May 19, 2010, 10:10 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Pride
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 Sam. 13:1-4
Message
of the verses: “ 1 ¶ Saul was thirty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel. 2 Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of
Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of
Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away
the rest of the people, each to his tent. 3
Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the
Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land,
saying, "Let the Hebrews hear." 4
All Israel heard the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the
Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. The
people were then summoned to Saul at Gilgal.”
This
SD begins a new section in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on 1Samuel, “Be Successful,” and he entitles
this 3rd main section in this chapter “A king’s irresponsibility,” with today’s SD being the
first sub-section in that main division.
In
his introduction he tells that chapters 13-16 speak of the early years of Saul’s leading of the nation of Israel, and also that it begins to unravel
for Saul early on and continues to get worse.
It will end with suicide shortly after speaking with a witch during a
battle with the Philistines. David is
also first introduced in chapter sixteen, and Saul would battle against God,
David, and also Samuel after his introduction.
Verse
one of chapter thirteen is a verse that is interrupted in different ways by
different versions. The conflict is as to
how old Saul was when he first began to reign and how long he reigned. The NASB says he was forty years old when he
began to reign and he reigned thirty-two years over Israel, while the NASB95
version changed to thirty years old and reigning for forty-two years. The apostle Paul in Acts 31:21 said that Saul
reigned for forty years. Dr. Wiersbe
points out that there is no doctrinal difference in this controversy. Verse two reposts that Saul’s son Jonathan was a commander at the outpost in Gibeah and so he was a
young man when he took on this job regardless of how old Saul was when he began
to reign over Israel.
Jonathan
began the attack over the Philistines and this began the war that would
eventually be won when David was king years down the road. Jonathan was a brave man, and a man who was
dedicated to the Lord even though his father seemed only dedicated to
himself. It is shameful that Saul did
not give credit to what his son accomplished in his life.
One
more point from this section and that refers to the word “Hebrews,” which is a name introduced
in the book of Genesis and referred to the Jewish people, but it seemed to
denounce them and was often used as a degrading means when speaking to the
children of Israel. It is not sure if
Saul used this term in that way or not, but he well could have seeing what kind
of a man he was.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: The more
that I study and learn about the life of Saul the less respect I have for him,
and I think that that has to do with the fact that this was the king that the
people chose to rule over Israel, while David was the king that He chose to
rule over Israel. There may be some
things in Saul’s life that I don’t like because I can see them in my own life.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. I think that it is, at times, hard to know
myself like I should, so with that in mind the best thing to do is to stay
close to the Word of God and also to trust the Holy Spirit to teach me more
about the Lord Jesus Christ, the One whom I am suppose to be like, and when I
do this I will not have to be concerned with liking myself.
May 19, 2010, 10:45 AM
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