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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 131 & 132

May12

(Sundays and Mondays studies are both posted on Monday.)

Day 131. Reading 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 19, and Psalm 20

Day 132.  Reading Psalms 65, 66, 67, 69, 70

Read Today’s Scriptures.

Day 131.

2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19  (These two chapters tell the same story with very few differences.)

It started with a good deed. The friendly king of the Ammonites died, and David wanted to show his loyalty to the new king, Hanun, so he sent a company of his servants to console him.  Like many young and pompous advisors to new youthful kings, Hanun’s guys filled his mind with suspicion about David’s servants. They whispered in Hanun’s ear that King David had sent them to search the city, spy on it, and overthrow it. 

Really?  With bouquets of lilies?

The young (and foolish king – he reminds me of Solomon’s son Rehoboam & his foolish advisors – took David’s servants and humiliated them.  Half their beards (a symbol of manhood) were shaved off, and their robes were cut off at hip level, leaving them exposed.  They were greatly ashamed!

David heard about it, sent men to meet them (presumably with decent clothes), and told them to remain in Jericho until their beards grew out.

Young King Hanun, sensing he’d made a mistake and seeing how he now “stunk” in the eyes of Israel, got together an army, added some neighboring soldiers then fanned out for war. (second mistake)

David sent Joab and the host of his mighty men. (The empire strikes back!)

Joab and his co-commander brother Abishai spit up to fight the Syrians and Ammonites. Joab encouraged his brother and men with a great declaration.

  • Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to Him.

Way to go, Joab!

The Syrians fled.  When the Ammonites saw them running away, they fled too.  HA!  Joab and Abishai and their men returned to Jerusalem. 

Now the Syrians were embarrassed and returned with a new, powerful commander to fight again. (third mistake.)  This time DAVID himself, gathered all Israel together, led them across the Jordan River, and fought them.

The Syrians fled again. This time David and the company went after them, killing many thousands. And also, that great commander died too.  When the Syrians saw they were defeated they surrendered and became subject to Israel.

So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.  (Let that be a lesson learned!)

Psalm 20.

This psalm is titled, “Trust in the Name of the LORD our God.” It’s a song most often sung before going out to battle.

That’s just what Joab and Abishai, and then King David did, and they won the day. All glory to God.

  • May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the Name of the God of Jacob protect you!
  • May He send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!
  • May He remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!
  • May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
  • May WE shout for joy over your salvation, and in the Name of our God set up our banners!
  • May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
  • Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving might of His right hand. 
  • SOME trust in chariots and SOME in horses, but WE trust in the Name of the LORD our God!

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Day 132. (5 more psalms)

Psalm 65.

This psalm is a PRAISE psalm (to the MAX).  It’s hopeful, confident, and enthusiastic in response to God’s goodness.  It’s a celebration at the Tabernacle, probably at one of Israel’s Feasts.

  • Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion
  • O YOU WHO HEAR PRAYER, to You shall all flesh come.
  • Blessed is the one You choose and bring near to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with your goodness and holiness.
  • By awesome deeds You answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation.
  • You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
  • You crown the year with Your bounty; Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance!

Psalm 66.

Another psalm of praise titled “How Awesome Are Your Deeds”

  • Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His Name; give to Him glorious praise!  Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds!”  So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You.
  • Come and see what God has done; He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man.
  • Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of His praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.

And then, a personal testimony;

  • Come and hear all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for my soul.
  • I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.
  • If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the LORD would not have listened. 
  • But truly God HAS listened, He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
  • BLESSED be God, because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me!

Psalm 67.

This psalm shows that God’s desire is to save and bless ALL nations of the earth as they come to Him and fear him! But first a “benediction.”

  • May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us.…..
  • that Your way may be known on the earth, Your saving power among all NATIONS.
  • Let the PEOPLES praise You, O God: let all the PEOPLES praise you!
  • Let the NATIONS  be glad and sing for joy; for You judge the PEOPLES with equity and guide the NATIONS upon the earth.
  • Let the PEOPLES praise You, O God; let all the PEOPLES praise you. 
  • …let all the ends of the earth fear Him!

Psalm 69.

This psalm is a prayer of desperation, titled “Save Me, O God.”   In it David realizes that he might be shortly killed. He begs for rescue.

This psalm also has inferences concerning the coming Messianic kingdom when God’s enemies are dealt with.  Much of it was applied to Christ in the New Testament – you will catch those parts as you read.  But any believer being ridiculed will identify too.

Read the whole thing.  It shows David’s intimacy with God that he can pray such personal prayers.  It shows US that we can cry out to God, no matter what our heartache or need.  No matter how desperate we are or what sin we have done.   

Psalm 70.

A short psalm, almost identical to Psalm 40.  David prays against his enemies, asking God to turn them back and be brought to shame.

But then he prays that ALL who WILL turn and seek God might be saved!

  • May ALL who seek You rejoice and be glad in You!  May those who LOVE YOUR SALVATION say evermore, “God is Great!”

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Tomorrow, sadly, we will see the great king fall. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 127

May7
Day 127.  Reading 2 Samuel 6-7 and 1 Chronicles 17.
 
 
 
Read Today’s Scriptures.  How did they challenge you?
 

2 Samuel 6.

This chapter reviews the bringing of the Ark of God into Jerusalem (1 Chron 13:1-14), with some added details.

First, he tries to bring to Jerusalem “the Ark of God, which is called by the Name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim” (if you want the full name). Remember how he put it on a new ox cart, then one of the beasts stumbled, and Uzzah put out his hand to steady it. ZAP!!  He’s dead.

Procession halted, the Ark stored in the house of Obed-Edom, because “David was afraid of the LORD that day.”  Then David hears how the LORD is blessing Obed-Edom and all that he has because of the Ark of God. So his desire is stirred again to bring it to Jerusalem.  THIS TIME, THE CORRECT WAY.

David danced before the LORD with all his might, wearing a linen robe and ephod. And all the House of Israel were shouting and blowing the ram’s horn.

  • And Michal, Saul’s daughter (and David’s first wife) looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the lord, and she despised him in her heart.

After the Ark of the LORD was in its place, David offered burnt and peace offerings, blessed the people, and gave each of them a sack of party food.  Then they, and he went home. 

Joyful and full of blessing, David walked into his house only to meet the dour-faced Michel.

  • “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

Wow. Shock.  A big downer on the glorious & holy celebration parade.

(Because the verse identifies Michel as “the daughter of Saul” and not the king’s wife, she might still have been longing for the courts of her father, Saul, where royal decorum was observed. She probably expected King David to be wearing royal robes, a crown, and perhaps being brought through Jerusalem on a royal chariot.  Regardless, she was disgusted with him.)

This absolutely put off David for his wife forever (she would never have children).  He answered her (before leaving her forever) in a calm but intense voice,

  • “It was before the LORD, who chose ME above your father, and above all his house, to appoint ME as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord — I WILL make merry before the LORD.  I will make myself yet MORE contemptible than THIS, and I will be abased in your eyes.”

Okay, then.

 

2 Samuel 7.

With the Ark of God in Jerusalem, all his enemies at rest, and enjoying his own cedar house, David’s thoughts turned to building a House (Temple) for the LORD. He got excited and told Nathan, the prophet about his idea.

  • Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” answered Nathan.

But later that night, the LORD told Nathan something else, which he retold to David in the morning.

  • So you want to build Me a house to dwell in?  I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. Did I ask any of the judges shepherding My people to build me a house of cedar?

Then God told David what HE would build FOR DAVID.

  • I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies. And I WILL MAKE FOR YOU A GREAT NAME. And moreover, I WILL MAKE FOR YOU A HOUSE.

Then God told who would build the Temple.

  • When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. HE SHALL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  

Of course, God knew the weaknesses and faults of Solomon, but He promised David…..

  • When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, BUT MY STEADFAST LOVE WILL NOT DEPART FROM HIM, as I took it form Saul, whom I put away before you.
  • YOUR THRONE WILL BE ESTABLISHED … FOREVER.

Oh, my gosh, was David flabbergasted. 

  • Who am I, O LORD GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far?
  • Because of Your promise, and according to Your own heart, You have brought about all this greatness, to make Your servant know it.  
  • Therefore You are great, O LORD God, For there is none like You, and there is NO God beside You.

And David continues to praise and exalt God for the extraordinary promises He made.  (Yes, David was a man after God’s heart.)

 

1 Chronicles 17.

This chapter reviews and expands on what is said in 2 Samuel 7. 

It tells of David’s desire, and Nathan telling him God’s different plans and His great promise to make David’s house be on the throne forever.  And that, David’s own son would build the House for the Ark of God.

Then comes David’s wonderful prayer of awe, wonder, thanksgiving, and praise for what God has promised.

(It’s glorious to read it a second time!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 124 & 125 — Part A.

May5
PART A – Day 124.  Reading 1 Chronicles 13-16.
 
Day 125. Reading Psalms 1, 2, 15, 22, 23, 24, 47, and 68.
 
(Sundays and Mondays studies are posted together on Mondays,
but since these two are long posts, I will put them into Part A and Part B. )
 
 
 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
 

PART A. 

1 Chronicles 13.

Today we read of a good plan, approved “in the eyes of all the people.” David’s heart was in the right place.  He wanted the Ark of the Covenant near him in Jerusalem in the Tent (Tabernacle) he’d set up.  He called all the people of Israel from the land and all the Levites from their cities to celebrate this wonderful plan.

But, David had forgotten to consult with the LORD. Yes, the Ark of God WOULD DWELL in Jerusalem and David’s desire was a good thing.  However, the HOLINESS of the Ark and of God had not been considered in his plans.

The Ark of God had resided about 10 miles west of Jerusalem in Kiriath-Jearim, ever since the Philistines had sent it back after they’d captured it, because the LORD had afflicted them horribly.

It’d been twenty years, so maybe the people had forgotten that small incident that happened when the Ark was returned. (David had been only ten years old.)  When the people of Beth-Shemesh first saw the milk cows bringing the Ark home on a cart, 70 of them came in from the fields to look at (look into?) it?  God had zapped them all dead. (See 1 Samuel 7:19-21) They’d been terrified and sent the Ark from Beth-Shemesh to Kiriath-Jearim to stay. 

Now, David wanted it in Jerusalem.  Seems an ox-cart (a new one) would be a good travel method again.

 NOT!!  

As the joyful procession danced and sang around the symbol of their God, the oxen stumbled.  So, naturally, Uzzah, walking next to the cart … put out his hand to steady the Ark.  (As if God couldn’t protect his own “throne on earth”!) 

The second he touched it, Uzzah was DEAD! 

It was quite a dampener on the celebration.   

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1 Chronicles 14.

This chapter is a repeat of parts of 1 Samuel 5 and 1 Chronicles 3. These happened BEFORE 1 Chronicles 13.  It mentions David’s growing family of wives and daughters, and the two attacks by the Philistines which God had helped David overwhelmingly win.

The end of verse 17 says, “The fame of David went out into all lands, and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations.”

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1 Chronicles 15.

After King Hiram of Tyre supplied David with materials, and he’d built himself (and his wives) a nice place to live …. David prepared a place for the Ark, a new Tabernacle. (See Deuteronomy 12:5-7)  Then, after obviously studying, or requesting the Levites to tell him HOW to transport the Ark to Jerusalem. (Good boy, David!) He began again. (It had been three months since that “incident.”)

He learned that NO ONE except the Levites could transport the Ark of God and that it would be suspended between them by poles resting on their shoulders.  So, along with all the people of Israel, David gathered the Levites, particularly the “sons of Aaron” and the sons of Kohath. He sent for Zadok and Abiathar, the priests “to bring up the Ark of the LORD, the God of Israel to the place he had prepared for it.

Confession by David:  “It was because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek Him according to the rule.”

So the priests consecrated themselves (as per the law) and carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD. 

There were musical instruments played, harps, lyres, cymbals, all to raise a joyful sound. Heman, Asaph and Ethan composed psalms and sounded the bronze symbols. 

So, David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the home of Obed-Edom … with rejoicing.  And they sacrificed 7 bulls and 7 rams “because God helped them.”  

David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and along with the crowd was shouting to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals and the loud music on the harps and lyres,

“And as the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul (David’s first wife) looked out the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing ….

….. and she despised him in her heart.”

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1 Chronicles 16.

After the Ark of God was placed inside the tent, they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.   Then David blessed the people in the name of the LORD and distributed to each (men and women) a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.

He instructed the Levites to invoke, thank, and praise the LORD, God of Israel.  He appointed that THANKSGIVING be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers.. His song follows. (It echoes Psalms 86, 105, and 106.)

  • Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!
  • Sing to Him, sing praises to Him, tell of all His wondrous works!
  • Glory in His holy Name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
  • Seek the LORD and His strength; see His presence continually!
  • Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
  • Tell of His salvation from day to day.
  • Declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
  • For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and He is to be held in awe above all gods.
  • Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
  • Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his Name; bring an offering and come before Him!
  • Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth; 
  • Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
  • Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!

WOW!!

Then David left Asaph and his brothers to minister regularly before the Ark as each day required.

He left Zadok the priest and his brothers to offer burn offerings to the LORD on the alter of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, and to do all that is written in the Law of the LORD.

Then all the people departed, each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.

 

Such a glorious day. When we seek the LORD and obey His word, we are blessed with joy.

 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 123

May3
Day 123.  Reading Psalm 106, 107.
 
 
 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
 
Psalm 106.

(This Psalm reviews God’s mercy on Israel despite their sinfulness. This history of Israel was most likely sung when David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. See 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chron. 16.)

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love (mercy) endures forever!”

ONE

  • Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.” 
  • “Yet He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make known His mighty power.”  “He saved them from the land of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.” 
  • “Then they believed His words; they sang his praise.”

TWO

  • “But they soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test.”  “They exchanged the GLORY OF GOD for the image of an ox that eats grass!”   “They forgot God their savior.
  • “He said He would destroy them — had not Moses stood in the breach before Him to turn Him away from His wrath.”

THREE

  • “They despised the pleasant land, had no faith in His promise. They murmured…. they did not obey…. Therefore He swore to them that He would make them fall in the wilderness.”
  • They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. They provoked the LORD to anger, and a plague broke out among them.
  • Then Phinehas stood up and intervened and the plague was stayed.  That was counted to him for righteousness.

FOUR

  • They angered Him at the waters of Meribah, and it WENT ILL WITH MOSES on their account, for they made His spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.
  • They disobeyed and did not destroy the people as the LORD commanded. They mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.  They served idols. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.”  “Thus they became unclean by their acts and played the whore.
  • Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people and He abhorred His heritage. He gave them into the hands of the nations.  Their enemies oppressed them.
  • Nevertheless … He looked upon their distress, He heard their cry, He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the abundance of His steadfast love.

“BLESSED BE THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, from everlasting to everlasting. “Amen. Praise the LORD.”

  • What mercy and forgiveness we see in our God. These verses remind me of 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” How I thank and praise Him. 

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Psalm 107.

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for his steadfast love (mercy) endures forever.”  “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north and from the west.

SOME wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty.

  • “But they cried to the LORD in their trouble and He delivered them from their distress.  He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.
  • “He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.

SOME sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons. 

  • “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.
  • He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart.

SOME were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities, suffered affliction. They loathed food and drew near to the gates of death.

  • “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.
  • He sent out His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

SOME went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.

  • “He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
  • They mounted up to heaven; then went down to the depts; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.
  • Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
  • He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. He brought them to their desired haven.

Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

 

This is a great thing to consider and think on today!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 117 & 118

Apr28
(I post Sunday’s and Monday’s studies together.)
 
Day 117.  Reading 1 Chronicles 6
Day 118. Reading Psalms 81, 88, 92 & 93
 

Read today’s scripture.

What do you learn about the tribe of Levi and singing in Chronicles?

What encourages you in these Psalms?

Day 117.

1 Chronicles 6.

Remember these genealogies of the tribes, were needed, after they all went into captivity, and then RETURNED. They people who hadn’t been in the Promised Land for 70 or more years had no idea where they were to live.  PLUS!!!  Those from the tribes of Levi were the priests who would serve Israel and eventually work again in the temple when it was re built.

Today’s reading is all on that priestly tribe of Levi, and his three sons, Kohath (Aaron the priest), Gershon, and Merari. 

There are many, many priests listed in the sub-tribe of Kohath, all descended from Aaron. These were the priests in charge of the Tabernacle/Temple and all the Holy things.  This chapter lists them down to Jehozadak, who went into exile when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by Nebuchadnezzar.

The sub-tribe of Gershon has a smaller list of names, and the sub-tribe of Merari has even fewer.

Then this chapter (verses 31-48), shows a new group of priests (from each of the sub-tribes) to fulfill another task in the Tabernacle/Temple.  Since David was a singer (psalms), he wanted music to be a part of the service in the house of the LORD, after the Ark was brought to Jerusalem, both in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple that Solomon built. 

Of the Kohathites, Heman, the singer, was chosen. 

Of the Gershonites, Asaph was also chosen. Many of the songs in Psalms were composed by Asaph.

Of the Merarites, Ethan was chosen.

The duties of the High Priests are listed here too. They were to make offerings on the altar of burnt offerings and on the altar of incense for all the work of the Most Holy Place and to make atonement for Israel. After Aaron, was Eleazar, then Phinehas, his son, and so on. 

Then the cities and pasturelands are recorded that belonged to each of the sub-tribes of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari.  All are listed, so their post-exile descendants would know where their inheritances lay. 

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Day 118.

Psalm 81.

(So here is an example of a psalm written by Asaph).

Wow, can you hear the joy and worship in this congregation?  Asaph calls the people of God to SING aloud, SHOUT for joy, RAISE a song, and SOUND the music of the tambourine, lyre, harp, and shofar (trumpet). 

Then his song tells of how God rescued them from slavery, answered their prayers (and grumbles), and tested them.

They his song says. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.   WOW!  But, Israel didn’t do it.

Then you hear God’s plea, “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.” 

And God’s promise if they did listen.  “He would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 88.

This psalm was written by Heman and is very dark. It was sung to the music of a reed, a mournful instrument.) Sometimes my prayers echo his depression and despair.

  • O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you.
  • Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!
  • For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol (the grave).
  • I am counted among those who go down to the pit;  I am a man who has NO STRENGTH, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave….. like one whom You remember no more.

Then he continues with harsh anger toward the LORD. (Yep, I’ve prayed this way too!)

  • YOU have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions of dark and deep.
  • YOUR wrath lies heavy upon me, and YOU overwhelm me with all your waves.
  • YOU have caused my companions to shun me; YOU have made me a horror to them.

Yikes!  Yes, you CAN pray to God like this when your heart is broken and in torment!

  • But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
  • O LORD, why do YOU cast my soul away?
  • Why do YOU hide Your face from me?
  • Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer YOUR terrors; I am helpless.
  • YOUR wrath has swept over me; YOUR dreadful assaults destroy me.
  • YOU have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; 
  • My companions have become darkness…………………………………… 

Heman bemoans God’s failure to hear his prayer for GOOD HEALTH.  (Have You done this? I have.)  He assumes God is angry with him, but, LIKE JOB, he knows of no cause for that anger. But, his crying out to “the LORD, the God of his salvation,” proves that he has an underlying trust; it just seems invisible in this horrible, dark time. 

Psalm 92.

(Now, a glad, bright psalm for the Sabbath!  But don’t let it mock Heman’s desperate prayer, above.)

  • It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
  • For YOU, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy

Hear the joy in serving the LORD even into old age!

  • The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
  • They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
  • They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, To declare that the LORD is upright.
  • He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him!

Psalm 93.

Another glorious song of praise!

  • The LORD reigns; He is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.
  • Yes, the world is established, it shall never be moved.
  • Your throne is established from of old; YOU are from everlasting.
  • Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.

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No matter how our heart feels or the circumstances we are in, we can always go to our God and pour out our pain or praise.  He listens. He knows, like He did in Job’s suffering. Sometimes, He allows us to endure for a while, for our good and His glory.

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 116

Apr26
Day 116.  Reading Psalms 73, 77, 78.
 

Read today’s scripture.

How do these Psalms about trouble, heartache, and persecution speak to you?

Psalm 73.

Have you ever felt like this?

  • Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 

Then the Psalmist continues to describe the “arrogant and wicked” in verses 4-12. (See if you recognize them as you read those verses.)

  • All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
  • But when I thought HOW to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, UNTIL I WENT INTO THE SANCTUARY OF GOD; then I discerned their end.

And his glorious ending thoughts!

  • YOU hold my right hand. YOU guide me with your counsel, and afterward, YOU will receive me to glory.
  • Whom have I in heaven but YOU?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides YOU.
  • My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. 

.

Psalm 77.

Have you done or felt these things when you are suffering in some way?

  • I cry aloud to God, and he will hear me.

This is the Psalmist’s hope, but he admits to the opposite. 

  • In the day of my trouble I seek the LORD.
  • In the night my hand is stretched out without wearing, and my soul refuses to be comforted. 
  • When I remember God, I moan: when I meditate, my spirit faints. 
  • You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
  • I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” 
  • Then my spirit made a diligent search…..

Here, the Psalmist turns to his knowledge of His Lord and asks questions that have a resounding “NO!” answer.

  1. Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable?
  2. Has His steadfast love forever ceased?
  3. Are His promises at an end for all time?
  4. Has God forgotten to be gracious?
  5. Has He in anger shut up his compassion?

And those “No” questions gave him hope and comfort.  Hear him “preach to himself!”  USE THESE TO PREACH TO YOURSELF TOO!!

  • I WILL REMEMBER the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
  • I WILL ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
  • YOUR WAY, O God, is holy.
  • WHAT GOD is great like our God?
  • YOU are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. 
  • YOU with Your arm redeemed your people…

.

Psalm 78.

(A good LONG psalm, looking forward to the next generation.)

  • Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

The hope of this Psalm.

  • I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, things that our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from our children but tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might, and the wonders that he has done……..which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, who will rise and tell them to THEIR children, so that they should SET THEIR HOPE IN GOD, and not forget His works, but keep His commandments.

The Psalm goes on to tell how the Israelites of old, SINNED against God, REBELLED, TESTED, and SPOKE AGAINST God until He was full of wrath against them. 

  • And their main sin:  “They did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.“

This is a huge “beware” to us today!!!

  • AND YET HE FED them grain from Heaven and water from the Rock (both pictures of Jesus Christ).  YET, HE, BEING COMPASSIONATE, ATONED for their iniquity and did not destroy them;
  • He restrained His anger often and did not stir up ALL his wrath.
  • He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes…

The psalm goes on to tell how Israel tested God again and again, provoked Him, and did not remember His power, They turned away, acted treacherously, twisted like a bow strong, and rebelled against the Most High God…..  And He rejected Israel, the tent of Joseph, and the tribe of Ephraim.

So sad, but so like us sometimes.   But then…..

  • He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens…
  • He chose David, His servant. He took him from the sheepfolds and brought him to shepherd Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance. 
  • With an upright heart he (David) shepherded them and guided them with a skillful hand.

 

.

In a few days, we will get back to the story of King David. 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 110 & 111

Apr21
(I post Sunday’s and Monday’s studies together.)
 
Day 110.  Reading Psalms 121, 123, 124, 125, 128, 129 & 130
Day 111. Reading 2 Samuel 1 – 4.
 

Read today’s scripture passages.

What specific thing encourages you in these Psalms?

EASTER SUNDAY.  What a wonderful way to begin this day – with Psalms of praise – what good timing.

Psalm 121.

  • I lift up my eyes to the hills.
  • From where does my help come from? 
  • My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 123.

  • To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens!

Psalm 124.

  • If it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive…
  • Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth!
  • Our help is in the Name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 125.

  • Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
  • Peace be upon Israel!

Psalm 128.

  • Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways!
  • May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel!

Psalm 129.

  • The blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD.

Psalm 130.

  • O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
  • If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
  • But with You there is forgiveness that you may be feared.
  • I wait for the LORD, my soul waits and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchman for the morning.
  • O Israel, hope I the LORD. For with the LORD, there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.
  • And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

.

###

Day 111.

To set the scene for what has happened thus far —

  1. The Philistines planned to march on Israel, focusing on Saul’s hometown.
  2. The Philistine commanders refused to let David and his men accompany them.
  3. David returns home only to find his town burned and all the families kidnapped.
  4. An abandoned slave tells them about the Amalekites and shows David where they are.
  5. David & men defeat them all and bring back their families.
  6. Meanwhile Saul is quaking in his sandals and hears no word from God about what to do. He goes to a witch, who calls up the dead Samuel.
  7. Samuel asks WHAT SAUL IS DOING and says he and his sons will all die the next day.
  8. The Philistines attack. Jonathan and Saul’s other two sons die. He finally dies too at his own hand after being badly wounded.
  9. All the rest of Israel run away and the Philistines live in their towns.

2 Samuel 1.

Two days after David returns home to Ziklag, a messenger, a young Amalekite (Israel’s enemy!), comes from Saul’s camp. He falls to the ground in homage (a hint of the news to follow) and tells David, that the people have fled from the battle and many of them died.

“Saul and his son, Jonathan are dead.”

“How do you know that Saul and his son, Jonathan are dead??”

Here the Amalekite fabricates, saying he found Saul mortally injured. The king asked him to kill him “for anguish has seized me and yet my life lingers.”

“So I killed him because I was sure he was going to die anyway.  Oh, and by the way!  Here are his crown and amulet.  I have brought them here to m’lord.”  (You can bet he was expecting a reward.)

David tore his clothes, mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and Jonathan, and Israel.

Then he called back the young Amalekite. “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” Then, David called one of his own men, “Go, execute him!“

And so the enemy liar paid with his own blood for killing the LORD’s anointed.

Then David wrote a lamentation over Saul and Jonathan and said it should be taught to the people of Judah. Here it is in part.

  • Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places. How the mighty have fallen! 
  • Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice.
  • You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you nor your fields of offerings.
  • For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul.
  • From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, the sword of Saul returned not empty.
  • Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.
  • How the mighty have fallen; and the weapons of war perished!

2 Samuel 2.

David inquired of the LORD.  And the LORD told him to go up to Hebron. So David and his two wives, Abigail and Ahinoam, plus all his men and their families lived in the towns of Hebron.  The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David King over the house of Judah.

When David was told that it was the men of Jabesh-Gilead who had buried Saul, David sent messages of blessing to them, praying that the LORD would show mercy and faithfulness to them. He too would show them goodness as King of Judah.

However…..

Abner, the commander of Saul’s Army, took Ish-bosheth, another son of Saul, and made HIM king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and the rest of Israel. He reigned two years.

Soon there was a clash between Abner and Joab, commander of the army of David. Abner and Joab sat down on either side of a pool. Abner suggested a contest between some of his men and some of Joab’s men to decide the conflict – instead of the whole army fighting.  Joab agreed.

However, the two sides were so closely matched, they killed each other, and nothing was settled.  And so… a battle royal ensued.  A younger brother of Joab chased Abner. As they ran, Abner told him three times to turn aside, but young Asahel persisted. Abner finally turned and killed the young man. (Joab would never forget this!!!) 

Abner made it home and the Benjaminites surrounded him.  He called to Joab. “Shall the sword devour forever? The end will be bitter! How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?”

Joab thought it over, then blew the trumpet for his men to stop. They did not fight Israel anymore that time.

2 Samuel 3.

There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and David grew stronger.  Meanwhile, sons were born to David from his now six wives. (Remember Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah.)

And there was a fight between Ish-Bosheth and Abner because Saul’s son accused the loyal Abner of treason.  Fed up, Abner said he was defecting to David and sent messages to the King of Judah.  Abner told David he could bring all Israel to David.

David agreed with one provision, that Abner bring Michel, Saul’s daughter and David’s first wife to him. (Saul had given her to another man.)  Abner agreed.  The new husband tagged along after Michel, weeping for his wife until Abner told him to go back. 

So David made a feast for Abner with his twenty men. Abner said he’d go and bring all Israel to David. They left each other in peace.

Just then Commander Joab and his men arrived with loot from a raid they’d come from. He was angry with David for making a deal with Abner. “Don’t you know Abner came to deceive you???” 

Joab sent men to bring Abner back on some pretense, and when Abner was back in Hebron, Joab killed him.  “For his brother, Asahel,” and NOT out of concern for David. 

David was furious and full of guilt. He cursed the house of Joab.

And David made Joab and all the people put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner. David wept and lamented Abner, saying,

  • “Should Abner die as a fool dies?
  • Your hands were not bound; your feet were not fettered, 
  • As one falls before the wicked you have fallen.”

And David fasted till the sun went down.  And all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had NOT been the king’s will to put to death Abner.

2 Samuel 4.

Ish-Bosheth’s courage failed.  Two of Saul’s men came into his house in pretense and killed him. They beheaded him and brought the head to David at Hebron!  Well, you know what happened —- the same thing as what happened to the Amalekite who brought news of Saul’s death.  Yep. They were killed. David buried the head of Ish-Bosheth. 

David wanted NO BLOOD on his hands from the house of Saul.  It was God who had chosen him King.  David would not “take” the throne from any of the LORD’s anointed.  Period.

David did not know it yet, but there was one descendant of Saul left, a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth.  Back when Saul was killed, the little boy’s nurse grabbed him and rushed him to safety from the Philistines.  HOWEVER…. the little guy fell in her haste and became lame from then on. 

(Stay tuned about this guy.)

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 109

Apr19
Day 109.  Reading 1 Samuel 28-31 and Psalms 18.
 

Read today’s scripture.

Did anything in these chapters bother you, cause you to question, or give you closure?

1 Samuel 28.

Remember how we ended yesterday? The Philistine King Achish said, “David shall always be my servant.” Well God has other plans for David, and here’s how He brings them about.

David had been going out and fighting Israel’s enemies while letting Achish think he was fighting against Israel. So when the big push against Israel came, the king signed up David as his bodyguard and his 600 men as part of the Philistine army.

(Pause here while we see what is happening in Israel’s King Saul’s camp.) 

Saul gathered all of Israel at Gilboa (his hometown) to fight the Philistines. But when he SAW their army, he was afraid. His heart trembled greatly. (No David to fight for him this time. In fact, if he’d looked, he might have seen David in the hoard. Don’t worry, God’s going to take care of that.)

Saul tries to “inquire of the LORD,” but the LORD does not answer him, either by a dream, or by the Urim, or by prophets. (Remember Samuel died.) Who else was there?  Who could tell him GOD’s will?  Oh! A witch! A necromancer who could bring up the dead!  NOT!!!

(Read what God says about witches, necromancers, mediums, charmers, sorcerers, fortune tellers, diviners, or omen interpreters in Deut. 18:10-11, Lev. 19:31 and 20:27, Exodus 22:18)  “Don’t go to them! Remove them from Israel! Kill them all!”)

It’s pretty clear that this is a huge no-no, but Saul is at his disobedient end. He has nowhere to turn except repentance to God, and he does not choose that option.  “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium that I may inquire of her.”

It’s interesting, his servants know right where one is, in En-dor. (Even this witch knows that Saul had “cut off the mediums and necromancers from the land.”  Obviously, he’d missed one.)

Saul disguises himself, goes to her, and tells her to bring up the spirit of someone he tells her.  She’s no dummy and is reluctant, but Saul swears “by the LORD” not to punish her.  Oh boy!!!  

“Bring up Samuel.”  And the witch is terrified when Samuel actually appears.  She’s used to her demons impersonating people.  She screams and accuses Saul. But the hapless king reassures her.

SAMUEL: Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?

SAUL: I am in great distress for the Philistines are warring against me and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or dreams. TELL ME WHAT I SHALL DO!

SAMUEL:  Why do you ask ME since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy?  The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to David…BECAUSE YOU DID NOT OBEY HIM and carry out his wrath against Amalek.  The LORD will give Israel to the Philistines tomorrow. You and your sons will “soon be with ME.” 

Not what Saul wanted to hear! He collapses.

1 Samuel 29.

Meanwhile, in the Philistines’ camp, the commanders object to “those Hebrews” being among them. 

King Achish said “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel who has been with me these years since he deserted. I have found no fault in him.”

But the commanders insisted the king send them back from the battle “lest he become an adversary to us. Is this not David of whom they sing and dance, “David has struck his ten thousands (of us!)”

(This is how God was protecting David from having to fight his own people.)

Achish relented, apologized to David, and sent him back, so as not to displease his commanders.  “Arise before dawn and depart as soon as you have light.”

So David did.  (Thank You, LORD!)

1 Samuel 30.

When David and his men returned to their home in Ziklag, they discovered the town burned and all their goods and families taken away. (No one had be killed – see the hand of the LORD!)  But his men were so distraught that they spoke of stoning David!!!

David “strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”  Then he asked Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech (remember, he was the only one to escape when Saul had Doeg kill all the priests for helping David),  “Bring the ephod and inquire of the LORD. Shall I pursue this band?  Shall I overtake them?”

The LORD answered, Yes. So they set out, David and the 600.  At Besor, 200 of the men were left behind “with the baggage” because they were too exhausted to go on.   And (wow!) they found an Egyptian man in the open country, dying of hunger and thirst.  It seems he was a slave to one of the Amalekites, who’d left him behind to die.  When David promised not to desert him, he said he would lead them to the Amalekite camp.

He did. They were spread out in the valley, eating and drinking and dancing.

David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except a few who got on camels and rode off.  All the loot (and people) they had taken from David was there, including his two wives, Abigail and Ahinoam. 

So the 400 and David took it all back, plus loot from the Amalekites.  David told the 400 to share the loot with the 200 who’d stayed behind, but they were reluctant to at first. David insisted, saying that all who fought AND all who protected the baggage would share alike. (It actually became a statute for Israel from that day on.)

When they got back to Ziklag (I assumed they rebuilt it), David sent presents of the spoil to the elders of Judah for all the places he and his men had looted while in the service of the Philistines (more than 13).  WOW.

1 Samuel 31.

Meanwhile, north of Ziklag, the Philistines fought Israel. The men of Israel fell slain on Mount Gilboa. They overtook Saul and his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishu, and killed them. They pressed hard against Saul and he was seriously wounded by Philistine archers. 

Saul pled with his armor-bearer to kill him, so the Philistines would not “mistreat him.”  But the man refused to kill the king. Saul committed suicide. Then the armor-bearer did likewise. 

“Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day.” just as God had said through Samuel.  (God never let any of Samuel’s words fall to the ground, even after his death!)

When the men on the other side of the valley saw their leader dead, they abandoned their cities and ran away. The Philistines came and lived in them.

The next day the Philistines found the body of Saul, cut off his head, and put it and his armor in the house of their idols, then hung his body on the wall. 

(Can you imagine if David had been there??? Praise God, He had removed him from SEEING Saul and Jonathan dead and mistreated.)

Later the people of Jabesh-Gilead, whom Saul had helped at the beginning of his reign, came by night, took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, and burned them. They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

And so ignominiously ends the rule of Israel’s first king, and his line.

Why? Because he had twice disobeyed God’s specific word through Samuel, and then continuously refused to repent.  (We will see David grievously sin against God too, but he repents. He suffers the consequences, but always turns back to his God.)

  • O LORD, let Saul’s life be a warning to us, and to me. When I sin, even grievously, cause me to remember to turn to you, confess, repent, then walk in obedience.

Psalm 18.

  • David:  “I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
  • I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 
  • In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God, I cried for help. From His temple, He heard my voice, and my cry to him reached His ears.
  • He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
  • For it is You who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. For by You, I can run against a troop, and by my God, I can leap over a wall.
  • This God, His way is perfect, the word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.
  • The LORD lives, and blessed by my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.
  • For this I will praise you O LORD, among the nations, and sing to Your Name. Great salvation He brings to His king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 107

Apr17
Day 107.  Reading 1 Samuel 25-27
 

Read today’s scripture.  See how God “keeps” David’s heart righteous.

Who has God used to help YOU in your Christian walk?

1 Samuel 25.

Now Samuel died. All Israel mourned him. (The prayed-for baby, the hearer of God’s voice, the anointer of kings, a prophet, judge, and prayer-warrior for Israel…dead.)

And life goes on.  David and his 600 men had been living in the wilderness of Paran. They had been passively protecting the many flocks of sheep (3K) and the shepherds of a wealthy man named Folly (Nabal), from marauders and wild animals.  At the end of the winter, when the flocks were being sheared, David sent men to Folly asking for a show of appreciation.

“Peace to you! We hear you are shearing now. Your shepherds have been with us. We protected them and allowed none of your sheep to go missing. (Ask them, they’ll tell you.)  And so, let us find favor in your eyes. It’s a celebration day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your “son” David.”

But Folly showed his true selfish colors. “Who is David?  Many servants have run away from their masters and are begging for bread. Shall I take MINE and give it to men who come from I don’t know where???

Wrong response, dear Nabal.  David responds in anger, arming his men to take revenge.

BUT… the wise, caring, and beautiful wife of Folly hears what he’s done and hurries to remedy his grave mistake.  She packs up a remarkable amount of food and supplies on donkeys and goes to meet (and perhaps calm down) David.  She does so, humbly, presenting the food, and basically tells David that she KNOWS he will be king one day, and that the LORD is leading him. Does he want this foolish act of vengeance on Folly to be a black spot on his record (and conscience)?

David is wowed.  And calmed down.  He graciously accepts the food and blesses the lady.

Abigail returns to her husband in a fury.  He’s feasting and jolly (Jolly Folly), and drunk.  But, in the morning she lays it on heavy about how foolish a fool he was.

He had a stroke? Heart attack?  And ten days later he is struck dead by the LORD. So much for all that wealth he was so greedy and foolish to keep for himself.  (Doesn’t this remind you of Jesus’ parable of The Rich Fool in Luke 12:16-21? Perhaps Jesus had Nabal in mind…)

David was happy that the LORD had “taken care of” Nabal and kept him back from taking revenge.  Then he sent for his widow, Abigail, and made her his wife. She was more than pleased and hurried to him, with her five “ladies in waiting.”  WOW. What a contrast in the way she’d been living.  Wealthy but despising her foolish husband then. And now, she lived meagerly, dangerously, with a man pursued by the king and the armies of Israel, but whom she believed would one day be the king of Israel, by God’s hand.

1 Samuel 26.

Abagail soon gets a taste of that dangerous living with an exile. 

Word comes to King Saul that David is hiding in a certain spot near the Dead Sea. He takes 3K choice soldiers with him to find and kill David. They camp in a plain nearby. 

Stealthily David spies on the camp, and sure enough, Saul is right in the middle, surrounded by soldiers.  At night when all are asleep (actually a VERY deep sleep caused by the LORD), David and a volunteer creep down into the camp … carefully walk through the sleeping soldiers … and come to the king and his commander, Abner.  They are deeply asleep and “sawing logs.” 

“God has given your enemy into your hand this day,” said the volunteer, Abishai. “Please let me pin him to the earth. I can do it with one spear thrust.” 

But David held him back. “Do not destroy him, for who can kill the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?  As the LORD lives, 1) the LORD will strike him, or 2) his day will come to die, or 3) he will go into battle and perish.”

But like before with the corner cut from the king’s robe, David takes Saul’s spear and water bottle to prove HIS OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE KILLED THE KING was not taken.

Back up on the hill, David calls to and berates Abner for not protecting the king.  They are astonished. How could this have happened?

And again, Saul acknowledges David’s righteousness. “I have sinned. I have acted foolishly. I have made a great mistake.  I will no more do you harm because MY life was precious in YOUR eyes today.”

David gives the spear back to Saul’s servant who comes to collect it. 

“Blessed be you, my son, David,” Saul says. “You will do many things and will succeed in them.”  And they both return to their places.

1 Samuel 27.

But David did not trust the words of King Saul. (And the king did keep pursuing him.)

And so, David, his men, and their families went to Gath and talked to the Philistine king, Achish.  When Saul heard he was living with the enemy, he no longer pursued David.  David asked Achish for a town for himself and his men, “For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”  King Achish gave him Ziklag, which would belong to the kings of Judah ever afterward.  David stayed there for 16 months.

He and his men would make raids on Israel’s enemies, like the Amalekites, kill all the people, and take the animals. He told King Achish that he was raiding places in southern Judah (true, but…).  Since there was no one alive to say differently, the king was satisfied.

“Ha! David has made himself a stench to his people Israel,” thought Achish. “So, he shall always be MY servant.”

Think again, O king of the Philistines at Gath!.

.

  • LORD, thank you for the people you put in my life to keep me accountable and help me not to be foolish or brash.  I think of the people in our Care Group, my family, and the women at our church. 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 102

Apr12
Day 102.  Reading 1 Samuel 15 – 17
 

Read today’s scripture.

How do you see God’s faithfulness, despite man’s failures, today?

1 Samuel 15.

Chapter 14 ended with the summary, “There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul” (and Israel’s army has yet to encounter Goliath).  But Saul needs to deal with another people whom God had vowed to destroy – the Amalekites.

Why?  The Amalekites were descendants of Esau. Esau and Jacob/Israel were twin brothers, but there was no family love between the original men and none between their descendants.  When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and they were still untried and weak, the Amalekites attacked them. God helped Israel to push back the attack with Joshua and a rag-tag, quickly-assembled army, and Moses holding up his staff over the scene (with the help of Aaron and Hur). But God cursed them.

  • Deuteronomy 25:17-19. (Moses speaking) “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt., how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your “tail,” those who were lagging behind, and he did not fear God. THEREFORE when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that [He} is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.”

The time had come. Israel’s first king is charged with the task.

Samuel told Saul, “Go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction ALL that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”  

So Saul took 210K men and defeated the Amalekites in nearly all of their territory.  YAY!!

“And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites ALIVE and devoted to destruction of all the people with the edge of the sword. And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fattened calves, lambs….and all that was good, AND DID NOT UTTERLY DESTROY THEM (the Amalekites).” 

Wait, Saul didn’t kill the king?  (And he missed a few hundred others, according to later incidents.)

Samuel heard about it and he was mad. “I regret that I have made Saul king.”  He cried to God all night, then arose in the morning and went to Saul’s camp at Gilgal.

  • Saul: “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
  • Samuel: “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen I hear?
  • Saul:  “They brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen … to sacrifice to the LORD your God.“
  • Samuel:  “STOP! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.”
  • Saul: “Speak.“
  • Samuel: “The LORD anointed you king over Israel. The LORD sent you on a mission.  Why then did you NOT OBEY THE VOICE OF THE LORD. Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was EVIL in the sight of the LORD?”
  • Saul: “I HAVE obeyed. I HAVE gone on the mission. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek and devoted the rest to destruction.  BUT THE PEOPLE took spoil to sacrifice to the LORD your God.”
  • Samuel: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, AS IN OBEYING?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected YOU from being king.”
  • Saul: “I have sinned and transgressed the commandment of the LORD … because I feared the people.  Now, please pardon my sin.“
  • Samuel: You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king.” Then, when Saul ripped a piece of Samuel’s robe in trying to get him to stay,
  • Samuel said: “The LORD has torn the kingdom from you this day and given it to another, one better than you.”

After that, Samuel called for King Agag and hacked him to pieces. (Yes, that old man had the strength and will to do what Saul had not.)  Then Samuel left.  He did not see King Saul until the day of his death. (But, Samuel grieved over Saul … his “beautiful, tall and handsome man” the one HE had anointed prince of Israel….)

1 Samuel 16.

God remonstrated His prophet.

“How long will you grieve over Saul.  I will send you to Bethlehem to Jesse, for I’ve chosen a king for myself from his sons.  Take a heifer and tell him you’ve come to make a sacrifice to the LORD.  Then anoint FOR ME the one I show you.”

Samuel obeyed.

At the sacrifice celebration, Samuel looked at Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab. Perhaps he was tall and handsome too, for God spoke sharply to His prophet. “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on  the heart.”

And so it happened to all of Jesse’s son brought to Samuel from the oldest downward.  God rejected all seven.

Samuel was confused. He was SURE this was the family.  He was SURE God had rejected all the sons. Hmm.

“Are ALL your sons here, Jesse?” 

“Well, there remains only the youngest, but behold he’s a lad and he out tending the sheep.”

“Send and get him,” charged Samuel and they did.  This boy was ruddy (rosy-cheeked), had beautiful eyes, and was handsome (with blond curls, the Jews say). (Not like Saul at all.)

“This is the one. Anoint him,” said the LORD.

So Samuel anointed the lad in the presence of his family. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed onto David from that day forward.  After the sacrifice, Samuel got up and went home.

MEANWHILE, back at Gilgal, the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.   His servants began looking for a musician who could play soft music on a lyre to calm him.

One of them mentioned that he’d seen such a man, the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who was skilled at playing the lyre.  He was also a man of valor, prudent in speech, a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.

Saul sent messengers to Jesse to get David from watching the sheep.  So David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.  Whenever the harmful spirit was upon Saul, David came, took up the lyre, and played.

So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. (temporarily)

1 Samuel 17.

You know it, right? The story of David and Goliath?

The Philistines were back (after that awful defeat begun by young Jonathan).  They were back in Judah. And Saul gathered his army in line of battle against the Philistines.  But the invaders had brought a secret weapon: one of their giants from their city of Gath.  Goliath was 9.5 feet tall.  He was clothed in armor weighing more than 150#.  And he stood arrogant and shouted to the army of Israel.

“Am I not a Philistine and are not you servants of Saul? Choose a man and let him fight me. If he can kill ME, we will be your servants. (hahaha)  But if “I” kill him, YOU shall be OUR servants.  I DEFY THE RANKS OF ISRAEL THIS DAY.  GIVE ME A MAN THAT WE MAY FIGHT.”

Okay, you guessed it. The army of Saul was terrified. (Hopefully, by then they had more than two swords among them!!)  For forty days, the giant came forward and took his stand, morning till evening. And Israel stood frozen in their lines. (Forty days is significant. Forty = testing.)  Saul promised his beautiful youngest daughter to the man who would come out and defeat the giant.  But no one stepped up.

Meanwhile, back in Bethlehem, old Jesse was worried about his sons in the army.  He sent David with a donkey loaded with goodies, to check on them.  He arrived at the camp just as Goliath was shouting his challenge. 

David asked, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach of Israel?”  The soldiers told David about King Saul’s offer of his daughter.  Maybe David was familiar with the beautiful girl from the times he was called to court to play the lyre for the king.

His brothers scolded David, saying he’d only come to gawk at the giant. But David responded, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

News of this got back to King Saul and he sent for David. (Saul didn’t recognize him as the lyre player.) 

David:  “Don’t be afraid. I will go and fight with this Philistine.”

Saul: “You are not able for you are but a youth.”

David:  “I used to keep sheep for my father. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and saved the lamb.  I’ve struck down both lions and bears, and this Philistine shall be like one of them … for he has defied the armies of the living God.  The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the bear and the lion will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.”

Saul:  “Go, and the LORD be with you.”  (Saul tried to make David wear his armor, but it was way too big and clumsy. And David had never moved about in armor before.  He took it off.)

You know the story.

The challenge. The one stone of five into the sling. The fall of the giant. The final coup de gras with the giant’s head rolling and David holding the giant’s heavy sword high.

And it all happened, “that the earth may KNOW that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may KNOW that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s and He will give you [enemies] into our hand.”

Of course, then, the men of Israel rose and pursued the Philistines all the way to Gath and the gates of Ekron.

Saul, seeing it all, asked his commander, Abner, “Whose son is that?’

Abner: “I don’t know.”

Saul: “Well, find out!’

When David returned from killing the giant, Abner brought him to the king.

“Whose son are you?”

“I‘m the son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.” (The one who has been coming to play the lyre for you when you go crazy!  But he probably didn’t say that.)

(Sounds to me like Saul was conscripting David into his army.)

—

(Hey, didn’t David’s daring-do, and his confidence in God remind you of Jonathan in yesterday’s reading? Jonathan had said, “the LORD is able to deliver by many or by a few. Let’s go!”  These two young believers in the LORD and His strength will meet in tomorrow’s reading.  And a godly, tight bond will form.)

  • O LORD, that I might trust in You so completely that all fear is gone.  I also pray that I will be obedient in all you ask.  You are a great God!