Hello, friends! If you are just finding this blog and are interested in joining this study of God's Word, it is important that you start by reading the entire chapter on your own first. My notes are not going to make sense out of context, and I want you to get your own take on the chapter before you see what I think about it. After that, feel free to read along, and please take the time to share what the Lord has shown you through His Word today, too!
v3 Can you imagine the surprise? This is DAVID the famous warrior who crushed Goliath with a mere stone! What is he doing here?!
v8 David can't win. He has nowhere that he belongs. Can you imagine the inner turmoil? Lord, I thought you had great plans for me. Lord, is this all there is for me? It wasn't supposed to be this way! Have you ever felt like that? What did you do next?
v11 David reacted with obedience (even though it made no sense at the time!).
v3 Just when David thought things were as bad as they could get, they took his family and burned his home.
v4 The only thing to do is to cry out to the Lord with the last bit of strength.
How do you not get angry at this point? Is it okay to get angry? When you feel like you've done everything you can to please Him, and still you feel like you are being punished?
The worst thing you can do when you feel like this is to close yourself off from God. If you feel angry and confused, tell Him! If you feel like there is no way you could worship or have joy in this situation, tell Him. The mere act of telling Him is a form of worship. Don't wait to pray until your heart is right, because that could take months, years, or a lifetime!
Cry out to the Lord in every situation and see how the mere acknowledgement of His presence changes your heart. He may open your eyes to something you had missed completely.
v6 His own people want to stone him. "But David strengthened Himself in the Lord his God."
v18-19 No one had been killed, and none of their possessions had been destroyed. It's so unusual that he would be able to restore everything that had been lost. This entire situation has a decidedly God-appointed ring to it.
v22 What makes a man "wicked and worthless" in God's eyes? Claiming that he deserves what does not belong to him--what the Lord has placed freely in his hands. Greed.
v24 David saw the value of the man who "stayed by the baggage". Can you see why the Lord favors him so much?
**I'm so happy to note that the Lord also sees the value of those who stay with the "baggage". With Donnie off saving souls and changing lives, I'm often left at home making a stable life for our children. It's comforting to know that God sees the less-glamorous roles as equally important. What an encouragement to me. Thank you, Lord!**
v1 In hindsight, the rejection of the Israelites and the Philistines was probably God's way of saving David's life.
v2-5 Such a sad day for Israel.
v9 They made sport of him anyway.
v11-13 A bitter end for a bitter king. He was finally given the burial and mourning that a king deserves.
Tomorrow: A look back at the entire book of I Samuel
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