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    April 16th Chronological Bible Readings

    1 Samuel 22:1-2; Psalm 57; Psalm 142; 1 Chronicles 12:8-18; 1 Samuel 22:3-23; Psalm 52; 1 Samuel 23:1-12
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    ~ Listen to today’s Scripture on ESV Online.org ~

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    Old Testament – Very sad readings today in First Samuel 22 as we read about the slaughter of the priests.  Sadly fitting that Doeg betrayed the priests to Saul and then Saul commanded Doeg to kill the priests, because no one else would.  This whole incident shows how far Saul has strayed away from God.  He has lost his moral compass completely. It’s interesting to recall earlier in our First Samuel readings how Saul looked like he might be a decent king initially.  But, then he was disobedient to God.  And then his sin continued and continued to where he is in today’s readings.  This should be a warning to each of us to not stray from God like this.  If we are allowing ourselves to be disobedient to God or if we are continuing in a sin, we are slaves to that sin.  And this slavery to sin can grow and grow until we lose all moral control, as Saul has.  This image below by Gerard Hoet from a 1728 Bible is courtesy of Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries:

    Saul_priests

    Psalm 57 verse 8 is amazing – “Wake up, my soul!”  What 4 great words. . . wake up my soul!  Do you ever feel like you need to say this to your soul?  I know that I have in my past.  There have been times in my life where I have felt spiritually asleep.  Just completely slumbering. . .  and I have begged my soul to wake up!  Fortunately, I finally learned that I could not wake up my soul on it’s own.  I needed the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to wake up my soul. . .  and the Spirit keeps it awake today.  If you feel that you need your soul to wake up, will you prayer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to indwell your soul and to wake it up?



    Psalm 142 is a prayer of David’s when he was fleeing Saul and was hiding in a cave.  David is praying for deliverance to God from his enemies.  I thought verse 3 was powerful – “For I am overwhelmed, and you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.”  Have you ever felt this way?  Overwhelmed?  And traps every which way you look?  And you have no idea which way to go?  At a time like this, will you cry out to God as David did in this Psalm?  Will you “pour out your complaints before him and tell him all your troubles”? (v. 2)  Do you believe that God knows which way you should turn?  Will you allow God to “”be your place of refuge”?  In times like these, will you allow God to be “all you really want in life“?  (v. 5)  Some say that David wrote Psalm 142 while in a cave in Adullam.  And apparently, some people believe that this cave in the photo below could have been the cave where David lived in Adullam and wrote Psalm 142… I don’t know how true this is, but it’s kind of fun to think about this cave maybe being the place in any case:



    Worship God: Today’s readings in 1 Samuel and the Psalms reminded me of MercyMe’s song “How Great is Your Love:”



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Giwd-i4QNk

    Do you know how great God’s love is? Click here and receive His Great Love!


    Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: “I cry to you, LORD; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.’” Psalm 142:5 (NIV)


    Prayer Point: Pray to God in thanksgiving that He is your portion in this land of the living. Pray that God will always be your refuge, now and forevermore.


    Comments from You:  What verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings?  Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!

    God bless,
    Mike

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    One response to “April 16th Chronological Bible Readings”

    1. Ramona Avatar
      Ramona

      1 Samuel 22-23
      Wow, David had to have been some leader. If I saw these guys coming toward me, I would be running for the “Border.” I know that I’m quick to check out the “character” of those hanging around me and I usually inch away from folks who are the type of people that flocked to David. Rebellious people will usually rebel against you so it would take intense mentoring to guide a group like this.
      2 And everyone in distress or in debt or discontented gathered to him, and he became a commander over them. And there were with him about 400 men.
      I find it quit interesting that David uses his father’s connection to the Moabites to protect his mother and father. David’s father, Jessie, was the grandson of Ruth (Ruth 4:17). Because David sends his parents to stay in Moab before the Saul has the priest’s killed, David undeniably had a keen understanding of the lengths Saul would go to kill him and his family.
      Saul’s promises of special privileges, implied or direct, had been used with his army as a motivational “tool” to get someone to kill Goliath, but Saul seemed to be someone who didn’t or wouldn’t keep his word. In the twenty-second chapter, he uses the carrot again to get people to pursue and fight an ungodly fight, the pursuit of David at all cost,
      7 “Listen here, you men of Benjamin!” Saul shouted when he heard the news. “Has David promised you fields and vineyards? Has he promised to make you commanders in his army? 8 Is that why you have conspired against me? For not one of you has ever told me that my own son is on David’s side. You’re not even sorry for me. Think of it! My own son–encouraging David to try and kill me!”
      Saul doesn’t appeal to his men’s sense of “righteousness” but he appeals to their emotions by throwing a pity party, a poor me gripe session. If we take this scenario and place it in today’s churches, we can use it as a guide to evaluate appeals by unscrupulous “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” I believe a call to spiritual arms should never be based on emotion and sentiment so an appeal to consider, “Poor me as I suffer for the Lord,” should cause the ringing of bells and blowing of whistles to go off in one’s head. If Israel represented a type of the church then, our churches hold the capacity and potential to be just as ruthless and deadly as Saul. But for God and the fact that David had not served the purpose God had created him for, we would never be reading this wonderful story about David.
      “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. (Acts 13:36). Our obedience to the will of God is what keeps us alive and if we are not severing our purpose, God’s mercy holds us back from the grave.

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