Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 25:30-31

“And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Abigail was scrambling. She knew that if she didn’t come up with something really good and right on the spot her husband, possibly her older children, and most of the servants under her care were toast. When she heard word that David was coming for war, she put together a generous gift, road out to meet him well before he arrived, and made her pitch. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 25:13

“And David said to his men, ‘Every man strap on his sword!’ And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

There are a lot of different kinds of mad. Very rarely is someone ever just regular old garden-variety angry. If you’re mad about something, it’s helpful to know what kind of mad you are. There is selfish-mad and disappointed-mad and jealous-mad. Parents may know well the feeling of being disobeyed-mad or disrespected-mad. Most of us have at one time or another been bad attitude-mad. Employees probably know overworked-mad. What student doesn’t know what it feels like to be stressed out-mad? But have you ever been hurt-mad? How about offended-mad? Those cousins are two of the most dangerous kinds of mad there are. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Samuel 16:6-7

“When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord ‘s anointed is before him.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)‬‬

When God had Samuel anoint Saul as king of Israel, He gave them someone who absolutely looked the part of king. He was handsome and tall—a full head taller than anyone else around him. Now that Samuel had been sent to anoint another young man to be Israel’s king, the first potential candidate Samuel sees looks the part as well. But, far from having learned his lesson the first time, Samuel is ready to anoint Eliab on the spot. Just before he does, though, God whispers in his ear that this is not the guy. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 25:10-11

“And Nabal answered David’s servants, ‘Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

We live in a day of declining manners. The state of public dialogue is growing coarser and coarser. This is a truly lamentable fact. Unfortunately, this doesn’t represent some kind of advance, but a great step backward with folks like Nabal as our guide. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Samuel 15:35

“And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you ever regretted anything? Of course you have. You may even have a lengthy list of things you’ve said or done which afterwards you wished you had not. That’s part of sin being loose in the world. If you had known you were going to regret them, you might not have said or done them (okay, you probably still would have done some of them anyway because, sin, but many of them you would have avoided). But, you don’t know everything. God does, though, so what are we supposed to do with Him expressing regret? Read the rest…