Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 14:6

“Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.””  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Jonathan was nothing if not brave. He had already led an attack on a Philistine garrison which had put his nation in the place that it was. Now he was going to attack another whole garrison with nobody but his armor bearer (which was kind of like a caddie for a golfer) and one sword between them. All of this while his father and the rest of the nation were cowering back in their camp wondering what they were going to do. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 13:4

“And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines.  And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

What we see over the course the of the next three chapters is the unraveling of Saul. It starts small, but there are cracks in his image almost immediately. Here we see one of the first. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 10:21

“He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot.  But when they sought him, he could not be found.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This was Saul’s big moment. He’d been anointed by Samuel to be the first king of Israel. He’d now been chosen by lot—the process by which the people determined the will of the Lord. And when his big moment came…he was nowhere to be seen. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 8:1-3

“When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.  The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.  Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain.  They took bribes and perverted justice.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

How ironic and tragic it is that Samuel fell into the same error as Eli! While it appears he was even more faithful to the Lord as a judge than Eli was, Samuel’s sons were given positions as judges over Israel because of who their father was and, like Eli’s sons, were unfaithful failures in the positions as well. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Matthew 10:19-20

“When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a really encouraging verse, but an often misunderstood one. Jesus is promising to have our back when we put ourselves on the line for His sake and find ourselves in the hot seat because of it. He is not telling us that we can be lazy when it comes to preparing for the possibility that we might find ourselves there. Read the rest…