Saul disobeys the Word of God from 1 Samuel 28:7-14

8/2/2010 7:40:41 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Saul disobeyed God’s Word

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Samuel 28:7-14

            Message of the verses:  “7 ¶  Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor." 8  Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, "Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you." 9  But the woman said to him, "Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?" 10  Saul vowed to her by the LORD, saying, "As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." 11  Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me." 12  When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul." 13  The king said to her, "Do not be afraid; but what do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth." 14  He said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.”

            There is a lot of hypocrisy in this section of Scripture by Saul.  The Law of the Lord spoke of what to do with people who were mediums and spiritists and it was death.  Saul was suppose to stop these people from practicing in Israel which was the right thing to do, but now he is looking for one because the Lord won’t answer him.  He wants to talk to Samuel, but when he was alive he did not want to talk to him.  He swears by the Lord that nothing will happen to this woman if he obeys what he wants, but what he wants is against the Lord’s Law and even against his own law.

            Saul began his kingship in the morning but will end it at night doing something that was totally against the Law of the Lord.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that the book of 1Samuel is a book about the king that men wanted, a tall handsome man who was strong physically, but weak spiritually while the book of 2Samuel is a book about a man after God’s own heart, a man who was God’s choice to be king.  The story of Saul is a sad story indeed.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  If there is one thing I do not want to be accused of it is being a hypocrite, for that means that I am doing something that I said that I would not do and trying to be someone that is not the real me.  I want my life to be pleasing to the Lord, and one of the things that I need to do in order to follow this is to stay in God’s Word and then obey the things that I learn from His Word.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Put on the Spiritual Armor because I am in a battle each day of my life while here on planet earth.

2.      Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

3.      Continue to learn contentment.

4.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service as a living sacrifice.

8/2/2010 8:01:19 AM

Saul Looks for a Medium from 1 Samuel 28:3-7

8/1/2010 7:52:20 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Saul seeks a medium

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 28:3-7

            Message of the verses:  “3  Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. 4  So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa. 5  When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. 6  When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.”

            I believe that the mention of the death of Saul was in an earlier chapter and it seems that the reason that it is mentioned here again is because Saul would have wanted to have Samuel contact the Lord for him because of his great fear of the Philistine army.  Saul was afraid of Goliath and he also feared at Gilgal when the Philistines were so great an army and against him.  Saul also feared David for he knew that God was with David and was not with him anymore.  The priest and the prophet were now with David and so Saul had on means of finding the will of the Lord for him as to whether he should fight the Philistines at the time or not fight them.

            The Law prohibited mediums to be in the land of Israel and Saul knew this and got rid of all of them, but now since the Lord was not with him and he wanted to know what he should do he sought one out.  This is another step in the decline of Saul, and this time he would be informed that he would die. 

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Saul life is a guide not to follow, but David life is mostly a model to follow after even in spite of some of the sins that he committed he was a man after God’s own heart.

            It the best not to fear men, but to fear the Lord and this is something that I desire to do, but like David there are times when I fail doing this.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Fear the Lord for He is my creator, Savior, and judge.

2.      Put on the spiritual armor because I am in a battle every day of my life.

3.      Continue to learn contentment.

8/1/2010 8:17:47 AM

David and his men Divide the Spoils (1 Samuel 30:21-31)

7/31/2010 7:10:34 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Dividing the spoils

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 30:21-31

            Message of the verses:  “21 ¶  When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. 22  Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart." 23  Then David said, "You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. 24  "And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike." 25  So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. 26  Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD: 27  to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, and to those who were in Jattir, 28  and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29  and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30  and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, 31  and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to go.’”

            This section of Scripture ends chapter eleven of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of 1Samuel, with two more chapters to go, but the last chapter is a review of 1Samuel.

            There were some worthless men among the six hundred men who followed David and they raised their voice concerning the spoils that were taken after the battle with the Amalekites, as they did not want to give any of the spoils to the two hundred men who could not go on because of their exhaustion.  David stopped this by making a rule that those who followed him would divide the spoils even though they did not fight in the battle and this stopped the argument right away.  David said that it was the Lord who provided the victory and the spoils and so that is why they were to be shared.

            Next David and his men went back to Ziklag to wait on the news of the war, and this would not take long for news would come in three days of Israel’s loss and the death of Saul and Jonathan.  In the mean time David would send gifts to the elders of Judah and to the cities who had looked out for David while Saul was chasing him.  The people of these cities were in jeopardy of being killed by Saul for helping David and so David repaid them for their kindness. David was also paving the way to be the king over Judah as he served Judah for seven and a half years before taking over as king of all Israel.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  David was a generous man and I think that he understood that the Lord was the giver of all the gifts that he received and David was more interested in the Giver than the gifts that the Giver had given to him, which is a lesson that I am in the midst of learning in my walk with the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

2.      Trust the Lord to guide my path.

3.      Put on the spiritual armor for I am in a battle and need protection.

4.      Continue to learn contentment.

7/31/2010 7:35:14 AM

God Gives David the Victory from 1 Samuel 30:16-20

7/30/2010 9:44:17 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Victory

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 30:16-20

            Message of the verses:  “16  When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17  David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18  So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives. 19  But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back. 20  So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, ‘This is David’s spoil.’”

            There was surely a change of heart from David’s men who first wanted to stone him, and then afterwards when they had rescued all of their wives and children and they gathered much booty they said to David, “This is David’s spoil.”

            There are lessons to learn from this dark episode in the life of David, and the lessons that he learned I too can learn for there are plenty of dark things going on in my life at this time.  I will go over these lessons in the next portion of this SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are a number of steps that David followed in order to get from where his men wanted to stone him until his men said that the spoils were David’s.  David did not blame others for his trouble, but he drew strength from the Lord, as the Lord encouraged him.  It takes courage to face a crisis and that courage must come from the Lord.  It takes wisdom in a crisis to know what to do and that wisdom came from the Lord as David sought Him.  It also takes strength in a time of crisis and David got his strength from the Lord to win this battle.  It takes faith to step out in a crisis to do all of those things and David had had his faith in the Lord.  Psalm 37:5 gives insight into what happened to David and can happen to me as I follow this plan:  “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       These words from Psalm 37:5 are good steps of faith to take for today and every day, especially when going through difficult times.

2.      Be protected by the Spiritual Armor, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit.

3.      While going through the crisis’ in life remember the lesson that Paul learned while he went through many crisis’ and that is “learn to be content.”

4.      Trust the Lord to direct my path.

7/30/2010 10:16:08 AM

David Rec)eives Encouragement from the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6b-15)

7/29/2010 8:08:30 PM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Encouragement

Bible Reading & Meditation                                      Reference:  1Samuel 30:6b-15

            Message of the verses:  “6  Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

    “7 ¶  Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8  David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all." 9  So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. 10  But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind. 11  Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 12  They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13  David said to him, "To whom do you belong? And where are you from?" And he said, "I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago. 14  "We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire." 15  Then David said to him, "Will you bring me down to this band?" And he said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.’”

            The outlined portion of the verses for today :But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God,” are very precious words from God’s Holy Word.  David, it seems, had not been walking with the Lord for he was in Philistine territory and not in the land of Judah where many think that he should have been, but this time David consults the Lord by using the ephod for he wanted to find out if he should go after the men who had taken all of the women and the children who were in the camp.  God graciously answers David and tells him to go after them for he will rescue them.  It does not seem like the Lord tells them exactly where these people are located, but after traveling the sixteen miles to the brook Besor two hundred of his men stopped because of exhaustion and could not go on. This makes me wonder how hard a journey this would have been on the women and the children, but the Lord was faithful to David and his men and the women and the children made the difficult journey.

            Next David finds a man from Egypt, who had been without food and water for three days, and on top of that was sick, left there by his master because of his illness.  This was all in the plans of the Lord to help David find his family and the families of his men.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I like the statement that Dr. Wiersbe makes at the beginning of his commentary on this section when he writes, “Different people react in different was to the same circumstances, because what life does to us depends on what life finds in us.”  This is a true statement, and it was true in David’s life at this junction because he had just lost his family, the family of his men and also some of the men wanted to stone him, and yet David finds strength in the Lord His God.  As I look at the things that have been happening in my life that do not seem to be good I must do the same and find strength in the Lord my God just as David did.  This section is entitled encouragement and Dr. Jeremiah says the encouragement means that someone receives courage by having someone else pour courage into them.  David was encouraged as the Lord poured courage into him and this is what I need to have happen to me when trouble comes into my life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Seek the Lord because He will be found.

2.      Confess any sin in my life that I may have a clean heart.

3.      Trust the Lord to guide and direct my life.

7/29/2010 8:36:46 PM

David's Great Distress from 1 Samuel 30:1-6a

7/28/2010 7:23:10 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Distress

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 30:1-6a

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2  and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3  When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4  Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5  Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him.”

            It was because the Lord had not allowed David to be in the upcoming fight between the Philistines and the Israelites that he had to return to his home in Ziklag, and when he got there he found that the city was burned and all of the women and children were gone.  Could this be a message from the Lord showing David to get back to the Promised Land of Israel and get out of the enemy territory?  It was by the mercy and grace of the Lord that none of the women and children was killed by the Amalekites, because David had killed all of the women and children when he raided the cities of the Amalekites while he was living in Ziklag.

            When David and his men were returning from the Philistines they come upon their city and find that it was burned to the ground and all of their women and children were gone they all began to weep and the most disturbing thing to David was that the men were talking of stoning David.  David was their leader and so the leader was the one who would be blamed for something like this.  David was greatly distressed.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think about how leaders have to take the good and the bad when things go well and when things go bad.  When I am used of the Lord to bring a message to the people at Grace Baptist and things don’t go well I am the one to be blamed because of my lack of getting the message across to them, and when things go well then the story is in reverse.

            Being distressed is not something that is pleasant, for that was the feeling that I got when I left the meeting yesterday morning, distressed and disappointed, and yet I need to trust the Lord to do a work and not trust me to do the work that the Lord wants to accomplish.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       I need to put on the spiritual armor this morning because I know that I am in a battle.  I put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, and take up the shield of faith, and put on the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

2.      Continue to learn contentment.

3.      Trust the Lord to guide my path.

Memory verses for the week:                                        1Thes. 4:1-6

1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.  2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.  3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passions like the Gentiles who do not know God;

7/28/2010 7:54:27 AMs

David's Responsibility in the Battle (1 Sam. 28:1-2; 29:1-11)

7/27/2010 6:14:04 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  His responsibility in the battle

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Samuel 28:1-2; 29:1-11

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men." 2  David said to Achish, "Very well, you shall know what your servant can do." So Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.’

            “1 ¶  Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. 2  And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish. 3  Then the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?" 4  But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, "Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men? 5  "Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, ’Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?"

    6 ¶  Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. 7  "Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines." 8  David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?" 9  But Achish replied to David, "I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ’He must not go up with us to the battle.’ 10  "Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart." 11  So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.”

           

            I think what I can get out of this passage is the vague answers that David gave to Achish when he asked him a number of questions and the assumption was that David was on the side of the Philistines, when in actuality he was probably going to fight for Israel, but the Lord stepped in and caused David to have to return to Ziklag where he and his men were living at this time.

            When David was on the throne for a while he had people and even his family be deceitful to him and therefore he certainly may have been reaping the seeds that were sown here.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must be careful not to sow sinful things in my life or someday they may come back to be a crop that I do not want to harvest in my life. 

            From learning things from John MacArthur’s teaching on Daniel about prayer and in particular the confession and repentance part of intercessory prayer I have learned that when I truly confess and repent that I am willing to take the consequences of my sinful actions that come from God even thought I have confessed the sin and have repented of it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Trust the Lord to direct my path today, especially when it comes to our meeting this morning.

2.      Be ready for the battle today by putting on the whole armor of God so that I may be able to stand.

3.      Trust the Lord to continue to teach me, and that I may continue to learn contentment.

7/27/2010 6:37:35 AM 

David Reports of the Raids He goes On from 1 Samuel 27:8-12

7/26/2010 9:01:23 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  He reports of the raids

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 27:8-12

            Message of the verses:  “8 ¶  Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to Shur even as far as the land of Egypt. 9  David attacked the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. 10  Now Achish said, "Where have you made a raid today?" And David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites." 11  David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, "Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, ’So has David done and so has been his practice all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’" 12  So Achish believed David, saying, "He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.’”

            This was the second scheme that David was using, that of attacking the allies of Achish and then telling him he was attacking towns in Judah.  David would wipe out all of the people in the towns so that word could not get back to Achish, and at the same time David was making the people of Judah happy because he was wiping out the peoples who the children of Israel were suppose to wipe out whenever they first came into the Promised Land.  If they would have followed the Lord and did this then they children of Israel would not be in the shape that they were at this time in their history.  It was a spiritual issue that caused this trouble as they had disobeyed the Lord.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It seems to me that David was doing a good thing, ridding the enemies of Judah, in a wrong way, scheming against Achish. I still cannot see any time when David was praying to the Lord about these things he was doing. 

            Proverbs 3:5-6 seems to be what David needed at this time in his live, and something that I need in my life each day in order to get direction from the Lord on what I am suppose to do each day.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Be protected in the battle today with the spiritual armor provided to me and described in Eph. 6:10-18.

2.      Trust the Lord to guide my path as seen in Proverbs 3:5-6.

3.      Continue to seek to learn contentment as seen in Phil. 4:11.

Memory verses for the week:                                                    1Thes. 4:1-5

1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instructions as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3  For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to processes his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;  

7/26/2010 9:21:35 AM

David Requests a city to Live In (1 Samuel 27:3-7

7/25/2010 7:52:52 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  His request for a city

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 27:3-7

            Message of the verses:  “3  And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. 4  Now it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him. 5  Then David said to Achish, "If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" 6  So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7  The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.”

            This SD begins the second main point in chapter eleven of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on 1Samuel, and he entitles it “Deceiving the enemy.”  David deceived Achish over three things, his request for a city, his reports over the raids he went out on, and his responsibility in the upcoming battle with Israel and the Philistines, for David was now living with the Philistines.

            David was scheming, and this is a lot of which this chapter in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary is about for he writes the following, “faith is living without scheming.”  David lived among the Philistines for a year and four months, and so David must have thought it wise to get out from the main city where Achish was living and so he very humbly asked him for a city and Achish gave him the city of Ziklag, a city that was in the territory of Simenon but controlled by the Philistines.

            David was an enemy of Saul and the Philistines must have heard of this and that is probably why Achish welcomed David and his group of people which was probably between 2000-3000 in total.  At any rate there was a great many people with David which would make it difficult for Achish to feed and give water to, so it was better for him if they moved out, and this way David had the opportunity to do what he wanted without the watchful eye of Achish.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I truly believe that David did all of this without the counsel of the Lord and as I have quoted before from Warren Wiersbe, “when God is not allowed to rule in your life he overrules.”  God had a great plan for David and He has a great plan for me, and that is what I want to be involved in, the plan He has for me so I must allow Him to rule in my life and not overrule whenever I sin and get away from the plan He has for my life.

My Steps of Faith for today:

1.       Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

2.      Put on the spiritual armor.

3.      Continue to learn contentment.

4.      Trust the Lord to be the One who decides whether or not I am to go to Hawaii to work.

Memory verses for the week:                                                    1Thes. 4:1-5

1 ¶  Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2  For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3  For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4  that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5  not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

David leaves the land of Israel (1 Samuel 27:1-2)

7/24/2010 6:00:47 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Departing from the land

Bible Reading & Mediation                                         Reference:  1Samuel 27:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand." 2  So David arose and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.”

            I am sure that this was the beginning of a most difficult time for David as he decided in his heart that it would be best for him to leave the land of Israel so that Saul would stop chasing him.  David now has two wives and 600 men to take care of and many of these men have wives and families of their own so David had a great deal of responsibility.

            It was wrong for David to leave the land of Israel, but as Dr. Wiersbe writes we should not be too hard on David because we all have done similar things, not trusting the Lord and leaning on our own understanding instead of trusting in the Lord and not leaning on our own understanding, but on the Lords.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “When we start to look at God through our circumstances instead of looking at our circumstances through God’s eyes, we will loose faith, patience, and courage, and the enemy will triumph.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Dr. Wiersbe entitles this eleventh chapter in his commentary on 1Samuel “Living with the Enemy.”  The Bible tells me that I am in a battle and that I should put on my spiritual armor in order to stand against the enemy, but like David it seems to me that there are times when I am living with the enemy, for whenever I sin it seems like I cross over to the enemy until I confess my sin before the Lord. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Continue to trust the Lord to direct my path and for me to lean on His understanding for my life.

2.      To trust the Lord that the video that I will show whoever comes to this morning’s meeting will be something that the Lord will use for his honor and glory and for our growth and walk with the Lord.

3.      Continue to work on my memory verses in order to be able to stand up against my enemies.

Memory verses for the week:                                                    1Thes. 4:1-5

1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as your received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.  2 For you know what commandments that we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 3 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

7/24/2010 6:30:25 AM

Saul's Dishonesty with David from 1 Samuel 26:17-25

7/23/2010 7:52:10 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Dishonesty

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Samuel 26:17-25

            Message of the verses:  “17  Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" And David said, "It is my voice, my lord the king." 18  He also said, "Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? 19  "Now therefore, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, cursed are they before the LORD, for they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ’Go, serve other gods.’ 20  "Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the LORD; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.’

   “ 21 ¶  Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error." 22  David replied, "Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. 23  "The LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed. 24  "Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the LORD, and may He deliver me from all distress." 25  Then Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail." So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.’”

            This is the last recorded conversation between David and Saul, and Saul’s last words to David were in verse twenty-five, saying that David would prevail and accomplish much and so they departed, Saul to go to his death by killing himself, and David to be the king of Israel as God had had him anointed many years before.

            David is called son by Saul, but David did not call him father as he did the last time when David cut off a part of his robe.  By doing that David was cutting off his kingdom and by taking his sword David was taking away his authority.

            Saul wanted David to go home with him, but that would not be the case for as surely as David would return to Saul, Saul would try to kill him as he tried before.  His confession of his sin was not true, something like the sorrow that Judas felt when he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. 

            David did not want to leave Israel because that is where the Lord reigned and the priesthood was, but eventually he would do so.  David accused the men of Saul’s men of being the ones who were causing this trouble between Saul and David, and probably to some extent that was true.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Again I am reminded of the respect that David showed for the office of the king of Israel, waiting on the Lord to accomplish His purposes with Saul, and so I must have the respect for the office of the President of our country because it was God ordained, chosen by the Lord.  I must have respect for the Pastor’s office as it too has been ordained by the Lord, and wait to see what the Lord is going to do in both of these cases.  I am saying that in order for me to do this I will need much of God’s grace and a great desire to allow the Lord to work things out for His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Continue to trust the Lord to guide my path.

2.      Continue to trust the Lord to work things out for His honor and glory in the two situations I mentioned above.

3.      Continue to be willing to learn contentment.

4.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.

5.      Trust the Lord to work things out as far as this job opportunity in Kaui.

Memory verses for the week:                                                    1Thes. 4:1-5

1 Finally then, brethren, we request you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.  3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification, this is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

7/23/2010 8:25:15 AM