Welcome back everyone. We are cruising right along on this reading challenge. I hope this reading time has brought forth new insights and challenges to you. Today we are on 1 Samuel 21-22.
Chapter 21:
For me, this is the beginning signs that David was susceptible to choosing his own ways over God's ways. He lies to Ahimelech the priest and says he's on a mission for Saul, instead of truthfully telling him that he was running from Saul. He then eats the Holy Bread used for ceremonies and takes the sword of Goliath that he had slayed years prior. He then goes to enemy territory looking for refuge and pretends to be a madman in the presence of the king so that he doesn't get killed. I just find it odd that a man as trusting in the LORD as David has been up unto this point, begins to take matters into his own hands. This characteristic will hurt him later.
Chapter 22:
David is taking refuge for him and his family in Moab. Was God angry at this or was it necessary because of Saul's disobedience? It doesn't seem quite right to me. Another interesting fact is that David has about 400 men in his ranks that have joined him, even though he is wanted by the king. David had an incredible following! I can't believe Saul is ready to kill the priests! His own military refused the command. This demonstrates how power-crazy Saul had become. He truly felt he was above everything. Only Doeg was willing to kill the priests, and he did, 85 in total.
The take-away for me in these passages: how much of these things are what God wanted for David and how much of it was David winging it? These passages fail to tell us if the LORD is please or even instructing the steps of David at this point. How often do I make moves that are not directed by God in order to protect my own hide? That is my question to take-away. What about you?
Some strong decision on David's part to make provisions for his safety and those with him. On one hand he seemed to have wisdom, but then the deception comes to light
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of what I called "Wilderness Attitude".. David seem to have forgotten how God had provided for him and now moves into the realm of self-directed.
Yet God had mercy, because the prophet Gad still spoke to him and even King Moab sheltered his parents.
What stood out to me more than anything was the passage: "And everyone who was in distress...gathered to him." Wow, even on the run people looked to him for leadership. They found kinship in his distress, yet saw hope in him. There was something about him, even in the midst of problems to incline people to trust him.
The distressed of this world are looking for someone to lead them out of their misery. Could we say that in the midst of distress people still see the presence of God in our lives enough, that they would come to us for help?
James,
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts...I love how you draw out the idea that people who were distressed were looking to him for leadership. Your question about whether people are seeking us out in their distress or seeing us as people worth running to is great question to reflect on.
wow, so much here.Just because you have great faith doesn't mean life is a bed of roses.Seriously, what does that mean, roses have thorns! Anyhow,Look at Hebrews 11.In the Hall of Faith from Abel,Noah,Abraham,Sara,Moses,SamsonDavid,Samuel...They all had great faith, their faith was tested,they did great things-some were tortured,even killed for their faith and yet they stood fast even though they never received the promise.
ReplyDeleteSo in Ch.21 it is disheartening to see our hero David tell three lies to a priest without blinking an eye.When you see everything 20/20 it's easy to criticize.Put yourself in David's shoes.He is on the run in fear for his life.
Ahimelech knows something is fishy since David is without court escort,no message and no mission.
David was correct to ask for the shewbread. The priests were responsible to have fresh bread baked(in the oven)for the Lord and thus the shew should become common.
That sword David asked for really belonged to him. He had put it in his tent along w/Goliath's armour after Goliath's beheading back in Ch.17. Apparently he had entrusted it to the priests after all the praise and attention he received following the battle.This showed me that David was considerate of Saul's feelings by not wearing the sword and provoking Saul's jealousy.
No matter what David did, he could not make Saul love him. Saul was a man devoid of character. He was evil and prideful. He became consumed by his jealousy and all he could think of was to try to destroy anyone who was godly.
I missed yesterday, but what struck me as significant was the lack of communication.Everyone is feeling out situations by having conversations fed by people seeking information.AKA gossip??
Could any of this been avoided by direct communication betwween Saul and David?hmmm
Too bad David didn't take care of Doeg before he left.So much pain and misery would have been avoided if he had faced this little giant.
David is on the run after being spotted by one man and ironically runs straight into enemy country where thousands would be glad to finish him off for Saul. But,you know the saying;"the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?
How many times have godly people had to flee?? Abraham,Jacob,Moses,even Joseph and Mary.The one upside in this is God uses these times to further His message.(Kinda like reaching the outsider sermon).
I found it interesting he put his family into hiding and yet not his wife?
Ch.22 Shows Sauls true colors. There is a total separation of church and state yet he crosses the line yet again.The burnt sacrifice in ch.13 was a real heads up!When he orders his people to kill the priests for helping David they rightly refused.How much did Saul hate God?The priest communicates for man that man needs God.
I wondered why God didn't intervene on behalf of these priests? Doeg is a decendent of Esau and to me a picture of the anti-christ.Saul gives the order for the priests to be killed,yet Doeg took it to a whole different level He destroyed a whole family,women,children,except one and their livestock.What a bloody mess! I can't imagine what was going on in the minds of Saul's servants after witnessing this horrific massacre.They had heard Saul give the order for the priests to be killed,yet Saul doesn't reprimand Doeg when he took it to this extreme!.
Because of this and other life experiences, David wrote so many beautiful psalms.
David was human and he messed up, but he had character! He saw his sin as God saw it and that broke his heart and caused him to repent and seek favor with God.
My take away is when I stumble and fall,to get back up as quick as I can. Be humble and trust God. He defeated the big "giant" in my life so why not trust him to take care of all the other little giants I face every day?
Ok. I have typed out my response twice now and somehow deleted them both times. I am beginning to wonder if I am meant to post anything today or not. I have finally locked myself in a quiet room away from everything so hopefully I will get it right this time.
ReplyDeleteIn these chapters David became afraid for his life. Instead of trusting God for guidance and protection like he did when he defeated Golioth, he took matters into his own hands. He started acting like he was insane and made himself look ridiculous in the process. David was a respected man of God and he belittled himself and ruined his image with these people over his inability to trust God with his life.
David realized he had messed up and God forgave him, but he still had to live with the consequences of his actions. hopefully he will keep his eyes on God and get through them.
I had never really thought about that before, but even though I ask for God's forgiveness for my sins, I may still have to face the consequences of my actions no matter how bad they may be. Just because I have asked for forgiveness doesn't mean that everything else will just go away. An example I thought of was that God may forgive me for spending money on unnecessary things, but I will have to live with the consequences of wasting the money. He won't put the money back in my account just because he forgives me. I have to learn from the mistake. It hurts God to see us suffer the consequences just like it hurts me to see my son face consequences for his actions.
Great thoughts Laurie and Lisa.
ReplyDeleteLaurie,
i love your take-away. I think we do this too often in our faith. We trust God with major things like, huh, let's say, OUR SALVATION, but for some reason we have trouble trusting Him with our money, or our children, or our relationships, or our future, or our ____________. I think learning to realize that we can trust God at all times, in all things is a big step in our faith.
Lisa,
you are spot on with your thoughts...just because we have asked for forgiveness and just because God has forgiven us doesn't mean that we don't live with the consequences of our actions.
My Take Away Came from ch. 22, Saul was always blaming others...asking questions like why where the priest and David conspiring against him..Saul never seemed to get the one question right that he needed to ask .."What have I done wrong in the site of the Lord?" I think Saul's attitude is that of many of us today...we always seek to blame some one else, the world around us or even Satan...I think we are scared by asking the question of God if there is something we have done wrong...and the reason why? B/c we know what the answer will be and we are not ready to deal with it.
ReplyDelete