Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 20: God will be the bond between me and you, and between my children and your children forever!
The cement of lasting friendships
There’s a lot of tension around the palace these days. King Saul is unpredictable and on the verge of losing it altogether. He’s developed a habit of sitting on his throne with his spear by his side. If anyone displeases him in the slightest his glare tells him or her that the spear isn’t just for appearances. Even his own son, Jonathan or the hero of the land, David is not exempt. In fact, both of these good men have barely escaped with their lives when Saul made use of the spear. Jonathan still thinks he can handle his father but David is unconvinced and urges his best friend to test things for him. David’s concerns are justified. Saul’s a danger to anyone who’s in his vicinity, but especially to David. If he’s to survive it’s time for David to run. As he and Jonathan meet in preparation for David’s departure we get a glimpse into the heart of their deep friendship. The bond is God. They both love the Lord with all their hearts. Both are willing to die for the Lord. It’s their relationships to God that’s cemented their friendship with one another. The best, lasting, healthiest, most satisfying relationships have, at their core, God. This is beautifully illustrated in this passage.
Take Away: Where the Lord is at the core of a relationship that relationship will be marked by love.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 19: I’ll go out and talk about you with my father and we’ll see what he says.
President of David’s fan club
Saul has a haunted look these days. There’s no peace for him, but instead, a constant, nagging fear. He has power and authority and a certain kind of cunning, but things are going downhill for him. David is his greatest irritant. David is everything Saul should have been. No one will actually say this to Saul, but in his heart he knows that David is the next king of Israel. Of all people who should side with him in opposition to David, his son Jonathan should be first. In this age, when the throne’s at stake, there’s generally a bloody coop. Jonathan should realize that, not only is his future position at stake, but his very life depends on dealing with David. Jonathan, though, will have none of it. He’s the president of David’s fan club. When Saul signs a death warrant for David, it’s Jonathan who talks his father out of it. Every time Jonathan appears in this story he’s doing the right thing. He fights the enemies of God with skill, bravery, and resourcefulness. He’s a friend to David without thought to himself. He stands up to his father even when doing so can easily make himself the target of his father’s murderous rage. It occurs to me that Jonathan reminds me of one of my favorite people in the book of Acts, the Son of Encouragement: Barnabas. I thank God for people who simply do the right thing. Often they aren’t the ones with the starring roles in life’s stories but they support the stars, like David or Paul. Jonathan, like Barnabas, is a good role model for me.
Take Away: Jonathan’s example of always doing the right thing should challenge and encourage us.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 18: Saul hated David
The cost of spiritual isolation
Saul hasn’t forgotten the words of God’s man, Samuel: “God has rejected you as king over Israel.” Still, long after that word of rejection Saul continues in power, enjoying considerable military success. Then comes the Goliath incident. He shouldn’t have let David fight Goliath. As King, the General of the Army, it was his battle, not David’s. But David did fight, winning not only the battle, but also the hearts of the people of Israel. Now, in the eyes of the people of Israel, David can do no wrong. He never acts in a way that speaks of betrayal to his King and, instead, faithfully and with frustrating success carries out every command. The people fall in love with David and because of that Saul hates him. There’s a lot going on here. For instance, Saul is likely clinically depressed. At first, it appears that Saul doesn’t actually need God at all, but now his life apart from God is taking a terrible toll on his mind and spirit. We know that things will only go downhill from here. Then there’s David who simply keeps doing the right thing — even when Saul tries to pin him to the wall with a spear! There’s also an unattractive “but what have you done for us lately” element in the people’s changing loyalties from Saul to David. I don’t guess the writer of this portion of Scripture is teaching any particular lesson in this passage. Rather, he’s just telling the story. Still, there are several things to think about here.
Take Away: Living apart from God takes a terrible toll on a person.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 18: Jonathan was deeply impressed with David – an immediate bond was forged between them.
Thank God for good friends
The connection between Jonathan and David is a surprising one. Aside from some forced, perverted effort to make this into something it’s not, we still see here that Jonathan, who should be the next king of Israel, becomes a committed friend to David, God’s choice for king. You’ll find no better picture of friendship than this one. Jonathan and David stand together no matter what. I guess this isn’t especially profound, but when I read of their friendship I’m reminded of those who are friends to me. I could name names but I won’t. I’ll just mention that across the years the Lord has graciously sent me some precious friends – men who’ve prayed for and with me, who’ve been willing to let me, the pastor, sometimes just be “one of the guys.” Just writing about them today, even in this general a way, warms my heart.
Take Away: Don’t take good friends for granted – they are a gift from God.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17: David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine.
Hearing, believing, acting
I’m not sure why this phrase stands out to me but it does. It has to do with David’s confidence, his rushing to, in the eyes of common sense, disaster. There’s no trace of hesitancy here. This isn’t one of those reluctant “well, someone has to do it, it might as well be me” situations. David’s eager for this fight. The mental picture is powerful. On one hand, big old Goliath, armed to the teeth, stands there spewing out promises of death. On the other, young David armed only with a sling, proclaims God’s authority, running toward this giant of a man. Within seconds Goliath lies face down in the dirt and David stands over him, with Goliath’s own sword in hand, preparing to chop off his head. It was never about the brashness of youth, or David’s “secret weapon.” Everything here carries the mark of God at work. David acted with confidence because he had heard the voice of God in his life. Not only had he heard, he had believed. A realization of this truth is not only good for combat with giants — it’s good for everyday life too. I need to spend enough time with God that I can clearly hear him, and then, having heard, to believe, and having believed, to act with confidence.
Take Away: Once you’ve heard a certain word from the Lord you can move forward in absolute confidence.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 14, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17: Everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God.
Do I really believe the battle belongs to God?
“This very day God is handing you over to me.” So says David as he prepares for battle with Goliath. For us this is a nifty story, one of the most memorable in the entire Bible. For David, well, this is the real deal. Before him stands a giant of a man who intends to disembowel him. David has chosen a sling and some stones as his weapon of choice but he knows this fight isn’t really about weapons at all. This is a spiritual event, and he correctly identifies it as such: “I come to you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.” In spite of the real and material threat, David correctly classifies it as a real and spiritual matter. As much as I like this story, do I really apply it to my own “real and material” life? Am I good at praying and trusting God only in theory or do I do it into practice, where the “rubber meets the road”? Instead of viewing conflicts as spiritual events, do I rush to defend myself — or call a meeting to plot a strategy for getting my way — or throw my weight around — or manipulate the people involved? To do so is to view the issue at hand as one of “swords and spears” rather than as a spiritual battle that belongs to God. When I do that kind of stuff, I may get my way in the short run, but it will always come at a price to me and to others. Then again, I may not get my way at all and the giant may just win, leaving me fatally wounded.
Take Away: It’s a real challenge to retrain oneself to recognize spiritual battles for what they are.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17: Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor.
Shopping for armor
Since David’s going to fight Goliath, Saul’s preparing him for battle. Being given the king’s own helmet and sword is an honor for David. However, in spite of the seriousness of the situation, the result is comical. The helmet’s way too big, the sword, when strapped around his waist, drags the ground. The oversized armor weighs David down to the point that he can hardly move much less fight. Thus we come to the truism that we each must wear our own armor. We individualist Westerners can really get off on this one! “I have to do this my way…what works for you won’t necessarily work for me…after all, I can’t wear someone else’s armor.” Let’s step back for a minute and look at this situation again. Saul’s armor, including his weapons of war aren’t suitable for David so David simply picks another approach that already belongs to someone else. We don’t know who invented the sling, but it certainly wasn’t David. Probably way back in the first pages of Genesis there’s an untold story about how some enterprising fellow came up with the sling as a way to hunt. When wars came along the sling became one of the weapons every soldier attempted to master. So, when David rejects Saul’s “armor” he is actually accepting that of someone else. I think that it’s rare for God to call us to be totally original. After all, “there’s nothing new under the sun.” The Bible’s full of principles that can be applied to the issues of life. Someone has already thought through ways to deal with most issues. David didn’t go out and invent the sling so he could fight Goliath; he simply picked it as the method for accomplishing his purpose — a method pioneered by someone else. The fact that David couldn’t fight in Saul’s armor doesn’t give me permission to go around acting like the Lone Ranger doing everything my own way. It just reminds me that there’s more than one way to accomplish things, and I need to know enough about the issue at hand, and to listen carefully enough to the voice of the Lord in my life, to pick the right one.
Take Away: A wise person has more than one tool at hand and that person knows which tool fits that particular situation.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17: Go. And God help you!
The danger of natural attributes
I’ve been thinking about why Saul, himself, didn’t fight Goliath. After all, Saul is the king, leader of the army. He’s never been afraid in previous battles and has a reputation for being a fierce fighter. Goliath stands over nine feet tall, but Saul towers a head and shoulders above all the other men of Israel. Yet day after day, he allows his army to cower before Goliath’s challenge. I think the last part is the key. Saul is used to being the biggest. David isn’t a big man in the first place, but Saul is. In fact, and I’m just guessing here, it may be that Saul has never in his adult life seen another human being who’s taller than himself. Think of the psychological impact of that. Saul sees in Goliath not only a man bigger than he is, but also a man who’s clearly more skilled at hand-to-hand combat. This frightens Saul in a way that he’s never been frightened before. In fact, it has frozen him to the point that he’s ready to send young David, with all the confidence of his youth, to battle the giant in his stead. I think that it’s possible for our advantages to become our disadvantages. Natural attributes can blind us to our own weaknesses. Gifts can hinder the development of skills. For instance, a person who’s naturally a good speaker or singer may rely on that gift, but ultimately will be less useful to God than a person who had to early on learn to rely on God if they were to effectively minister. Sooner or later life sends us a Goliath, a circumstance in which our natural gifts, as great as they are, aren’t enough. Even gifted people must learn to rely on God, or they risk becoming Saul, hiding in his tent instead of battling Goliath.
Take Away: Ultimately, we all come to the end of ourselves so it’s better to early on learn to rely on him.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 11, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17: God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.
Wrestling with bears
Saul, not to mention Goliath, towers over David. We’re told that his family calls David the “runt” and that Saul is a head and shoulders taller than the average man. When word comes to Saul that he has a volunteer to fight nine-foot-tall Goliath he’s pleased, but when he sees David, well, let’s just say David is a surprise to him. Saul rejects David as too young and inexperienced but David immediately states his credentials. Apparently, shepherding isn’t all about sitting around watching sheep and playing the harp. David has some war stories of his own, stories that include hand-to-hand (or better hand-to-claw or hand-to-teeth) combat with some pretty impressive adversaries. He didn’t just run the wild animals off. Rather, he grabbed them by the throat, wrung their necks, and killed them! Have you grabbed a bear by the neck lately? It’s my understanding that this isn’t considered a wise thing to do! Seriously, David knows that his ability to kill a lion or bear with his own hands is an extraordinary thing. In other words, he knows that he would be a dead man had it not been for God’s help, enabling him to be a lion killer even as Samson had done generations earlier. It’s because of these victories that David’s ready to take on the big guy here. It’s when I’ve gone through smaller battles (although I am not sure how “small” fighting lions should be considered) and won by God’s help that I can take on giant issues with confidence. The same God who brought me though the smaller fights of life is well able to deliver me when I’m in the fight of my life.
Take Away: As I remember the Lord’s help in the past I face future challenges with greater confidence.

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Devotional on 1 Samuel

Posted on May 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17: I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine.
The slings and stones details of life
David and Goliath — now this is a good story! It’s a story we’ve heard all our lives. It’s part of our shorthand vocabulary. When we want to describe the little guy taking on something big and threatening we just say, “it’s David verses Goliath” and everyone nods understandingly. David’s very likely a young man rather than a little boy. Most Bible scholars say he’s in his 20′s when this takes place. The story’s rich in devotional material. However, before I get into the story, I’d like to look at the big picture for a moment. Saul, rejected by God, is on his way out. David has been secretly anointed as his replacement. The people love Saul and are faithful to him. He he’s proven to be a solid and fearless military leader. David’s best known as a musician and shepherd. These things hardly qualify him to be king of Israel. Everyone assumes that Saul’s son will succeed him as king, but even if they thought otherwise, a shepherd like David wouldn’t be a likely candidate in anyone’s mind. Thus we come to the confrontation at Oak Valley, where the Philistines and the Israelites are having a tense standoff. David’s victory over Goliath is the perfect way for God to introduce their future king to the people of Israel. Never again will David be considered to be a nice young man who plays the harp. I don’t think David’s thinking about any of this, but I believe God is. There’s lots of other good stuff in this story, but right off I see that the Lord’s not only working in the details of slings and stones, but he sees the big picture too. Today he’s helping me with the slings and stones details of my life, but he never loses sight of his own over all goals and how my life fits into them.
Take Away: I tend to focus on only the immediate concerns of life. The Lord, though, not only sees that but he also sees the big picture.

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