Today's Reading - 1 Samuel 21

 

Humanity Above Legality

Under the Law of Moses, the "table of shewbread" (KJV), was an important piece of furniture inside the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. It was situated on the north side of the Holy Place, a private chamber where only priests were allowed to enter and perform daily rituals of worship as representatives for the people.

On top of the table, the priests placed the twelve loaves of shewbread, also called “the bread of the Presence.” The twelve loaves stood for the twelve tribes of Israel.  The loaves were a symbolic acknowledgment that God was the resource for Israel’s life and nourishment (i.e. “The Bread of Life”) and also served as Israel’s act of thanksgiving to God.  The loaves of bread were changed every sabbath, and the priests ate that which had been removed.  It was forbidden under the Law for anyone but the priests to eat the shewbread.

On this occasion, David and his small band of supporters were on the run from king Saul.  And they ran out of food. So. David went to Ahimelech the priest and requested some food.  And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is 'the holy bread'.”  The priest then gave them the holy bread. It was the only bread he had, which had been removed from God’s presence and replaced by fresh bread at the same time.

Although this was technically a violation of the Law, the priest recognized that it was the right thing to do. The principle that this draws our attention to about the Law is that in cases of human necessity (such as in the case of David), acts of mercy are preferred to ritual services.  Human need takes precedence over legal technicalities. Humanity above legality.

Jesus would later refer back to this incident when His disciples were accused of doing that “which is not lawful” by picking wheat grain on the sabbath.  Jesus there reminded all of us that religion should never get in the way of our care and compassion for our fellow human beings.  Jesus summed up his lesson that day by saying, “I desire mercy not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7), thus placing acts of mercy and grace above religious and ritual acts.

If your religion is so structured that you cannot feel the pain and need of others, it is time to let the Holy Spirit renew grace in your heart. God desires mercy, and mercy requires acts of compassion. Mercy requires that we see the humanity of others, and also recognize our own humanity. Mercy sees the true need and seeks restoration. And in order to give mercy, it must flow of our own awareness of how we have received mercy so abundantly.

Today's Reading: Psalms 11 & 59

 

What Can The Righteous Do?

David wrote these two Psalms (11 & 59) when king Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.  He was in deep distress over the situation and, in these Psalms, he pleads with God to protect him from those who rise up against him.

In Psalm 11:3, David asks a profound question, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  The word translated “foundations” refers to the moral and spiritual underpinnings of any society. David was facing a time in his life when all that he believed about society and justice and truth seemed to be collapsing.  He was being chased down by a bitter and vindictive king whom he had served in loyalty and faithfulness all his life.  Everything seemed to be turning upside down.  You can sense in his words a feeling of despair and hopelessness.

We, too, live at a time in history when the foundations of society and truth and justice are collapsing all around us. Governments and their leaders are corrupt.  Righteousness among nations and people seems to be at an all time low.  Evil has become good, and good has become evil. When a nation celebrates what God condemns, judgment from on high must eventually come. And we can see it coming as our nation falls deeper and deeper into darkness. So, what are we, as followers of Christ to do?

First of all, we must not give in to these feelings of despair and hopelessness. This is exactly the opposite of what God wants us to do.  Instead, we must turn our eyes upon the Lord, now more than ever and keep our hope in Him and His promises strong.

Second, As David, we must take refuge in the Lord. Verse 1, says “I have taken refuge in the Lord. How can you say to me, ‘Escape to the mountain like a bird!’” These are times when we must not flee.  When David’s friends encouraged him to flee the country, he replied, “I have taken refuge in the Lord.” He reasoned that if God cannot protect him, then running away won’t keep him safe.  The only safe place is in God.

Third, we must pray and engage in spiritual warfare.  We must recognize that the root causes of our collapsing moral and spiritual foundation come from the prince of darkness, Satan himself.  We must put on the armor of God and pray fervently for his dark schemes to be defeated in the spiritual realm.

Finally, we must stand and fight.  As followers of Christ, what should we do when the foundation is crumbling?  Shine the light of Christ!  Never back down when confronting darkness.  Proclaim God’s truth and righteousness loudly in the public square and fight every attempt to degrade the foundations any further. So, dear follower of Christ. When the foundations are destroyed, don’t despair. Take refuge in the Lord. Pray without ceasing. And always stand and fight for God's truth and righteousness!

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 20

The Lord Between Us

Jonathan was king Saul’s son and next in line for the throne of Israel. At least, that’s how Saul viewed the matter. But God had other plans.  He planned to remove Saul from the throne and install David as the new king. Although Saul knew in his heart that this was God’s plan, he refused to yield to it.  He fought hard to keep control of the kingdom and to pass it down to his son and succeeding generations.

Jonathan and David were best friends. They had grown up together in the royal household and their hearts were knit together in a true bond of friendship.  But David was in trouble. Saul was trying to kill him to prevent him from taking over the kingdom. So, against his own best interest, Jonathan devises a plan to protect David from his vicious father.  To seal the agreement, Jonathan invoked the statement, “The LORD is between you and me forever.” By uttering those words, Jonathan was invoking the watchful eye of God to keep an eye on both of them and to make them true to their words.

This phrase was commonly used in the Bible by two parties who entered a covenant or agreement.  It really started in Genesis 31 when Laban and Jacob, two sneaky, conniving, and deceitful men entered into an agreement to establish a boundary between them.  Laban recognized that both he and Jacob were “slippery” characters so he invoked the Lord’s help in keeping an eye on them and catching either one of them in the act if they attempted to renege on their deal. Thus, this phrase became a way of swearing to keep an agreement under penalty of God’s watchful eye.

Jonathan and David were not sneaky, conniving men like Laban and Jacob.  They were good friends who cared deeply for one another.  When Jonathan entered the covenant with David and the house of David, he did so honestly and with every intention of keeping the deal.  There was no chance of either party reneging on the deal. Nevertheless, Jonathan still sealed his promise by invoking the watchful eye of the Lord.  In essence, he was saying, “With the Lord watching over us, we are certain that our covenant will be fulfilled. May He watch over us forever.”

It is so important for all of us that the LORD keep His watchful eye on our relationships with others and on our integrity to keep commitments.  Today, we don’t normally utter the phrase, “The Lord is between you and me” when entering into a relationship, or covenant, or agreement. Nevertheless, we should always seek God’s watchful eye over our hearts such that He “catches” us when our hearts begin to veer off course or we begin to falter in our commitments.  We must always keep the LORD “between” us and those He brings into our lives.

 

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 19

 

Is Saul Among the Prophets?

When Samuel first anointed Saul as the king of Israel, he predicted that Saul would prophesy, saying, “The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person” (1 Samuel 10:6).  The word “prophesy” means to speak out a message from God under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Prophecy at its most basic definition is “a message from God.” So, to prophesy is to proclaim a message from God. The one who does this is, therefore, a prophet.

Years later, as king, Saul sent three different groups of servants who prophesied to David. When Saul personally traveled to this location, he also prophesied: “Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” (1 Samuel 19:23–24).

At this point in his life, Saul has become a mean, angry man.  He has let jealousy eat at his soul and devour him.  He has repeatedly ordered the execution of David and has personally attempted to murder him on at least two occasions.  He is old, bitter, and corrupt.  So, we find it strange that God would use him to prophesy.  Yet, we are told that the Spirit of God came upon him and he began prophesying.

This is an astounding and confounding moment.  It is astounding to witness as God’s supernatural power comes upon this king of Israel.  It is confounding because it seems like Saul is the last person in the world through whom God would choose to speak His message.  That’s one reason the people around him said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”  They were a bit confounded by God’s choice to use this corrupt, evil king to speak forth His words.

This is where we must rely on the wisdom and sovereignty of God.  We may be confounded at times by the people God uses.  But in His wisdom, He uses them anyway.  He is sovereign and gives His gifts to whomsoever He chooses.  We must not question God’s wisdom or sovereignty.  We must simply maintain a right heart with Him and be astounded and confounded when He uses us for His divine purposes.  After all, there is no goodness or qualities within any of us for which God chooses to use us. 

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 18

 

The "Secret" to David's Success

David prevailed over the Philistine champion with a sling and with a stone. This event marks the first recorded success of David’s life.  And as soon as David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner (Israel’s military commander) took him, and brought him before Saul, the king. Saul recognized David’s success and put him into service to the kingdom.

Verse 5 of today’s passage says that, “David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war.”  Whatever Saul gave David to do, he did it—and did it well. Tragically, as David’s reputation for success increased, so did Saul’s anger toward him.  Saul began to fear David and his popularity. It was clear that God was with David and had left Saul. So, Saul got David out of his sight by making him an officer in the army. David was in combat frequently. But even there, he had great success.

Everything David did turned out well. We are told in verse 14, the singular reason for his success: “For the LORD was with Him.”  Everything that David accomplished was because God was with Him and was granting him success. And his success does not end here.  Eventually, David will ascend to the throne and become the king of Israel because God, in His sovereignty, decided to make him king.

Often, when we look at a person who is “successful” by the world’s standards, we point to their individual characteristics to explain their success.  Perhaps he/she was particularly astute and clever.  Or cunning and charming.  Or ruthless and determined.  Or had outstanding skills.  Or, perhaps, he/she was just lucky and success fell into his/her lap.  But it was none of these things that led to David’s success.

There is but one reason for David’s success. Only one way to explain his rise from an obscure shepherd boy to the leader of a dynasty.  And that is, “the LORD was with him.”  Whatever direction your life is taking, whatever course you are on, it is imperative that you look up and ensure that God is with you.  Don’t rely on your ingenuity or your determination or “luck” to find success.  Turn to the Lord.  Seek His direction for your life and rely solely on Him for your successfulness.  “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Today's Reading; 1 Samuel 17:31-58

The Battle Belongs to the LORD

“In heavenly armour, we’ll enter the land. The battle belongs to the Lord.

No weapon that’s fashioned against us shall stand.  The battle belongs to the Lord.

We sing, glory and honor, power and strength to the Lord.

The power of darkness comes in like a flood. The battle belongs to the Lord.

He’s raised up a standard, the power of His blood.  The battle belongs to the Lord.

We sing, glory and honor, power and strength to the Lord.

When your enemy presses in hard, do not fear. The battle belongs to the Lord.

Take courage my friend, your redemption is near. The battle belongs to the Lord.

We sing, glory and honor, power and strength to the Lord.

The battle belongs to the Lord.*”

These are the lyrics of a great worship song written some forty-plus years ago.  In these lyrics, the writer expresses the same sentiment as David in today’s passage.  Confronted by a strong enemy, Goliath, the mighty warrior of the Philistines, David defiantly tells him that “the Lord will give you into our hand.”  David wasn’t being boastful or arrogant with these words.  He wasn’t expressing confidence in his own abilities or the abilities of the Israelite armies. No, he was expressing his total confidence in the Lord.

David recognized the awesome truth that, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). To put this truth another way, with God on our side like this, how can we lose? The reality is that the battle always belongs to the Lord.  We must always remember this truth and whenever we face darkness, fear, temptation, or attacks, it is imperative that we look to the God who is for us and sing, “glory and honor, power and strength to the Lord.” 

Don’t defy your enemies in your humanity. Don’t rely on your own strength or resources to battle life’s battles. Instead, look confidently to Him and recognize that the battle belongs to the Lord.

 * © Maranatha! Music

 

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 17:1-30

 

When Your God is Big Enough

The Philistines were an intimidating people.  They had a strong military and had defeated Israel on numerous occasions.  Truth be told, the Israelites, were terrified of this army and its soldiers.  And now, the Philistines “rub salt in the wound” by sending forward one of their greatest warriors. This giant of a man, nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.

Goliath issued a defiant challenge to Israel, “Send out a man to battle with me. Let us fight it out together!”  The Israelites, to a man, fell back the moment they saw the giant—totally frightened.  Except one.

David, the shepherd boy from Bethlehem arrived that day to hear the arrogance and defiance of Goliath and the Philistines.  David was blown away that this man openly and defiantly challenged Israel, which he saw as a challenge of Israel’s God.  To speak like this to God’s people was something David just could not comprehend.

Why was David not afraid like the rest of the Israelites?  Because he saw how big his God was and knew in his heart that this defiant Philistine was no match for the God of Gods and Lord of Lords.  Yes, Goliath was big.  But David’s God was bigger.  David wasn't intimidated by this Philistine Giant because David’s God was big enough!

Whenever we face big problems in life, it is so important to remember that our God is bigger than our problem.  It has been said that “the difficulty of any task is always measured by the agent doing the work.”  If your “agent” is puny and weak, the task will always look insurmountable.  But if your “agent” is God, then every challenge pales in comparison to His unlimited power and resources.  David’s God was big enough to conquer this defiant Philistine.  

Is your God big enough to conquer your problem?