The Charles F. Stanley

LIFE PRINCIPLES

DAILY BIBLE

Charles F. StanleyGeneral Editor

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The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible

Copyright © 2007 by Charles F. Stanley.

Notes and commentary copyright © 2007 by Charles F. Stanley.All rights reserved.

The Holy Bible, New King James VersionCopyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.All rights reserved.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 byThomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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4And the word of Samuel came to allIsrael.Now Israel went out to battle against

the Philistines, and encamped besideEbenezer; and the Philistines encampedin Aphek. 2Then the Philistines put them-selves in battle array against Israel. Andwhen they joined battle, Israel wasdefeated by the Philistines, who killedabout four thousand men of the army inthe field. 3And when the people hadcome into the camp, the elders of Israelsaid, “Why has the LORD defeated ustoday before the Philistines? Let us bringthe ark of the covenant of the LORD fromShiloh to us, that when it comes amongus it may save us from the hand of ourenemies.” 4So the people sent to Shiloh,that they might bring from there the arkof the covenant of the LORD of hosts,who dwells between the cherubim. Andthe two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phine-has, were there with the ark of thecovenant of God.

5And when the ark of the covenant ofthe LORD came into the camp, all Israelshouted so loudly that the earth shook.6Now when the Philistines heard thenoise of the shout, they said, “What doesthe sound of this great shout in the campof the Hebrews mean?” Then they under-stood that the ark of the LORD had comeinto the camp. 7So the Philistines wereafraid, for they said, “God has come intothe camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! Forsuch a thing has never happened before.8Woe to us! Who will deliver us from thehand of these mighty gods? These are thegods who struck the Egyptians with allthe plagues in the wilderness. 9Be strong

and conduct yourselves like men, youPhilistines, that you do not become ser-vants of the Hebrews, as they have beento you. Conduct yourselves like men, andfight!”

10So the Philistines fought, and Israelwas defeated, and every man fled to histent. There was a very great slaughter,and there fell of Israel thirty thousandfoot soldiers. 11Also the ark of God wascaptured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophniand Phinehas, died.

12Then a man of Benjamin ran fromthe battle line the same day, and came toShiloh with his clothes torn and dirt onhis head. 13Now when he came, there wasEli, sitting on a seat by the waysidewatching, for his heart trembled for theark of God. And when the man came intothe city and told it, all the city cried out.14When Eli heard the noise of the outcry,he said, “What does the sound of thistumult mean?” And the man camequickly and told Eli. 15Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dimthat he could not see.

16Then the man said to Eli, “I am hewho came from the battle. And I fledtoday from the battle line.”

And he said, “What happened, myson?”

17So the messenger answered andsaid, “Israel has fled before thePhilistines, and there has been a greatslaughter among the people. Also yourtwo sons, Hophni and Phinehas, aredead; and the ark of God has been cap-tured.”

18Then it happened, when he mademention of the ark of God, that Eli fell offthe seat backward by the side of the gate;and his neck was broken and he died, forthe man was old and heavy. And he hadjudged Israel forty years.

19Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’wife, was with child, due to be delivered;and when she heard the news that theark of God was captured, and that herfather-in-law and her husband weredead, she bowed herself and gave birth,for her labor pains came upon her. 20Andabout the time of her death the womenwho stood by her said to her, “Do notfear, for you have borne a son.” But shedid not answer, nor did she regard it.21Then she named the child Ichabod, say-

1 Samuel 4:1—5:12

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 44::33 —— ““LLeett uuss bbrriinngg tthhee aarrkkooff tthhee ccoovveennaanntt ooff tthhee LLOORRDD ffrroomm SShhiilloohhttoo uuss,, tthhaatt .. .. .. iitt mmaayy ssaavvee uuss ffrroomm tthheehhaanndd ooff oouurr eenneemmiieess..””

No religious artifact or ceremony, nomatter how sacred, can rescue us.

Israel’s leaders thought that the ark ofthe covenant could save them, but it hadno power to do so. God alone rescues.

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ing, “The glory has departed fromIsrael!” because the ark of God had beencaptured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22And she said,“The glory has departed from Israel, forthe ark of God has been captured.”

5Then the Philistines took the ark ofGod and brought it from Ebenezer to

Ashdod. 2When the Philistines took theark of God, they brought it into the houseof Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3And whenthe people of Ashdod arose early in themorning, there was Dagon, fallen on itsface to the earth before the ark of theLORD. So they took Dagon and set it in itsplace again. 4And when they arose earlythe next morning, there was Dagon,fallen on its face to the ground before theark of the LORD. The head of Dagon andboth the palms of its hands were brokenoff on the threshold; only Dagon’s torsowas left of it. 5Therefore neither thepriests of Dagon nor any who come intoDagon’s house tread on the threshold ofDagon in Ashdod to this day.

6But the hand of the LORD was heavyon the people of Ashdod, and He ravagedthem and struck them with tumors, bothAshdod and its territory. 7And when themen of Ashdod saw how it was, theysaid, “The ark of the God of Israel mustnot remain with us, for His hand is harshtoward us and Dagon our god.” 8There-fore they sent and gathered to them-

selves all the lords of the Philistines, andsaid, “What shall we do with the ark ofthe God of Israel?”

And they answered, “Let the ark ofthe God of Israel be carried away toGath.” So they carried the ark of the Godof Israel away. 9So it was, after they hadcarried it away, that the hand of theLORD was against the city with a verygreat destruction; and He struck the menof the city, both small and great, andtumors broke out on them.

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SAMUEL: Learning to Hear God’s Voice

1 SAMUEL 4 :1

As one of the mightiest prophets ofthe Old Testament, it’s no coinci-

dence that Samuel’s first divine assignmentcalled for him to learn how to hear God’svoice, to recognize it for what it was.

As 1 Samuel 3:1–10 tells us, a youngSamuel, entrusted to the care of Eli the priest,was lying down one evening when the Lordspoke. At first, Samuel didn’t know who hewas hearing; he thought Eli was calling him.But finally, after Eli told Samuel three timesthat he hadn’t called, Eli realized that it wasthe Lord. So he instructed the boy to respond,“Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears” (v. 9).

Isn’t that a beautiful way to answer God?“Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.” Elitaught Samuel how to listen to God—andSamuel became established as God’s prophet(see 1 Sam. 3:19–21). So when the Philistinescaptured the ark of the covenant, and Eli andhis two sons died (see 1 Sam. 4:11, 18), Samuelknew what to do and Israel knew who to lis-ten to. In the midst of great turmoil, Samuelwas able to hear the voice of the One heloved and served faithfully.

If we’re going to be men and women ofGod, we too must learn how to recognizeGod’s efforts to speak to us. However, wecan’t wait until the maelstrom strikes to do so.It’s when we lie restfully in the quiet momentsthat we should turn our attention to God andsay, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.”Because it’s in those tranquil moments that wecan embrace the One who calls to us, and thatHe can teach our hearts to love and obey Him.

✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ LifeExamples: ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶

dd 11 SSaammuueell 55::22 —— WWhheenn tthhee PPhhiilliissttiinneessttooookk tthhee aarrkk ooff GGoodd,, tthheeyy bbrroouugghhtt iitt iinnttootthhee hhoouussee ooff DDaaggoonn..

The Philistines placed the ark of thecovenant in the temple of Dagon to

show that their god had triumphed overIsrael’s God. However, God shows Him-self fantastically strong (see 1 Cor. 1:25)and showed that He was the only trueGod in the room.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 55::99 —— TThhee LLOORRDD wwaass aaggaaiinnsstttthhee cciittyy wwiitthh aa vveerryy ggrreeaatt ddeessttrruuccttiioonn..

The Lord wanted the Philistines toknow that what had happened did

not occur by chance, but that He hadbeen behind it all. God desires that thewhole world acknowledge His glory—and He wants to use us to display it.

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10Therefore they sent the ark of Godto Ekron. So it was, as the ark of Godcame to Ekron, that the Ekronites criedout, saying, “They have brought the arkof the God of Israel to us, to kill us andour people!” 11So they sent and gatheredtogether all the lords of the Philistines,and said, “Send away the ark of the Godof Israel, and let it go back to its ownplace, so that it does not kill us and ourpeople.” For there was a deadly destruc-tion throughout all the city; the hand ofGod was very heavy there. 12And the menwho did not die were stricken with thetumors, and the cry of the city went up toheaven.

To the Chief Musician. With stringed

instruments. A Contemplation of David when

the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David

not hiding with us?”

1 Save me, O God, by Your name,And vindicate me by Your strength.

2 Hear my prayer, O God;Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen up againstme,

And oppressors have sought after mylife;

They have not set God before them.Selah

4 Behold, God is my helper;The Lord is with those who uphold

my life.5 He will repay my enemies for their

evil.Cut them off in Your truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice to You;I will praise Your name, O LORD, for

it is good.7 For He has delivered me out of all

trouble;And my eye has seen its desire upon

my enemies.

12 A scoffer does not love one whocorrects him,

Nor will he go to the wise.

13 A merry heart makes a cheerfulcountenance,

But by sorrow of the heart the spiritis broken.

21And He looked up and saw the richputting their gifts into the treasury,

2and He saw also a certain poor widowputting in two mites. 3So He said, “Truly Isay to you that this poor widow has putin more than all; 4for all these out of theirabundance have put in offerings for God,but she out of her poverty put in all thelivelihood that she had.”

5Then, as some spoke of the temple,how it was adorned with beautiful stonesand donations, He said, 6“These thingswhich you see—the days will come inwhich not one stone shall be left uponanother that shall not be thrown down.”

7So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher,but when will these things be? And whatsign will there be when these things areabout to take place?”

8And He said: “Take heed that you notbe deceived. For many will come in Myname, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The timehas drawn near.’ Therefore do not goafter them. 9But when you hear of warsand commotions, do not be terrified; forthese things must come to pass first, butthe end will not come immediately.”

10Then He said to them, “Nation willrise against nation, and kingdom againstkingdom. 11And there will be great earth-quakes in various places, and famines

Luke 21:1–19

Proverbs 15:12–13

Psalm 54:1–7

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dd PPssaallmm 5544::66 —— II wwiillll ffrreeeellyy ssaaccrriiffiiccee ttooYYoouu;; II wwiillll pprraaiissee YYoouurr nnaammee,, OO LLOORRDD,, ffoorriitt iiss ggoooodd..

W hat does it mean to “freely sacri-fice” to God? It means that we

willingly and gladly put something pre-cious of ours on the line for God, know-ing that it all belongs to Him, and thatwe can never out give God.

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and pestilences; and there will be fearfulsights and great signs from heaven. 12Butbefore all these things, they will lay theirhands on you and persecute you, deliver-ing you up to the synagogues and pris-ons.You will be brought before kings andrulers for My name’s sake. 13But it willturn out for you as an occasion for testi-mony. 14Therefore settle it in your heartsnot to meditate beforehand on what you

will answer; 15for I will give you a mouthand wisdom which all your adversarieswill not be able to contradict or resist.16You will be betrayed even by parentsand brothers, relatives and friends; andthey will put some of you to death. 17Andyou will be hated by all for My name’ssake. 18But not a hair of your head shallbe lost. 19By your patience possess yoursouls.

527 M A Y 2

dd LLuukkee 2211::1133 —— ““IItt wwiillll ttuurrnn oouutt ffoorr yyoouuaass aann ooccccaassiioonn ffoorr tteessttiimmoonnyy..””

Just as the imprisonments of the apos-tle Paul turned out to be divine

opportunities to testify to the gospel ofChrist (see Acts 9:15; Phil. 1:12), so Godwill use persecutions to make His Wordknown.

dd LLuukkee 2211::1188 —— ““NNoott aa hhaaiirr ooff yyoouurr hheeaaddsshhaallll bbee lloosstt..””

Jesus said that though His followersmight lose their lives for His sake, yet

not a hair of their head would perish. Hemeant that nothing was left up to chanceor accident and that He would alwaysremain in control.

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6Now the ark of the LORD was in thecountry of the Philistines seven

months. 2And the Philistines called forthe priests and the diviners, saying,“What shall we do with the ark of theLORD? Tell us how we should send it toits place.”

3So they said, “If you send away theark of the God of Israel, do not send itempty; but by all means return it to Himwith a trespass offering. Then you willbe healed, and it will be known to youwhy His hand is not removed from you.”

4Then they said, “What is the trespassoffering which we shall return to Him?”

They answered, “Five golden tumorsand five golden rats, according to thenumber of the lords of the Philistines.For the same plague was on all of youand on your lords. 5Therefore you shallmake images of your tumors and imagesof your rats that ravage the land, and youshall give glory to the God of Israel; per-haps He will lighten His hand from you,from your gods, and from your land.6Why then do you harden your hearts as

the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardenedtheir hearts? When He did mighty thingsamong them, did they not let the peoplego, that they might depart? 7Now there-fore, make a new cart, take two milkcows which have never been yoked, andhitch the cows to the cart; and take theircalves home, away from them. 8Thentake the ark of the LORD and set it on thecart; and put the articles of gold whichyou are returning to Him as a trespassoffering in a chest by its side. Then sendit away, and let it go. 9And watch: if itgoes up the road to its own territory, toBeth Shemesh, then He has done us thisgreat evil. But if not, then we shall knowthat it is not His hand that struck us—ithappened to us by chance.”

10Then the men did so; they took twomilk cows and hitched them to the cart,and shut up their calves at home. 11Andthey set the ark of the LORD on the cart,and the chest with the gold rats and theimages of their tumors. 12Then the cowsheaded straight for the road to BethShemesh, and went along the highway,lowing as they went, and did not turnaside to the right hand or the left. Andthe lords of the Philistines went afterthem to the border of Beth Shemesh.

1 Samuel 6:1—7:17

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13Now the people of Beth Shemeshwere reaping their wheat harvest in thevalley; and they lifted their eyes and sawthe ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14Then thecart came into the field of Joshua of BethShemesh, and stood there; a large stonewas there. So they split the wood of thecart and offered the cows as a burnt offer-ing to the LORD. 15The Levites took downthe ark of the LORD and the chest thatwas with it, in which were the articles ofgold, and put them on the large stone.Then the men of Beth Shemesh offeredburnt offerings and made sacrifices thesame day to the LORD. 16So when the fivelords of the Philistines had seen it, theyreturned to Ekron the same day.

17These are the golden tumors whichthe Philistines returned as a trespassoffering to the LORD: one for Ashdod,one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one forGath, one for Ekron; 18and the goldenrats, according to the number of all thecities of the Philistines belonging to thefive lords, both fortified cities and coun-try villages, even as far as the large stoneof Abel on which they set the ark of theLORD, which stone remains to this day inthe field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

19Then He struck the men of BethShemesh, because they had looked intothe ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thou-sand and seventy men of the people, andthe people lamented because the LORDhad struck the people with a greatslaughter.

20And the men of Beth Shemesh said,“Who is able to stand before this holyLORD God? And to whom shall it go upfrom us?” 21So they sent messengers tothe inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying,“The Philistines have brought back theark of the LORD; come down and take itup with you.”

7Then the men of Kirjath Jearim cameand took the ark of the LORD, and

brought it into the house of Abinadab onthe hill, and consecrated Eleazar his sonto keep the ark of the LORD.

2So it was that the ark remained inKirjath Jearim a long time; it was theretwenty years. And all the house of Israellamented after the LORD.

3Then Samuel spoke to all the houseof Israel, saying, “If you return to theLORD with all your hearts, then put away

the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths fromamong you, and prepare your hearts forthe LORD, and serve Him only; and Hewill deliver you from the hand of thePhilistines.” 4So the children of Israel putaway the Baals and the Ashtoreths, andserved the LORD only.

5And Samuel said, “Gather all Israelto Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORDfor you.” 6So they gathered together atMizpah, drew water, and poured it outbefore the LORD. And they fasted thatday, and said there, “We have sinnedagainst the LORD.” And Samuel judgedthe children of Israel at Mizpah.

7Now when the Philistines heard thatthe children of Israel had gatheredtogether at Mizpah, the lords of thePhilistines went up against Israel. Andwhen the children of Israel heard of it,they were afraid of the Philistines. 8Sothe children of Israel said to Samuel, “Donot cease to cry out to the LORD our Godfor us, that He may save us from the handof the Philistines.”

9And Samuel took a suckling lamband offered it as a whole burnt offeringto the LORD. Then Samuel cried out tothe LORD for Israel, and the LORDanswered him. 10Now as Samuel wasoffering up the burnt offering, thePhilistines drew near to battle againstIsrael. But the LORD thundered with aloud thunder upon the Philistines thatday, and so confused them that they wereovercome before Israel. 11And the men of

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 66::1199 —— HHee ssttrruucckk tthhee mmeenn ooffBBeetthh SShheemmeesshh,, bbeeccaauussee tthheeyy hhaadd llooookkeeddiinnttoo tthhee aarrkk ooff tthhee LLOORRDD..

In His grace, God brought the arkback to Israel. But in His holiness, He

struck down some Israelites who treatedthe ark as a curiosity rather than as asymbol of God’s glory.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 77::33 —— ““IIff yyoouu rreettuurrnn ttoo tthheeLLOORRDD wwiitthh aallll yyoouurr hheeaarrttss,, tthheenn ppuutt aawwaayytthhee ffoorreeiiggnn ggooddss..””

God demands and deserves our exclu-sive loyalty and love. He made us for

Himself, and we have no higher callingthan to draw near to Him.

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Israel went out of Mizpah and pursuedthe Philistines, and drove them back asfar as below Beth Car. 12Then Samueltook a stone and set it up between Miz-pah and Shen, and called its nameEbenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORDhas helped us.”

13So the Philistines were subdued,and they did not come anymore into theterritory of Israel. And the hand ofthe LORD was against the Philistines allthe days of Samuel. 14Then the citieswhich the Philistines had taken fromIsrael were restored to Israel, from Ekronto Gath; and Israel recovered its territoryfrom the hands of the Philistines. Alsothere was peace between Israel and theAmorites.

15And Samuel judged Israel all thedays of his life. 16He went from year toyear on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and

Mizpah, and judged Israel in all thoseplaces. 17But he always returned toRamah, for his home was there. There hejudged Israel, and there he built an altarto the LORD.

To the Chief Musician. With stringedinstruments. A Contemplation of David.

1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,And do not hide Yourself from my

supplication.2 Attend to me, and hear me;

I am restless in my complaint, andmoan noisily,

3 Because of the voice of the enemy,Because of the oppression of the

wicked;

Psalm 55:1–8

529 M A Y 2

ANSWERS TOLIFE’S QUESTIONS

How can I know it’s God’s voiceI hear and not something else?

1 SAMUEL 7

T he Book of 1 Samuel describes howthe boy Samuel came to hear and

understand the spoken word of God. The Biblerecords that the word of the Lord was rare inthose days (see 1 Sam. 3:1); Samuel, therefore,had to learn how to recognize the voice of Godand not get it mixed up with ideas that con-flicted with the Lord’s true character.

Samuel not only learned to clearly hear thewords of God, he also came to speak them withauthority. First Samuel 3:19, 20 recalls, “TheLORD was with him and let none of his wordsfall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan toBeersheba knew that Samuel had been estab-lished as a prophet of the LORD.”

This was extremely important, becausewhen God called Israel to repentance, He sentHis word through Samuel. Samuel declared, “Ifyou return to the LORD with all your hearts,then put away the foreign gods and the Ash-toreths from among you, and prepare yourhearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; andHe will deliver you from the hand of thePhilistines.” Because of Samuel’s obedience,Israel returned to the Lord and the nationenjoyed peace (see 1 Sam. 7:13, 14).

Although Samuel learned to hear God’svoice clearly, we sometimes let our preconcep-

tions about God influence what we think wehear from Him. If, for instance, we think of Godas a wise and caring counselor, we will be opento the love He has for us in the midst of calami-ties brought on by our own foolishness. If,however, we think of God as a vindictive judge,we will expect to hear words of condemnationand harsh punishment when we act foolishly.

Our relationship with God influences howwe hear God. If we approach God as His savedchildren living under His grace, then we comewith the assurance that He will speak thewords we really need—even if they are notwhat we want to hear. When we know Him asan infinitely loving God, then it’s easier for usto believe everything He says.

Unfortunately, too many Christians fall fortwisted conceptions of God that misrepresentour gracious, consistent, patient, trustworthyFather. We’ve all heard too many unbiblicalideas offered as if they were gospel truth—andsuch error can lead us into horrible emotionaland spiritual bondage.

That’s why our view of God must remaincorrect and biblically informed. By knowingHim as the God of love (see 1 John 4:8) whowants us to approach the throne of graceboldly (see Heb. 4:16), we will trust Him morecompletely no matter what He directs us to do.

Therefore, we should take the advice of1 Thessalonians 5:21, and test whatever wehear against the truth of Scripture. That way,we’ll always know whether we’re hearing God’svoice or not.

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For they bring down trouble uponme,

And in wrath they hate me.

4 My heart is severely pained withinme,

And the terrors of death have fallenupon me.

5 Fearfulness and trembling havecome upon me,

And horror has overwhelmed me.6 So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a

dove!I would fly away and be at rest.

7 Indeed, I would wander far off,And remain in the wilderness. Selah

8 I would hasten my escapeFrom the windy storm and tempest.”

14 The heart of him who hasunderstanding seeksknowledge,

But the mouth of fools feeds onfoolishness.

20“But when you see Jerusalem sur-rounded by armies, then know that itsdesolation is near. 21Then let those whoare in Judea flee to the mountains, letthose who are in the midst of her depart,and let not those who are in the countryenter her. 22For these are the days ofvengeance, that all things which are writ-ten may be fulfilled. 23But woe to thosewho are pregnant and to those who arenursing babies in those days! For there

will be great distress in the land andwrath upon this people. 24And they willfall by the edge of the sword, and be ledaway captive into all nations. And Jerusa-lem will be trampled by Gentiles until thetimes of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

25“And there will be signs in the sun,in the moon, and in the stars; and on theearth distress of nations, with perplexity,the sea and the waves roaring; 26men’shearts failing them from fear and theexpectation of those things which arecoming on the earth, for the powers ofthe heavens will be shaken. 27Then theywill see the Son of Man coming in acloud with power and great glory. 28Nowwhen these things begin to happen, lookup and lift up your heads, because yourredemption draws near.”

29Then He spoke to them a parable:“Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.30When they are already budding, you seeand know for yourselves that summer isnow near. 31So you also, when you seethese things happening, know that thekingdom of God is near. 32Assuredly, I sayto you, this generation will by no meanspass away till all things take place.33Heaven and earth will pass away, butMy words will by no means pass away.

34“But take heed to yourselves, lestyour hearts be weighed down withcarousing, drunkenness, and cares of thislife, and that Day come on you unexpect-

Luke 21:20–38

Proverbs 15:14

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dd PPssaallmm 5555::66 —— ““OOhh,, tthhaatt II hhaadd wwiinnggsslliikkee aa ddoovvee!! II wwoouulldd ffllyy aawwaayy aanndd bbee aattrreesstt..””

W hen the walls close in and the floorgives way, we often wish we could

be anywhere but where God has put us.Trusting God, however, means lookingbeyond what we can see to what Godsees.

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dd LLuukkee 2211::3344 —— ““TTaakkee hheeeedd ttoo yyoouurr--sseellvveess,, lleesstt .. .. .. tthhaatt DDaayy ccoommee oonn yyoouuuunneexxppeecctteeddllyy..””

Aconstant awareness that the Lordcould return at any time keeps us

spiritually alert and helps to make usproductive for the kingdom of God.When we forget about the second com-ing, we become spiritually lazy.

dd LLuukkee 2211::3366 —— ““PPrraayy aallwwaayyss tthhaatt yyoouummaayy bbee ccoouunntteedd wwoorrtthhyy ttoo eessccaappee aalllltthheessee tthhiinnggss tthhaatt wwiillll ccoommee ttoo ppaassss..””

God Himself instructs us to pray thatwe might escape certain kinds of tri-

als and tribulations. We need faith tobear up under suffering, and we needfaith to pray that God might spare usunnecessary suffering.

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edly. 35For it will come as a snare on allthose who dwell on the face of the wholeearth. 36Watch therefore, and pray alwaysthat you may be counted worthy to escapeall these things that will come to pass, andto stand before the Son of Man.”

37And in the daytime He was teachingin the temple, but at night He went outand stayed on the mountain calledOlivet. 38Then early in the morning allthe people came to Him in the temple tohear Him.

531 M A Y 3

8Now it came to pass when Samuelwas old that he made his sons judges

over Israel. 2The name of his firstbornwas Joel, and the name of his second,Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.3But his sons did not walk in his ways;they turned aside after dishonest gain,took bribes, and perverted justice.

4Then all the elders of Israel gatheredtogether and came to Samuel at Ramah,5and said to him, “Look, you are old, andyour sons do not walk in your ways. Nowmake us a king to judge us like all thenations.”

6But the thing displeased Samuelwhen they said, “Give us a king to judgeus.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7Andthe LORD said to Samuel, “Heed thevoice of the people in all that they say toyou; for they have not rejected you, butthey have rejected Me, that I should notreign over them. 8According to all the

works which they have done since theday that I brought them up out of Egypt,even to this day—with which they haveforsaken Me and served other gods—sothey are doing to you also. 9Now there-fore, heed their voice. However, you shallsolemnly forewarn them, and show themthe behavior of the king who will reignover them.”

10So Samuel told all the words of theLORD to the people who asked him for aking. 11And he said, “This will be thebehavior of the king who will reign overyou: He will take your sons and appointthem for his own chariots and to be hishorsemen, and some will run before hischariots. 12He will appoint captains overhis thousands and captains over hisfifties, will set some to plow his groundand reap his harvest, and some to makehis weapons of war and equipment forhis chariots. 13He will take your daugh-ters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.14And he will take the best of yourfields, your vineyards, and your olivegroves, and give them to his servants.15He will take a tenth of your grain andyour vintage, and give it to his officersand servants. 16And he will take yourmale servants, your female servants,your finest young men, and your don-keys, and put them to his work. 17Hewill take a tenth of your sheep. And youwill be his servants. 18And you will cryout in that day because of your kingwhom you have chosen for yourselves,and the LORD will not hear you in thatday.”

19Nevertheless the people refused toobey the voice of Samuel; and they said,“No, but we will have a king over us,20that we also may be like all the nations,and that our king may judge us and goout before us and fight our battles.”

21And Samuel heard all the words ofthe people, and he repeated them in the

1 Samuel 8:1—9:27

M A Y 3

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 88::33 —— TThheeyy ttuurrnneedd aassiiddeeaafftteerr ddiisshhoonneesstt ggaaiinn,, ttooookk bbrriibbeess,, aannddppeerrvveerrtteedd jjuussttiiccee..

As great and as godly as Samuel was,he did not do a much better job as

father than did Eli. Regardless of howinvolved in ministry we are, we cannotafford to neglect the spiritual training ofour children.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 88::66 —— ““GGiivvee uuss aa kkiinngg ttoojjuuddggee uuss..”” SSoo SSaammuueell pprraayyeedd ttoo tthhee LLOORRDD..

Even in his old age, Samuel sought tohear the voice of God when con-

fronted with a challenge. He didn’t thinkhe “knew it all”; he went to the Lord forguidance. So should we.

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hearing of the LORD. 22So the LORD saidto Samuel, “Heed their voice, and makethem a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel,“Every man go to his city.”

9There was a man of Benjamin whosename was Kish the son of Abiel, the

son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, theson of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mightyman of power. 2And he had a choice andhandsome son whose name was Saul.There was not a more handsome personthan he among the children of Israel.From his shoulders upward he was tallerthan any of the people.

3Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’sfather, were lost. And Kish said to his sonSaul, “Please take one of the servantswith you, and arise, go and look forthe donkeys.” 4So he passed through themountains of Ephraim and through theland of Shalisha, but they did not findthem. Then they passed through the landof Shaalim, and they were not there.Then he passed through the land of theBenjamites, but they did not find them.

5When they had come to the land ofZuph, Saul said to his servant who waswith him, “Come, let us return, lest myfather cease caring about the donkeysand become worried about us.”

6And he said to him, “Look now, thereis in this city a man of God, and he is anhonorable man; all that he says surelycomes to pass. So let us go there; perhapshe can show us the way that we shouldgo.”

7Then Saul said to his servant, “Butlook, if we go, what shall we bring theman? For the bread in our vessels is allgone, and there is no present to bring tothe man of God. What do we have?”

8And the servant answered Saulagain and said, “Look, I have here athand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. Iwill give that to the man of God, to tell usour way.” 9(Formerly in Israel, when aman went to inquire of God, he spokethus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for hewho is now called a prophet was for-merly called a seer.)

10Then Saul said to his servant, “Wellsaid; come, let us go.” So they went to thecity where the man of God was.

11As they went up the hill to the city,they met some young women going outto draw water, and said to them, “Is theseer here?”

12And they answered them and said,“Yes, there he is, just ahead of you. Hurrynow; for today he came to this city,because there is a sacrifice of the peopletoday on the high place. 13As soon as youcome into the city, you will surely findhim before he goes up to the high placeto eat. For the people will not eat until hecomes, because he must bless the sacri-fice; afterward those who are invited willeat. Now therefore, go up, for about thistime you will find him.” 14So they went upto the city. As they were coming into thecity, there was Samuel, coming outtoward them on his way up to the highplace.

15Now the LORD had told Samuel inhis ear the day before Saul came, saying,16“Tomorrow about this time I will sendyou a man from the land of Benjamin,and you shall anoint him commanderover My people Israel, that he may saveMy people from the hand of thePhilistines; for I have looked upon Mypeople, because their cry has come toMe.”

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 88::1199,, 2200 —— ““WWee wwiillll hhaavvee aakkiinngg oovveerr uuss,, tthhaatt wwee aallssoo mmaayy bbee lliikkee aalllltthhee nnaattiioonnss..””

In every culture and time, God’s peoplefeel a tug to be like those around

them, to conform to the customs of theirunbelieving neighbors. But Jesus tells us,“Do not be like them” (Matt. 6:8).

dd 11 SSaammuueell 99::1166 —— ““II wwiillll sseenndd yyoouu aa mmaannffrroomm tthhee llaanndd ooff BBeennjjaammiinn,, aanndd yyoouu sshhaallllaannooiinntt hhiimm ccoommmmaannddeerr oovveerr MMyy ppeeoopplleeIIssrraaeell..””

God often uses misfortune to bring usto the very place where He will show

us His will. The dark moments of life willlast only so long as is necessary for God toaccomplish His purpose in us.

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ L I F E L E S S O N S ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴

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17So when Samuel saw Saul, theLORD said to him, “There he is, the manof whom I spoke to you. This one shallreign over My people.” 18Then Saul drewnear to Samuel in the gate, and said,“Please tell me, where is the seer’shouse?”

19Samuel answered Saul and said, “Iam the seer. Go up before me to the highplace, for you shall eat with me today;and tomorrow I will let you go and willtell you all that is in your heart. 20But asfor your donkeys that were lost threedays ago, do not be anxious about them,for they have been found. And on whomis all the desire of Israel? Is it not on youand on all your father’s house?”

21And Saul answered and said, “Am Inot a Benjamite, of the smallest of thetribes of Israel, and my family the leastof all the families of the tribe of Ben-jamin? Why then do you speak like thisto me?”

22Now Samuel took Saul and his ser-vant and brought them into the hall, andhad them sit in the place of honor amongthose who were invited; there were aboutthirty persons. 23And Samuel said to thecook, “Bring the portion which I gaveyou, of which I said to you, ‘Set it apart.’ ”24So the cook took up the thigh with itsupper part and set it before Saul. AndSamuel said, “Here it is, what was keptback. It was set apart for you. Eat; foruntil this time it has been kept for you,since I said I invited the people.” So Saulate with Samuel that day.

25When they had come down from thehigh place into the city, Samuel spokewith Saul on the top of the house. 26Theyarose early; and it was about the dawn-ing of the day that Samuel called to Saulon the top of the house, saying, “Get up,that I may send you on your way.” And

Saul arose, and both of them went out-side, he and Samuel.

27As they were going down to the out-skirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tellthe servant to go on ahead of us.” And hewent on. “But you stand here awhile, thatI may announce to you the word of God.”

9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide theirtongues,

For I have seen violence and strife inthe city.

10 Day and night they go around it onits walls;

Iniquity and trouble are also in themidst of it.

11 Destruction is in its midst;Oppression and deceit do not depart

from its streets.

12 For it is not an enemy whoreproaches me;

Then I could bear it.Nor is it one who hates me who has

exalted himself against me;Then I could hide from him.

13 But it was you, a man my equal,My companion and my

acquaintance.14 We took sweet counsel together,

And walked to the house of God inthe throng.

15 Let death seize them;Let them go down alive into hell,For wickedness is in their dwellings

and among them.

15 All the days of the afflicted are evil,But he who is of a merry heart has a

continual feast.

16 Better is a little with the fear of theLORD,

Than great treasure with trouble.17 Better is a dinner of herbs where

love is,Than a fatted calf with hatred.

Proverbs 15:15–17

Psalm 55:9–15

533 M A Y 3

dd 11 SSaammuueell 99::2211 —— ““AAmm II nnoott aa BBeenn--jjaammiittee,, ooff .. .. .. tthhee lleeaasstt ooff aallll tthhee ffaammiilliieessooff tthhee ttrriibbee ooff BBeennjjaammiinn??””

Like Gideon before him, Saul thoughtof himself as small, unimportant, and

powerless. But God loves to use “theweak things of the world to put toshame the things which are mighty”(1 Cor. 1:27).

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22Now the Feast of UnleavenedBread drew near, which is called

Passover. 2And the chief priests and thescribes sought how they might kill Him,for they feared the people.

3Then Satan entered Judas, surnamedIscariot, who was numbered among thetwelve. 4So he went his way and con-ferred with the chief priests and cap-tains, how he might betray Him to them.5And they were glad, and agreed to givehim money. 6So he promised and soughtopportunity to betray Him to them in theabsence of the multitude.

7Then came the Day of UnleavenedBread, when the Passover must be killed.8And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Goand prepare the Passover for us, that wemay eat.”

9So they said to Him, “Where do Youwant us to prepare?”

10And He said to them, “Behold, whenyou have entered the city, a man will

meet you carrying a pitcher of water; fol-low him into the house which he enters.11Then you shall say to the master of thehouse, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Whereis the guest room where I may eat thePassover with My disciples?” ’ 12Then hewill show you a large, furnished upperroom; there make ready.”

13So they went and found it just as Hehad said to them, and they prepared thePassover.

14When the hour had come, He satdown, and the twelve apostles with Him.15Then He said to them, “With ferventdesire I have desired to eat this Passoverwith you before I suffer; 16for I say toyou, I will no longer eat of it until it is ful-filled in the kingdom of God.”

17Then He took the cup, and gavethanks, and said, “Take this and divide itamong yourselves; 18for I say to you, Iwill not drink of the fruit of the vine untilthe kingdom of God comes.”

19And He took bread, gave thanksand broke it, and gave it to them, saying,“This is My body which is given for you;do this in remembrance of Me.”

20Likewise He also took the cup aftersupper, saying, “This cup is the newcovenant in My blood, which is shed foryou. 21But behold, the hand of Mybetrayer is with Me on the table. 22Andtruly the Son of Man goes as it has beendetermined, but woe to that man bywhom He is betrayed!”

23Then they began to question amongthemselves, which of them it was whowould do this thing.

Luke 22:1–23

M A Y 3 534

JUDAS: “Rabbi” Is NotEnoughLUKE 22 :1–6

P ossessor of the darkest of humanhearts, Judas Iscariot could never be

described as godly. But his betrayal (see John18:3) powerfully reminds us of the horrificpossibilities within every human heart.

While Judas called Jesus “Rabbi” (seeMatt. 26:25, 49), there is no record that heused the term “Lord.” It has always been pos-

sible to claim allegiance to God without everhanding over the soul’s title deed.

When Judas approached Jesus in Gethse-mane, he received one final chance to wineternal asylum. But sin had so blinded Judasthat he could not see the Way, the Truth, andthe Life.

His story of the betrayal still resonates, notonly because of Judas’s evil kiss, but alsobecause we realize the wickedness of our ownflesh. How many attend church regularly andgive Jesus intellectual assent, but not theirhearts? How many call Him King, only toassume their own thrones?

What kind of kiss do we give the Lord?

✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ LifeExamples: ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶

dd LLuukkee 2222::33 —— SSaattaann eenntteerreedd JJuuddaass,, ssuurr--nnaammeedd IIssccaarriioott,, wwhhoo wwaass nnuummbbeerreeddaammoonngg tthhee ttwweellvvee..

Judas is the only person whom theBible explicitly says was possessed by

Satan. Many Bible scholars believe theAntichrist will be as well (see Rev. 12—13). Both men are called “the son ofperdition” (see John 17:12; 2 Thess. 2:3).

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10Then Samuel took a flask of oil andpoured it on his head, and kissed

him and said: “Is it not because the LORDhas anointed you commander over Hisinheritance? 2When you have departedfrom me today, you will find two men byRachel’s tomb in the territory of Ben-jamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you,‘The donkeys which you went to look forhave been found. And now your fatherhas ceased caring about the donkeys andis worrying about you, saying, “Whatshall I do about my son?” ’ 3Then youshall go on forward from there and cometo the terebinth tree of Tabor. There threemen going up to God at Bethel will meetyou, one carrying three young goats,another carrying three loaves of bread,and another carrying a skin of wine.4And they will greet you and give youtwo loaves of bread, which you shallreceive from their hands. 5After that youshall come to the hill of God where thePhilistine garrison is. And it will happen,when you have come there to the city,that you will meet a group of prophetscoming down from the high place with astringed instrument, a tambourine, aflute, and a harp before them; and theywill be prophesying. 6Then the Spirit ofthe LORD will come upon you, and youwill prophesy with them and be turnedinto another man. 7And let it be, whenthese signs come to you, that you do asthe occasion demands; for God is withyou. 8You shall go down before me to Gil-

gal; and surely I will come down to youto offer burnt offerings and make sacri-fices of peace offerings. Seven days youshall wait, till I come to you and showyou what you should do.”

9So it was, when he had turned hisback to go from Samuel, that God gavehim another heart; and all those signscame to pass that day. 10When they camethere to the hill, there was a group ofprophets to meet him; then the Spirit ofGod came upon him, and he prophesiedamong them. 11And it happened, when allwho knew him formerly saw that heindeed prophesied among the prophets,that the people said to one another, “Whatis this that has come upon the son ofKish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”12Then a man from there answered andsaid, “But who is their father?” Thereforeit became a proverb: “Is Saul also amongthe prophets?” 13And when he had fin-ished prophesying, he went to the highplace.

14Then Saul’s uncle said to him andhis servant, “Where did you go?”

So he said, “To look for the donkeys.When we saw that they were nowhere tobe found, we went to Samuel.”

15And Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me,please, what Samuel said to you.”

16So Saul said to his uncle, “He told usplainly that the donkeys had been found.”But about the matter of the kingdom, hedid not tell him what Samuel had said.

17Then Samuel called the people to-gether to the LORD at Mizpah, 18and saidto the children of Israel, “Thus says theLORD God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israelout of Egypt, and delivered you from thehand of the Egyptians and from the handof all kingdoms and from those whooppressed you.’ 19But you have todayrejected your God, who Himself savedyou from all your adversities and yourtribulations; and you have said to Him,‘No, set a king over us!’ Now therefore,present yourselves before the LORD byyour tribes and by your clans.”

20And when Samuel had caused allthe tribes of Israel to come near, the tribeof Benjamin was chosen. 21When he hadcaused the tribe of Benjamin to comenear by their families, the family of Matriwas chosen. And Saul the son of Kishwas chosen. But when they sought him,

1 Samuel 10:1—11:15

M A Y 4

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1100::99 —— WWhheenn hhee hhaadd ttuurrnneeddhhiiss bbaacckk ttoo ggoo ffrroomm SSaammuueell .. .. .. GGoodd ggaavveehhiimm aannootthheerr hheeaarrtt..

It takes the Spirit of the living God toturn us into other men and women,

to transform us into the likeness ofChrist. But such a transformation is God’swill for every one of us (see Rom. 12:2).Yet, we should still pray that God wouldgive us a heart that loves Him and wantsto obey Him. Only with such a new heartwill we be able to live the new life Hecalls us to.

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he could not be found. 22Therefore theyinquired of the LORD further, “Has theman come here yet?”

And the LORD answered, “There heis, hidden among the equipment.”

23So they ran and brought him fromthere; and when he stood among the peo-ple, he was taller than any of the peoplefrom his shoulders upward. 24And Samuelsaid to all the people, “Do you see himwhom the LORD has chosen, that there isno one like him among all the people?”

So all the people shouted and said,“Long live the king!”

25Then Samuel explained to the peo-ple the behavior of royalty, and wrote itin a book and laid it up before the LORD.And Samuel sent all the people away,every man to his house. 26And Saul alsowent home to Gibeah; and valiant menwent with him, whose hearts God hadtouched. 27But some rebels said, “Howcan this man save us?” So they despisedhim, and brought him no presents. But heheld his peace.

11Then Nahash the Ammonite cameup and encamped against Jabesh

Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to

M A Y 4 536

ANSWERS TOLIFE’S QUESTIONS

What should I do when I feel theneed to act in haste?

1 SAMUEL 10 :8

Nowhere in Scripture does God tell any-one to rush into a decision. He just

doesn’t operate that way.Anyone in the financial world knows that

success rarely follows a snap decision. Thoughat times we may need to hear from Godquickly, God will never tell us to rush in blindly.We may have to move swiftly, but we can moveswiftly in the will of God and still not hurry intoa situation.

Satan always encourages us to act immedi-ately, because he knows if we back off andthink long enough, we may reconsider. Howmany people have made decisions they regret-ted for the rest of their lives? Psalm 27:14exhorts us, “Wait on the LORD; Be of goodcourage, and He shall strengthen your heart;wait, I say, on the LORD!” Psalm 62:5 explains,“My soul, wait silently for God alone, for myexpectation is from Him.”

If we feel an overwhelming urge to actspontaneously, we had better pull in the reins.God wants us to get all the details in theirproper places.

King Saul lost his throne because he actedhastily. The prophet Samuel told him to waitfor him seven days at Gilgal, “till I come to youand show you what you should do” (1 Sam.10:8). By the seventh day, Samuel still hadn’tarrived. With a hostile Philistine army pressingin on him, Saul decided to take matters in hisown hands and he prepared burnt offerings toinvoke the Lord’s favor. As soon as he com-pleted the offering, Samuel appeared. Sauloffered some lame excuses, but his rashness dis-qualified him for a long and peaceful reign.Getting ahead of God is a terrible mistake, withdistasteful consequences.

On the other hand, Nehemiah, cupbearerto King Artaxerxes, patiently waited for God’stiming—with glorious results. He fasted andprayed “for many days” (1:4), then waited forthe right time to bring his concern before theking. Rather than dash into action, Nehemiahwaited before God. In fact, he beseeched theLord for a period of four months, until one daythe king himself asked Nehemiah why heseemed so downcast. Nehemiah explained thesituation, and within days, the king sent himoff to Jerusalem with all the necessary author-ity and building materials (see 2:1–11).Nehemiah waited until God put all the particu-lars in place, and then he moved.

We should do the same.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1100::2222 —— ““TThheerree hhee iiss,, hhiiddddeennaammoonngg tthhee eeqquuiippmmeenntt..””

Saul knew that God had chosen him tobe king, and yet he tried to avoid

God’s will by running away. Throughouthis rule he let fear keep him from obey-ing God—and in the end, it cost himeverything.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1100::2277 —— ““HHooww ccaann tthhiiss mmaannssaavvee uuss??”” SSoo tthheeyy ddeessppiisseedd hhiimm,, aannddbbrroouugghhtt hhiimm nnoo pprreesseennttss..

God’s will looks neither impressive norreasonable to some people. Yet God

does not require us to understand Hiswill, just obey it, even if it seems unrea-sonable.

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ L I F E L E S S O N S ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴

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Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, andwe will serve you.”

2And Nahash the Ammonite answeredthem, “On this condition I will make acovenant with you, that I may put out allyour right eyes, and bring reproach on allIsrael.”

3Then the elders of Jabesh said tohim, “Hold off for seven days, that wemay send messengers to all the territoryof Israel. And then, if there is no one tosave us, we will come out to you.”

4So the messengers came to Gibeah ofSaul and told the news in the hearing ofthe people. And all the people lifted uptheir voices and wept. 5Now there wasSaul, coming behind the herd from thefield; and Saul said, “What troubles thepeople, that they weep?” And they told himthe words of the men of Jabesh. 6Then theSpirit of God came upon Saul when heheard this news, and his anger was greatlyaroused. 7So he took a yoke of oxen andcut them in pieces, and sent them through-out all the territory of Israel by the handsof messengers, saying, “Whoever does notgo out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so itshall be done to his oxen.”

And the fear of the LORD fell on thepeople, and they came out with one con-sent. 8When he numbered them in Bezek,the children of Israel were three hundredthousand, and the men of Judah thirtythousand. 9And they said to the messen-gers who came, “Thus you shall say to themen of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by thetime the sun is hot, you shall have help.’ ”Then the messengers came and reportedit to the men of Jabesh, and they wereglad. 10Therefore the men of Jabesh said,“Tomorrow we will come out to you, andyou may do with us whatever seems goodto you.”

11So it was, on the next day, that Saulput the people in three companies; andthey came into the midst of the camp inthe morning watch, and killed Ammonitesuntil the heat of the day. And it happenedthat those who survived were scattered, sothat no two of them were left together.

12Then the people said to Samuel,“Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reignover us?’ Bring the men, that we may putthem to death.”

13But Saul said, “Not a man shall beput to death this day, for today the LORD

has accomplished salvation in Israel.”14Then Samuel said to the people,

“Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew thekingdom there.” 15So all the people wentto Gilgal, and there they made Saul kingbefore the LORD in Gilgal. There theymade sacrifices of peace offerings beforethe LORD, and there Saul and all the menof Israel rejoiced greatly.

16 As for me, I will call upon God,And the LORD shall save me.

17 Evening and morning and at noonI will pray, and cry aloud,And He shall hear my voice.

18 He has redeemed my soul in peacefrom the battle that wasagainst me,

For there were many against me.19 God will hear, and afflict them,

Even He who abides from of old.Selah

Because they do not change,Therefore they do not fear God.

20 He has put forth his hands againstthose who were at peace withhim;

He has broken his covenant.21 The words of his mouth were

smoother than butter,But war was in his heart;His words were softer than oil,Yet they were drawn swords.

22 Cast your burden on the LORD,And He shall sustain you;

Psalm 55:16–23

537 M A Y 4

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1111::1133 —— ““TThhee LLOORRDD hhaassaaccccoommpplliisshheedd ssaallvvaattiioonn iinn IIssrraaeell..””

W hen Saul honored the Lord and putHim first, he enjoyed a successful

and prosperous rule. In fact, Saul didgreat things for God when the Spirit ofGod empowered him and directed him.God can use us to do mighty thingswhen we choose to be filled with HisSpirit (see Eph. 5:18). However, whenSaul allowed his eyes to drift, he beganhis swift and steep decline.

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He shall never permit the righteousto be moved.

23 But You, O God, shall bring themdown to the pit of destruction;

Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shallnot live out half their days;

But I will trust in You.

18 A wrathful man stirs up strife,But he who is slow to anger allays

contention.

19 The way of the lazy man is like ahedge of thorns,

But the way of the upright is ahighway.

20 A wise son makes a father glad,But a foolish man despises his mother.

24Now there was also a disputeamong them, as to which of them shouldbe considered the greatest. 25And He saidto them, “The kings of the Gentiles exer-cise lordship over them, and those whoexercise authority over them are called‘benefactors.’ 26But not so among you; onthe contrary, he who is greatest amongyou, let him be as the younger, and hewho governs as he who serves. 27For whois greater, he who sits at the table, or hewho serves? Is it not he who sits at thetable? Yet I am among you as the Onewho serves.

28“But you are those who have contin-ued with Me in My trials. 29And I bestowupon you a kingdom, just as My Fatherbestowed one upon Me, 30that you mayeat and drink at My table in My king-dom, and sit on thrones judging thetwelve tribes of Israel.”

31And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon!Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that hemay sift you as wheat. 32But I haveprayed for you, that your faith should notfail; and when you have returned to Me,strengthen your brethren.”

33But he said to Him, “Lord, I amready to go with You, both to prison andto death.”

34Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, therooster shall not crow this day before youwill deny three times that you know Me.”

35And He said to them, “When I sentyou without money bag, knapsack, andsandals, did you lack anything?”

So they said, “Nothing.”36Then He said to them, “But now, he

who has a money bag, let him take it, andlikewise a knapsack; and he who has nosword, let him sell his garment and buyone. 37For I say to you that this which iswritten must still be accomplished in Me:‘And He was numbered with the trans-gressors.’ For the things concerning Mehave an end.”

38So they said, “Lord, look, here aretwo swords.”

And He said to them, “It is enough.”39Coming out, He went to the Mount

of Olives, as He was accustomed, and Hisdisciples also followed Him. 40When Hecame to the place, He said to them, “Praythat you may not enter into temptation.”

41And He was withdrawn from themabout a stone’s throw, and He knelt downand prayed, 42saying, “Father, if it is Yourwill, take this cup away from Me; never-theless not My will, but Yours, be done.”43Then an angel appeared to Him fromheaven, strengthening Him. 44And being

Luke 22:24–46

Proverbs 15:18–20

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dd LLuukkee 2222::3311 —— ““SSiimmoonn,, SSiimmoonn!! IInnddeeeedd,,SSaattaann hhaass aasskkeedd ffoorr yyoouu,, tthhaatt hhee mmaayy ssiiffttyyoouu aass wwhheeaatt..””

W hen Peter denied Jesus three times,Satan was invisibly working behind

the scenes to encourage his spiritual fail-ure. We must always remain on the alertto detect the activity of our adversary(see 1 Pet. 5:8).

dd LLuukkee 2222::4433 —— AAnn aannggeell aappppeeaarreedd ttooHHiimm ffrroomm hheeaavveenn,, ssttrreennggtthheenniinngg HHiimm..

During Jesus’ most difficult hour,when He had to make the final deci-

sion to accept His Father’s will and marchto the cross, God sent Him angelic helpto encourage Him. He will always give usjust what we need.

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in agony, He prayed more earnestly. ThenHis sweat became like great drops ofblood falling down to the ground.

45When He rose up from prayer, and

had come to His disciples, He found themsleeping from sorrow. 46Then He said tothem, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray,lest you enter into temptation.”

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12Now Samuel said to all Israel:“Indeed I have heeded your voice

in all that you said to me, and have madea king over you. 2And now here is theking, walking before you; and I am oldand grayheaded, and look, my sons arewith you. I have walked before you frommy childhood to this day. 3Here I am.Wit-ness against me before the LORD andbefore His anointed: Whose ox have Itaken, or whose donkey have I taken, orwhom have I cheated? Whom have Ioppressed, or from whose hand have Ireceived any bribe with which to blindmy eyes? I will restore it to you.”

4And they said, “You have not cheatedus or oppressed us, nor have you takenanything from any man’s hand.”

5Then he said to them, “The LORD iswitness against you, and His anointed iswitness this day, that you have not foundanything in my hand.”

And they answered, “He is witness.”6Then Samuel said to the people, “It is

the LORD who raised up Moses andAaron, and who brought your fathers upfrom the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore,stand still, that I may reason with youbefore the LORD concerning all the right-eous acts of the LORD which He did toyou and your fathers: 8When Jacob hadgone into Egypt, and your fathers criedout to the LORD, then the LORD sent

Moses and Aaron, who brought yourfathers out of Egypt and made them dwellin this place. 9And when they forgot theLORD their God, He sold them into thehand of Sisera, commander of the army ofHazor, into the hand of the Philistines,and into the hand of the king of Moab;and they fought against them. 10Then theycried out to the LORD, and said, ‘We havesinned, because we have forsaken theLORD and served the Baals and Ash-toreths; but now deliver us from the handof our enemies, and we will serve You.’11And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan,Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered youout of the hand of your enemies on everyside; and you dwelt in safety. 12And whenyou saw that Nahash king of theAmmonites came against you, you said tome, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’when the LORD your God was your king.

13“Now therefore, here is the kingwhom you have chosen and whom youhave desired. And take note, the LORDhas set a king over you. 14If you fear theLORD and serve Him and obey His voice,and do not rebel against the command-ment of the LORD, then both you and theking who reigns over you will continuefollowing the LORD your God. 15How-ever, if you do not obey the voice of theLORD, but rebel against the command-ment of the LORD, then the hand of theLORD will be against you, as it wasagainst your fathers.

16“Now therefore, stand and see thisgreat thing which the LORD will dobefore your eyes: 17Is today not the wheatharvest? I will call to the LORD, and Hewill send thunder and rain, that you mayperceive and see that your wickedness isgreat, which you have done in the sightof the LORD, in asking a king for your-selves.”

18So Samuel called to the LORD, andthe LORD sent thunder and rain that day;and all the people greatly feared theLORD and Samuel.

1 Samuel 12:1—13:23

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 1122::33 —— ““WWhhoomm hhaavvee IIcchheeaatteedd??””

Integrity—the consuming desire toacknowledge and obey the Father in

conjunction with a readiness to confessand repent of sin—testifies to our pri-vate and public behavior. Integrity leavesno ground for accusation.

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19And all the people said to Samuel,“Pray for your servants to the LORD yourGod, that we may not die; for we haveadded to all our sins the evil of asking aking for ourselves.”

20Then Samuel said to the people, “Donot fear. You have done all this wicked-ness; yet do not turn aside from followingthe LORD, but serve the LORD with allyour heart. 21And do not turn aside; forthen you would go after empty thingswhich cannot profit or deliver, for they are

nothing. 22For the LORD will not forsakeHis people, for His great name’s sake,because it has pleased the LORD to makeyou His people. 23Moreover, as for me, farbe it from me that I should sin against theLORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I willteach you the good and the right way.24Only fear the LORD, and serve Him intruth with all your heart; for considerwhat great things He has done for you.25But if you still do wickedly, you shall beswept away, both you and your king.”

13Saul reigned one year; and whenhe had reigned two years over

Israel, 2Saul chose for himself three thou-sand men of Israel. Two thousand werewith Saul in Michmash and in the moun-tains of Bethel, and a thousand were withJonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. Therest of the people he sent away, everyman to his tent.

3And Jonathan attacked the garrisonof the Philistines that was in Geba, andthe Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blewthe trumpet throughout all the land, say-ing, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4Now allIsrael heard it said that Saul hadattacked a garrison of the Philistines, and

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 1122::2211 —— ““DDoo nnoott ttuurrnn aassiiddee;;ffoorr tthheenn yyoouu wwoouulldd ggoo aafftteerr eemmppttyytthhiinnggss wwhhiicchh ccaannnnoott pprrooffiitt oorr ddeelliivveerr,, ffoorrtthheeyy aarree nnootthhiinngg..””

How often do we go after “emptythings” that can neither bless nor

deliver us? Even if we get these things,we end up with precisely nothing. How-ever, we have a God who loves us,reveals Himself to us, and communicateswith us. He never forsakes us when weseek Him. That’s why intimacy with Godshould always be our highest priority.

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ANSWERS TOLIFE’S QUESTIONS

What does the Bible say tolonely people?

1 SAMUEL 12 :22

Time and again throughout the Old Tes-tament, we find the Lord reaching out

to His people, revealing Himself to them, desir-ing to be with them and to communicate withthem. In 1 Samuel 12:22, we find this promiseof God: “The LORD will not forsake His people,for His great name’s sake, because it haspleased the LORD to make you His people.”God desires companionship, fellowship, andcommunion with those who will reciprocate Hisexpressions of friendship.

We can count on the close communion ofthe Lord, even if everyone else abandons us.We see this in the life of Jesus. On the verynight He was arrested and put on trial—trialthat led to His crucifixion—He said to His disci-ples, “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has nowcome, that you will be scattered, each to hisown, and will leave Me alone.” Can you hearthe pain in that statement? Jesus knew what itwas to be lonely! But then He said, “And yet I

am not alone, because the Father is with Me”(John 16:32). Jesus knew what it was to becomforted even in the face of abandonment.

When loneliness engulfs us, the first thingwe must do is to turn our focus away fromwhat we don’t have to what we do have. Whatdo we have, you may ask?

God Himself!You can never be alone once you have

trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior. He prom-ises that He dwells within you when you havereceived Him into your life and that He is con-nected to you, just as a vine and a branch areconnected. In the same way that sap flowsthrough a vine and its branches, so too the loveof Christ flows in you and through you. Heabides in you, and you abide in Him. You areone being with Christ. You share with him themost intimate relationship possible—an eternal,spiritual intimacy (see John 15:1–9).

The depth of that intimacy, to a greatextent, is up to you. How much do you desirethat intimacy with the Lord? How much do youallow Him to fill you up with His presence?How willing are you for Him to reveal Himselfto you? Even so, you can never totally isolateyourself from the Lord. He is always there,desiring to move ever closer to you.

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that Israel had also become an abomina-tion to the Philistines. And the peoplewere called together to Saul at Gilgal.

5Then the Philistines gatheredtogether to fight with Israel, thirty thou-sand chariots and six thousand horse-men, and people as the sand which is onthe seashore in multitude. And they cameup and encamped in Michmash, to theeast of Beth Aven. 6When the men ofIsrael saw that they were in danger (forthe people were distressed), then the peo-ple hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, inholes, and in pits. 7And some of theHebrews crossed over the Jordan to theland of Gad and Gilead.

As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, andall the people followed him trembling.8Then he waited seven days, according tothe time set by Samuel. But Samuel didnot come to Gilgal; and the people werescattered from him. 9So Saul said, “Bringa burnt offering and peace offerings hereto me.” And he offered the burnt offering.10Now it happened, as soon as he had fin-ished presenting the burnt offering, thatSamuel came; and Saul went out to meethim, that he might greet him.

11And Samuel said, “What have youdone?”

Saul said, “When I saw that the peo-ple were scattered from me, and that youdid not come within the days appointed,and that the Philistines gatheredtogether at Michmash, 12then I said, ‘ThePhilistines will now come down on me atGilgal, and I have not made supplicationto the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled,and offered a burnt offering.”

13And Samuel said to Saul, “You havedone foolishly. You have not kept thecommandment of the LORD your God,

which He commanded you. For now theLORD would have established your king-dom over Israel forever. 14But now yourkingdom shall not continue. The LORDhas sought for Himself a man after Hisown heart, and the LORD has com-manded him to be commander over Hispeople, because you have not kept whatthe LORD commanded you.”

15Then Samuel arose and went upfrom Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. AndSaul numbered the people present withhim, about six hundred men.

16Saul, Jonathan his son, and the peo-ple present with them remained in Gibeahof Benjamin. But the Philistines encampedin Michmash. 17Then raiders came out ofthe camp of the Philistines in three compa-nies. One company turned onto the road toOphrah, to the land of Shual, 18anothercompany turned to the road to BethHoron, and another company turned tothe road of the border that overlooks theValley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

19Now there was no blacksmith to befound throughout all the land of Israel,for the Philistines said, “Lest theHebrews make swords or spears.” 20Butall the Israelites would go down to thePhilistines to sharpen each man’s plow-share, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;21and the charge for a sharpening was apim for the plowshares, the mattocks, theforks, and the axes, and to set the pointsof the goads. 22So it came about, on theday of battle, that there was neithersword nor spear found in the hand of anyof the people who were with Saul andJonathan. But they were found with Sauland Jonathan his son.

23And the garrison of the Philistineswent out to the pass of Michmash.

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dovein Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when

the Philistines captured him in Gath.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, for manwould swallow me up;

Fighting all day he oppresses me.2 My enemies would hound me all day,

For there are many who fight againstme, O Most High.

Psalm 56:1–13

541 M A Y 5

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1133::1144 —— ““TThhee LLOORRDD hhaass ccoomm--mmaannddeedd hhiimm ttoo bbee ccoommmmaannddeerr oovveerr HHiissppeeooppllee..””

E ven before Samuel had anointedDavid as the next king of Israel—

even before Samuel had met the boy—the Lord had “commanded” David tolead Israel. God has a plan for us, longbefore we see it. And even though Davidhad to wait a long time to become king,he trusted that God always works onbehalf of those who wait for Him.

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3 Whenever I am afraid,I will trust in You.

4 In God (I will praise His word),In God I have put my trust;I will not fear.What can flesh do to me?

5 All day they twist my words;All their thoughts are against me for

evil.6 They gather together,

They hide, they mark my steps,When they lie in wait for my life.

7 Shall they escape by iniquity?In anger cast down the peoples,

O God!

8 You number my wanderings;Put my tears into Your bottle;Are they not in Your book?

9 When I cry out to You,Then my enemies will turn back;This I know, because God is for me.

10 In God (I will praise His word),In the LORD (I will praise His word),

11 In God I have put my trust;I will not be afraid.What can man do to me?

12 Vows made to You are binding uponme, O God;

I will render praises to You,13 For You have delivered my soul from

death.Have You not kept my feet from

falling,That I may walk before GodIn the light of the living?

21 Folly is joy to him who is destitute ofdiscernment,

But a man of understanding walksuprightly.

22 Without counsel, plans go awry,But in the multitude of counselors

they are established.

23 A man has joy by the answer of hismouth,

And a word spoken in due season,how good it is!

47And while He was still speaking, be-hold, a multitude; and he who was calledJudas, one of the twelve, went beforethem and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.48But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are youbetraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49When those around Him saw whatwas going to happen, they said to Him,“Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”50And one of them struck the servant ofthe high priest and cut off his right ear.

51But Jesus answered and said, “Per-mit even this.” And He touched his earand healed him.

52Then Jesus said to the chief priests,captains of the temple, and the elderswho had come to Him, “Have you comeout, as against a robber, with swords andclubs? 53When I was with you daily in thetemple, you did not try to seize Me. Butthis is your hour, and the power of dark-ness.”

54Having arrested Him, they led Himand brought Him into the high priest’shouse. But Peter followed at a distance.55Now when they had kindled a fire inthe midst of the courtyard and sat downtogether, Peter sat among them. 56And a

Luke 22:47–71

Proverbs 15:21–23

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dd PPssaallmm 5566::33 —— WWhheenneevveerr II aamm aaffrraaiidd,, IIwwiillll ttrruusstt iinn YYoouu..

T he psalmist does not say, “If some-thing ever scares me,” he says,

“Whenever I am afraid.” Fear is a natu-ral human reaction to danger. God doesnot tell us to ignore our fears, but tobring them to Him.

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dd PPrroovveerrbbss 1155::2222 —— WWiitthhoouutt ccoouunnsseell,,ppllaannss ggoo aawwrryy,, bbuutt iinn tthhee mmuullttiittuuddee ooffccoouunnsseelloorrss tthheeyy aarree eessttaabblliisshheedd..

Since none of us has an unlimited per-spective, we need to invite multiple

viewpoints outside of our own to informour most important decisions and plans.God often uses the perspective of othersto show us His will.

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certain servant girl, seeing him as he satby the fire, looked intently at him andsaid, “This man was also with Him.”

57But he denied Him, saying, “Woman,I do not know Him.”

58And after a little while another sawhim and said, “You also are of them.”

But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”59Then after about an hour had

passed, another confidently affirmed,saying, “Surely this fellow also was withHim, for he is a Galilean.”

60But Peter said, “Man, I do not knowwhat you are saying!”

Immediately, while he was still speak-ing, the rooster crowed. 61And the Lordturned and looked at Peter. Then Peterremembered the word of the Lord, howHe had said to him, “Before the roostercrows, you will deny Me three times.”62So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

63Now the men who held Jesusmocked Him and beat Him. 64And havingblindfolded Him, they struck Him on theface and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy!Who is the one who struck You?” 65Andmany other things they blasphemouslyspoke against Him.

66As soon as it was day, the elders of

the people, both chief priests and scribes,came together and led Him into theircouncil, saying, 67“If You are the Christ,tell us.”

But He said to them, “If I tell you, youwill by no means believe. 68And if I alsoask you, you will by no means answerMe or let Me go. 69Hereafter the Son ofMan will sit on the right hand of thepower of God.”

70Then they all said, “Are You then theSon of God?”

So He said to them, “You rightly saythat I am.”

71And they said, “What further testi-mony do we need? For we have heard itourselves from His own mouth.”

543 M A Y 6

dd LLuukkee 2222::6611 —— TThhee LLoorrdd ttuurrnneedd aannddllooookkeedd aatt PPeetteerr..

W hat kind of look was it? A lookthat said, “I told you so”? One that

expressed compassion? Disappointment?Resignation? Sorrow? We don’t know.We only know that Jesus used it toremind Peter of His prophetic word, andthat look caused Peter to weep.

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14Now it happened one day thatJonathan the son of Saul said to the

young man who bore his armor, “Come,let us go over to the Philistines’ garrisonthat is on the other side.” But he did nottell his father. 2And Saul was sitting in theoutskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranatetree which is in Migron. The people whowere with him were about six hundredmen. 3Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’sbrother, the son of Phinehas, the son ofEli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh, waswearing an ephod. But the people did notknow that Jonathan had gone.

4Between the passes, by whichJonathan sought to go over to thePhilistines’ garrison, there was a sharprock on one side and a sharp rock on theother side. And the name of one was

Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.5The front of one faced northward oppo-site Michmash, and the other southwardopposite Gibeah.

6Then Jonathan said to the young manwho bore his armor, “Come, let us go overto the garrison of these uncircumcised; it

1 Samuel 14:1—15:35

M A Y 6

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Jonathan had a spirit very differentfrom that of his father. Saul feared

men; Jonathan feared God. Jonathanhad no idea how God would validate thewords he had spoken. However,Jonathan’s faith made it possible for theLord to do mighty things through him.When we move ahead in faith, we like-wise have no idea how God may move inpower on our behalf (see Eph. 3:20).

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may be that the LORD will work for us.For nothing restrains the LORD from sav-ing by many or by few.”

7So his armorbearer said to him, “Doall that is in your heart. Go then; here Iam with you, according to your heart.”

8Then Jonathan said, “Very well, letus cross over to these men, and we willshow ourselves to them. 9If they say thusto us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ thenwe will stand still in our place and not goup to them. 10But if they say thus, ‘Comeup to us,’ then we will go up. For theLORD has delivered them into our hand,and this will be a sign to us.”

11So both of them showed themselvesto the garrison of the Philistines. And thePhilistines said, “Look, the Hebrews arecoming out of the holes where they havehidden.” 12Then the men of the garrisoncalled to Jonathan and his armorbearer,and said, “Come up to us, and we willshow you something.”

Jonathan said to his armorbearer,“Come up after me, for the LORD hasdelivered them into the hand of Israel.”13And Jonathan climbed up on his handsand knees with his armorbearer afterhim; and they fell before Jonathan. Andas he came after him, his armorbearerkilled them. 14That first slaughter whichJonathan and his armorbearer made wasabout twenty men within about half anacre of land.

15And there was trembling in thecamp, in the field, and among all the peo-ple. The garrison and the raiders alsotrembled; and the earth quaked, so that itwas a very great trembling. 16Now thewatchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjaminlooked, and there was the multitude, melt-ing away; and they went here and there.17Then Saul said to the people who werewith him, “Now call the roll and see whohas gone from us.” And when they hadcalled the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan andhis armorbearer were not there. 18AndSaul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of Godhere” (for at that time the ark of God waswith the children of Israel). 19Now it hap-pened, while Saul talked to the priest, thatthe noise which was in the camp of thePhilistines continued to increase; so Saulsaid to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”20Then Saul and all the people who werewith him assembled, and they went to the

battle; and indeed every man’s sword wasagainst his neighbor, and there was verygreat confusion. 21Moreover the Hebrewswho were with the Philistines before thattime, who went up with them into thecamp from the surrounding country, theyalso joined the Israelites who were withSaul and Jonathan. 22Likewise all the menof Israel who had hidden in the mountainsof Ephraim, when they heard that thePhilistines fled, they also followed hardafter them in the battle. 23So the LORDsaved Israel that day, and the battleshifted to Beth Aven.

24And the men of Israel were dis-tressed that day, for Saul had placed thepeople under oath, saying, “Cursed is theman who eats any food until evening,before I have taken vengeance on my ene-mies.” So none of the people tasted food.25Now all the people of the land came to aforest; and there was honey on theground. 26And when the people had comeinto the woods, there was the honey, drip-ping; but no one put his hand to hismouth, for the people feared the oath.27But Jonathan had not heard his fathercharge the people with the oath; thereforehe stretched out the end of the rod thatwas in his hand and dipped it in a honey-comb, and put his hand to his mouth; andhis countenance brightened. 28Then one ofthe people said, “Your father strictlycharged the people with an oath, saying,‘Cursed is the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint.

29But Jonathan said, “My father hastroubled the land. Look now, how mycountenance has brightened because Itasted a little of this honey. 30How muchbetter if the people had eaten freely todayof the spoil of their enemies which theyfound! For now would there not havebeen a much greater slaughter among thePhilistines?”

31Now they had driven back thePhilistines that day from Michmash toAijalon. So the people were very faint.32And the people rushed on the spoil, andtook sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaugh-tered them on the ground; and the peopleate them with the blood. 33Then they toldSaul, saying, “Look, the people are sin-ning against the LORD by eating with theblood!”

So he said, “You have dealt treacher-

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ously; roll a large stone to me this day.”34Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselvesamong the people, and say to them,‘Bring me here every man’s ox and everyman’s sheep, slaughter them here, andeat; and do not sin against the LORD byeating with the blood.’ ” So every one ofthe people brought his ox with him thatnight, and slaughtered it there. 35ThenSaul built an altar to the LORD. This wasthe first altar that he built to the LORD.

36Now Saul said, “Let us go downafter the Philistines by night, and plun-der them until the morning light; and letus not leave a man of them.”

And they said, “Do whatever seemsgood to you.”

Then the priest said, “Let us draw nearto God here.”

37So Saul asked counsel of God,“Shall I go down after the Philistines?Will You deliver them into the hand ofIsrael?” But He did not answer him thatday. 38And Saul said, “Come over here, allyou chiefs of the people, and know andsee what this sin was today. 39For as theLORD lives, who saves Israel, though itbe in Jonathan my son, he shall surelydie.” But not a man among all the peopleanswered him. 40Then he said to allIsrael, “You be on one side, and my sonJonathan and I will be on the other side.”

And the people said to Saul, “Do whatseems good to you.”

41Therefore Saul said to the LORDGod of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.” SoSaul and Jonathan were taken, but thepeople escaped. 42And Saul said, “Castlots between my son Jonathan and me.”So Jonathan was taken. 43Then Saul saidto Jonathan, “Tell me what you havedone.”

And Jonathan told him, and said, “Ionly tasted a little honey with the end ofthe rod that was in my hand. So now Imust die!”

44Saul answered, “God do so and morealso; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”

45But the people said to Saul, “ShallJonathan die, who has accomplished thisgreat deliverance in Israel? Certainlynot! As the LORD lives, not one hair ofhis head shall fall to the ground, for hehas worked with God this day.” So thepeople rescued Jonathan, and he did notdie.

46Then Saul returned from pursuingthe Philistines, and the Philistines wentto their own place.

47So Saul established his sovereigntyover Israel, and fought against all his ene-mies on every side, against Moab, againstthe people of Ammon, against Edom,against the kings of Zobah, and againstthe Philistines. Wherever he turned, heharassed them. 48And he gathered anarmy and attacked the Amalekites, anddelivered Israel from the hands of thosewho plundered them.

49The sons of Saul were Jonathan,Jishui, and Malchishua. And the namesof his two daughters were these: thename of the firstborn Merab, and thename of the younger Michal. 50The nameof Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughterof Ahimaaz. And the name of the com-mander of his army was Abner the son ofNer, Saul’s uncle. 51Kish was the father ofSaul, and Ner the father of Abner wasthe son of Abiel.

52Now there was fierce war with thePhilistines all the days of Saul. And whenSaul saw any strong man or any valiantman, he took him for himself.

15Samuel also said to Saul, “TheLORD sent me to anoint you king

over His people, over Israel. Now there-fore, heed the voice of the words of theLORD. 2Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Iwill punish Amalek for what he did toIsrael, how he ambushed him on the waywhen he came up from Egypt. 3Now goand attack Amalek, and utterly destroyall that they have, and do not spare them.But kill both man and woman, infant andnursing child, ox and sheep, camel anddonkey.’ ”

4So Saul gathered the people togetherand numbered them in Telaim, two hun-dred thousand foot soldiers and tenthousand men of Judah. 5And Saul cameto a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in thevalley.

6Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go,depart, get down from among theAmalekites, lest I destroy you with them.For you showed kindness to all the chil-dren of Israel when they came up out ofEgypt.” So the Kenites departed fromamong the Amalekites. 7And Saulattacked the Amalekites, from Havilah allthe way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

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8He also took Agag king of theAmalekites alive, and utterly destroyedall the people with the edge of the sword.9But Saul and the people spared Agagand the best of the sheep, the oxen, thefatlings, the lambs, and all that was good,and were unwilling to utterly destroythem. But everything despised and worth-less, that they utterly destroyed.

10Now the word of the LORD came toSamuel, saying, 11“I greatly regret that Ihave set up Saul as king, for he hasturned back from following Me, and hasnot performed My commandments.” Andit grieved Samuel, and he cried out to theLORD all night. 12So when Samuel roseearly in the morning to meet Saul, it wastold Samuel, saying, “Saul went toCarmel, and indeed, he set up a monu-ment for himself; and he has gone onaround, passed by, and gone down to Gil-gal.” 13Then Samuel went to Saul, andSaul said to him, “Blessed are you of theLORD! I have performed the command-ment of the LORD.”

14But Samuel said, “What then is thisbleating of the sheep in my ears, and thelowing of the oxen which I hear?”

15And Saul said, “They have broughtthem from the Amalekites; for the peoplespared the best of the sheep and theoxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God;and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet!And I will tell you what the LORD said tome last night.”

And he said to him, “Speak on.”17So Samuel said, “When you were lit-

tle in your own eyes, were you not headof the tribes of Israel? And did not theLORD anoint you king over Israel? 18Nowthe LORD sent you on a mission, andsaid, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners,the Amalekites, and fight against themuntil they are consumed.’ 19Why then didyou not obey the voice of the LORD? Whydid you swoop down on the spoil, and doevil in the sight of the LORD?”

20And Saul said to Samuel, “But Ihave obeyed the voice of the LORD, andgone on the mission on which the LORDsent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed theAmalekites. 21But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best ofthe things which should have been

utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to theLORD your God in Gilgal.”

22So Samuel said:

“Has the LORD as great delight inburnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the LORD?Behold, to obey is better than

sacrifice,And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin ofwitchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity andidolatry.

Because you have rejected the wordof the LORD,

He also has rejected you from beingking.”

24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I havesinned, for I have transgressed the com-mandment of the LORD and your words,because I feared the people and obeyedtheir voice. 25Now therefore, please par-

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 1155::1122 —— ““SSaauull wweenntt ttooCCaarrmmeell,, aanndd iinnddeeeedd,, hhee sseett uupp aa mmoonnuu--mmeenntt ffoorr hhiimmsseellff..””

The young man who once thought ofhimself as small has now set up a

monument to honor himself. When wecease to follow the Lord wholeheartedly,we follow our prideful hearts to ourown destruction.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1155::2222 —— ““TToo oobbeeyy iiss bbeetttteerrtthhaann ssaaccrriiffiiccee,, aanndd ttoo hheeeedd tthhaann tthhee ffaatt ooffrraammss..””

Our heavenly Father places a highvalue on obedience, preferring it

even to outward expressions of worship.In fact, our obedience is the ultimateexpression of worship and service.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1155::2244 —— ““II hhaavvee ssiinnnneedd,, ffoorr II.. .. .. ffeeaarreedd tthhee ppeeooppllee aanndd oobbeeyyeedd tthheeiirrvvooiiccee..””

Saul recognized fear as a real problemin his life, but he did nothing about

it. The best way to deal with our fear ofpeople is to nurture a greater fear andlove of God by meditating on His worksand words.

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don my sin, and return with me, that Imay worship the LORD.”

26But Samuel said to Saul, “I will notreturn with you, for you have rejected theword of the LORD, and the LORD hasrejected you from being king over Israel.”

27And as Samuel turned around to goaway, Saul seized the edge of his robe,and it tore. 28So Samuel said to him, “TheLORD has torn the kingdom of Israelfrom you today, and has given it to aneighbor of yours, who is better thanyou. 29And also the Strength of Israel willnot lie nor relent. For He is not a man,that He should relent.”

30Then he said, “I have sinned; yethonor me now, please, before the elders ofmy people and before Israel, and returnwith me, that I may worship the LORDyour God.” 31So Samuel turned back afterSaul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

32Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag kingof the Amalekites here to me.” So Agagcame to him cautiously.

And Agag said, “Surely the bitternessof death is past.”

33But Samuel said, “As your swordhas made women childless, so shall yourmother be childless among women.” AndSamuel hacked Agag in pieces before theLORD in Gilgal.

34Then Samuel went to Ramah, andSaul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death.Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul,and the LORD regretted that He hadmade Saul king over Israel.

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.”A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul

into the cave.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, bemerciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;And in the shadow of Your wings I

will make my refuge,Until these calamities have passed by.

Psalm 57:1–3

547 M A Y 6

ANSWERS TOLIFE’S QUESTIONS

What role does obedience playin a mature Christian’s life?

1 SAMUEL 15 :22

Those who know the greatness andgoodness of God—and those who seek

to identify fully with Christ’s life—have a greatpassion to obey God.

Obedience is active, not passive. It is a joy-ful “living out” of what we know to be true,right, and good. It is to follow the Lord daily,saying and doing what Jesus would do if Hewere living in our place. Obedience is total sub-mission to what God desires.

Our heavenly Father places a high value onobedience. He prefers it even to sacrifice, or theoutward expression of worship (see 1 Sam.15:22). In fact, our obedience is the ultimateexpression of worship and service (see Prov.21:3).

A mature Christian expresses a passion toobey God in three general ways:1. A hunger to know the Bible.

To know what God requires of us, we mustknow what He has commanded. God’s com-mandments have not changed through theages, nor have they been altered according to

culture, custom, or technological advances.God’s Word is absolute and enduring (see Josh.24:24; Ps. 119:15, 16, 105, 106; 143:10).2. A passion to live in righteousness.

Very simply, living in righteousness is doingwhat is “right” before the Lord. It is gladlykeeping His commandments and statutes. It isturning way from sin and toward what is holyand acceptable to God (see Ps. 97:10–12; Prov.11:30; 12:12, 13; Rom. 2:7–10; Heb. 12:1, 2).3. A passion to receive daily direction from theLord.

To have a heart for obedience is to have adeep desire to receive daily direction from theHoly Spirit. To obey is to “walk in His ways,”step by step—trusting that God is leading youand that He will correct you should you makean error. We must observe what God is doingaround us and daily ask Him, “What is myrole?” (see Ps. 25:4, 5; 141:3, 4, 8–10; Jer.42:1–6).

Ultimately, these three desires worktogether. The more we explore God’s Word, thegreater our understanding of righteousnessand how the Holy Spirit works in us. The morewe trust the Holy Spirit, the more He remindsus of God’s Word and leads us into righteous-ness. The more we desire to be “right” beforethe Father, the more we will want to read HisWord and listen for His voice.

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2 I will cry out to God Most High,To God who performs all things for

me.3 He shall send from heaven and save

me;He reproaches the one who would

swallow me up. SelahGod shall send forth His mercy and

His truth.

24 The way of life winds upward for thewise,

That he may turn away from hellbelow.

25 The LORD will destroy the house ofthe proud,

But He will establish the boundary ofthe widow.

23Then the whole multitude of themarose and led Him to Pilate. 2And

they began to accuse Him, saying, “Wefound this fellow perverting the nation,and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar,saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”

3Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “AreYou the King of the Jews?”

He answered him and said, “It is asyou say.”

4So Pilate said to the chief priests andthe crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”

5But they were the more fierce, say-ing, “He stirs up the people, teachingthroughout all Judea, beginning fromGalilee to this place.”

6When Pilate heard of Galilee, he

asked if the Man were a Galilean. 7Andas soon as he knew that He belonged toHerod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him toHerod, who was also in Jerusalem at thattime. 8Now when Herod saw Jesus, hewas exceedingly glad; for he had desiredfor a long time to see Him, because hehad heard many things about Him, andhe hoped to see some miracle done byHim. 9Then he questioned Him withmany words, but He answered him noth-ing. 10And the chief priests and scribesstood and vehemently accused Him.11Then Herod, with his men of war,treated Him with contempt and mockedHim, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe,and sent Him back to Pilate. 12That veryday Pilate and Herod became friendswith each other, for previously they hadbeen at enmity with each other.

13Then Pilate, when he had calledtogether the chief priests, the rulers, andthe people, 14said to them, “You havebrought this Man to me, as one who mis-leads the people. And indeed, havingexamined Him in your presence, I havefound no fault in this Man concerningthose things of which you accuse Him;15no, neither did Herod, for I sent youback to him; and indeed nothing deserv-ing of death has been done by Him. 16Iwill therefore chastise Him and releaseHim” 17(for it was necessary for him torelease one to them at the feast).

18And they all cried out at once, say-ing, “Away with this Man, and release tous Barabbas”— 19who had been throwninto prison for a certain rebellion madein the city, and for murder.

20Pilate, therefore, wishing to releaseJesus, again called out to them. 21Butthey shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, cru-cify Him!”

22Then he said to them the third time,

Luke 23:1–25

Proverbs 15:24–25

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dd PPssaallmm 5577::11 —— IInn tthhee sshhaaddooww ooff YYoouurrwwiinnggss II wwiillll mmaakkee mmyy rreeffuuggee,, uunnttiill tthheesseeccaallaammiittiieess hhaavvee ppaasssseedd bbyy..

Even when God doesn’t keep us fromcalamity, He invites us to make Him

our refuge while we pass through thecalamity. Adversity is a bridge to adeeper relationship with God.

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dd LLuukkee 2233::88 —— WWhheenn HHeerroodd ssaaww JJeessuuss,,hhee wwaass eexxcceeeeddiinnggllyy ggllaadd;; ffoorr hhee .. .. ..hhooppeedd ttoo sseeee ssoommee mmiirraaccllee ddoonnee bbyy HHiimm..

Herod had no interest in Jesus theMessiah or Jesus the Savior; he sim-

ply wanted to see a magic show. Jesusrefused to speak a single word to theking. No one can ever manipulate Himinto doing their bidding

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“Why, what evil has He done? I havefound no reason for death in Him. I willtherefore chastise Him and let Him go.”

23But they were insistent, demandingwith loud voices that He be crucified.And the voices of these men and of the

chief priests prevailed. 24So Pilate gavesentence that it should be as theyrequested. 25And he released to them theone they requested, who for rebellionand murder had been thrown into prison;but he delivered Jesus to their will.

549 M A Y 7

16Now the LORD said to Samuel,“How long will you mourn for

Saul, seeing I have rejected him fromreigning over Israel? Fill your horn withoil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse theBethlehemite. For I have provided Myselfa king among his sons.”

2And Samuel said, “How can I go? IfSaul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the LORD said, “Take a heiferwith you, and say, ‘I have come to sacri-fice to the LORD.’ 3Then invite Jesse tothe sacrifice, and I will show you whatyou shall do; you shall anoint for Me theone I name to you.”

4So Samuel did what the LORD said,and went to Bethlehem. And the elders ofthe town trembled at his coming, andsaid, “Do you come peaceably?”

5And he said, “Peaceably; I have cometo sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify your-selves, and come with me to the sacri-fice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and hissons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

6So it was, when they came, that helooked at Eliab and said, “Surely theLORD’s anointed is before Him!”

7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Donot look at his appearance or at his phys-ical stature, because I have refused him.For the LORD does not see as man sees;for man looks at the outward appear-ance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

8So Jesse called Abinadab, and madehim pass before Samuel. And he said,“Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by.And he said, “Neither has the LORD cho-sen this one.” 10Thus Jesse made seven ofhis sons pass before Samuel. AndSamuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has notchosen these.” 11And Samuel said toJesse, “Are all the young men here?”

Then he said, “There remains yet theyoungest, and there he is, keeping thesheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send andbring him. For we will not sit down till hecomes here.” 12So he sent and broughthim in. Now he was ruddy, with brighteyes, and good-looking. And the LORDsaid, “Arise, anoint him; for this is theone!” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oiland anointed him in the midst of hisbrothers; and the Spirit of the LORDcame upon David from that day forward.So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

14But the Spirit of the LORD departedfrom Saul, and a distressing spirit fromthe LORD troubled him. 15And Saul’s ser-vants said to him, “Surely, a distressingspirit from God is troubling you. 16Letour master now command your servants,who are before you, to seek out a manwho is a skillful player on the harp. Andit shall be that he will play it with hishand when the distressing spirit fromGod is upon you, and you shall be well.”

17So Saul said to his servants, “Pro-vide me now a man who can play well,and bring him to me.”

18Then one of the servants answeredand said, “Look, I have seen a son of

1 Samuel 16:1—17:58

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 1166::77 —— ““MMaann llooookkss aatt tthheeoouuttwwaarrdd aappppeeaarraannccee,, bbuutt tthhee LLOORRDD llooookkssaatt tthhee hheeaarrtt..””

God could have told Samuel ahead oftime what to do and who to anoint,

but He didn’t. He recognized that even agodly man like Samuel couldn’t help butjudge a man’s character by his appear-ance. This is why we must continually goto the Lord for His wisdom; only He seesthe heart. He leads us one step at a time,teaching us to trust Him and to continu-ally listen for His voice.

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Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful inplaying, a mighty man of valor, a man ofwar, prudent in speech, and a handsomeperson; and the LORD is with him.”

19Therefore Saul sent messengers toJesse, and said, “Send me your sonDavid, who is with the sheep.” 20AndJesse took a donkey loaded with bread, askin of wine, and a young goat, and sent

them by his son David to Saul. 21SoDavid came to Saul and stood beforehim. And he loved him greatly, and hebecame his armorbearer. 22Then Saulsent to Jesse, saying, “Please let Davidstand before me, for he has found favorin my sight.” 23And so it was, wheneverthe spirit from God was upon Saul, thatDavid would take a harp and play it withhis hand. Then Saul would becomerefreshed and well, and the distressingspirit would depart from him.

17Now the Philistines gathered theirarmies together to battle, and were

gathered at Sochoh, which belongs toJudah; they encamped between Sochohand Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2AndSaul and the men of Israel were gatheredtogether, and they encamped in the Val-ley of Elah, and drew up in battle arrayagainst the Philistines. 3The Philistinesstood on a mountain on one side, andIsrael stood on a mountain on the otherside, with a valley between them.

4And a champion went out from the

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ANSWERS TOLIFE’S QUESTIONS

What role does faith play indoing great things for God?

1 SAMUEL 17

Faith is believing that God will do as Hehas promised. Faith is not a power. It’s

not something we have to drum up inside our-selves. Faith is trusting that God will honor Hispromises. That is all there is to it.

The famous story of David and Goliath illus-trates this as well as any. The armies of Israelhad lined up on one side of the valley, whilethe Philistines had lined up on the other. Everyday the giant warrior Goliath would walk downinto the valley and taunt the armies of Israel.

One day young David arrived on the scenewith a fresh outlook. Notice what he said whenhe heard Goliath’s arrogant threats: “Who isthis uncircumcised Philistine, that he shoulddefy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam.17:26).

David didn’t see Goliath as merely theenemy of Israel. He saw him as God’s enemy—and David knew that God could take Goliathout of the picture with no problem. So Davidacted on his faith.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands, ofIsraelite soldiers had greater training to do bat-

tle with Goliath than David. But theyresponded to the giant’s threats with paralyz-ing fear, stress, and anxious frustration. David,on the other hand, didn’t seem upset at all.Why not? Because he knew it was God’s battle,not his. Apart from the Lord, he knew he didn’tstand a chance. But with the help of the Lord,he knew that everything would turn out allright.

Neither David nor the soldiers of Israel hadthe natural ability to defeat the giant. Butwhile one party focused on its inability—andtherefore panicked—the other party focusedon God’s provision—and therefore remainedconfident. The only difference was focus.

David did exactly what he knew how to do,while trusting God to do the rest. That is whatliving by faith boils down to: living in the confi-dence that God is supremely faithful to keepHis word. So David gathered a few stones,walked down into the valley, carried on a shortbut heated exchange with Goliath, loaded, andthen fired. He had taken those actions count-less times before; nothing out of the ordinarythere.

But once that first stone left its sling, Godstepped in to do what only He could do. AndGoliath went down.

That’s faith. And that’s where great thingsoriginate.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1166::1199 —— ““SSeenndd mmee yyoouurr ssoonnDDaavviidd..””

As God sent Moses into the house-hold of Pharaoh to train him for

the future, so He sent David into Saul’spalace to train him for the future. How-ever, David couldn’t succeed without theSpirit of the Lord any more than Saulcould. We will enjoy true success onlywhen we cooperate with the Lord byallowing His Spirit to fill us. Through theSpirit, God will always equip us for thetasks He gives us.

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camp of the Philistines, named Goliath,from Gath, whose height was six cubitsand a span. 5He had a bronze helmet onhis head, and he was armed with a coatof mail, and the weight of the coat wasfive thousand shekels of bronze. 6And hehad bronze armor on his legs and abronze javelin between his shoulders.7Now the staff of his spear was like aweaver’s beam, and his iron spearheadweighed six hundred shekels; and ashield-bearer went before him. 8Then hestood and cried out to the armies ofIsrael, and said to them, “Why have youcome out to line up for battle? Am I not aPhilistine, and you the servants of Saul?Choose a man for yourselves, and let himcome down to me. 9If he is able to fightwith me and kill me, then we will be yourservants. But if I prevail against him andkill him, then you shall be our servantsand serve us.” 10And the Philistine said, “Idefy the armies of Israel this day; giveme a man, that we may fight together.”11When Saul and all Israel heard thesewords of the Philistine, they were dis-mayed and greatly afraid.

12Now David was the son of thatEphrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whosename was Jesse, and who had eight sons.And the man was old, advanced in years,in the days of Saul. 13The three oldestsons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul tothe battle. The names of his three sonswho went to the battle were Eliab thefirstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was theyoungest. And the three oldest followedSaul. 15But David occasionally went andreturned from Saul to feed his father’ssheep at Bethlehem.

16And the Philistine drew near andpresented himself forty days, morningand evening.

17Then Jesse said to his son David,“Take now for your brothers an ephah ofthis dried grain and these ten loaves, andrun to your brothers at the camp. 18Andcarry these ten cheeses to the captain oftheir thousand, and see how your broth-ers fare, and bring back news of them.”19Now Saul and they and all the men ofIsrael were in the Valley of Elah, fightingwith the Philistines.

20So David rose early in the morning,left the sheep with a keeper, and took the

things and went as Jesse had commandedhim. And he came to the camp as thearmy was going out to the fight and shout-ing for the battle. 21For Israel and thePhilistines had drawn up in battle array,army against army. 22And David left hissupplies in the hand of the supply keeper,ran to the army, and came and greeted hisbrothers. 23Then as he talked with them,there was the champion, the Philistine ofGath, Goliath by name, coming up fromthe armies of the Philistines; and he spokeaccording to the same words. So Davidheard them. 24And all the men of Israel,when they saw the man, fled from himand were dreadfully afraid. 25So the menof Israel said, “Have you seen this manwho has come up? Surely he has come upto defy Israel; and it shall be that the manwho kills him the king will enrich withgreat riches, will give him his daughter,and give his father’s house exemptionfrom taxes in Israel.”

26Then David spoke to the men whostood by him, saying, “What shall bedone for the man who kills this Philistineand takes away the reproach from Israel?For who is this uncircumcised Philistine,that he should defy the armies of the liv-ing God?”

27And the people answered him inthis manner, saying, “So shall it be donefor the man who kills him.”

28Now Eliab his oldest brother heardwhen he spoke to the men; and Eliab’sanger was aroused against David, and hesaid, “Why did you come down here?And with whom have you left those fewsheep in the wilderness? I know yourpride and the insolence of your heart, foryou have come down to see the battle.”

29And David said, “What have I donenow? Is there not a cause?” 30Then heturned from him toward another andsaid the same thing; and these peopleanswered him as the first ones did.

31Now when the words which Davidspoke were heard, they reported them toSaul; and he sent for him. 32Then Davidsaid to Saul, “Let no man’s heart failbecause of him; your servant will go andfight with this Philistine.”

33And Saul said to David, “You are notable to go against this Philistine to fightwith him; for you are a youth, and he aman of war from his youth.”

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34But David said to Saul, “Your ser-vant used to keep his father’s sheep, andwhen a lion or a bear came and took alamb out of the flock, 35I went out after itand struck it, and delivered the lambfrom its mouth; and when it aroseagainst me, I caught it by its beard, andstruck and killed it. 36Your servant haskilled both lion and bear; and this uncir-cumcised Philistine will be like one ofthem, seeing he has defied the armies ofthe living God.” 37Moreover David said,“The LORD, who delivered me from thepaw of the lion and from the paw of thebear, He will deliver me from the hand ofthis Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, “Go, and theLORD be with you!”

38So Saul clothed David with hisarmor, and he put a bronze helmet on hishead; he also clothed him with a coat ofmail. 39David fastened his sword to hisarmor and tried to walk, for he had nottested them. And David said to Saul, “Icannot walk with these, for I have nottested them.” So David took them off.

40Then he took his staff in his hand;and he chose for himself five smoothstones from the brook, and put them in ashepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had,and his sling was in his hand. And hedrew near to the Philistine. 41So the Philis-tine came, and began drawing near toDavid, and the man who bore the shieldwent before him. 42And when the Philis-tine looked about and saw David, he dis-dained him; for he was only a youth,ruddy and good-looking. 43So the Philis-tine said to David, “Am I a dog, that youcome to me with sticks?” And the Philis-tine cursed David by his gods. 44And thePhilistine said to David, “Come to me, andI will give your flesh to the birds of the airand the beasts of the field!”

45Then David said to the Philistine,“You come to me with a sword, with aspear, and with a javelin. But I come toyou in the name of the LORD of hosts, theGod of the armies of Israel, whom youhave defied. 46This day the LORD willdeliver you into my hand, and I willstrike you and take your head from you.And this day I will give the carcasses ofthe camp of the Philistines to the birds ofthe air and the wild beasts of the earth,that all the earth may know that there isa God in Israel. 47Then all this assemblyshall know that the LORD does not savewith sword and spear; for the battle is theLORD’s, and He will give you into ourhands.”

48So it was, when the Philistine aroseand came and drew near to meet David,that David hurried and ran toward thearmy to meet the Philistine. 49Then Davidput his hand in his bag and took out astone; and he slung it and struck thePhilistine in his forehead, so that thestone sank into his forehead, and he fellon his face to the earth. 50So David pre-vailed over the Philistine with a sling anda stone, and struck the Philistine andkilled him. But there was no sword in thehand of David. 51Therefore David ranand stood over the Philistine, took hissword and drew it out of its sheath andkilled him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw thattheir champion was dead, they fled.52Now the men of Israel and Judah aroseand shouted, and pursued the Philistinesas far as the entrance of the valley and to

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dd 11 SSaammuueell 1177::3333 —— ““YYoouu aarree nnoott aabblleettoo ggoo aaggaaiinnsstt tthhiiss PPhhiilliissttiinnee ttoo ffiigghhtt wwiitthhhhiimm..””

Saul allowed his fear of men to eclipsea godly fear of the Lord. Saul had

trained himself to look at things onlythrough the eyes of the flesh; he had noidea how to see with eyes of faith. Fear,left unchecked, can ruin us both spiritu-ally and physically. How did David staybrave when facing Goliath? Because hefeared and loved God more than hefeared anything else. Trusting God meanslooking beyond what we can see to whatGod sees—that’s the key to success.

dd 11 SSaammuueell 1177::4455 —— ““II ccoommee ttoo yyoouu iinntthhee nnaammee ooff tthhee LLOORRDD ooff hhoossttss,, tthhee GGooddooff tthhee aarrmmiieess ooff IIssrraaeell..””

Faith is the Holy Spirit’s signal to gointo action. David activated his faith

before he activated his will. Before hebegan his walk into the valley, he exer-cised his faith in the Lord. A sword, aspear, and a javelin are no match for theLord of hosts. David knew God was withhim, and already he had seen what Hispresence could accomplish.

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ L I F E L E S S O N S ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴

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the gates of Ekron. And the wounded ofthe Philistines fell along the road toShaaraim, even as far as Gath andEkron. 53Then the children of Israelreturned from chasing the Philistines,and they plundered their tents. 54AndDavid took the head of the Philistine andbrought it to Jerusalem, but he put hisarmor in his tent.

55When Saul saw David going outagainst the Philistine, he said to Abner,the commander of the army, “Abner,whose son is this youth?”

And Abner said, “As your soul lives, Oking, I do not know.”

56So the king said, “Inquire whose sonthis young man is.”

57Then, as David returned from theslaughter of the Philistine, Abner tookhim and brought him before Saul withthe head of the Philistine in his hand.58And Saul said to him, “Whose son areyou, young man?”

So David answered, “I am the son ofyour servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

4 My soul is among lions;I lie among the sons of menWho are set on fire,Whose teeth are spears and arrows,And their tongue a sharp sword.

5 Be exalted, O God, above theheavens;

LetYour glory be above all the earth.

6 They have prepared a net for mysteps;

My soul is bowed down;They have dug a pit before me;Into the midst of it they themselves

have fallen. Selah

7 My heart is steadfast, O God, myheart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise.8 Awake, my glory!

Awake, lute and harp!I will awaken the dawn.

9 I will praise You, O Lord, among thepeoples;

I will sing to You among the nations.

10 For Your mercy reaches unto theheavens,

And Your truth unto the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above theheavens;

LetYour glory be above all the earth.

26 The thoughts of the wicked are anabomination to the LORD,

But the words of the pure arepleasant.

26Now as they led Him away, they laidhold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian,who was coming from the country, andon him they laid the cross that he mightbear it after Jesus.

27And a great multitude of the peoplefollowed Him, and women who alsomourned and lamented Him. 28But Jesus,turning to them, said, “Daughters ofJerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weepfor yourselves and for your children.29For indeed the days are coming inwhich they will say, ‘Blessed are the bar-ren, wombs that never bore, and breastswhich never nursed!’ 30Then they willbegin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall onus!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ 31For ifthey do these things in the green wood,what will be done in the dry?”

32There were also two others, crimi-nals, led with Him to be put to death.33And when they had come to the placecalled Calvary, there they crucified Him,and the criminals, one on the right handand the other on the left. 34Then Jesussaid, “Father, forgive them, for they donot know what they do.”

And they divided His garments andcast lots. 35And the people stood lookingon. But even the rulers with themsneered, saying, “He saved others; letHim save Himself if He is the Christ, thechosen of God.”

36The soldiers also mocked Him, com-ing and offering Him sour wine, 37and

Luke 23:26–56

Proverbs 15:26

Psalm 57:4–11

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