One Year Bible and Readings and Commentary for Saturday, May 21st
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Click Here to Listen To 1 Samuel 29-31
The Philistines Reject David
Though King Achish was a fully devoted believer in David, the Philistines commanders not so much. They had heard of what a ferocious warrior he was and that it was said of him, "David has killed 10,000's". Rather than trusting in him like the king, they felt he would turn on them in the middle of battle. The king summoned David and told him how the commanders felt. Though David was upset by what they said about him, he left town back to the land of Philistines.
David Destroys the Amalekites
When David and his men returned to their home in Ziklag, they discovered that the Amalekites had raided their town, burned it to the ground, taken the plunder from their families, and taken their wives, sons, and daughters. The men were furious and not too happy with David either. But is says this about David when the men were considering stoning him, "But David found strength in the Lord his God."
So David brought out Abiathar the priest out and asked the Lord if they should attack the Amalekites.
"And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”
Then David and the men had a divine appointment with an Egyptian, who was a slave of the Amalekites. He was sick, and they had basically left him to die. The Israelites fed him, and when his strength returned, he helped them to find the Amalekites. The Amalekite men were drinking and dancing for joy when David and his men struck them down. They not only killed most of the Amalekties, but got back the plunder and their women and children too.
There was some drama over the men who could not make it into battle because they were exhausted. Some of the men who fought thought they didn't deserve any of the plunder. But David overruled them declaring, "We share and share alike—those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment."
The Death of Saul
The Philistines weren't done with the Israelites yet. They attacked and some of the Israelite men fled. This left Saul and his men vulnerable, which the Philistines took advantage of. They killed Saul, and all three of his sons, including Jonathan David's best friend. When Saul knew his life was about to be taken from him, instead of being killed by the Philistines, he asked his armor bearer to do it. When he wonldn't, Saul impaled himself on his own spear. When the Philistines found him, they cut off his head off paraded it before the people on a wall. When the men of Israel heard of this, they traveled all through the night and found Saul and his son's bodies and burned them. He took their bones beneath the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. It was a fitting place, as this was where Saul was anointed as king by Samuel.
Click Here To Read John 11:55-12:19
We just mentioned both of the first two kings of Israel (David and Saul) being anointed with oil, and now we see Jesus is anointed for a different kind of purpose. He is anointed for his burial by Lazarus' sister, Mary. The perfume she used was quite expensive. Judas, his betrayer, voiced his objection to this "waste of money which could have been given to the pooir", but Jesus knew his true motive. Meanwhile, the Pharisees continue to plot to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus too. After all, Lazarus had brought more attention to their nemesis Jesus.
I love the first line of this psalm, "Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever!" That about sums it up!
We live in a world where people lack grace in their words. This line in the Proverbs is very relevant for today, "The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight."
Make sure your words are "gracious" this week! Give people the benefit of the doubt, after all wouldn't you want that for yourself.
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