Month: May 2017

Click Here For Today’s Reading

1 SAMUEL 22:1-23:29 | JOHN 10:1-21 | PSALM 115:1-18 | PROVERBS 15:18-19

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Saul has gone berserk.  Outraged as he is about his son Jonathan’s giving aid and comfort to David, he is even more outraged when he learns that Ahimelek, the priest at Nob had also received David well—and why wouldn’t he—David was after all, the king’s son-in-law!  But Saul is a man possessed and cannot see reason.  He orders the priests from Nob—there were 85 in all—to be killed on the spot.

In the meantime, David is living the life of a fugitive.  But even then, he has built up a slow following, primarily his own brothers and family, and others like the one priest Abiathar, who escapes from the slaughtering that fateful day.  With this band of men, David does battle with the Philistines to save a town called Keilah, and following that, he moves from one place to another even as he is pursued by Saul.  One can imagine that it must have been this phase in David’s life that must have been the inspiration for many a psalm in which he beseeches the Lord for help.  Hiding in caves, the hill country, and in the desert, David manages to continue to escape the hand of Saul who is still determined to kill him.

In the midst of all this, there is a sweet account of Jonathan—Saul’s son and David’s best friend—who comes out to meet him.  The text says this:  ¹⁶ And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. ¹⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” ¹⁸ The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

Turning to our reading in the book of John, we find that the Pharisees are saying this about Jesus:  “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”  And what is it that prompts them to say this?  Surely, it couldn’t be for the miracle of healing the blind man that Jesus performed the other day?  Or maybe it was that and everything else. 

Maybe it were these words of Jesus in particular that enraged them so when Jesus said:  ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Turning now to our psalm for the day, we find David reiterating the power and might of a living God.  David, the psalmist, is making a point about the difference between the worship of an idol and that of a living God.  He says of those who worship idols—their many neighbors in ancient Palestine:

⁴ But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
⁶ They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
⁷ They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

Finally, two verses from the book of Proverbs that serve as food for thought:

¹⁸ A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

¹⁹ The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
but the path of the upright is a highway.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.

Click Here For Today’s Reading

1 SAMUEL 20:1-21:15 | JOHN 9:1-41 | PSALM 113:1-114:8 | PROVERBS 15:15-17

Click on the link below to listen to an audio recording of this post:

“Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’”  These are Jonathan’s words to David as he bids him flee for his life.  Because Jonathan’s father Saul, king of Israel, is determined to kill David.  But the great love of friendship that Jonathan has for David makes him forewarn David so as to confirm Saul’s evil intentions toward David. 

And what a madman Saul has truly become!  When he learns that David was excused to take leave, Saul is outraged at Jonathan and throws his spear at him—his very own son!  This was one spear-loving king!

We now begin to learn of David’s journey of flight.  He goes first to the Temple at Nob and gets something to eat.  Being without a weapon, he accepts the sword that the priest gives to him—it is Goliath’s sword that David had used to kill the giant himself.  His next stop is Gath, where he intends to most likely petition the king for assistance, but changes his mind when he realizes that everyone recognizes him there.  It is to be seen what will come next.

Turning now to our reading in the book of John, we find Jesus engaged in his ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing.  There is the story of the blind beggar who is healed.  “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is! 

And the people know it, all of them, including the skeptical Pharisees, but they keep asking the blind man and his parents as to what exactly happened, over and again, when finally exasperated, the blind man says to them, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

There is an obvious tinge of sarcasm to these words, but they may also be taken in the most sincere way—do you want to become his disciple?  If you do, pay heed, take note, listen up!

But woe is to the Pharisees who are unable to see despite their good eyesight. And Jesus speaks to the spiritual blindness that has beset them.  He says: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Turning to our reading of the psalms, we find two today:  Psalm 113 and 114.  While the first one is an unequivocal rendering of praise, the second is a recounting of the great and marvelous history of the children of Israel.  David, the psalmist, never tires of doing these two things:  singing the praises of the Lord, and recounting the great mercies and blessings received from the hand of the Almighty through the ages.  May it be that we also might do the same!

From Psalm 113, here are some verses of praise that would behoove us to also repeat, or at the very least inspire us raise up similar songs of praise.  David says this:

² Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
³ From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
⁸ he seats them with princes,
with the princes of his people.
⁹ He settles the childless woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.

  Praise the LORD.

Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs that may serve as food for thought for the day:

¹⁵ All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶ Better a little with the fear of the LORD
than great wealth with turmoil.

¹⁷ Better a small serving of vegetables with love
   than a fattened calf with hatred.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.