Archive for the ‘1st and 2nd Samuel-BibleTrekToday’ Category

Scripture reading for March 23rd: 1st Samuel 20-23

Close friends are hard to come by.  Over the years I have had several close friends whom I have shared my heart and life with.  The one closer than any other has been my wife of nearly 42 years.  We have shared life together and are friends as well as covenant partners.  We share a love and respect for each other and have vowed to be true to one another before God as long as we live.

In today’s reading, we have the story of David and Jonathan and their deep friendship.  By the way, some have tried to read into this relationship something sexual.  The Bible in no way implies that there is anything sexual about this friendship.  Their hearts were knit to one another and they made a covenant of friendship.  (1st Samuel 18:1-3)  In this covenant, they exchanged clothes and weapons and vowed faithfulness.  This covenant friendship was a gift of God that helped save David’s life on more than one occasion.

In our reading today, Jonathan helps David to avoid the wrath of the evil spirit that is on his father Saul.  Jonathan and David renew their covenant in a field.  Jonathan promises to warn David of the intentions of his own father if he discovers that his father is planning to harm David.  (1st Samuel 20:12-16)  He later finds that to be true and clandestinely meets David again in the field.  They part company with tears and promises to be true to each other, even to succeeding generations!  (1st Samuel 20:42)

As we look at this amazing friendship, I am thinking of Jesus Christ and His promise of eternal friendship to us.  “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:13-14a)   Jesus made a covenant of eternal friendship with us through His death on the cross on our behalf.  He took the punishment we deserved by taking on our sins and offenses, thereby saving our life.  He gives us His robe of righteousness and His weapons in exchange!  He promises to show covenant favor to succeeding generations of my offspring if I am faithful to Him!  He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother!  What amazing love the father has given to us through his Son, Jesus Christ!

Scripture reading for March 22nd: 1st Samuel 16-19

How would you go about finding a king?  Would you look for the strongest person you could find?  Would your king have to be the perfect man in looks and ability?  Would you look for someone who was charismatic and a natural leader?  God knows how to choose people He wants to lead for each situation to accomplish His purposes, but His ways are different than ours!

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” (1st Samuel 16:7)

Samuel was told to go to the house of Jesse of Bethlehem and anoint one of his eight sons as king.  Samuel obeyed the Lord, found Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.  (1st Samuel 16:5-6)  When Samuel saw Eliab, one of the sons, he felt that he must be the one God would choose.  This son was evidently tall and handsome and looked like a real leader.  God said “no”!  The rest of the sons also came before Samuel and God said no to each one.  There was one more young son who was tending sheep.  This son was sent for and when he arrived, God spoke plainly!  “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” (1st Samuel 16:12b)

God saw David’s character coming from a heart that was after His own.   David was known for his ability to sing and to play the harp skillfully.  (1st Samuel 16:18)  His ability to worship God was in his heart!  David was a brave and courageous warrior as well.  This courage was in his heart from a trust in the God he worshiped!   It was demonstrated as he cared for his sheep and protected them from the lion and bear.  (1st Samuel 17:34-35) God was also with David!  This made all the difference in the world!  Check your heart today!    Your character is more important than your looks or outward appearance!

Dear Friends,

Greetings on this day of rest and reflection!  May the Lord bless you with refreshing as you worship Him and honor Him by listening to His holy word!  Your pastor has a word from the Lord this day that you and your family need to hear and heed!  Please don’t miss out on being in the presence of the Lord as His people gather for worship today!

As I reflect on the reading of this past week, yesterday’s reading about Saul’s partial obedience comes quickly back to mind.  I find that I, too,  can make excuses like Saul did and seek to justify my own way of obeying God.  Saul easily got rid of all the damaged goods, but kept the best.  He still felt that he had obeyed the Lord’s instructions because he had won the battle and had gotten rid of most of the goods.  When confronted, he said he was going to offer the rest as a sacrifice to the Lord.  This sounded like a good idea, but was not in line with God’s instructions to destroy everything!  What difference could it make if they would be offered to the Lord as a sacrifice?  They would still be destroyed?

God doesn’t take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings that are made in disobedience!  Our sin shouts loudly against us and grieves God’s heart!  He really wants His people to simply obey!  This is the best sacrifice we can give Him.  A heart of obedience to fully comply with His word brings God more pleasure than any other sacrifice!

As you chose what path you will take today, reflect on your heart!  Are you being obedient to what God has shown you is right?  Are you completely following God’s instructions, or making up your own rules and thinking God will understand your intentions?  Read 1st Samuel 15 again and reflect on Saul and his great loss because of rebellion and idolatry.   In His Love, Pastor John

Scripture reading for March 20th: 1st Samuel 13-15

Do you have a stubborn streak in you?  I know that I can be stubborn sometimes.  I have learned over the years that I must always be teachable and listen to instructions.  Sometimes these instruction come directly from the word of God and other instructions come from those in authority over me.  Sometimes God uses my wife to direct me and even my children.  When I have been stubborn, I have always gotten into trouble!

Saul was given instructions by Samuel to go and destroy the Amalekites.  These peoples had waylaid Israel when they came out of Egypt nearly 400 years earlier.  God’s timetable is often different than ours but He always repays when there is no repentance.  (1st Samuel 15:1-3)  Saul was told to completely destroy them and everything that belonged to them.  The word was clear that everything must go!

Saul summoned a great army and marched out in obedience.  He attacked and the Lord gave him victory.  Saul, however, decided to spare King Agag and keep everything that was good in the way of sheep, cattle, and livestock.  All the weak and lame he completely destroyed.  (1st Samuel 15:8-9)

The Lord spoke to Samuel about Saul’s disobedience and Samuel began to cry out to the Lord on his behalf.  The next morning Samuel went to meet Saul, but found that Saul had gone to Carmel and set up a monument for himself there. Saul’s first words to Samuel when they met at Gilgal was “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” (1st Samuel 15:13) It is interesting how men sometimes are in denial and convince themselves that they have obeyed fully what the Lord desires!  Saul was deceived and his focus was on himself instead of on God!

Saul’s excuse for keeping King Agag and the best sheep was that they were for a sacrifice to the Lord.  We often feel that our good motives for disobedience should excuse us from any wrong-doing!  Samuel told Saul that God saw his intentions as stubbornness, arrogance, and idolatry!  Because Saul rejected the word of the Lord, he would be rejected as king! (1st Samuel 15:22-23)

These truths should give us cause to reflect on our own obedience to the Lord.  Are you fully compliant?  Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ, the only fully obedient King?

Scripture reading for March 19th: 1st Samuel 9-12

Does God ever get sad at the behavior of His people?  Does God ever cry?  Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus and cried out in mourning over Jerusalem as he entered it during Passover week.  We know that God’s heart is full of love for His people and He is sad when they reject Him and His love.

Samuel had faithfully led the people of God for many years.  He had tried to set his sons over them, but the sons were not of the same character as Samuel and the people cried out for a king like the other nations.  (1st Samuel 8:5-7)  God told Samuel that it was not him they were rejecting, but God Himself!  He instructed Samuel to give them what they wanted!

The search for a king went forth under God’s direction and the story of how Saul was chosen is an interesting one.  Saul was out looking for lost donkeys and decided to go to Samuel for wisdom.  God had spoken to Samuel a day earlier that a man from Benjamin would approach him and that was the man to anoint as king.  (1st Samuel 9:15-16)  I find it amusing that the man looking for lost donkeys was placed by God over a bunch of lost “sheep”!  Samuel told him that his donkey’s had been found and now he had a new job of leading the people of Israel!

As a final act after confirming Saul as king, Samuel confronted the people concerning their wicked request for a king.  He pointed out that they had a King in the Lord and had rejected Him.  Samuel warned them not to turn away from the Lord but to serve Him with all their hearts.  The king and people would be shown the seriousness of their ways by a special sign during the normally dry season of wheat harvest.  As Samuel called upon the Lord, He sent thunder and rain upon the land and the people stood in awe of Samuel and the Lord!  (1st Samuel 12:15-18)

This thunder and rain reminds me of God’s heart of weeping over His people when they sinned or rejected Him.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem as He entered it on Palm Sunday!  They missed the time of their King’s coming!  (Luke 19:41-44)  Would that we would remain true to our King and serve Him wholeheartedly!

Scripture reading for March 18th: 1st Samuel 4-8

Samuel was judge over Israel for many years.  When he grew old, he appointed his sons to take his place.  The sons, however,  were not walking with the Lord; they took bribes and perverted justice.  The elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel with a request for a king to lead them.  (1st Samuel 8:1-5)  Upset, Samuel went to the Lord with their request.  God was not shocked that they rejected Him as their King and instead wanted a human king.  Knowing the trouble they would get into, He had Samuel warn them sternly!

Human kings enlist your sons and daughters to serve in their army and government.  They tax the people to pay for the army and the luxuries that a king desires.  It wouldn’t be long before the people would be his slaves and cry out because of the misery that they would experience. (1st Samuel 7:11-18)   Samuel faithfully warned them about these consequences, but the people still demanded a king!  They wanted to be like the other nations.  They were tired of having God as their King!

Sometimes the worst judgment God gives us is  what we want instead of what we really need.  God let them have their way.  In fact God had already prepared Moses for this demand by giving instructions to him for the people.  (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)  The king was to be from their own brothers and not a foreigner.  The king was to be chosen by God, not by popularity of men.  The king was not to have large numbers of horses or take many wives.  He was never to take the Israelites back to Egypt again.  He was not to have large quantities of silver and gold.  These things tend to lead the heart of the king astray.

The king was also to take a scroll and write for himself a copy of God’s law.  He was to keep it with him and read it all the days of his life.  The purpose was to fear God and obey his commands carefully, not considering himself better than his brothers because of his position.  The king who would do this would live long and be blessed!  Sounds like Jesus Christ when you really think about it!

Scripture reading for March 17th: 1st Samuel 1-3

Prayer is an interesting subject.  God encourages us to pray about everything.  We know that God knows everything already and sometimes wonder why He wants us to ask of Him.  Prayer is simply communication with God in the form of talking and listening.  It often requires patience to receive the answer.  Our timing isn’t always God’s timing and our hearts sometimes need preparation to handle the answer.  The Book of First Samuel begins with a story about a barren woman who is bitter in her heart because God had closed her womb.  She finally decided to pray!  Has it come to this?

Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah,  an Israelite from the tribe of Ephraim.  Don’t get thrown by the fact that this man had two wives.  It was part of the custom of that day but not according to the plan of God!  (Mark 10:6-9)  Notice that these wives had conflict between them and were considered rivals! (1st Samuel 1:2-7)  One wife had sons and daughters and Hannah had none.  Hannah would weep bitterly when the other wife pointed out that she had no children.  Elkanah was frustrated, too, because he loved Hannah and wanted to encourage her.

Hannah stood up and went to the temple herself!  There she wept bitterly before the Lord and poured out her soul to God.  She made a vow that if God would give her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord and give him to Him.  As she continued to commune with God in her heart and silently moved her lips, Eli the priest noticed her.  Thinking her drunk, he rebuked her sharply!  (1st Samuel 1:9-13)  Hannah explained her desperate prayer and Eli told her to go in peace, that the Lord would grant her request!

How hard would it be for you if your preacher accused you of being drunk in God’s house when you were merely desperate for God’s help?  Would you get angry and give up?  Would you take offense and hold a grudge?  This woman patiently and respectfully explained her situation, and Eli confirmed that her prayer had been heard!  It is easy to jump to wrong conclusions!

Hannah had a baby the next year and followed through on her vow!  God does answer fervent prayer!  Take time today and pour your heart out to God!

Scripture reading for April 2nd: 2nd Samuel 21-24

These are the last words of David: ” The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel’s singer of songs:  “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.  The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me:  ‘When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’ (2nd Samuel 23:1-4)

David, the shepherd boy, anointed King by the Lord, speaks prophetically under the Spirit of the Lord.  His last words are inspired by the “Most High”, “God of Jacob”, “God of Israel” and “Rock of Israel”.  The Bible states that no prophet speaks on his own but is moved on by the Holy Spirit.  ( 2nd Peter 1:20-21)  He writes not so much for himself, but for those who will follow him in the walk of faith.  David writes out of nearly 70 years of walking with the Lord and living a life of faith.

David left a mighty legacy for us.  His Psalms are prophetic of the coming Messiah, his life, suffering and death!  As a young boy, he knew God as his own shepherd.  Jesus Christ is the good shepherd who so cares for His sheep that he lays his own life down for them.  David knew God as the “Rock of Israel”!  That Rock was a firm place to stand in the trials that continually came to this man.  That Rock was a source of water and refreshment in a dry and weary land as David was being pursued by his enemies.  His Psalms flow with an anointing of truth and grace that make them easy reading for people from every age and generation.  Even though David lived over 3000 years ago, his last words still speak faith to us and encourage us to press on to meet our great “High God”!  May we ponder these “last words” for more understanding and grace!

Scripture Reading for April 1st: 2nd Samuel 19-20

Have you ever done something really foolish?  (By the way, today is April fool’s day!)  In the last presidential campaign, one of the candidates talked bad about his opponent without realizing that his microphone was on and he was being recorded.  It was an embarrassing situation that was hard to justify!  In today’s reading, a man by the name of Shimei had done something really stupid to King David, who was now returning to power in Jerusalem.

As David left the city when he fled from Absalom, Shimei yelled curses at him.   (2nd Samuel 16:5-8)  David responded with the statement that God had sent Shimei to do that.   (2nd Samuel 16:11-12)  Although Abishai, a son of Zeruiah, wanted to kill Shimei, David refused to do so.  David realized that his current situation was a result of his own sin. God had warned him that trouble would come to him from his own household.  (2nd Samuel 12:10-13)  Shimei’s curses were reminding David of his sin and of God’s promise.

Now, after Absalom’s rebellion had been stopped by his untimely death, David was returning to Jerusalem as King over God’s people.  Shimei was one of the first to greet him.  He immediately fell at the King’s feet and asked for mercy, confessing his sin and taking responsibility. (2nd Samuel 19:16-20)  His humble attitude and progressive actions found a receptive heart in the King.  The sons of Zeruiah still wanted to get revenge and had to be rebuked again by the King.  (2nd Samuel 19:21-23)  The King granted a pardon to Shimei! I believe he understood God’s mercy when he, himself, cried out to God for it.  (Psalm 51:1-2)

We can all identify with Shimei in that we have all sinned against the King of Heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ!  We have rebelled against Him and deserve punishment.  Our accuser, Satan, tries to condemn us to death.  But the Lord has mercy on those who humbly confess and call upon Him for pardon.  God forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness!  (1st John 1:9)   This is good news!  We can have a pardon from the King!  Honest confession and repentance will bring forgivnesnss and restoration.  Take the action needed today to deal with sins against God or man who is made in God’s image!  Psalm 51 is a great pattern.  Forgive yourself too!  We have a pardon from the King!

Scripture reading for March 31st: 2nd Samuel 15-18

“Honor your father and your mother,  as the Lord your god has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 5:16

“This is what the Lord says; ‘out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you.  Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.  You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel’”.( 2nd Samuel 12:11-12)

God’s Word never returns void!  It is always true and the one who chooses to go against it does so to their peril.  King David disobeyed God’s command against adultery and although he was forgiven, he reaped what he had sown in his own household.  Absalom, a son of King David, chose to rebel against his own father and try to take the throne of Israel.  His story is recorded in today’s reading.  It has a boastful beginning and a sad ending.

Absalom was a master politician.  He made all kinds of promises to win the hearts of the people.  His heart was plotting a take-over of his own father’s throne and he did it by flattery and empty promises.  (2nd Samuel 15:4-6) He secretly set himself up as king and secretly won over David’s trusted counselor, Ahithophel, who joined in the conspiracy.  He was a man full of pride and self-promotion who would do anything to gain power.

Ahithophel advised Absalom to take his father’s concubines and sleep with them in front of all Israel.  This appealed to this rebel son and he willingly broke God’s commands and dishonored himself and his father, not to mention God!  In doing so, he fulfilled Nathan’s word to King David as his own father was confronted with his own sin of adultery!  God’s Word is always true and comes to pass!  (2nd Samuel 16:20-22)

Absalom’s brief rebellion ends in a tragic way.  He was always proud of his long, thick hair.  As he was riding his mule  through the forest of Ephraim in battle with his father’s men, he caught his hair on a branch and was left hanging in mid-air by his beautiful hair.  He was struck down by Joab, David’s army commander, and Joab’s armor-bearers.  His life cut short by dishonoring his own father!

When told of his son’s death, King David laments his death and wishes it had been him!  What anguish is caused by sin!  These sexual sins seem to offer such pleasure, but in reality cause death and agony!  We reap what we sow! David’s lament is very touching!  In it we hear the heart of God for all his lost children!  He wants none to perish, but all to come to repentance.  He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but wishes for their salvation and restoration!  In fact, He sent His own Son to die in our place!  Wow!  What amazing love!  Our Father identified with our sins and weaknesses and and offers pardon and restoration!