Month: May 2017

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1 SAMUEL 15:1-16:23 | JOHN 8:1-20 | PSALM 110:1-7 | PROVERBS 15:8-10

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There is a pattern that we can observe concerning Saul.  A pattern of disobedience, or of doing things his own way.  The very first time we see this quality in him is when he is instructed by Samuel to go down to Gilgal after he is anointed king.  Samuel tells Saul to wait for him for seven days in order that Samuel himself might come and attend to the sacrificial burnt offerings and such that were to be made.

But Saul does not wait out the seven days.  On the seventh day, he believes that it is best that he take care of business himself since Samuel doesn’t seem to be coming.  He is wrong.  Samuel does come, and is disappointed in Saul’s lack of obedience. 

Well, that was then, and this is now.  Several decades later, Saul is yet again instructed to go and do battle with a certain people, the Amalekites, and to “wipe them out.”  Saul does just that, except he willfully forgets that last part, and decides to wipe out only some, not all of the spoils of war.  This is yet again another example of Saul’s disobedience.  And God is not pleased. 

Apparently, forty years have passed since Saul was first anointed king, but even after all this time, Saul has not understood the significance of following orders, especially when they come from the Lord, and in this case, via Samuel, the leader/judge/priest of Israel.  And so, there are consequences.  The consequences of disobedience, if you will.

The Lord has spoken to Samuel, and Samuel in turn comes to see Saul about it.  Samuel has this to say:  “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

Saul attempts to make amends, but things never do get back on track for Saul.  This is Samuel’s last meeting with Saul.  The writing is on the wall:  Saul’s days are numbered.  What is fascinating in this passage is the human quality of regret that we see ascribed to the Almighty.  Verse 34 says this:  And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Soon, we see that Samuel is sent on a new mission:  a mission to seek and anoint a new king of Israel.  Samuel goes down to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse and looks upon Jesse’s oldest son, a tall young man and thinks that this might be the chosen one, but God says to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 

With Saul, it had seemed as if the appearance was a defining factor in selecting him as the anointed one.  Remember, Saul had stood out a head taller than everyone in the tribe of Benjamin.  But look what became of that selection!  Well, from the way the text reads, it appears that even God is now wary of using the criteria of appearance, and if anything, rejects it as a factor completely!

And so Samuel is now at the house of Jesse.  All of Jesse’s seven sons have been introduced to Samuel, but none of them is the chosen one.  Finally, Samuel pointedly asks Jesse if he might have any other sons, to which Samuel replies ‘yes, there is one, but he is only a youngster, and besides he is away tending to the sheep.’ 

You know what is coming, don’t you?  Yes, it is this ordinary, youngest son of Jesse who is chosen as the next king of Israel.  A young boy, most likely only a young teen, tending to his father’s flocks—it is this young boy who is summoned by his father, and Samuel anoints this young boy called David the next king of Israel.

If you are now wondering about the mysterious ways of the Almighty, you are correct in that they are indeed mysterious.  David, Jesse’s son, the young shepherd boy is anointed king, but this is not a publicized fact.  Saul, after all, is still king of Israel.  But the spirit of the Lord has departed from him, and we see an image of a restless king pacing the floors. 

And as God would have it, it is the most unlikely of things that often precipitate the most important and significant of things.  In Saul’s great distress, it is suggested to him that a young shepherd boy called David who is known to play the lyre be summoned to the king because perhaps such sweet music might soothe the king’s soul. 

Yes, says, Saul, bring this boy to me!  Which is how David finds his way into the palace of the king and ministers to him by playing his lyre.

Incidentally, on a completely different note, it is this very story of Saul and the young David that is the inspiration to the famous Leonard Cohen song, Hallelujah.

Turning now to our reading in the gospel according to John, we come upon the well-known story of Jesus confronting the woman caught in the act of adultery.  Jesus looks to the crowd who has brought the woman to him so as have him possibly condemn her to a proper stoning by death as per Moses’ law.  Jesus was after all some kind of prophet, was he not?  Of course, he would tell them what they wanted to hear! 

But Jesus simply says this:  “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

Got that?  Yes, go ahead, pick up your stones, and begin to hurl them, won’t you?  But let’s get the stoning order right, if you don’t mind.  Let him who is without sin cast that first stone, if that’s alright with you. 

What?  Why aren’t you getting started?  Go for it!  What’s that you say?  None of you is without sin?  Are you sure?  Well, then, I suppose that settles that now, doesn’t it? 

Here’s how John describes the scene: ⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus continues with his preaching, and today, we learn that he calls himself the light of the world.  He has already upset the teachers of the law and the elders in the Temple by telling one and all that he is the “bread of life” and that he has the “rivers of living water” within him, and now he is saying that he is the “light of the world”. 

These words were nothing short of blasphemy in Jesus’ day, and the reaction Jesus receives corresponds to that sentiment.  It will be sometime before the people come to realize that all this crazy-talk wasn’t so crazy after all.

Turning now to our psalm of the day, we find that Psalm 110 although short in length, is actually quite long on meaning.  It is a messianic psalm, the meaning and interpretations to which are many, but the short version is that David is writing of his Lord and successor, the Messiah himself who will eventually come—not once, but twice.  Part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled in the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah, and we are to now await the second part of it. 

In reading some of the commentaries on this psalm, I was struck by one passage in which the writer says this: The reason for the delay in Messiah’s return is not apathy or disinterest, but mercy. God is giving men time to repent and turn in faith to Messiah as their Savior, rather than to face Him as soldier-king who must destroy the enemies of God (cf. 2 Pet. 3:3-12). The complete link to this commentary may be found here:  http://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-110-david%E2%80%99s-lord

Finally, from the book of Proverbs, we find two verses that are worthy of our attention:

⁸ The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

⁹ The LORD detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.

Click Here For Today’s Reading

1 SAMUEL 14:1-52 | JOHN 7:31-53 | PSALM 109:1-31 | PROVERBS 15:5-7

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We see a glimpse of the reign of the very first king of Israel, Saul.  Saul’s reign is marked by much tumult due to frequent battles with the neighboring natives.  The Philistines, in particular, seem to give Saul and his armies a lot of action. 

There is a curious story of Jonathon, Saul’s son, who unknowingly gives himself a death sentence by virtue of not adhering to an oath of fasting for the day imposed by his father.  Saul intends to be true to his word to put anyone to death including his own son Jonathan, but his men intervene to stop him from doing so.

We also learn a little about Saul’s family.  Jonathan was evidently one of five children.  There’s mention of a wife, an uncle, and a cousin who is chief of his armies.  But Saul’s long tenure is a bloody one and the text tells us this:  52 All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

Turning to our reading in the book of John, we continue with the account of Jesus preaching in the public places.  Yesterday, the people were confused and wondering about what Jesus’ words meant when he said that he was the bread of life, and today, Jesus says this:  “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 

But the people remain even more confused.  Could it be that this is the Messiah?

And all this talk is causing the Pharisees and the elders of the Temple to take great offense.  How could it be that this young man claims the Messiahship?  This is blasphemy, this is sacrilege!  They must take action, and they must take it immediately!  They must have him arrested! 

But even the guards that the Pharisees send for this task return without arresting Jesus, so captivated are they by the words of Jesus.  They plaintively reply, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.”

Nicodemus, however, one of the elders of the Temple asks a pertinent question:  51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

Turning now to our psalm for the day, we find that Psalm 109 is one in which David, the psalmist and king of Israel is in his darkest hour, and he certainly knows how to curse his enemies!  He spares nothing in evoking every possible curse upon those who have wronged him—for the first nineteen verses of this psalm he puts forth a long list of ways in which his enemies may be cursed, and in the 20th verse he says this:  ²⁰ May this be the LORD’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me. 

I would not wish to have ever been on David’s bad side!  But who among us has not felt this way at some time or another?  It is almost as if David is speaking the words that have originally formed in your own mouth when he says:

²¹ But you, Sovereign LORD,
help me for your name’s sake;
out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
²² For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
²³ I fade away like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴ My knees give way from fasting;
my body is thin and gaunt.
²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads.

²⁶ Help me, LORD my God;
save me according to your unfailing love.
²⁷ Let them know that it is your hand,
that you, LORD, have done it.

Finally, three verses from the book of Proverbs that are worthy of record and rumination:

⁵ A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

⁶ The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
but the income of the wicked brings ruin.

⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
   but the hearts of fools are not upright.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.