Tag Archive | Samuel

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 101

Apr11
Day 101.  Reading 1 Samuel 12 – 14
 

Read today’s scripture.

How do you see God’s faithfulness today?

1 Samuel 13.

Chapter 13 begins with “number confusion” about Saul’s age and how long he’d reigned over Israel at this point. Possibly he was 31 when he began to reign, and here, he most likely has been king for about two years? 

Regardless, at this point, King Saul calls 3K men to fight the battle with the Philistines who were camped in the plains in Benjamin’s territory.  2K Hebrew men were with Saul at Michmash, and 1K men were with his son Jonathon at Gibeah. Jonathon defeated the garrison of Philistines. Saul blew a trumpet and said “Saul” had defeated the garrison. (Well, I guess Jonathon was part of Saul’s army.)

Now the Hebrews were a “stench” to the Philistines, and they mustered to fight with Israel. They had 3K chariots and 6K horsemen and troops (against Saul’s 3K men). The Israelites “saw they were in trouble” and began hiding in caves, holes, and tombs, and even running away across the Jordan River. Those who stayed with Saul trembled in their sandals.

It seems that old Samuel told Saul to wait 7 days before acting. He would offer a sacrifice to God and seek God’s direction when he got there.  However, when Saul saw his men scattering and no sign of Samuel, HE offered the burnt and peace offerings himself.  (Oh, No!)  Right then Samuel appeared.  (IF only Saul had waited an hour more!!!)

“What have you done?” said Samuel.

“When I saw that the people were leaving and YOU had not come, and the Philistines were mustered at Michmash … I thought, the Philistines are coming and I have not sought the favor of the LORD …. so, I “forced myself” to offer the burnt offering,” Saul said lamely.

“You have done foolishly and not kept the commandment of the LORD,” Samuel said to Saul. “The LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!  But … now your kingdom shall NOT continue. The LORD has sought out a man after His own heart and commanded HIM to be prince over His people.”

Then Samuel left.

Saul numbered the people with him – about 600 men.  They camped at Geba, but the Philistines camped at Michmash and sent raiders in three companies to harass them. 

Now there was no blacksmith in Israel. The Philistines had seen to that.  The Israelites had to go to the Philistines to have their farm implements sharpened.  So Israel had no weapons.  ONLY THE KING AND HIS SON, JONATHAN HAD SWORDS!!!  So Israel had 2 swords and 600 men against the hoards of Philistines with thousands of chariots and armed men.  (Shaking my head.)

1 Samuel 14.

One day, while Saul and his few men were staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under an arching pomegranate tree at Mignon, Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come on. Let’s go over to the Philistine garrison.”  So off they went, not telling anyone, including Saul.

(Saul also had Ahijah the priest with him. He was the great-grandson of that old priest Eli who had died. Ahijah wore an ephod.)

Jonathan said to his man, “Let’s go nearer to the uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

“Whatever you say,” said the armor-bearer. “I’m with you heart and soul.”

“Okay, we will show ourselves to them, and if they say ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand.” And the two stepped out into view.

The Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they were hiding. Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.”

Jonathan looked at his man, grinned, and said, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”

They climbed up to the ridge on their hands and feet … and the Philistines fell before Jonathan as he killed about 20 of them.  The whole garrison was thrown into a great panic and fled, the ground shaking under their feet. 

Haha!!

Back at Saul’s camp, they saw the Philistines running and discovered Jonathan and his man missing. Saul called for Ahijah and the ephod (presumably to discover what to do with the Ermin and Thummin in it. “Withdraw your hand,” Saul ordered  (Did that mean Ahijah pulled out those “lots” that showed Saul was to pursue?)

Anyway, Saul and all the men went into battle.  Then, all the others hiding in caves and holes heard the ruckus and came out to fight too.  SO, THE LORD SAVED ISRAEL THAT DAY!

But… during the battle, Saul had made a terrible command.  “CURSED be the man who eats any food until evening and we’ve defeated them.”   Stupid, for the men were tired and weak.

And Jonathan, who had not heard his father’s curse, found some honey and ate it, feeling ever so much stronger.  Some of the men were aghast and told him what Saul had said.  He was disturbed by that news. “My father has troubled the land. How much better if the people had eaten freely of the spoil they found.”

Nevertheless, they struck the Philistines away from Michmach, but the people were very weak. This caused them to sin against God’s command.  They grabbed any animal they saw, killed it, and began eating the meat, without draining the blood away.

When Saul heard, he ordered them to stop. He built an altar to the LORD and had them bring the animals there. 

After they’d gorged themselves, Saul got the great idea to keep fighting the Philistines through the night, but Ahijah the priest said to first inquire of the LORD and brought out the lots. God revealed nothing.  Saul thought it must have been because someone ATE after his curse.  Sure enough, Jonathan confessed to eating the honey and offered to be killed.

But the people would not allow it and ransomed Jonathan.  So the fighting ended that day.

Then a bit of a summery. It tells how Saul fought and won against his enemies – Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.  He had another son besides Jonathan and two daughters, Merab and Michal.  The commander of his army was Abner, Saul’s uncle.  And whenever he saw any strong or valiant man, he made him part of his army.

  • LORD, so often I do things in my own strength, not waiting for Your direction. Forgive me. Help me to wait on You and trust You. 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 100

Apr10
Day 100.  Reading 1 Samuel 9 – 12
 

Read today’s scripture.

How do you see God’s faithfulness today?

1 Samuel 9.

This sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale.

“There was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish … a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”

A fine candidate for a king! Maybe that’s what Samuel thought as well.  And God told the prophet just that. “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines.”

All we need is a damsel in distress!  Or a nation.

Turns out, the problem is a few lost donkeys. Saul’s father sent him (and a servant) to find them.  They looked everywhere, and when they ran out of food, finally decided to go back home. Saul was worried that his father would now be more concerned about him being lost than the animals.  But the servant suggested one last try before turning around.

“There’s a man of God in this city. I hear that all he says comes true. Maybe he can tell us where the donkeys are.” The servant had a silver quarter to offer to the “seer,” so Saul agreed.  They met some young women with water pots and asked for directions.  They told Saul that the seer was in town for a special sacrifice, and if they hurried they’d meet him just ahead.

They saw Samuel coming out of the city, and Saul said, “Where’s the house of the seer?”

“I’m the seer,” Samuel said. “Today you are going to eat with me and I’m going to tell you all that’s on your mind.  Oh, and as for the donkeys you lost three days ago, they have been found.”

Samuel went on to tell Saul that he and his father’s house had been chosen for a special task. Saul demurred. “I’m a Benjamite, the humblest of the tribes. Why are you talking to me this way?” 

Samuel said nothing more but led them to the feast. He called for the special portion of meat he’d laid aside earlier and the cook brought it to Saul. Afterward, Samuel took Saul to a bed ready for him, and the tall, dark, handsome (but bewildered) man lay down and slept. 

At dawn, he woke Saul up and took him to the edge of the city. “Send you servant on, but you stay here. I have a word of God for you.”

1 Samuel 10.

Alone with Saul, Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head. “The LORD has anointed you to be prince over His people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies.”

  • Saul was shocked to silence and disbelieving. So Samuel said, “This shall be a sign that the LORD indeed has anointed you. 1) You will meet two men on your way home, by Rachel’s tomb. They will tell you that the donkeys have been found and that your father is now worried about you.”
  • Samuel continued with two more signs. 2) “After that, at the oak of Tabor, you’ll meet three men going up to Bethel. One is carrying three young goats, another is carrying three loaves of bread, and the third has a skin of wine.  They will give you two loaves of bread.”
  • 3) When you come to Gibeath-elohim where there is a garrison of Philistines, you will meet a group of prophets with a harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre, prophesying. God’s Spirit will come on YOU and YOU will also prophesy.  With these three signs, YOU WILL KNOW GOD IS WITH YOU.”
  • “Then you are to go to Gilgal and wait for me seven days.  I’ll come and show you what you shall do.”

Those were some pretty specific signs, and Saul had to believe.  When Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, GOD GAVE HIM ANOTHER HEART.  And all the signs came to pass.

Samuel called the people together to the LORD and told them that the LORD their God had faithfully brought them out of Egypt, given them the land, and fought their enemies.  But that “Today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to Him, “Set a king over us.”  Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD.”

Then by lot, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen, the clan of the Matrites, and finally Saul the son of Kish was chosen by lot.  

But where was he?

“Hiding behind the baggage,” the LORD said. And they brought him out.

“Do you see him, the man the LORD has chosen?” said Samuel proudly.

“Long live the king!” shouted the people.

Samuel read the rights and duties of the kingship and wrote it all up before the LORD.  And everybody went home. (Anti-climax?)

1 Samuel 11.

Then came the new king’s first test.  The Ammonites besieged Jabish-Gilead and offered a peace deal with some awful provisions.   “Help!” cried the people and sent a message to Saul. God’s Spirit rushed upon him and he was greatly angered.

Saul killed a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces.  He sent pieces throughout Israel, threatening whoever did not come to help would end up like the oxen. Well, 300K men showed up. They tricked the Ammonites into passivity and at dawn attacked. Thousands were killed and all others fled away in terror.

And Samuel took the people to Gilgal and there “renewed the kingdom.” There they made Saul king before the LORD. And Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Saul passed his first test.

1 Samuel 12.

Now Samuel gives a farewell address to Israel (although he will be around for a while longer).

“And now, behold, the king walks before you and I am old and gray; and behold my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the LORD if I have done anything wrong to you.”

Then Samuel preaches a VERY LONG sermon, beginning with, “The Lord is witness…”

After preaching about the goodness and care of God for them, he brings them to their demand for a king

“Now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you.  IF both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, THEN it will be well. But IF you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, THEN the hand of the LORD will be AGAINST you and your king.”

“Pray for us to the LORD your God ...” the people cried to Samuel.

“Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and right way.  Only … fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things He has done for you.”

 

  • O LORD, help me too to fear and love and serve YOU faithfully with all my heart. For indeed, you have done so much for me! 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 99

Apr9
Day 99.  Reading 1 Samuel 4 – 8

Read today’s scripture.

How do you see God’s faithfulness today?

1 Samuel 4.

Wow.

Since Samson had left only a “dent” in the Philistine armies when he died, they continued to be a thorn in the flesh of Israel along Israel’s southwestern border. Now these mighty men invaded Judah from Aphek (the north-eastern-most Philistine town) and defeated them, killing 4K Israeli soldiers.

Israel panicked and instead of turning to God, they got the “brilliant” idea to bring out the Ark of the Covenant. So those wicked sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, brought the Ark of God out of the Tabernacle at Shiloh to the battleground at Ebenezer.

A GREAT, HUGE CHEER broke out from Israel. And it scared the Philistines to death!  They knew and remembered the stories of how Israel’s God defeated the great Pharoah of Egypt and shook in their sandals.

“A god has come into the camp! Woe to us! Woe to us! Who can deliver us from these mighty gods? Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; BE MEN AND FIGHT!”  And so they fought. This time, 30K Israeli soldiers died, plus the sons of Eli.

And…the Ark of God was captured!  

When it was told to the fat, 98-year-old Eli that his sons were dead, and most importantly, that the Ark was in Philistine hands, he fell over backward, broke his neck, and died. (Just as the young Samuel had prophesied.)

“The Glory had departed from Israel! The Ark of God had been captured!”

But God wasn’t a helpless captive. He would NOT let his “throne” be desecrated.

1 Samuel 5.

The Philistines took the Ark to Ashdod, their nearest city, and put it into the temple of their god, Dagon, as a “trophy.”  But, when they went in the next morning, they saw their idol had fallen face down, in worship, before the Ark of God.

Whoa!  Looking around in fear, they set their idol back up on its pedestal.

The next morning, they found the same thing, except the idol’s head and hands were broken off and placed in the doorway.  Not only this, but the people of Ashdod began getting tumors all over them. EEK!  “Get rid of that thing!”

So the Ark of the God of Israel was taken to Gath.  The same thing happened there – tumors on the men and boys.  Those citizens also freaked out and sent God’s Throne to Ekron. Now, the third of the five Philistine cities suffered too. The hand of God was very heavy on them, and those who did not die were struck with those dreaded tumors.

All the lords of the Philistines decided they MUST send the Ark of the God of Israel … BACK to Israel. Seven months of suffering was ENOUGH!

1 Samuel 6.

The Philistine priests and diviners told them how to return the Ark.  They were to build a cart, hitch up two milk cows (with calves locked in the barn), put the Ark of the God of Israel on the cart, along with five gold items (for each of the cities – Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron) as “guilt” offerings, and send it off.  If the cows returned home to their calves (which would be natural), they would know that the tumors, etc. were NOT from God, but a mere coincidence.  But if the cart did not return, they would KNOW, that the God of Israel was responsible.

The cows – with their calves crying in the distance – took the cart with the Ark (without turning to the right or left) STRAIGHT to the Levite town of Beth-shemesh, in Judah.  Farmers who were reaping there, stopped and rejoiced to see it. They sacrificed the cows on the wood from the cut-up cart as a burnt offering to the LORD.

When the Philistines who followed saw this, they returned to Ekron, satisfied.

However, 70 men of Beth-shemesh came to look (ogle?) at the Ark of God, a great sin of presumption. (See Numbers 4:20)  This lack of awe and respect caused God to flash out and kill all 70.  Yikes!   The people there cried out, “Who can stand before the LORD?  Where can we send the Ark?

They sent to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim in the heart of Judah. The men came and took the Ark of the LORD. They put it into the house of Abinadab after consecrating his son Eleazar to have charge of it. It stayed there until King David brought it to Jerusalem (See 2 Samuel 6:1-19)

Why they didn’t return it to Shiloh, we don’t know.

1 Samuel 7.

After that, Samuel – “the voice of God” – said to the people, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD, and serve Him only. He will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.”

So the people did what Samuel said.

Then Samuel gathered all of Israel together and said, “I will pray to the LORD for you.”  They fasted and confessed their sin against God at Mizpah.

When the Philistines heard the people were gathered there, they came up to fight them.  The people – scared of the hoards – cried to Samuel to cry to the LORD to save them.  Samuel did and the LORD answered him.

The LORD thundered with a mighty sound against the Philistines, threw them into confusion, and routed them.  The men of Israel pursued them and struck them down.  And so, the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the land of Israel all the days of Samuel, and there was peace with them.

Samuel set up a stone at Ebenezer (not the one in 4:1) and said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” (Ebenezer means “stone of help.”

Have you heard of the old hymn, “Come, Thou Fount”? Here is the second verse:

  • “Here I’ll raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come;
  • And I hope by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
  • Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God.
  • He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.”

Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, returning to Ramah where his home was.

1 Samuel 8.

When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel; Joel (“the Lord is God”) and Abijah (“my Father is the Lord”).  But God had not chosen them, and they did not walk in the ways of their father. They “turned aside after gain” and took bribes and perverted justice.”

(How did this happen? Did the godly Samuel neglect to discipline his sons, as Eli had?  It’s so sad. But God is sovereign, and His plan must not have been for the time of judges to continue.)

The people of Israel saw Joel and Abijah and how they acted, and heartlessly said to Samuel,  “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a KING to judge us like all the nations.”

Samuel was heartbroken. He prayed to God, and God told him to “Obey the voice of the people in all they say. For they have not rejected YOU, but they have rejected ME from being king over them. Obey their voice, only WARN THEM SOLEMNLY and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them,”

So Samuel warned them about having a king.

  • He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and soldiers.
  • He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and fifties, and some to plow his ground and reap his harvest and to make implements of war.
  • He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
  • He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
  • He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and servants.
  • He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to HIS work.
  • He will take the tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.
  • And in the day you cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, the LORD will not answer you.

It’s like they didn’t even hear him.  “NO, but there SHALL be a king over us, that we also may BE LIKE ALL THE NATIONS, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles!”

Samuel repeated these words to God.

And God said, “Obey their voice and make them a king.”

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 98

Apr8
Day 98.  Reading 1 Samuel 1 – 3
 

Read today’s scripture.

How was God faithful to Israel in these chapters?

1 Samuel 1.

A sweet and sad love story. 

Hannah was deeply loved by her husband Elkanah (a member of the Kohathite clan of the tribe of Levi), but she had no children. He married a second wife, Peninnah, to produce an inheritance, but he loved Hannah and treated her very well. 

Each year they would go to Shiloh where the Tabernacle was, to worship God as all men were required to. (This was probably the Feast of Tabernacles.)  This year, Hannah went to the gate of the Tabernacle and silently poured out her heart to the LORD. She promised that if God would give her a son, she would give him back to the LORD all the days of his life. 

Eli (a corrupt priest, with corrupt sons, as we shall see), thought she was drunk, and rebuked her.  Hannah said she was praying, and Eli probably felt rebuked himself and blessed her, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition.”

Back at home, she conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, which means “heard of God.”

(So far, this kind of sounds like Samson’s story. Samuel would also “judge Israel” all his life, but how differently!)

For three years Hannah and baby Samuel stayed home when the others went to Shiloh. (Elkanah agreed with her vow to give the boy to the LORD. As her husband, he “could” have annulled it.)  I know that she prayed for her son and filled him with songs and truths about God as he grew, and perhaps of his destiny in the service of God.  At 3 years old, after she weaned him, she took him to Shiloh when the family went to worship.  

And she fulfilled her promise to give him to the LORD.  It must have been doubly hard because the priest, Eli was so lax in raising and disciplining his own sons. But she left Samuel there, as she had vowed.  Did her heart break???

1 Samuel 2.

Hannah’s prayer is nothing but praise to God!

  • My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD…
  • I rejoice in Your salvation.
  • There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God.
  • He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
  • The pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them, He has set the world. 

Elkanah and Hanna went back home.  And the boy, Samuel, ministered to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest.   But the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. They stole the LORD’s portion. They extorted meat from the worshippers, treating the LORD’s offering with contempt for their own gratification.

But the boy Samuel ministered before the LORD, wearing a tiny linen ephod.  Hannah made and brought him a new robe each year when they came for the yearly sacrifice. And Eli would bless her and Elkanah.

And, indeed the LORD blessed them. Hannah conceived and bore THREE more sons and TWO daughters!!

The young man Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.

But the very old Eli did nothing to stop his own priest-sons from grossly sinning. They even had sex with the women ministering at the gate of the Tabernacle.  Eli did scold them, but they didn’t listen.

HOWEVER, the young man, Samuel, continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and man. (It truly must have been a miracle of God for him to do this, living in such corruption of the priesthood.)  

One day a prophet of God came to Eli and told him the LORD’s will. “Why do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest part of every offering of my people Israel??”  “Behold the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house.”  “And Hopni and Phinehas, your two sons, shall both die on the same day.”

1 Samuel 3.

Meanwhile, Samuel ministered to the LORD under Eli, whose eyesight was fading.  It seems that Samuel was sleeping in the Holy place of the Tabernacle (??) where the Golden Candlestick burned, in front of the veil which hid the Ark of the Covenant.

“Samuel!” the young man heard and ran to Eli. 

“Here I am, for you called me.”  

“I didn’t call you, go lie down.”

“Samuel!” the LORD called again. Samuel went to Eli.

“Here I am, for you called me.”

“I did not call you, my son, lie down again.”

“Samuel!” the LORD called a third time, and off Samuel went to Eli.

“Here I am, for you called me.” 

Hmm, though Eli. Could it be?  “Go, lie down, and if He calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears’.”

And God did call Samuel again. “Samuel! Samuel!”

“Speak, for your servant hears.” 

Then the LORD gave him a message that was very hard to hear. “I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

Wow. 

Samuel lay there until morning.  He was afraid to tell the vision to Eli, but the old priest said, “What was it that He told you?  Do not hide it from me.”

So Samuel told him everything.  (Like a prophet has to do, speaking the hard things of the LORD to a people who need to hear them.)

“It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him,” said Eli.

After that, the LORD was with Samuel and let none of his words “fall to the ground.”  From Dan to Beersheba, all Israel knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 117

Apr26

    Day 117—We have been reading the Bible daily for a third of the year.   What have you learned about God? About yourself?

Day 117 – 1 Chronicles 6 – (the genealogies of the priestly tribe of Levi)

Reading all these unusual-sounding names may be difficult and boring, but the lists were crucial to Israel. After they were exiled to Babylon for 70 years (verse 15) and returned, they needed to know where their portion of land was located. They needed to keep track of the kingly line in Judah, through which the Messiah would come. And the Levites needed to know their portion of work in the newly built temple.

The three priestly clans of Levi are listed: Kohath, Gershom, and Merari. From Numbers 4, we read about each having their work in the Tabernacle service and in the packing up and carrying of the parts of it when they “wandered in the wilderness.”

It’s interesting to see that the prophet Samuel was a Kohathite. By God’s specific choice, he was able to offer sacrifices even though he was not a descendant of Aaron. (Verses 22-28)

Also interesting are the men David chose to be in charge of “the service of song” in the house of the LORD after the Ark rested there. He chose one from each of the Levite clans: Herman, a Kohathite, Asaph, of Gershom, and Ethan of Merari. (Verses 31-48) Yesterday we read three of the songs written by Asaph. Asaph wrote twelve in all (Psalms 50, 73-80).  Herman wrote Psalm 88, and Ethan wrote Psalm 89.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 102

Apr11

    Day 102 —  We have been reading the Bible daily for over a quarter of the year. Praise God! What have you learned about God? About yourself?

   Day 102 – 1 Samuel 15 – 17 (Saul, sin, & Samuel)

In Chapter 15, Samuel gives King Saul some very clear instructions. He is to strike the nation of Amalek and destroy all of them, and everything living thing they have.

(The Amalekites were the people who attacked Israel as they came out of Egypt, when they were a bunch of slaves and could not fight. God at that time foretold their doom. Let none be left alive.

So, Saul musters an army of 200K men of Judah. They go to Amalek and defeat them, killed all the people except King Agag (a trophy?) and all but the very best of the sheep, oxen, fatted calves and lambs. Did he obey the instructions of the LORD?  It seems “partial” obedience is not obedience, and when Samuel comes, he is furious with Saul.

“I saved the best animals for sacrifice!” Saul says. (Yeah, right.).

“Obedience is better than sacrifice,” Samuel says. “And because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” Then Samuel hacks King Agag to pieces. (!!!)

“I’ve sinned,” says Saul. I was afraid of the people, so I obeyed their voice. Please pardon my sin. Please go back with me.”

When Samuel says no, Saul grabs his robe and it tears. (Oops!) Samuel whirls around, “As you’ve torn this, God has torn the kingdom of Israel from you.  He has in mind, a man “after His own heart, who is better than you.”

Samuel sees Saul no more after this incident, but he grieves for the “would-be” king. The LORD also grieved that He had made Saul king over Israel.

In Chapter 16, God shakes Samuel out of his grief for Saul and sends him to anoint that “man after His own heart.”  God tells him to anoint a son of Jesse whom he will point out. (Jesse is the grandson of Ruth & Boaz.) Samuel obey and immediately thinks it must be Jesse’s firstborn son, Eliab, another tall, strong man. But God tells him NOT to look on appearance or height, but on the heart. Jesse brings all six of his sons who are present before Samuel. Samuel looks to God who shakes His head.  “Don’t you have another son?” Samuel asks Jesse, thinking that maybe he didn’t hear God’s words accurately.

“Only the youngest, a shepherd boy out with the sheep,” was the dismissive comment.

But God, through Samuel, calls for the boy, and when he arrives, God says, “THAT one!” Samuel anoints David and the Spirit of the LORD “rushed” upon him.

However, the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. (Reminds me a little of the “thorn in the flesh” that God sent to keep another Saul (the Apostle Paul) humble.

No, “it just so happens” that Saul’s servants said that maybe, if a harpist were to come and play for Saul, he would get well. Saul thought it a good idea and inquired of them. They recommended none other than David, the shepherd boy who composed psalms to the LORD with his lyre as he watched his sheep.”  And so, David was brought into the court of King Saul now and then when the evil spirit tormented him. And Saul was “refreshed and well.” (Our Sovereign God orchestrates things so beautifully.)

Chapter 17 tells the well-known story of David and Goliath.  The young man came one day to Israel’s camp with some food for his brothers. While there, he heard the boastful words of the giant Philistine, Goliath of Gath, defying the army of Israel.

“Why doesn’t someone shut that guy up?” he basically says.  His brothers deride him, so he goes to King Saul and volunteers to fight the giant.  “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

The cowardly King Saul (who is head and shoulders – at least 18 inches – taller than any other Israelite) sends a boy to fight a giant. But that boy is on the side of the LORD God.

“Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?” Goliath roars. “I curse you in the name of Dagon!”

“I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied,” answers David, “that all 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 into our hand.”

And with a single stone from a sling, the LORD-empowered shepherd boy kills the 9.5-foot champion of Gath. Then he runs to him, draws out that huge sword, and cuts off his head. So there!

King Saul, duly impressed, asks his commander, Abner, who that boy is.   Abner doesn’t know but says he will inquire. When David comes back, swinging the head of Goliath, Abner grabs him and brings him to Saul. David tells him he’s the son of Jesse, from Bethlehem.  (Did Saul not remember how David sometimes plays the lyre for him? But, maybe Saul is out of his mind at those times.)

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 101

Apr10

    Day 101 —  We have been reading the Bible daily for over a quarter of the year. Praise God! What have you learned about God? About yourself?

   Day 101 – 1 Samuel 13 – 14 (Saul, Samuel, Jonathon)

Chapter 13  reveals the first years of Saul’s reign and “leading Israel into battle” (as they wanted of a king). Both the king and his son Jonathan were successful against the Philistines. But the mighty Philistines refused to take that for very long and mustered a hoard against Israel, including 30K iron chariots.

Freaking out at the sight, the men of Israel ran for cover, into caves, holes, rocks, tombs, and cisterns. Some fled across the Jordan River. Saul waited seven days for Samuel to come (which he had said), but then panicked. The king called for the burnt offering and did it himself. (A big no-no in God’s law.)  It was his big, history-altering mistake, for it caused the end of his dynasty. When Samuel arrived, the smoke of the offering was still in the air, and he told Saul that his kingdom was doomed and that the LORD had chosen another, a “man after His own heart,” to be a prince.

Saul still led the armies, but that proclamation would dwell on his mind until he was crazy.

Meanwhile, in Chapter 14, Prince Jonathan and his armor-bearer took on a pack of Philistines themselves, after asking God for a sign. His victory and bravery inspired Israel and they followed suit. “And the LORD saved Israel that day.”

However, unbeknownst to Jonathan, Saul foolishly vowed that no man should eat until the battle was done. Stupid, for they would have been stronger if they’d eaten, and they also would not have slaughtered the spoil right there on the battlefield out of desperate hunger, and eaten raw meat with the blood.  A really big breach of God’s law. (Leviticus 17:10-14) Also, Jonathan found a bit of honey and ate it, which invigorated him immediately.

When Jonathan heard of his father’s vow, he was ready to die, but the people resisted and ransomed him.

There continued to be hard fighting against the Philistines throughout Saul’s reign, and Saul found and gathered any strong or valiant men into his personal force. (David would become one of these.)