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to any in the house of my father. For your servant knew nothing of all this, little or much.”

16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” 17 Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. 18 And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. 19 Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword.

20 Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. 22 So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house. 23 Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”

1 Samuel 22

Dear God, so whether or not David was alone when he visited Ahimelech in chapter 21, he has some people with him now. And these aren’t necessarily the best of the best. The honorable of the honorable. I guess one might put a label of “deplorables” on them. I checked four different translations (NKJV, NIV, NASB, and NLT) and all of them used the word “discontented.” I have to say, the idea of drawing the discontented to my side does not excite me. Sure, it might work for a week, but long-term, it’s a tough group to have as your allies because sooner or later they will be discontented with me.

Other things to notice in this chapter:

  • David looked after his parents, but his brothers apparently joined his band of discontented men.
  • There sure do seem to be a lot of prophets who get words from you. David was certainly ready to listen to the one in Gad and heed his counsel.
  • When Saul commands his men, he plays on tribal loyalty. He reminds his men that they are of the same tribe and that David of Jesse (and Judah) will not treat them as favorably as he does.
  • Saul spends a lot of time feeling sorry for himself in verse 8: 8 All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.” Oh, how there are times when I feel sorry for myself.
  • Saul is paranoid and sees betrayal when it’s not there.
  • Saul’s paranoia is ruthless as he kills everyone and everything. If only he had been that zealous for you a few chapters ago.
  • Ahimelech (whose grandfather was Phinehas) and his family are living out the curse from 1 Samuel 2:30-33: 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. I’m sorry, but this seems sad and unnecessary to me. Does it still work this way?
  • Doeg was a special kind of awful to be able to kill 85 men in one day. I don’t care if they were bad guys, that is awful. But these were good priests. Was he that desperate for Saul’s approval? He had certainly thrown in his lot with Saul at that point. I’m kind of surprised we don’t hear from Doeg again after this story. I would think that he would have been more prominent in Saul’s regime at that point.
  • A quick look at Abiathar through the rest of the story shows he stayed loyal to David even in the Absalom uprising.

Father, I think I want to focus on two main things with this lesson this week: Jonathan’s motivation and Saul’s motivation. There will be some other stuff in here, but for the most part I want to talk about Jonathan just being willing to live in the moment and discern what you are calling him to do in the moment vs. Saul being paranoid about the future. This whole story is driven by Saul’s paranoia, and it’s his paranoia that leads to his downfall. He wants his own greatness so badly that he’s willing to commit any sin to accomplish it. And the irony is that if hadn’t tried to kill David, David wouldn’t be on the run, the priests would have lived, and everyone could have just stayed in their places. But one king’s evil simply destroyed a lot of lives. Oh, please keep me from any evil that will destroy other lives.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 7, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

John 8:1-11

06 Jun

Painting: La Femme adultère “The woman Taken in Adultery” by Lorenzo Lotto

8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

John 8:1-11

Dear God, I don’t think this story gets enough time. It’s quite remarkable. My wife and I were talking about something last night and this story came up. I can’t remember what we were saying or the context in which we talked about it, but she mentioned this painting by Lorenzo Lotto to me. It gave me an interesting thought: What would it be like to follow this woman after she left Jesus that day? What was the rest of that day like for her? So I decided to take a little creative break from my 1 Samuel series and spend a little time with this woman this morning.

First, I want to back up and set the context. There was a festival going on in Jerusalem when this happened. It was the Festival of Shelters (John 7:1-10). I Googled that festival and found it was a seven-day commemoration of the years the Israelites spent in tents in the wilderness. That made me think of the book I read last year, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. I remembered he had done something that seemed to line up with this so I looked it up. He called in the “Feast of Ingathering–or Sukkoth.” His description seems to indicate it’s the same thing and he said Orthodox Jewish people still celebrate it by building huts and sleeping in them (he was in New York City so he had to build one in his living room). So that’s the context. An annual festival in Jerusalem where a lot of extra people are in town. In fact, this is part of the story when Jesus’s brothers told him to go to Jerusalem and show himself off and he told them he wasn’t going to go, but then he went secretly until starting to teach in the Temple halfway through the festival.

Now, back to this passage. After I read it this morning, I had some thoughts. Let me stress here that ALL of this is my speculation and there is a great likelihood that I’m completely wrong about it. With that disclaimer said, I wonder what the previous 12 hours were like for this woman and then what were the next 12 hours like. What were the circumstances under which she was caught? Who was she? Was she the one who was married to someone else or had she slept with someone who was married to someone else but she was single? Was she a prostitute? In that culture, if she was a prostitute, would they have cared? I believe there were a lot of prostitutes running around and sleeping with married men so my guess is that she was the on who was married and caught. Perhaps her husband caught her that night before and brought her to the Temple for punishment for stoning.

It occurs to me as I write this that this could have been Jesus’s own mother, Mary, when she was pregnant with him. Wow! What a thought. The husband could easily have been Joseph, taking her to the Temple for judgment and stoning. But “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.” I wonder if Jesus had this same thought that morning. If this had happened to his own mother while she was pregnant with him, it would have been a disaster.

As I’m sitting here (and I think I’m going to have a lot of disjointed, random thoughts this morning), I wonder why stoning was the chosen method of execution for so many sins. Was it because it wasn’t a hands-on approach? Back then, I suppose their options were to physically touch the person and kill them with some sort of blade or do something from a distance like throw stones or shoot an arrow.

Now that I think about it, the Jews under Rome didn’t have the right to execute people (that’s why they needed Pilate to sign off on Jesus’s execution). Was there an exception for stoning? I just Googled that too. Apparently, to compare it with modern American law, there were federal crimes (crimes against the Roman Empire) and state crimes (in this case, crimes against the Jewish religious law). Jesus’s crime was a federal crime because he claimed to be king while adultery or Stephen’s crime in Acts would be against Jewish law and could be executed by the Sanhedrin.

So back to our story. There’s a festival. I’m guessing that the woman’s husband catches her sleeping with someone else during the festival (maybe in someone’s special tent?) and takes her to the Temple for judgment and execution. Lots of anger. Lots of fear. As I’ve heard said in movies and other places before, “Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.” (City Slickers) So perhaps this woman had a reason to not be faithful to her husband. I don’t know. But now she’s here, and she must be both terrified and humiliated. Regretful too. What’s going to happen now?

Then Jesus shows up in the Temple and starts teaching halfway through the Festival. I won’t go into the days he spent talking and everything he said, but, suffice it to say, the Pharisees were none too pleased. Then, on the last day of the festival, what John describes in John 7:37 as “the climax of the festival,” Jesus did one last big provocation about being living water. The Pharisees apparently sent the Temple guards to arrest him but they didn’t. Nicodemus, one of my heroes, tries to defend Jesus with, “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” and he gets jumped on and accused of being a Jesus defender: “Are you from Galilee, too?”

So now our scene takes place on the morning after the festival. Everyone might be a little hungover. This woman might have gotten caught up in the revelry of the night. And now she is standing in front of Jesus. The men (there are likely few if any women present) are simultaneously indignantly ready to stone her and wondering what it would be like to have sex with her (let’s be real, some of them were thinking that–that’s probably the most confident I am about any guesses I’ve made this morning), and she watches Jesus through a bowed head out of the upper part of her peripheral vision. What’s he going to do. So he bends down to write on the ground.

Here’s a new thought. Maybe he bent down to write on the ground so that she could see what he was writing. Maybe he wrote it for her. We assume he was writing to her judges and accusers, but maybe her face was so downcast that he knew this was the only way to communicate love and a new life to her.

So we know this next part. He stands up and affirms they are right that she should be stoned according to the law of Moses. But then he makes an interesting statement that (and again, this is a brand new thought to me) indicates humans don’t have the authority to commit capital punishment: “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” This statement could be applied to any sin such as murder that we think deserves the death penalty. As sinful creatures, do we have the authority to take a life–even the most heinous life, as the result of a crime? Wars are different animals that I won’t get into right now, but in this area, I think it helps convince me more than ever that capital punishment does not align with Jesus’s teaching.

So now everyone eventually admits they aren’t able to live up to the standard Jesus has now set for capital punishment and walks away, leaving only the woman, to whom Jesus famously says, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” She says no, and he closes the scene saying, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” End scene.

So what happened next? That’s the first thought I had last night when my wife brought up this story. What was the rest of her day like as a forgiven woman? Was her husband one of the people who dropped his stone and walked away? Did he divorce her? Did she have to move in with a friend? And what was the state of her heart from that day forward? If it was a long-term affair, did she break up with the guy? Did she take her freedom from her sin and turn over a new leaf? Did she earnestly start to follow you? Who did she become as a result of this absolution from her sin?

Father, I am not without sin. I have no stones to throw. Jesus taught such a unique…what’s the word I’m looking for? He taught a unique perspective on who we are as humans and who you are as God. Oh, Father, help me to “go and sin no more” and to offer this same opportunity of your unique perspective on who we can be through following you to others. Help me to make this the evangelism that brings your kingdom into this world and drives the hell out of people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 6, 2025 in John

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 21

05 Jun

21 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

2 So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”

4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

5 Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.”

6 So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

9 So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.”

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

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

12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

1 Samuel 21

Dear God, did David say anything this this story that was true? He just lied and deceived all over the place. How did you feel about that? Is the blood of Ahimelech as told in the next chapter on his head? I mean, obviously, Saul committed the sin and I’ll talk about that tomorrow, but it starts with this deception by David. Ahimelech sounds like a good man. My heart hurts to know that he got caught as part of the collateral damage of this thing between Saul and David.

At this point, I’ll be frank, it seems like David will use anyone he can to protect himself, and he will lie to them and deceive them to get what he wants out of them. He lies to Ahimelech. He’s even lying about the men accompanying him. Just about nothing David says is true.

I also want to point out that Goliath’s sword comes up here. Just four chapters ago, David was taking Goliath’s armor and weapons and putting them in his tent. I wonder how the sword ended up here at the temple. I guess it was as a reminder of what you did for the Israelites that day against an seemingly insurmountable foe.

Father, I’m not sure what to do with these lies and deceptions from David. I wonder what my biblical commentary has to say on it. Let me check…I just read it and got a couple of details, but what occurred to me that wasn’t said was that this was one of the first times that David was really pressed. When he faced individual foes like the lion, bear, and Goliath, he was good with his faith. When he faced battles after that, he had armies with him. But this was him running for his life with a lot of people. This was him escaping out the window of his home and his wife lying for him and to save herself. This was him lying to Ahimelech. Oh, speaking of Ahimelech, one of the things the commentary mentioned is that he was Eli’s grandson. I have a feeling your curse on Eli and his descendants from back in 1 Samuel 2:30-34. So there’s a lot going on here, and I think maybe the takeaway for me is to ask myself if I’m willing to be better than David here. His deception really bothers me, but am I any better? Am I willing to do the right thing no matter what it costs me, or will I do the wrong thing for the right reason? I guess I have this day and the coming days to live out the answer to that question. I pray you find me worthy.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 5, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 20

04 Jun

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”

2 So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

3 Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”

4 So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.”

5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7 If he says thus: ‘It is well,’ your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”

9 But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?”

10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?”

11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. 12 Then Jonathan said to David: “The Lord God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you, 13 may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; 15 but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”

17 Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, as the Lord lives, there is safety for you and no harm. 22 But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever.”

24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”

28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”

30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”

32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.

34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.

35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. 36 Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. 39 But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”

41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’ ” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

1 Samuel 20

Dear God, I’ll bet Jonathan didn’t get a wink of sleep that night after Saul chunked a spear at him. Anger. Fear. Embarrassment. Shame. Everything must have been running around inside him. What a difficult moment for him! His dad is the king. He is the king’s son and heir-apparent to the throne, and yet he is able to divorce his heart from any blind loyalty to his father or selfish ambition to be king and do what is right.

So what is Jonathan’s why? Why does he do what he does here? I think there are some words that come to mind.

  • Selflessness
  • Integrity
  • Loyalty (to what he can see you are doing for Israel through David and not his family)
  • Love (for you and for David)

Yes, I think Jonathan will be a big focus of the next Bible study I do with the guys next Monday evening. He’s just incredible. And this is almost the last time we see him before he dies at the end of the book. We will get one more warm scene between him and David in 1 Samuel 23:15-18, but nothing really changes from here to there. Jonathan is doing the best he can with a difficult situation.

Father, help me to be able to answer my why when I think about why I do what I do. Help the answers to be like the whys I perceive Jonathan had. Let it start with love for you and selflessly submitting myself to your plan. Help me to have integrity. Help me to be loyal to those who deserve my loyalty–not because of what they do, but because you call me to be loyal to them regardless of what it costs me. I want to be a man like this. I want to inspire others to be women and men like this. Help me, Lord.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 4, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 19

03 Jun

19 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. 2 So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you.”

4 Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. 5 For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

6 So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” 7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.

8 And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.

9 Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. 10 Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.

11 Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. 13 And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. 14 So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head. 17 Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?”

And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”

18 So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 19 Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. 22 Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, “Where are Samuel and David?”

And someone said, “Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 19

Dear God, we get a lot about Saul here. First, we see his insecurity and jealousy. Then we see his relationship with Jonathan. We also see his relationship with Michal. Finally, we see how he is still, like it or not, subject to you and your power. And I’ll add this one thing about David. He is still winning victories with your power and not his own. Yes, maybe he was in there a little with the victories over the Philistines, but on the big stuff like escaping Saul, it was your power that saved him in Naioth in Ramah.

At the end of the day, Saul was completely motivated by keeping his job at any cost. It’s like a president in a country that finds an excuse to suspend elections so they can stay in power. It happens all the time. He has the power. He doesn’t want to let go of the power. He doesn’t want to share the power. And then when you hold on to power that long, you start to get paranoid and everything looks like a threat.

Okay, so that is on a grand scale. What would that look like in my life? For my job, am I willing to objectively consider when it might be time to leave for the good of myself or the organization? Or is everything I do a way of hanging on to something that gives me safety and security? On the home front, am I willing to make my own life submissive to my wife and let her career or what you’re calling her to do to take over our priorities?

Father, I fell bad for Michal and Jonathan. I wonder if they had any conversations with each other about their father and David. I’m sure they did. Siblings back then didn’t necessarily have the same relationships as siblings of today, but since David as such a key touchpoint between the two of them I’m sure they talked about all of it. I am sorry that Saul put them in this situation. But it is a reminder that bad parenting doesn’t necessarily lead to bad children just like good parenting doesn’t necessarily lead to good children. For my part, help me to not be like Saul. Help me to see what you are calling me to do at any given moment. I legitimately don’t feel like it is time to move on from my job. I don’t feel like my work there is done. And I think I am doing my best to make sure my wife’s calling is as important, if not more so, than my own. So I’m not really feeling convicted today, but I am pledging to you that I want to keep these things in mind. I want to follow your call even if it leads to my discomfort. Even if it costs me the things that make me comfortable. I want to be in the middle of your will, regardless of what it costs me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 3, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 18:5-30

02 Jun

5 So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. 6 Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. 7 So the women sang as they danced, and said:

“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.”

8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

12 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. 15 Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

18 So David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19 But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”

22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

23 So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” 24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, “In this manner David spoke.”

25 Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; 27 therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

28 Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; 29 and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy continually. 30 Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

1 Samuel 18:5-30

Dear God, the thing that came up over and over again in this chapter is that David behaved wisely. He respected Saul and didn’t try to usurp him, which he could easily have done. He certainly had enough credibility built up with the people that mob mentality would have supported him overthrowing Saul. But then there would be civil war within the country and the people wouldn’t be focused on their enemies. And as I’ve seen others point out in their writings, David would have lost the high group and left himself vulnerable when he became king. He will protect your anointed like he will hope to be protected later.

As for Saul, he was an absolute mess. Things were spinning out of control around him. He wasn’t worshipping you at all. Not even trying. He was worshipping the idol of his throne–the thing that you gave him out of the blue. The thing given, not earned. And he knew that. I think it might be the “not earned” part that made him so insecure about it. David was building a ton of credibility among the people and even in his own eyes as he worked his way up the ladder. But Saul could only see the threat. He didn’t see the successes against his real enemies. He didn’t see the life as king David was helping him sustain. And he suspected the worst of David because our suspicions of others are aroused by the knowledge of ourselves. He knew that if he were in David’s position he would have surely tried to become king. Why wouldn’t David? Because at this point in his life, David was avoiding idols and simply worshipping you and doing what he felt you were calling him to do.

I would be remiss is I didn’t mention Michal. She seems like an innocent pawn in this story. We will see later that she will help David escape and earn her father’s wrath (and she’ll lie to her father to save herself as well). And she will make mistakes. But when I read these stories, I think about a teenager who is infatuated with someone. It’s kind of sweet if not a little sad.

Father, a lot of this is coming back to idolatry. As I look at these stories, it feels like Saul is holding onto something he knows he’s already lost and he is only making matters worse. And David is still looking for you and to you. He has nothing to lose so instead of trying to take something that belongs to someone else, he is living an obedient life, day by day. Help me to do that. Help me to live an obedient life today. I want to be your servant and let the world know I love you more than anything else.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 2, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 17:40-18:4

01 Jun

40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 41 So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?”

And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”

56 So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”

57 Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

1 Samuel 17:4-18:4

Dear God, I think there are a few main points out of this story this morning:

  • Goliath’s overconfidence was part of his undoing. Do I ever get overconfident and forget to ask you to lead me? Of course I do. I’m so sorry. I know that all of my good things come from you. I know I am a fool and I need you to lead me.
  • David was in the sweet spot of being led by you. A little like back in 1 Samuel 11 when your Spirit fell on Saul when he heard about the Ammonites attacking Jabesh. David was almost not even thinking. He was worshipping you through his actions. It almost seems to have been on instinct.
  • Why did you do this and give David the victory? He tells us in verse 47: “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give all of you into our hands.” That makes me think back to when Jonathan beat the Philistines by an attack on a few men, confusion, and an earthquake.
  • Speaking of Jonathan, where was he? He was obviously there (see 1 Samuel 18:1-4). Like Saul, it seems he was not in the sweet spot of our spirit at the moment. Even though he and his father were the only ones with armor and he was the natural choice to be out there, he wasn’t.
  • David wins. What happened to the armor bearer? Was he just so stunned that he turned and ran too? Was he afraid of David as well? It’s amazing how we can be beaten psychologically before we even fight. Even in conflicts or challenges in my life, if I don’t “believe” (I’m looking at you, Ted Lasso), I usually won’t even start. That’s what happened to the Israelite army here. That’s what happened to the Philistine army. The only two people who “believed” in this story were David and Goliath, and the difference between those two was that Goliath was egotistical and overconfident while David was full of faith and scrappy.
  • The Philistines run and the Israelites chase them.
  • David identifies his father to Saul (so he can get the tax exemption?).
  • Jonathan and David for their bond. What a remarkable thing for Jonathan to do.
    • Jonathan could have had a shame-filled ego. Instead, he was humbly grateful
    • Jonathan saw a kindred spirit in David, and perhaps he could see in David how much farther he had to go in his own faith. The would be brothers that would sharpen each other.
    • We do NOT go through this life alone.

Father, I guess it’s time for me to put this lesson together now. I have my parts for tomorrow night. Now, I need to assemble them. I like some of the things you’ve revealed to me through this story over the last few days. As I go out now to face my own Goliath in teaching these men about you through this story, help me to lean on you. I’ve had some of these lessons go well, but I don’t want to think for a second it was anything but your Holy Spirit guiding me. Speaking through me. I know my ego gets in the way a lot, and I am sorry for that. Give me the heart of the boy David, and not the man Goliath. I acknowledge you as the author of all of the good gifts and things that come my way. I worship you, my God and my King.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 1, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 17:31-40

31 May

31 Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. 32 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

38 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 

1 Samuel 17:31-40

Dear God, I had a few thoughts as I read through this story this morning.

  • You gave David life experiences that prepared him for the job you put in front of him.
  • You gave David insight into the fact that he had done these things because you had done them through him.
  • What was Saul’s thinking here? Was he just so emotionally locked up that he was ready to accept any half-witted plan, or did the prophecy gift return to him long enough for you to tell him that he should believe in David’s ability to do this outlandish thing?
  • There had to have been something in David’s appearance to Goliath (shepherd boy with a staff) that gave David the advantage because Goliath underestimated him.

I really want to lean into the life experience part of this story. You rarely ask us to step out and do something you haven’t prepared us for. For example, the jobs I had leading up to my current job uniquely prepared me. Not that I didn’t have a lot to still learn when I got there, or that I don’t still have a lot to learn. But you prepared me for the basics in a unique way. And you also gave me a unique set of skills to do the job. But they are from you. The experience is from you. The gifts and talents are from you.

That’s another part of this: The knowledge of you as the source of the provision. David could have said, “King, I kill bears and lions all the time. I’ve got this.” But he invoked you in his story: “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” That might be a harder part for me. Sometimes, I really want to take credit. But I think back on the times I was unemployed in 2003 and 2005, and you answered our prayers and provided for us. Sometimes I was frustrated with you because I thought you were too quiet, but you were there. And in retrospect I could see what you were doing. You gave me experience with you in little things so that as big things came along I could turn to you and have faith that, if you wanted it done, you would provide.

Then there’s the part about Goliath underestimating David. Underestimating you. But I suppose we will get into that more tomorrow.

Father, show me when it is time to lay down all the weapons the world wants to arm me with and simply pick up my five smooth stones. Remind me of the times you came through for me and sustained me–especially when I am in the middle of the storm. You have given me good skills. You have proven yourself to me time and time again. Help me to lean into that in my life today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 31, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , ,

1 Samuel 17:20-30

30 May

20 So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. 21 For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. 22 And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23 Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 25 So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

26 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

27 And the people answered him in this manner, saying, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

29 And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” 30 Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.

1 Samuel 17:20-30

Dear God, I want to sit with Eliab here for a second. Part of the army. Scared. Facing a grave danger. Feeling humiliated because he is unwilling to face Goliath (as is everyone around him). This is serious business. This is “adulting” on a military level. This is what a responsible man does. And here comes his little brother who doesn’t have these responsibilities talking smack. Talking tough. He sees David as naive, and arrogant because he’s never been given a responsibility he failed at. He’s just a boy. And while the other men were probably able to blow David off as a naive kid, or maybe even a sacrifice to Goliath to save their skins, Eliab was both frustrated with David and loved him and didn’t want to see him sacrificed.

Then there’s David. Naive. Foolish. Perhaps a bit arrogant. But there was also something different about him. He had a level of faith. We will learn later that he had faced dangers of lions and bears that maybe Eliab didn’t know about. He did have something in his own experience that told him this wasn’t a foolish mission for him.

There is a time when my experience can hold me back. I assume I know the outcome of something because I’ve been burnt before. I remember several months ago I was asked about looking into a program that my experience in my job told me wouldn’t work for us. My inclination was to blow it off without even examining it. Then I had a thought occur to me that perhaps a younger more naive me would have followed up on this opportunity and looked into it. Maybe I was selling it short for no reason other than hubris and arrogance. Maybe I was grumpy old man, not willing to explore new ideas. So I contacted a clinic that was using the program and took a couple of staff people with me to visit them. Ultimately, we decided to not do it, but I felt good that we had explored it.

Father, I’m not sure what I’m taking with me from this story this morning, but I feel like part of the message to me is that I should not close my heart to the inspirations you give me and also be open to the inspirations of the younger, perhaps more naive people you have put around me. Help me to hear your voice when it comes to what you would have me do next. Help me to see over, through, and beyond the walls that might be in front of me. Help me to be what you need me to be for your kingdom in my home and in my community. Help my life to be a light that sees me decreasing, you increasing, and people being drawn to you like moths to a flame.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 30, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 17:12-19

29 May

12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. 15 But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

17 Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. 18 And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

1 Samuel 17:12-19

Dear God, I want to sit with David as the youngest boy. As the youngest child, I can empathize with feeling like you’re always playing catch-up. No matter how old I get, as long as the three of us are alive I will always be four years younger than my sister and six years younger than my brother. I’ll never catch up. Our daughter is almost three years younger than our son, and, especially when they were little, I used to watch her try to take back every day of that three years.

Sometimes, I think there is something important about accepting the role of the youngest. In this case, David had a job to do. He had a role in the family. He was to help care for his brothers, express his father’s love and support for his brothers, and then bring back news of his brothers to his father. He was old enough to travel alone but not yet old enough to join the fight. Still a boy but feeling more and more like a man.

Of course, we will see tomorrow that David’s brothers still treat him like the youngest. They will be mad at his impudence when he responds to Goliath’s challenge with indignation and defiance by calling out the men of Israel who won’t fight. Partly out of shame and partly out of this feeling of superiority they feel.

And even though I am the youngest in my family, I am currently the oldest at work. So I need to remember to ask myself if I am giving my younger coworkers the respect they deserve to not only do the jobs they have but to trust them with more than my preconceived notions of them might normally allow.

Father, help me to know how to still live into my role as the youngest child in my family. Help me to know how to parent my youngest child. Help me to be an encourager of the staff who work with me. Love them through me. Love me through them. Help us all to simply be yours. Be your worshippers. Be your servants. Be your people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 29, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →