BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 28

“…when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. The Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”” (1 Samuel 28.6-7a)

Saul’s life was in a tailspin, and he wanted it to stop. But God had rejected him, both personally and by proxy (1 Samuel 28.6, 16). In his desperation, Saul violated not only his own command (28.3, 9), but another of God’s commands (Leviticus 19.31). Saul’s life could be summed up with the mantra, “It is better to ask forgiveness than permission” and the results were devastating. His circumstantial morality consistently positioned him to make inconsistent and impulsive decisions. Saul knew the right thing to do, and he simply did not do it. 

The scriptures make clear that no amount of confession or repentance would change his outcome. Even though he was wanting to listen now (1 Samuel 28.15), Samuel explains that he should have listened the first time (28.17-18, cf. 1 Samuel 15.1-3). Each time Saul willfully disobeyed there were consequences of increasing severity (presumably to turn him back to right, but with little effect), culminating in his death in battle (28.19; 31.4).

“..if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10.26-27)

Saul’s story is an object lesson for this principle and a powerful witness to the effects of willful disobedience. His rejection of God and his law brought about definite consequences that could not be undone. 

There are times we act out of ignorance, but many times sin occurs in a context where we know better. While grace is immense through Christ, it is limited by our choices in these moments of awareness. The writer of Hebrews continues:

“Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10.28-29)

We must not allow grace to salve our conscience. We know how God expects us to behave, and the moments we tend to struggle. Usually it’s when we’re frustrated, upset or emotional. We revert to selfish, defensive behavior. Too often we decide these are the moments to excuse our behavior. God is not only displeased by this choice but is outraged when we decide we’ll just ask for forgiveness later. This choice is contrary to God’s nature and negligent of what he has revealed to us. For this reason, our moral choices must be rooted in his character and not simply in our circumstances. 

When we know what is right, we must do it (James 4.17). God will not tell us twice without discipline or consequence (Hebrews 12.5-11). 

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 23

“Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”” (1 Samuel 23.4)

It was David’s habit to inquire of the LORD. Nine times throughout 1 & 2 Samuel, the scriptures depict David stopping to ask God what to do rather than just forging ahead with his own plans. We know David was a man of prayer and meditation, but more importantly he was interested in knowing God’s will. In the same way, the real purpose of our prayers is to make our desires align with God’s will.

But notice David’s persistence towards this in the present context, When the Philistines regrouped and gathered a second time in the valley of Rephaim, David could have easily assumed that he should attack again. But he took nothing for granted and inquired of the Lord again (1 Samuel 23.10-13).  The result was God gave him new instructions. He was to attack from a different direction, and God would work with him in new ways.

Consider the contrast of Saul’s behavior. He ran full speed ahead in his pursuit of innocent David. He was so blinded by hatred he didn’t appreciate David was doing the job entrusted to him. Saul did not thank God for using David to defend one of his cities from the enemy. Instead, Saul thought God was handing David over to him! (1 Samuel 23.7). Saul was pursuing his own selfish and evil desires and presumed God was helping him. At no point did Saul stop to ask direction from the LORD. Sadly, some people make the same mistake. They have something they really want to do out of their selfish motive. They would say, “It seems God’s will for me to do this.” They are so obsessed to do what they want they fall into an illusion that God is backing them up.

David reminds us we should not presume we know what God wants. David went to inquire of the Lord to be sure he was aligned with God’s will... and then he followed God’s direction. David did this in times of distress and peace. He did not calculate this and that, based on his own logic or people’s opinions. Nor did he depend on people. He depended on God; and how did God help David? “Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands” (1 Samuel 23.14).

May the Lord give us grace to emulate David’s example and to cultivate the habit of always inquiring of the Lord and waiting for His answer. The more we seek direction from God in prayer and the more we desire to know His will, the more He is honored and the more we are blessed.

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3.6)

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 16

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”” (1 Samuel 16.7)

David was an afterthought in his family, relegated to the job nobody wanted: keeping sheep. It was an important yet very humble position. Shepherding did not draw attention to someone, but positioned someone to lead, provide and serve as a normative expectation. David kept sheep and he took this job seriously when nobody was looking. Day after day he was with the sheep, doing what was necessary for their good, and he was responsible (1 Samuel 17.20). He didn’t complain about his role or try to pawn it off on another brother. He was responsible with what he had been given, taking necessary measures to protect what had been entrusted to him (17.37).

David was on nobody’s radar to be a person of import, and yet God chose him to be the next king. He appears in the story as an intentional contrast to Saul, who looked and played the part of king everyone expected. But God saw more to David than anyone else could see, and it was his intangible qualities that made him a man after God’s own heart.

Some thoughts for us to consider:

• Be careful how you judge others. It is not those who look the part that will always work in your best interest. “Judge with righteous judgment” (John 7.24), Jesus would say. In other words learn to see others as God sees them and not simply by what seems best to us. On the other side of that coin, don’t write someone off because they aren’t what you expect. Consider Luke 7.44-47. God cares about the heart, and it takes time for you to see that in a person.
• Consider what God sees in you. He is not concerned with your social status. He doesn’t care what others say about you, or how well you play the part. Before him, we are “naked, exposed” (Hebrews 4.13). God is concerned with your heart and what you are becoming. David was not a proven warrior, but God had prepared him for the moment (1 Samuel 17.34-37). In the same way, we will face no situation we can’t manage and overcome by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 10.13; 2 Corinthians 1.9; 12.9-10).

At first glance Saul should have been the success story; but it is David’s intangible qualities that put him in the spotlight and propelled him to success. Although imperfect throughout his life, David’s heart was aligned with the LORD (1 Samuel 13.14). No one could see that except God; but God would elevate David and his kingdom eternally because of these things.

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 4-6

‘“The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”’ (1 Samuel 4.2-3)

Israel’s battle with the Philistines did not go well. “Oh, we forgot to bring God along,” they thought. So, they brought along the ark expecting it to bring victory against these enemies of God’s people. But the plan backfired. Not only did they lose again, but the ark was captured and put in the temple of the Philistine god Dagon (1 Samuel 4.10-11, 5.2).

The Philistines were proud of themselves, thinking they had not only defeated Israel but their God as well. Pretty quickly they discovered they were dead wrong about YHWH. The next morning, they found their god face down in front of the ark. The day after they found Dagon lying on the floor cut into pieces (1 Samuel 5.3-4). Soon after, YHWH ‘terrified and afflicted them with tumors’ (5.6). They sent the ark to different towns which were all met with the same outcome. They finally had enough and sent the ark back (1 Samuel 6.2-ff). They were no match for this God.

This episode was a lesson for God’s people as well as his enemies. YHWH wasn’t constrained to the whims of his people nor was he subject to fight the enemies on their terms. He needs no person to prop him up or fight his battles. He is YHWH and he has no rival. Through these events he definitively proved his inherent worthiness and sovereignty in the world. And the same is true today. YHWH is subject to no power – in heaven or on earth—nor is he limited by the plans or abilities of his people.

From time to time, we need to be reminded that God is not subject to our directives. In fact, he will not join in our efforts if they bring him no honor. He is not a power to be accessed only when it is convenient. He is not a trophy to parade in front of our pursuits. We are not the leader in this kingdom but are his subjects who serve his purposes.  And when it comes down to it, God does not need us at all to accomplish his purposes. Make no mistake, he wants and expects us to be involved—we are his workmanship created for good works! (Ephesians 2.10)—but we should never allow ourselves to think we are indispensable or even necessary. God’s people are the vessels for his glory, and even when we’re broken—especially when we’re broken! —his glory is manifest in our weakness (2 Corinthians 4.7-16; 12.7-10).

Stories like this are a reset. God deserves our respect as the Supreme leader in our lives, families and church. By his grace we have been called to be a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2.9). We need to ensure we give him the honor he deserves by seeking his glory and not the glory of our pursuits, power or prerogative.

BIBLE READING: Ruth 1-4

Ruth is a compelling story of a faithful woman, who ends up among the people of God almost by chance and would go on to become a lasting figure in the genealogy of King David and Jesus Christ (Ruth 4.18-22; Matthew 1.5). Her story is one of hope; but her entrance into the biblical narrative is a provocative plot twist as our attention shifts from the power struggles and pride of the Israelite nation to the story of a widower and her daughter-in-law’s fight for survival.

Culturally the story has shock value, as Ruth was a Moabite (Ruth 1.22; 2.2, 21; 4.5, 10; [1.4; 2.6]). These people were a perineal enemy of Israel following the Exodus. Moab belligerently refused help to Israel in their time of need, even warring against them on their way to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 2.1-ff). So, Moses would curse them saying, “no Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD… you shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever” (Deuteronomy 23.3-6). These people were under judgment by God; and yet this Moabite woman suddenly becomes a temporary focal point in the narrative.

Ruth is a sharp contrast to the characters in the Judges. She is both loyal and honorable. In many ways, her actions are a reversal of what the Moabites did to Israel. She was faithful to Naomi, even refusing to leave her when asked (Ruth 2.2). Naomi was destitute and Ruth sought to provide for her by her own means. This quality in Ruth not only overrode the curse, but also demonstrated that far from being a liability, her Moabite component in the royal Davidic lineage was a significant bonus. Ruth was not born into privilege; she chose to commit to these people. Indeed, the deeper the enmity between Moab and Israel, the more profound was Ruth’s switch of allegiance, and the more amazing her present action and the more noble her character. The fact that Ruth is both accepted and exalted from her cursed position is a powerful foreshadowing of the gospel. God is making a point that even those cut off from God and under judgment can find hope among the people of God through covenant faithfulness.

There is nothing miraculous in the story of Ruth. But God is clearly at work to ensure Ruth and Naomi are provided for, and the lineage of Judah is secured and established as promised (Genesis 49.10). We need the reminder that we don’t have to see everything God is doing to appreciate his work. Furthermore, this Old Testament story continues the thought that God’s promises continue through unexpected people and circumstances. He opened the Red Sea. He rained manna from heaven. He knocked down impenetrable walls. He raised leaders who were self-deprecating and unsure of themselves to defeat armies thousands. This is God’s MO [mode of operation]. Don’t think you’ve got him figured out… he won’t work like you think he does. And sometimes his help comes when you least expect it