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
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