102 - Save me from all those who pursue and persecute me

David and Jonathan
Rembrandt 1642

Chareens Thoughts

• King Saul ordered everyone to kill David but Jonathan loved David and warned him.
• David has full confidence in the Lord and reassures Jonathan. Psalm 11 IN THE Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]; how can you say to me, Flee like a bird to your mountain? ...
• Jonathan spoke to his father and Saul took an oath not to have David killed and David returned to work for Saul.  
• Once again there is a war with the Philistines and after the war King Saul tries to kill David.  He escapes home and his wife warns him that the kings attendents lie in wait to kill him.
• Michal helps David and David prays again for safety Psalms 59
• So David fled to Samuel in Ramah. Saul sent three sets of agents to fetch David and they failed so he himself went.
• David prayed for justice. Psalms 7 O LORD my God, in You I take refuge and put my trust; save me from all those who pursue and persecute me, and deliver me, ...
• David then prays for guidance and protection Psalm 25 Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long. ...
• David flees from there and meets up with Jonathan who reassures him. Jonathan is sure that his father is not wanting to kill David but David is not sure so the two of them come to an agreement to find out King Sauls intentions.

When you read these beautiful Psalms in the context of what was happening in Davids life they take on a deeper meaning.  You start to see what the Lord saw in Davids heart.

Blessings
Chareen

101 - Envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness

David offering the Head of Goliath to King Saul
Rembrandt 1627

Chareens Thoughts

• David is brought before King Saul and says he will face Goliath.
• The Lord hands Goliath over to David and the Israelites pursue the Philistines.  David is brought before Saul.
• Jonathan committed himself to David and they became friends.
• After David slew Goliath he wrote Psalm 23.
• 1 Samuel 18:5  And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he prospered and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was satisfactory both to the people and to Saul's servants.
• It is at this point that Saul tries to kill David twice. David prays for protection: Psalm 5:1-5 
• King Saul offers his daughter Merab to David and David says no.  King Saul hears that his daughter Michal loved David and so he offers her to David.  He asks for one hundred foreskins as payment. God is with David and blesses him so he pays King Saul in full.  As a result of this David became Sauls enemy and did not appear before Saul again.
• Saul realises that the Lord is with David and becomes afraid of him.  David prays for help. Psalm 12

A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30

Saul envied Davids popularity and the result of this is his scheming to kill David.  It drove a wedge between them to the point that David became Saul's enemy.

Envy is a dangerous emotion and destroys you and those around you

Blessings
Chareen

100 - The Lord looks on the heart

Saul and David

Chareen's Thoughts
1 Samuel 16 - 17

•  I enjoyed this conversation between the LORD and Samuel. It shows the depth of God's love and His desire for our fellowship!
  THE LORD said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided for Myself a king among his sons. Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you. 1 Samuel 16:1-3
• But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
•  Samuel anointed David to be the next king of Israel. 1 Samuel 16:12-13 Jesse sent and brought him. David had a healthy reddish complexion and beautiful eyes, and was fine-looking. The Lord said [to Samuel], Arise, anoint him; this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. ...
• I must confess the following verse has bothered me since the first time I read it: But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and troubled him. 1 Samuel 16:14 The part that bothers me is: an evil spirit from the Lord
• One of the young men said, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who plays skillfully, a valiant man, a man of war, prudent in speech and eloquent, an attractive person; and the Lord is with him. 1 Samuel 16:18  I pray our sons would be known this way.
• David is now in the service of Saul and Saul admired and trusted him so much he has made David his armour bearer.
• It is at this point that Goliath challenges the Israelites. For forty days Goliath challenged Israel and then David arrived in camp with food and supplies for his brothers from his father. He asks:  And David said to the men standing by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

It's amazing to read about the heart of David and his attitude. Look at the Psalms he wrote about the Lord our God.

 Psalm 19

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 ¹THE HEAVENS declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork.^{(A)    2}Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge.

    ³There is no speech nor spoken word [from the stars]; their voice is not heard.

    ⁴Yet their voice [in evidence] goes out through all the earth, their sayings to the end of the world. Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun,^(B)

    ⁵Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; and it rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

    ⁶Its going forth is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the ends of it; and nothing [yes, no one] is hidden from the heat of it.

    ⁷The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

    ⁸The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure and bright, enlightening the eyes.

    ⁹The [reverent] fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

    ¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, even than much fine gold; they are sweeter also than honey and drippings from the honeycomb.

    ¹¹Moreover, by them is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.

    ¹²Who can discern his lapses and errors? Clear me from hidden [and unconscious] faults.

    ¹³Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression.

    ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 8

To the Chief Musician; set to a Philistine lute, or [possibly] to a particular Hittite tune. A Psalm of David.

 ¹O LORD, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on [or above] the heavens.    ²Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have established strength because of Your foes, that You might silence the enemy and the avenger.^(A)

    ³When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established,

    ⁴What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?

    ⁵Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

    ⁶You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet:^(B)

    ⁷All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field,

    ⁸The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

    ⁹O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth!

Blessings
Chareen

99 - The fear of man brings a snare

Saul Reproved by Samuel
for Not Obeying the Commandments of the Lord
John Singleton Copley

Chareen's Thoughts

1 Samuel 13-16

• Today we continue reading about Jonathan and King Saul.
• Jonathan is a man of courage and is with his father King Saul leading the army. We read how he goes forward and slays 20 men on his own.
• Unknown to him his father takes an oath and forbids everyone from eating till they have conquered. Jonathan eats some honey and is condemned to death but the people save him from Saul.
• The Lord instructs Saul to destroy Amalek, all it's people, animals and city.  The people destroy the city and all people accept it's king and they keep some of the animals.
• When Samuel challenges Saul about this disobedience he passes the blame to the people and justifies his actions ....
• Samuel replies: Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images). Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.
• Saul then tries to repent.  Samuel kills the king from Amalek and they part ways.
• Samuel mourned Saul and the LORD regretted He had made Saul king over Israel.

Such a small thing yet it destroyed one man and averted what could have been.

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high. Proverbs 29:25  

You can see the evidence of this in the life of Saul.

At his own coronation as king: Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, if the man would yet come back. And the Lord answered, Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage 1 Samuel 10:22
When he is declared king the word says:  But some worthless fellows said, How can this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no gift. But he held his peace and was as if deaf. 1 Samuel 10:27.
In Samuel 13 the people are fearful and he waits for Samuel to come and sacrifice but after 7 days he does not see Samuel and the people start to leave in fear he makes a sacrifice himself to encourage the people.
In Samuel 14 He forbids the people to eat and takes an oath, then before the people declares: For as the Lord lives, Who delivers Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But not a man among all the people answered him.
When he finds out it is his son and prepares to kill him But the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan, who has wrought this great deliverance to Israel, die? God forbid! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head perish, for he has wrought this great deliverance with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die. 1 Samuel 14:45.
Then when he is sent to destroy Amalek and is challenged we read: 1 Samuel 15:9 Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but all that was undesirable or worthless they destroyed utterly. and this excuse 1 Samuel 15:15 Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have utterly destroyed. Lesson learned you can not lead well and will sin if you fear the people.

• Whoever despises the word and counsel [of God] brings destruction upon himself, but he who [reverently] fears and respects the commandment [of God] is rewarded Proverbs 13:13

Be blessed today as you walk humbly before your God
Chareen