David's Family (1 Samuel 16:6-10)

6/4/2010 8:16:13 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  David’s Family

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 16:6-10

            Message of the verses:  “6 ¶  When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him." 7  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 8  Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 9  Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 10  Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The LORD has not chosen these.’”

            Now before this feast took place Samuel began to look at Jesse’s children to see which one the Lord had chosen for him to anoint as the next king of Israel.  Samuel was about to make the same mistake as when Saul was chosen as king, for in verse seven he admires the appearance of Eliab but at the end of verse seven I find one of the great verses in the OT as far as how the Lord operates with persons.  Now I would like to take some other verses that go along with the second part of verse seven that enhance what is said there:  1Chronicles 28:9 “"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.  Jeremiah 17:10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.  Romans 8:27 “and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  These are some wonderful examples of how the Lord looks at a person and how His Spirit and His Word also work in looking at and judging people.  David, as will be seen in the next SD, will not be a strong looking person, but David would have a heart that loves the Lord and the things of the Lord, and the Lord had been preparing him to lead His people Israel by doing the same thing that another great leader had done, for Moses was also a shepherd for forty years in preparation of leading the “sheep” of Israel.

            As far as the genealogy of David only six of his brothers are mentioned in Scripture, as some believe that one had died early and therefore was not concluded in the genealogy of David. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It would be nice to be able to look at people the way that the Lord looks upon them.  However I must, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, begin to look at people not in a prejudgment type of way, but allow myself to get to know them in order to see their heart and the needs that they have.  The Bibles description of David, Jesus, and Paul do not give them any compliments in their appearance, however their hearts are in wonderful alignment with the heart of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       With the aid of the Holy Spirit look begin to look at people the way that the Lord looks at them.  I have a bad record of looking at people in the wrong way and this has gotten me into trouble in the past.

6/4/2010 8:53:27 AM

David's City-Jerusalem (1 Samuel 16:1-5)

6/3/2010 8:30:45 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  David’s city—Bethlehem

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Samuel 16:1-5

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons." 2  But Samuel said, "How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, ’I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3  "You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you." 4  So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, "Do you come in peace?" 5  He said, "In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.”

            In Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on 1 Samuel, “Be Successful,” I come to the sixth chapter this morning for today’s Spiritual Diary, and he entitles this chapter “God Chooses a King,” and the first main division in this chapter is entitled “God chose David” which will cover the first sixteen verses of chapter sixteen of 1Samuel.  In his introduction to this chapter he wrote some very similar things about Samuel that I wrote in yesterday’s SD and that it was time for him to stop his mourning over Saul and arise to anoint a new king over Israel, David the son of Jesse, God’s choice for king over Israel.

            It seems that the writer of 1 Samuel now makes another break in this book as at first the main man in the book was Samuel, and then Saul, and now he turns his attention to David.  The Psalmist writes of the choosing of David in Psalm 78:70-72, “70  He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; 71  From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. 72  So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.”

            Bethlehem means house of bread as the word “Beth” means house and the word “Beth” with different endings is seen in different places throughout the OT.  Bethlehem was close to the place where Rachel, who was Jacob’s favorite wife died while giving birth to Benjamin, and it was also the place where Ruth found love and married Boaz and gave birth to Obed who would become the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.  This was all a preview of the most famous birth ever to be born in the world and that is Jesus Christ who is the living bread from heaven who came to dwell in human flesh.  One of the titles of the Messiah is that He is called the son of David, and this speaks of His humanness, while being called the Son of God speaks of His holiness and being God in human flesh.  So Bethlehem was a famous town and it was there that God told Samuel to go and anoint the next king of Israel.

            There was much fear among the people during this time as Saul had many spies out looking for people who would oppose him as king and Samuel’s estrangement with Saul was well known and this brought great fear to the elders of Bethlehem.  It also brought fear to the heart of Samuel so the Lord told Samuel to take a heifer with him to have a fellowship sacrifice with the people of Bethlehem and to invite Jesse and his family to this fellowship.  When the elders heard of the sacrifice this calmed their fears.

            I want to kind of zone in on this sacrifice that Samuel was to offer to the Lord as it kind of fits in with a message that I am going to give at GBC this Sunday evening.  Samuel told the elders of Bethlehem to consecrate themselves and this word from the Hebrew is translated 108 times in the AV of the Bible as sanctify.  One of the meanings of this  word is to set apart, set apart something or someone for God.  A person taking a Nazareite vow would be set apart for the purposes of God, the Holy Spirit told the elders at Antioch to "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  These words “set apart” are translated from one word in the Greek which means to set apart for some good purpose, and this was what Saul and Barnabas were set apart for.  Now back to 1 Samuel and I want to look at a bit of history of what the elders and those who were invited to this sacrifice were to do to get ready to go there.  In the book of Exodus 19:10-15 the children of Israel were about to meet their God at Mount Sinai and they were told to do the following:  “10  The LORD also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; 11  and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”  Now later on in the book of Leviticus Moses would write instructions on what a person should do when attending a sacrificial feast, for no one should be unclean.  “19  ’Also the flesh that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire. As for other flesh, anyone who is clean may eat such flesh. 20  ’But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the LORD, in his uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from his people. 21  ’When anyone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing, and eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are symbols in this section that have to do with how I am to live my life today in order to grow in Christ and in order to have fellowship with the Lord and I believe that some verses from the book of 1 John chapter one give insight into what I am to do:  “5 ¶  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

   “ 8 ¶  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”  This was a fellowship sacrifice that the people of Bethlehem were invited to by Samuel so this surely seems to fit into this section of Scripture. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Psalm 139:23-24 along with the verses written above from 1 John are good steps of faith for me today.

6/3/2010 9:40:38 AM        

                        

Saul is Rejected by Samuel (1 Samuel 15:30-35)

6/2/2010 10:12:11 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Saul is rejected by Samuel

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Samuel 15:30-35

            Message of the verses:  “30  Then he said, "I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may worship the LORD your God." 31  So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

    “32 ¶  Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past." 33  But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal. 34  Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35  Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.”

            This is truly a sad two chapters in the life of Samuel, a very godly man who cried over sin, the sin of the nation of Israel.  It must be remembered that the people were the ones who had requested a king, and as I have written in my SD earlier that I believe that God gave them a king just like they wanted, but not just like they needed, for if they would have cried out to the Lord in asking for a king I believe that He would have had them wait for a little while and then bring David onto the scene as their king.  But I digress, for I am writing about the heart of Samuel, a heart that belonged to the Lord.  Samuel sees Saul begin to fall in his character as in these last two chapters he loses his dynasty, along with his character and even loses his kingdom, and his friendship with Samuel.  He will eventually lose his self-control and his good sense along with his last battle and then his life.

            The text says that God regretted that He has made Saul king over Israel, and Warren Wiersbe writes a wonderful note on this subject of God seemingly changing his mind or regretting that He did something.  “When the Bible speaks about the Lord ‘changing His mind’ or ‘repenting’ it is using human language to describe divine truth.  God knows the future, including our responses to His commands, and God is never at a loss to know what to do.  He does change His actions in response to what people do, but this has nothing to do with His changeless nature or attitudes.  Jonah announced that Nineveh would be destroyed, but the city repented and the Lord withdrew the judgment.  From the human point of view, God is always true to His nature and consistent with His attributes and plans.  Nothing catches Him by surprise.”  I think that this is the best information that I have ever read on this subject.

            This text says that Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, however Samuel did not go to Saul either publicly or privately but in 1 Samuel 19:23-24 there was a time that he did see Saul.  

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I truly feel bad for Samuel for what he went through, yet God was still working through him and using him to bring about what His plans were for the nation of Israel, the nation that the long awaited Messiah would come from.  I can learn from this as life does not always go the way that I want it to, for there are ups and downs to life and some of them are due to my sin, and some of them are due to others sins, but God has promised that He will work all things together for good for those who love Him and those who He has called and that is a wonderful promise.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Trust the Lord as Proverbs 3:5-6 speak of and keep a short list with the Lord as Psalm 139:23-24 speak of.  Give myself to the Lord as Romans 12:1-2 speak of and continue to learn to be content as Phil. 4:11 speak of.

6/2/2010 10:45:06 AM  

Saul is Rejected by God (1 Samuel 15:24-29)

6/1/2010 8:52:33 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Saul is rejected by God

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Samuel 15:24-29

            Message of the verses:  “24 ¶  Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25  "Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the LORD." 26  But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel." 27  As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28  So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29  "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.’”

            Latter on in 1Samuel, Samuel will go and anoint David as king and God will say of him that he is a man after My own heart, for God knows the heart, something that man doesn’t know like the Lord knows.  As stated in an earlier SD Saul’s sin seemed pale when compared to David’s sins, yet God knew the heart of both men and it was David whom God chose to be the next link to the coming of the Holy One, Jesus Christ the Messiah. 

            In the first sinful act that was committed by Saul God took away his dynasty, and now in this second sinful act God took away his throne, as Saul will go to his house for a while in which he will be depressed because of all that Saul had done, but then the Lord will tell him to fill his flask with oil to go and anoint the next king of Israel, David a man after God’s own heart.

            Saul seems to repent from doing wrong, yet he did not really repent as he acted like others in the Bible who said that they had repented such as Pharaoh, Balham, and Judas.

            There was an object lesson here at the end of this section as Saul would rip the hem of Samuels robe and Samuel would be quick to tell him that God had torn the kingdom away from Saul as he had torn Samuel’s robe.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I’m sure that there are times in my life when I don’t know my heart and have to surely rely on the fact that the Lord knows my heart.  I am sorrowful whenever I sin and get discouraged when I repeat the same sin over and over, and at times have a desire to give up because I can’t seem to control the urgings that I go through, but I know that this is wrong and so I get back into the fight and continue to fight with the help of the Spirit and Word of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Give myself to the Lord as Romans 12:1-2 state.

2.      Trust the Lord to give me victory over my enemies, the world the flesh and the devil as stated in the sixth chapter of Ephesians.

6/1/2010 9:22:14 AM    

Saul Argues with Samuel (1 Samuel 15:16-23)

5/31/2010 8:43:53 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Saul argues with Samuel

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  1 Samuel 15:16-23

            Message of the verses:  “16  Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!" 17  Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel, 18  and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ’Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19  "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?" 20  Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21  "But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal." 22  Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23  "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.’”

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that it seems that Saul was trying to get away from Samuel and the Word from the Lord that Samuel was about to give him.  There would be a time in his life, near the end of his life that Saul would go to great extremes to get a Word from the Lord, and even a word from the dead man Samuel.

            Saul again lied to Samuel telling him that he had obeyed the Lord doing all that he was told to do.  From the surface you would think that Saul would have got a grade of B+ or possibly even an A- for the test that had been given to him by the Lord through Samuel.  I want to point out something that I have been thinking about for a long time, something that has bothered me because I did not understand it, and that is the difference between Saul and David, for the sins that David committed were far worse than the sins that Saul committed.  Take for instance this sin of disobeying the Lord in not fulfilling this job completely with the sin of adultery and murder that David committed, or even the numbering of the nation of Israel.  I think that the great difference between Saul and David is the heart and it can be seen here, especially in the two critical verses that of 22 & 23, for in these verses the heart of Saul is opened up and what is seen is truly not pleasing to the Lord and in the dying days of Saul this will manifest itself in true actual idolatry and divination as Saul seeks out a witch to raise up the dead Samuel because there is no word from the Lord for Saul.  As I look at the heart of David after his adulteress and murderess sin I see true repentance when confronted with these sins, for when one reads the two Psalms that David wrote after his sin with Bathsheba, Psalms 32 & 51 you can see a broken hearted man because of the sin that he had just committed, as sin, as all sins are, committed against our Holy and righteous God.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think about the wonderful that David had it is no wonder that God said that he was a man after His own heart for even though David sinned as everyone does his heart was truly broken over that sin and desired to confess it and get back into the wonderful, sweet fellowship with the Lord.  I know that I have a long way to go to have a heart like David, but I want the Lord to give me this kind of a heart so that I will detest the sin that I commit and desire always wonder, sweet fellowship with the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Psalm 51:16-17 “16  For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

5/31/2010 9:42:21 AM            

Saul lies to Samuel (1 Samuel 15:12-15)

5/30/2010 7:57:10 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Saul lies to Samuel

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 15:12-15

            Message of the verses:  “12  Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal." 13  Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD." 14  But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 15  Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.’”

            I would suppose a causal reading of this section by someone would seem to show that everything was alright with what Saul had done.  Saul was given an order from Samuel that came directly from the Lord to go and kill all of the Amalekites along with all that they possessed and Saul seems to change the orders humanly speaking for what seemed to be a good cause, but in so Saul was lying to Samuel and truly lying to the Lord.  Saul was a person who admired himself a whole lot even to the point of building a monument for himself after this battle was over, and I suppose that the people of Israel thought that this was a great victory given to them by their leader, just like they had asked Samuel to give them a king who would go out and fight for them and keep them safe.  Saul was also a person who liked to blame others for his wrong doing as in the case where he tells Samuel that his soldiers kept the choice animals to sacrifice them to the Lord, this was another lie. 

            Dr. Wiersbe advises his readers to read 1 John 1:5-10, verses that describe how a person who has a desire to walk with the Lord will follow, but something that Saul did not follow:  “5 ¶  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

    “8 ¶  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can see from this passage the importance of telling the truth, the importance of confessing my sins to the Lord, and the importance of not blaming others for my sinful behavior.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Be honest with the Lord.

2.      Trust the Lord to search my heart to see any hidden sin that has not been confessed.

3.      Don’t blame others for my sinful behavior.

5/30/2010 8:18:27 AM

Disobeying God (1 Samuel 15:1-11)

5/29/2010 7:16:04 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Disobeying God

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 15:1-11

            Message of the verses:  “  1 ¶  Then Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. 2  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3  ’Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’" 4  Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 5  Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. 6  Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8  He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9  But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

   “ 10 ¶  Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, 11  "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night.”

            “Disobedience and deception brings judgment.”  This is the third section in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of 1 Samuel, and I look back at the beginning statement he made then this is the third powerful lesson that I must heed and obey if I want the blessing of God on my lives and service.

            Saul is given one more chance to obey the Lord and his task is to destroy completely the Amalekites who were descended from Jacob’s brother Esau through one of his sons, through a concubine of that son.  Jacob and Esau never seemed to get along when they were growing up and when the nation of Israel was coming out of Egypt the Amalekites attacked them and were defeated by Israel, however if one goes back to look at Genesis 12:1-3 God says to Abraham, and this means to the nation of Israel that “I will bless those who bless you, and those that curse you I will curse.”  God was now about to curse this nation by using Saul to go in and to kill all who were in it.  Saul was following the message of the popular song that was written by Paul Anka for the late Frank Sinatra entitled “I did it my way.”  Saul was not following the orders that were given to him by Samuel that came directly from the Lord as he saved some of the cattle and sheep and some of the more prominent citizens of the Amalekites, and this would eventually cost him his life for it was an Amalekite who would eventually wound his so severely that he would kill himself.  Dr. Wiersbe writes of Saul, “He was more concerned about looking good before the people than being good before God,” and this sub-section is the first part of him doing wrong.

            I went over in an earlier SD about the killing of the wicked people by the nation of Israel when they entered the Promise Lane, and how the Lord had given them many years to confess their sins and did not and the Amalekites fall into this category.  God is God and He can do as He pleases, and will never do anything that compromises His attributes, and this certainly did not compromise any of His attributes, but was surely a part of justice which is one of His attributes.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Samuel will latter tell Saul that “to obey is better than sacrifice,” and I want to obey the Lords commands no matter what it costs me, and I will do this by the grace that He gives me.  I want to be a David and not a Saul!

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       By the grace of God I want to live my life for the glory of the Lord and obey His commandments.

5/29/2010 7:55:03 AM         

            

A Foolish Judgment (1 Samuel 14:36-52)

5/28/2010 10:35:36 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  A foolish judgment

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 Sam. 14:36-52

            Message of the verses:  “36 ¶  Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." So the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here." 37  Saul inquired of God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?" But He did not answer him on that day. 38  Saul said, "Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people, and investigate and see how this sin has happened today. 39  "For as the LORD lives, who delivers Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die." But not one of all the people answered him. 40  Then he said to all Israel, "You shall be on one side and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side." And the people said to Saul, "Do what seems good to you." 41  Therefore, Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, "Give a perfect lot." And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. 42  Saul said, "Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son." And Jonathan was taken. 43  Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." So Jonathan told him and said, "I indeed tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!" 44  Saul said, "May God do this to me and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan." 45  But the people said to Saul, "Must Jonathan die, who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die. 46  Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

    “47 ¶  Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, the sons of Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment. 48  He acted valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them. 49  Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab and the name of the younger Michal. 50  The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. 51  Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. 52  Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff.”

            There has been some misunderstanding for me as I read this section over when I was reading through the Bible on a number of occasions.  The problem is that Jonathan never heard of the vow that his father had made about not eating any food, foolish as the vow was it was still made and this falls under the category of not making vows at all because some of them are going to be done at the spur of the moment and will be regretted later on.  Saul seems to be jealous of Jonathan, for it was Jonathan who led Israel to two victories over the Philistines and although this should have pleased Saul it did not. 

            Dr. Wiersbe believes that the Lord was showing Israel the pride of Saul in all that went on here with the vow, and even though the lot fell on Jonathan the people who were with Saul would not allow Jonathan to be put to death.  Saul thus missed out in destroying the Philistines because of the foolish vow and also because of the results of that foolish vow. 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out some things about the family of Saul that are written in the last paragraph of this section in 1Sam. 14 that seem to have some problems when Scripture is compared with Scripture, although there are no doctrinal issues involved here.  This kind of thing is something that does not flip my switch and so I will not further comment on it.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to speak on vows and the two that I made earlier on in my Christian life and the one that I almost made, and if it were not for the great wisdom of Pastor Burns I surely would have made that foolish vow and would have suffered greatly for it.  I have made a vow to read the Bible for at least five minutes a day in October of 1980 and have pretty much kept it with the exception of perhaps eight or nine times.  At this present time, and at this time I do the Spiritual Diaries most every day and then follow along in the evenings as the Bible is played on a recording from my Ipod.  I hope that this does not go against the vow I made.  The other vow is to pray at least five minutes each day and I believe that I have missed this one more times than the first as sometimes when I stay up late and have not prayed the clock goes on past midnight and then I have my prayer time.  As stated before the vow that I almost made was a foolish one and I will leave it at that.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       By the grace of God I will continue to keep the vows that I made to the Lord in 1980.

5/28/2010 10:49:57 AM  

A Very Foolish Vow (1Samuel 14:24-35

5/27/2010 9:46:55 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  A foolish vow

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 Sam. 14:24-35

            Message of the verses:  “24 ¶  Now the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day, for Saul had put the people under oath, saying, "Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies." So none of the people tasted food. 25  All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. 26  When the people entered the forest, behold, there was a flow of honey; but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27  But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under oath; therefore, he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. 28  Then one of the people said, "Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying, ’Cursed be the man who eats food today.’" And the people were weary. 29  Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. 30  "How much more, if only the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great." 31  They struck among the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very weary. 32  The people rushed greedily upon the spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. 33  Then they told Saul, saying, "Behold, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood." And he said, "You have acted treacherously; roll a great stone to me today." 34  Saul said, "Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ’Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat; and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.’" So all the people that night brought each one his ox with him and slaughtered it there. 35  And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.”

            Today’s SD begins the second main point in chapter five of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of 1 Samuel.  He entitles this section “Foolish words bring trouble,” and this section covers verses 14-52 of chapter fourteen of 1 Samuel.  He begins this second main section with these words, “The spiritual conditions of our hearts are revealed not only by the actions we perform but also by the words we speak,”  He goes on to add this, “When you read King Saul’s words recorded in Scripture, they often reveal a heart controlled by pride, foolishness and deceit.  He would say foolish things just to impress people with his ‘spirituality,’ when in reality he was walking far from the Lord.”  I will now begin the commentary on today’s section “A foolish vow.

            Jonathan sums up his father’s actions concerning the foolish vow that he imposed on all of his soldiers when he said, “29  Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.”  It is evident that Jonathan was a man of great spiritual insight and actions and it is also evident that he knew that his father was not of great spiritual insight and actions, for this vow that he forced on these men cost them a great victory as Jonathan went on to say when speaking more about his father.

            Later on when the sun went down and a new day began, (as the Jewish day begins at sunset), the men were so hungry that they began to eat meat with the blood in it which was against the Law of the Lord.  Saul then again tries to show his spirituality by building an altar and offering the animals on it for a fellowship offering so that the men could partake of some of these offerings.  This again was foolishness on Saul’s heart.  Ecc. 5:2 gives insight into the words of Saul, “Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think. Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear. God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better (Message).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The older that I get the more I want to guard my tongue as the Proverbs says, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”  As I read about the words that King Saul said along with the commentary that Dr. Wiersbe has I begin to realize how foolish a man he really was.  There has always been a debate as to whether or not Saul was a believer, and I guess that I can’t go against what my wonderful Pastor Jack Jacobs told me that he was sure that Saul was a believer.  If this is true he is not one that I want to pattern my life after.  The OT does not hid any of the sins that are written in it, but the sins that were recorded there are for the learning of those in the NT era in order to cause them to grow closer to the Lord so that they do not commit them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       “ When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise. “

2.      “Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.”  

5/27/2010 10:27:43 AM  

Israel Enters the Battle (1 Samuel 14:20-23)

5/26/2010 9:56:02 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Israel enters the battle

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Sam.  14:20-23

            Message of the verses:  “20  Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. 21  Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22  When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also pursued them closely in the battle. 23  So the LORD delivered Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven.”

            I would suppose that if one looks at this section without really digging into it they would now see the emotional imbalance of Saul.  He could not find out what it was that the Lord wanted Him to do and so the Lord used his son Jonathan to lead the children of Israel’s army into battle with the Philistines.  If Saul would have counseled with Lord then his army would not have deserted him and gone over to the Philistines, and then the battle would have been a great victory.  Dr. Wiersbe on different occasions in his writings have said that if God is not allowed to rule in a person’s life then He will overrule. This is what happened in the life of Saul this time and will happen again before he falls on his sword to end his life. 

            Verse twenty-three sums up this section when it tells that it was the Lord who delivered Israel that day.  It was the Lord who used the services and faith of Jonathan and the bumbling efforts of Saul.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The thing that I want to put into practice in my life that is taught in this section is to allow the Lord to rule in my life and not overrule.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Again Proverbs 3:5-6 comes into my mind as it relates to this section of Scripture and also in the Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. 6  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”

5/26/2010 10:45:57 AM 

Saul Watches the Battle (1 Samuel 14:16-19)

5/25/2010 7:44:45 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Saul watches the battle

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1 Sam. 14:16-19

            Message of the verses:  “16 ¶  Now Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away; and they went here and there. 17  Saul said to the people who were with him, "Number now and see who has gone from us." And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. 18  Then Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." For the ark of God was at that time with the sons of Israel. 19  While Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand.’”

            The things that I read about Saul continue to get worse and worse as far as any kind of spiritual leader in the nation of Israel.  Dr. Wiersbe writes these sobering words about Saul:  “As we study the life of Saul, we will see more and more evidence that he was what some people call a ‘control freak.’  He envied other people’s success, he was suspicious of any strategy he didn’t originate or at least approve, and he was ruthless when it came to removing people who challenged his leadership or exposed his folly.”

            Getting back to this section of Scripture we actually find Saul at his home town where he had his six hundred soldiers with him.  One of his soldiers sees what is happening at the camp of the Philistines and tells Saul about it.  Saul immediately asks who was missing and finds out it was Jonathan, the one who had gone off on his own back in chapter 13:3, which probably made Saul uncomfortable to say the least.  The next thing that Saul does is ask for the Ark of God and this seems a bit of a mystery for the Ark of God was not used to seek out information concerning the will of God that was the ephod which was part of the High Priest’s garments and had the Urim and Thummim on it and this was used to determine the will of God.  Saul was to impatient to wait for the priest, (who was from the line of Eli, a line that would disappear soon), to give him any information as to what the will of the Lord was for this situation.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the wonderful things that I have learned about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ while he was on this earth is that He was never in a hurry, but He was never late.  A classic story to confirm this is the story of Lazarus in the eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel. 

            There are times when I believe the Lord has had to just slow me down because of my impatience and fear, but by the grace of God, the teaching of His Word, and the Holy Spirit working in my life this has gotten better, and for that I am thankful.  I am to become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and this is one of the traits He demonstrated while on planet earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       I want to continue to slow my life down as has been written many times “have the patience of Job.”

2.      Continue to learn contentment as this goes along with patience.

3.      Trust the Lord to guide my life today as Proverbs 3:5-6 describe.

5/25/2010 8:14:01 AM

Jonathan Initiates the Attack (1 Samuel 14:1-15)

5/24/2010 9:02:48 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Jonathan initiates the attack

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Sam. 14:1-15

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side." But he did not tell his father. 2  Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men, 3  and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the LORD at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4  Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5  The one crag rose on the north opposite Michmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba. 6  Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few." 7  His armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire." 8  Then Jonathan said, "Behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them. 9  "If they say to us, ’Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. 10  "But if they say, ’Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us." 11  When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, "Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves." 12  So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, "Come up to us and we will tell you something." And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hands of Israel." 13  Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him. 14  That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land. 15  And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling.”

            Today’s SD begins chapter five in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on 1Samuel, and chapter fourteen in 1Samuel.  Wiersbe entitles this fifth chapter “A FOOLISH VOW AND A LAME EXCUSE,” and the first of the three powerful lessons that we must heed and obey if we want the blessing of God on our lives and service is entitled “Faith in God brings victory.   Today’s SD goes over the first sub-point in the first main point. 

            It is sad to see the downfall of Saul’s life, a life that certainly lacks faith in the Lord, and a life that is full of himself.  It seems that one of the brightest things that came from Saul’s life was his son Jonathan for his son was nothing like Saul, in that Jonathan had a great deal of faith, and he must have learned from the Scriptures in order to have the kind of faith that he demonstrated in his life. 

            Jonathan comes up with a plan to attack the Philistine army with only he and his armor bearer, and to the fleshly mind that may sound foolish, but to a man of faith it was believing in a promise, perhaps the promise of Lev. 26:7-8, “7  ’But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; 8  five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes the following concerning faith, “Action without promises is presumption, not faith, but when you have God’s promises, you can go forward with confidence.”  Faith has to have an object, and the object of a believer’s faith certainly should be the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Word. 

            Jonathan could have told his father about his plan, but his father would have stopped it in his tracks, so he did not tell Saul about his plan.  His plan was that after climbing the cliff with his armor bearer he would begin to fight if the Philistines began to talk to them.  There were many men from Saul’s army who had deserted him and so the guards just thought that these were two more of the deserters, but they died believing that for as they began to talk to Jonathan and his armor bearer Jonathan killed twenty of them and then the Lord caused an earth quake to happen, but that is where I have to leave this exciting, faith filled story.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have a book that I bought when I first became a believer in Jesus Christ and it is entitled, “All the Promises of God,” and I just ran across it after thinking that it was missing for a long time.  This book tells all of the promises that the Lord has in His Word, and it is these promises that help increase my faith.  Jonathan believed the Word of God and God honored both Jonathan and His Word.  I like the quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s book concerning presumption and faith and so I must remember that in order to live a faith filled life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Trust the Lord and His Word in order to have a faith filled life that will be pleasing to the Lord.

5/24/2010 9:55:44 AM