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Don’t you hate it, when you’re doing all the right things, but you still find criticism or even persecution? Suffering unjustly — that was David’s burden. He had purchased his bride with double the number of foreskins of Saul’s and Israel’s enemies than required. He was succeeding heroically in battle against the Philistines. But with David’s every success Saul’s jealousy and hatred grew, until it became murderous. In our reading today David is forced to become an outlaw to avoid being unjustly killed by the king of Israel.

What David does do in the throes of such unjust suffering? He continues doing what was right. Throughout his entire ordeal as an outlaw (spanning a number of years) David never seeks revenge, never justifies doing unto Saul before Saul could do unto him, and never touched “God’s anointed”. There is significant teaching here for us all, because we all encounter situations like this — at school, at work, among friends, or even within family. The temptation is always the same: revenge, grudges, hatred, and rage. But the godly response is always the same, too: do what’s right. For further immediate study, take a look at 1 Peter.

But thank goodness for Jonathan — and for others of his “tribe” that encourage us, when we need it most. Do someone a favor and bring an encouraging word to others — you never know when your words, actions, friendship, or affirmation may be needed way more than you could imagine. If you’ve ever needed a Jonathan, realize that others may need you to be a Jonathan, too.

And, oh yeah, there’s this thing with David taking the holy bread of the Tabernacle as he makes his escape from Saul. David’s actions have often been a point of head-scatching for Bible students. But Jesus references this story in Matt. 12:3-8 as He undergirds His teaching that righteousness sometimes has a hierarchy — some things are more important than others. David’s life and his need to escape Saul’s murderous intentions superseded the rule about the bread for the priests. The life or wholeness of a man was deemed by Jesus Himself to be greater than Sabbath —“And He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’” Matthew 12:11, 12, NAS95.

Now, of course, the rub among Bible students is which commands are greater than others. This isn’t the spot for such a discussion — it could go on and on and on. But I will make note of one pretty important pronouncement by the Lord Himself:

“One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And He said to him, ‘”YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.” This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”‘” Matthew 22:35-39, NAS95.

This shouldn’t be taken as biblical permission to try to play lawyer and rationalize sin. Mature Christianity seeks first and foremost to please the Lord — not oneself, not others. In most situations, there’s no need to discern one command over another, but when the occasion does call for good judgment, we need to turn to the Scripture and the Lord’s own examples of righteousness.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Saul had proven himself unwilling to shoulder the burden of faithful leadership as he chose to walk by sight, chose popularity, and chose himself over God. And it’s a shame, too, because it seems like Jonathan his son might have been an excellent king. But now it’s time to choose a king who will be “after God’s own heart”. As it turns out, it’s not what anyone expected.

God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king. Once they got past the details of how to keep this hidden from Saul’s jealous eyes, Samuel calls Jesse’s family together to ordain Israel’s next ruler. Jesse brings in 7 of his 8 sons for Samuel’s “inspection” at a feast. Had it been Samuel’s choice, he would have stopped with Eliab — he apparently just looked like kingly material. But to even Samuel’s surprise, none of the sons brought in by Jesse are chosen by the Lord. “And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are these all the children?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’” 1 Samuel 16:11, NAS95. And surprise, surprise — it’s David that God chooses. God gives to Samuel an important principle in the midst of all this: “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at [Eliab’s] appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” 1 Samuel 16:7, NAS95.

How like Jesus is king David! Rejected by many in Israel, because they thought He was from Galilee… because He was a carpenter… because He didn’t look like a king. They wanted a king who looked like their version of the Messianic king. And doing so, many missed Jesus. But fantastic things come from what appear to be weak things.

“but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,” 1 Corinthians 1:27-30, NAS95.

“And He has said to [Paul], ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10, NAS95.

And then, interestingly enough, God positions David to be an observer in the court of king Saul — auditing the course Kingship 101, as it were — a way to have a quick start to leadership and the special world of ruling and defending a nation. Something usually only a son might get to do, but since David has been called in to be king Saul’s personal iPod (harp player), David gets to be a fly-on-the-wall to conversations, decisions, and politics of the kingdom. Never complain about the position you find yourself, it just might be the very position to learn what you need to know for the next big step.

The next chapter is the famous story of David and Goliath. This story is about far more than just the little guy taking down the big guy. It’s about faith and overcoming. David had come to the Israelite/Philistine battlefield to bring food at his father’s request. As he enters the camp Goliath steps out and does his daily trash-talk against the army of Israel. And despite the fact that Goliath is 9’6″, is well armored, and clearly has plenty of experience killing men, David is stirred to his core at Goliath’s challenge against Israel — and amazed that no one is volunteering to take him on. Seeing no volunteers — and hearing that there’s a reward — he inquires further about this among the soldiers standing around. As he does so, his older brother Eliab hears and scorns him…

“…Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” 1 Samuel 17:28, NAS95.

Why? Maybe he was embarrassed that his youngest brother had more courage than he did. Maybe he was jealous. Maybe afraid of being “shown up”. Did you get what he was saying in the quote above? “You’re irresponsible; your incompetent; you’re a nobody; and you’ve rudely disrespected the rest of us with your arrogant claims of courage. You have only wicked intentions!” Sometimes you get discouragement from the people closest to you — from the people you expected encouragement from! But we need to do what David did — keep faith; do what the Lord expect you to do! And here’s another lesson: be an encourager! Sometimes the passion of others can shame us; since we’ve failed you shouldn’t even try; why, what if you succeeded! We need to check our motives and be an encourager!

But David also overcame the pressure to rely on conventional means of solving a problem. Saul offered his armor, but it just didn’t fit David. And David had courage and faith enough to take them off and go do what needed to be done anyway! He picked up his staff, got some “ammo” in the local wadi (dry river bed), got out his sling shot, and got with it. God rarely uses convention to accomplish His great ends — Moses, Joshua, Jesus. We need to know that it’s OK to not have all the conventional “armor”, weapons, money, looks, talents, etc. When you have God on your side, you have all you need.

The last thing I wanted to point out is the ironic polarity of reactions by Saul and Jonathan. Saul hated him, because he overcame — and became more popular than the king. But Jonathan loved him (even gave him his own armor) because David overcame. Lesson? Do what’s right, and realize that you’ll have those who’ll hate you and those who’ll love you. We know that in our heads, probably, but we hardly ever learn this one in our hearts. Just be forewarned; you have to do what’s right (in love) and let the pieces fall where they may. David couldn’t escape it, Jesus couldn’t escape it; and you won’t either.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Saul looked, on the outside, like quite the leader — a head taller than most men, dutiful, self-deprecating, and anointed by God. But after anointment and the first blush of success, things began to unravel for Saul.

The Philistines were again gathering for battle against Israel, and they had a significant advantage in terms of both foot-soldiers and war-machines (chariots and cavalry). Israel (and Saul), on the other hand, had perhaps no more than 3000. Worse still, as the Philistine numbers swelled, Saul’s troops began to desert. And even worse, Samuel had told Saul to wait before attacking until he had arrived to offer sacrifice to the Lord — and he wasn’t showing up. Finally, Saul decided to take matters into his own hands and offer the sacrifice — after all, other monarchs had authority to make sacrifices; and other monarch often doubled as priests to their gods, for crying out loud! Just then — here comes Samuel. And God is not pleased at Saul’s impatience. This situation was apparently a watershed test, because God announces that He will now seek another king, one “after God’s own heart”.

What was God up to? This test was about Saul’s reliance on God and His word: Do you believe that God can rescue by few or many? Then wait. Do you really believe that it’s important to obey God, no matter how bad things look? Prove it, wait. Do you think that I’ll abandon you or rescue you? Really? Then wait. Do you believe that God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom? Show Me; wait. Saul didn’t. And he failed a crucial test.

Would you have passed? Would you wait, do you wait, when resources are dwindling? Do you believe and live that obedience to God is important regardless of how bad things may look? Do you demonstrate a faith that God will never abandon you? Does your discipleship show that you think that God’s way is superior to the world’s wisdom? Tough questions! We’re faced with questions like this daily.

And about that question, “Do you believe that God can rescue by few or many?” it’s ironic that Saul’s son, Jonathan, was a believer! And he proves it in his initial attack (chapter 14) with only 2 against 20 Philistines. Sadly, Jonathan’s initiative almost earned him a death penalty, since he was out doing something, while Saul, dithering back in the camp, reacted to the retreating Philistines, by blurting out an ill-advised command, forbidding anyone to eat before the Philistines had been completely chased back home. You have to love Jonathan — thoughout the biblical text to the day that he dies, he’s doing the right and faithful and loyal thing, no matter what.

Finally, Saul is given the job of punishing the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-14). Amalek is under the ban — putting it bluntly, everything breathing is to be killed. God, of course, would never give a command without giving the victory, and He did. But Saul didn’t hold up his end of the things; he brings back the best of the animals and Amalek’s king, Agag. Samuel meets Saul on his return from victory and calls him on it. In his rebuke of Saul he articulates a principle that remains incredibly important:

“’Has the LORD as much delight in burnt 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. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.’” 1 Samuel 15:22, 23, NAS95.

What is also interesting here is that Saul confesses to giving in to the temptation of popularity. How many, many times do we seek the love and approval of men over the love and approval of God? It has sadly become part and parcel of much of modern religion — appeal to men, do what’s popular. Isn’t it what is usually at the bottom of so much of teen misbehavior? And even adult misbehavior? Being different is hard. Going against the flow is tough. Shrugging off the looks, the insults, condescension, the scorn — it’s really difficult. But do it we must to follow Jesus.

And doesn’t the power of what others think of us, tell us about the importance of our church assemblies? Think about it.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading is another milestone for Israel, they get a king — although he may not be exactly what they were hoping for. See, already there’s a little something to chew on today — be careful what you wish for!

We left Israel defeated by the Philistines. The Philistines had beaten Israel in battle and even captured the Ark of the Covenant that was foolishly brought to the battlefield like a good luck charm or something. But when the Philistines brought it home, they discovered it came with a stiff price — first of all Dagon (the Philistine god) fell over and broke (you have to hate that for your god, don’t ya?), and some kind of plague or tumor swept through the Philistine cities hosting the Ark. Israel couldn’t defeat the Philistines, but God could — and did.

But the Philistines still ruled the nation of Israel, and Israel was starting to get the message that their defeat was due to their sin. So, the “lamented after the LORD” — a fancy way of saying that they were repenting and turning to God. This was the perfect cure repentance, putting away the foreign gods (see Samuel’s command, 1 Sam. 7:3), and worshipping God exclusively. And the next time that Israel and Philistia met on the battlefield, God fought for them — thundering from heaven loudly enough that the Philistine army fled in confusion — prompting a complete rout of the Philistines. Just so that Israel wouldn’t forget what had happened, he raised up a stone between Mizpah and Shen and called it Ebenezer, “Rock of Help”, to memorialize the victory. But it was more than a memorial to victory; it was memorial to Israel’s defeat in idolatry, to Israel’s victory in repentance, and God’s tremendous power to defeat the most powerful enemy! Couldn’t we all use a reminder like that?

In chapter 8 we see Israel asking for a king. Samuel is initially incensed at the suggestion, possibly because he saw their request as a criticism of his role as Israel’s judge. God soothes Samuel’s wounded heart, however, and points out to him that they are not rejecting Samuel, they were rejecting God as being their king.

Before we go much further, let me mention that it is not as if God had not planned to give them a king at some time in the future. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 reveals that God knew that they were going to want a king eventually, and that He was willing to let them have one as long as he was anointed by God. So, we needn’t walk away thinking that this request of Israel’s was totally “beyond the pale”. The timing might have been unfortunate, however; possibly God would have been better pleased had Israel waited another 40 years, when David was old enough to rule Israel. But I digress.

The point here I think has much more to do with (1) the ill-conceived desire to be like everyone else and (2) the rejection of God as king over them (8:7). They are things that we ourselves need to avoid, and yet are so easy to embrace. There’s such a strong desire to be like everyone else among human beings, despite all the bluster and claims about being individuals. In the Law, God set up a number of rather distinctive dress, physical marks (circumcision), grooming requirements, eating rules, and even politics (no king) — things that clearly marked them as being God’s people, Israel. Why? God may have wanted, among other things, to remind them that they are different. Things that chaffed the average Israelite.

Often times, the distinctives of God’s people still causes some to chafe. Our differences aren’t so much about dress anymore, but they do include matters of “old-fashioned” morality, a resistance to changes in doctrine/worship/church organization, etc. We must be careful not to be like everyone else in matters of doctrine; we must be careful to always let Jesus be king.

Lastly, please note how humble Saul was, at first, after being anointed king. He started well; he didn’t finish quite as well. We’ll talk more about that later.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading is one of my very favorite Old Testament book. There’s a lot of things to like about it: wonderful loyalty, God making something good out of something bad, the actions of an honorable man, the unlikely story of David’s roots, and great examples of the concept of redemption. There will obviously be much more in these 4 chapters than I’ll be able to comment on — it’s just too rich.

But I’ll start with the wonderful loyalty of Ruth. The story of Ruth is about ḥesed — family or covenant love and loyalty. In a culture in which family was everything and covenants really were the making of a family, the word ḥesed was supremely important. The word doesn’t sound pretty (you have to start from the back of your throat with this word) but its concept is beautiful, and Ruth’s story demonstrates it over and over again — and of all things, in the life of a foreigner.

It was demonstrated when all three of the men of Naomi’s family died in a foreign land, Moab, leaving three widows — two of them outsiders, foreigners, Gentiles. When Naomi decides to return home to Bethlehem (the famine is over), her daughters-in-law begin the journey with her. But Naomi and her daughters-in-law all knew the score; the likelihood is that Naomi took their accompaniment as a polite, but pointless gesture of respect toward one’s mother-in-law. There was no plausible hope that she would be able to “fix them up” with new husbands back in Bethlehem; and Naomi expresses this to them clearly in what she thought would be her farewell address to her daughters-in-law, dismissing them from any further obligation to her. And after a probably sincere expression of grief at their parting, Orpah does take her leave of Naomi to find a new husband, start a family, and go on with her life among her own people. But Ruth clung to her… and she expresses the beautiful words often repeated in wedding ceremonies to underscore the love and loyalty of the covenant just made between a new bride and groom:

“… ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.’” Ruth 1:16, 17, NAS95.

Ruth then, of course, continues the journey all the way back to Bethlehem and begins to provide as best she could for herself and her mother-in-law. By God’s providence, it was harvest season, and by law Ruth could follow the reapers and glean (gather up the fall-out, or left-overs of the harvesters) to eat. She chose by accident (providence) the field of Boaz (a close relative), who appreciated Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law and hard work in the field. He kindly (ḥesed) made sure that no one bothered her (she was a young woman, a foreigner, and thus an easy target for harassment or even improper advances), and made sure that she received plenty enough to eat and share with her mother-in-law through both the barley and the wheat harvest.

Now it was Naomi’s turn to show ḥesed. Seeing the opportunity for both Levirate law and redemption, Naomi gave Ruth instructions on what she should do to possibly secure her future. Those instructions sound a little forward to modern readers, but the Levirate law was an actual obligation of near kinsmen to keep a family name from being eliminated. Ruth’s coming to Boaz was merely an earnest request for the fulfillment of the law and family duty, ḥesed. Notice that Boaz recognizes this Ruth’s “move” not as a sexual opportunity but as a demonstration of Ruth’s loyalty to her husband and family:

“Then he said, “May you be blessed of the LORD, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness (ḥesed) to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.” Ruth 3:10, NAS95.

Boaz, in deference to the nearest kinsman, promises Ruth a definite conclusion to the matter that day. But when the nearest kinsman dishonorably refuses to redeem Naomi’s land and obtain Mahlon’s widow (Ruth), because it would “endanger his inheritance”, Boaz honorably and kindly shoulders his family responsibility and marries Ruth to carry on the family name. Happily, Ruth and Boaz did have a son that they named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David.

So, next time your marriage seems too hard, next time family seems too hard and demanding, next time it would be easier to just chuck it all (in spite of all the promises you made that were supposed to last through good times and bad), the next time you think that nothing good will come out of you “grinding it out” in a bad marriage — remember Ruth; remember ḥesed; remember David. You never know what wonderful things your loyalty and love will ultimately lead to.

There’s so much more that could be said, but for now, see you tomorrow, Lord willing.