Tag: 1 Samuel

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Trust in God Rather than Revenge

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 26:23-24
23 The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. 24 As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.” 

Reflection: Trust in God Rather than Revenge
By Erin Newton

Christians on social media have been increasingly vocal about leaders and the inconsistency between words and actions. Offenses are brought to light, perhaps going viral, and arguments ensue. Some leaders take to the internet to utter quick, empty apologies or lengthy rebuttals defending their cause. In the wake of the ebb and flow of quips and retorts, trust is forfeited.

David was acutely aware of the damage and ever-lingering effects from broken trust. From friend to foe, David’s relationship with Saul was damaged. Although the king said he was sorrowful and feigned a sense of remorse, his temperamental character revealed his true self. Saul would stop at nothing to bring David down.

Thankfully, David’s trust in God overpowered his desire for revenge and he resolved to let God determine the conclusion to Saul’s life. It is imperative to see that while mercy is shown, the offense is not concealed. He reiterated to Saul that he was being pursued unjustly. David did not avoid exposing the sins of Saul. Avoiding accountability is not love.

We often read stories with ourselves in the place of the virtuous character. We want to be like David, always heralded for our mercy to those who seek our harm. And we should. There are times when abusive leaders must hear the truth of the pain and suffering caused by their own agendas. We seek truth but not vengeance. There is a time and place for our hand to cease and the will of God to be done.

Moreover, let us ensure that we’re not, in fact, Saul. Do we betray the trust of others? Are we posting empty words while waiting for the next chance to strike back? Do we say what is desirable now and mean nothing in the long run? Do our actions support our words? In places of authority, we cannot become tyrannical and narcissistic. What we say and what we do must work in tandem, not in tension.

Trust is broken when words and actions conflict. The great news is that God has been faithful to fulfill the promises of his words. This is why David can trust God with Saul’s life and his own. God promised deliverance from Egypt and it was done. (Psalm 78). God promised salvation and he came to us. (John 1). We can trust God because his words and actions are always aligned.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I have sworn and am determined to keep your righteous judgments. — Psalm 119.106

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 26 (Listen – 4:30) 
1 Corinthians 7 (Listen – 6:09)

Read more about Revenge to Redemption
When there is no justice, revenge is what we settle for. If we don’t trust in God, revenge may be all we think there is to justice.

Revenge to Redemption

Read more about Abandon Human Vengeance
Those who continue to stoop to hatred, fear, and exaggeration are worshipers of results, not the Redeemer.

Abandon Human Vengeance

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Blocking the Way of Wickedness

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 25.17, 24-31
17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.” 

24 …”Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you. 
28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”

Reflection: Blocking the Way of Wickedness
By John Tillman

We don’t always have a choice about working with or living among wicked people, but we can choose how we respond.

Even in our modern world, it can be difficult to confront or leave a wicked spouse or partner. For Abigail, and other women of her time, it was unthinkable. Abigail and her servants lived under the authority of her husband, Nabal, whose name meant “foolish.” (verse 25) He was also called “wicked” by the servant. (A bold statement from a servant about his master!) This word implies “worthlessness” and “destruction” as opposed to value and blessing. The servant’s usage implies that Nabal cannot be reasoned with.

Agreeing with the servant, she does not speak to Nabal. Talking to someone who has given themselves over to wickedness is fruitless. Abigail doesn’t talk—she takes action. She does not waste the pearls of her wisdom on her swine of a husband. Rather than face him, she sets out to greet 400 angry men with swords.

In conflicts between the powerful, the powerless get crushed. Had Abigail done nothing, it is possible she would have survived, and even ended up married to David as a result. But the servants, and perhaps many others, would have died. Not only would David have had blood on his hands, she would as well.

She went out into the night, to meet angry, armed men, taking with her restitution, humility, an apology, and wisdom about what kind of leader David should strive to be. Her speech to David shows she is well connected and knows much of David. She even subtly references his victory over Goliath with a metaphor about a sling. (verse 29)

Nabal is wicked and cannot listen to reason. David, even when set on a destructive course, still listens to those standing in his way. 

There are two godly examples for us to follow in this passage. 

May we remember to be like Abigail, willing to risk our lives to block the way of wickedness, paying the cost of the wrongs done by others and standing in the way of those intent on harm and violence.
May we also be like David, willing to listen to those who stand in our way, warning us that we are on the wrong path. May we be willing to let go of our own anger and vengefulness.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; let all flesh bless his holy Name forever and ever. — Psalm 145.22

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 25 (Listen – 7:12) 
1 Corinthians 6 (Listen – 3:03)

Read more about What David Longed For
David makes a contrast between the evildoers whose satisfaction is found in this life, and himself.

What David Longed For

Read more about Limits of Human Grace
David, when dealing with these offenders, had seemed magnanimous…But on his deathbed, David sounded vindictive.

Limits of Human Grace
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The Best We Can Do

Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 27.1
But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

Reflection: The Best We Can Do
By John Tillman

We have to always be careful when reading the Bible not to assume that actions described in God’s Word were prescribed by God’s command. 

This is especially difficult with characters such as David. We tend to over-glorify David as a hero archetype who can do no wrong. We misapply the description of David as a “man after God’s own heart” to mean that every decision David made was wholly righteous. This is a terrible way to understand any Bible character, but an especially damaging way to understand David.  

Harold Wilmington, in his commentary on 1 Samuel 27 states that David did not seem to trust Saul, “Nor, apparently did he trust God to protect him.”

This is despite the fact that God has just miraculously assisted David in proving to Saul that David meant him no harm. David suggests that people near Saul must be poisoning him against David, telling David to “go serve other gods.” Saul has confessed that his pursuit of David is sinful, sworn off searching for him, and predicted great things for David.

After this spiritual and political victory, David does exactly what the people poisoning Saul against him suggested. David becomes a servant to king Achish, enemy of Israel, servant of Dagon.

This is a practical political decision (“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”) but is not depicted as a spiritual decision. Scripture often tells us that David consulted the Lord or prayed, but here it tells us only his human thought process. (Scripture does not tell us that David prayed or consulted the Lord once while in Philistia, except in crisis when their town of Ziklag had been burned and captured.) David’s words are “The best thing I can do…”. 

Rather than the best thing, this decision may have been the worst thing David could have done. Through this decision, David becomes a liar, a war criminal, a slaughterer of women and children, and feigns madness to carry out his desperate plot. Achish, assuming David’s war crimes are against Israel, notes that David is now trapped and will be his servant forever.

The best we can do—in our strength and wisdom—may not be God’s best for us.

May God deliver us from decisions that are “the best we can do.” 
May we never be enslaved to decisions of political practicality.
May we never compromise our souls to maintain convenient alliances.
May we seek God’s best rather than our human best.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us. Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. — Psalm 67,1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 27 (Listen – 1:59) 
1 Corinthians 8 (Listen – 1:54)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Read more about Christ, the True Hero
We cannot live up to oaths such as Psalm 101. Neither could David. David would eventually bring corruption, rape, murder, and the ravages of civil war to the city which in this Psalm he pledges to protect.

Christ, the True Hero

Read more about Prayer From the Cave :: Readers’ Choice
Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon his later days.

Prayer From the Cave :: Readers’ Choice

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Joy Despite Everything :: Readers’ Choice

Selected by reader, Michelle Bartlett from Littleton, Colorado
We tend to think of the story of Martha and Mary as either/or because of the “better part“ part. Perhaps Mary did choose the better part. But it was Martha, like the father of the prodigal son, who stood in faith, scanning the horizon. She may not have sat at Jesus’s feet, but she was certainly eavesdropping from the kitchen and “stored up all these things in her heart.”

Scripture Focus: John 11.27
I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.

Reflection: Joy Despite Everything :: Readers’ Choice
Originally published December 21st, 2018
By John Tillman

When we wait in Advent we know the date on the calendar when Christmas comes. We know the day we will blow out the candles the final time. We know the number of shopping days left. We know how long until we will take the decorations down.

But in our lives, many times we wait in faith without a date on the calendar. There are many times we wait in hospital rooms. Wait on a phone call. Wait to see if our miracle will arrive.

And many times we stand over a casket instead of sitting around a table. We make an unemployment claim instead of a promotion. We box up our things and move in with our parents when our miracle passes us by.

Advent grows darker as the year wanes. And Martha greets us at the darkest point of her life. When faith has failed. When her wick smolders. When the smell of death wafts, unwanted through her mind.

Martha shows us how to wait. Martha shows us how to have faith, and then when your faith is crushed into pieces, how to hold out your shattered faith to Jesus. Not demanding. Not asking. Just saying, “My faith is broken. But I’m not letting go. I still believe. In spite of everything.”

Martha, Martha.
She was concerned about many things.
But she came to be concerned only with one thing.

Martha who believed in faith that her brother would be healed.
Martha who sent word to Jesus.
Martha who received back the messenger and wondered why Jesus wasn’t with him.

Martha who waited…

Martha who tended her brother in his sickness.
Martha who occasionally gazed down the road.
Martha who watched him suffer…and die.
Martha who remained strong
Who made arrangements.
Who cared for her sister.
Who buried her brother—the brother she had believed Jesus would save.
Martha who watched her sister melt down in emotion.
Martha who saw Jesus coming.
Martha who was prepared to meet him.
Martha who lost her miracle and still blessed the tardy miracle-maker
Martha who stood before a man who failed her and proclaimed him to be the Son of God.
Martha who dared announce the Messiah in the suburbs of Jerusalem, in the shadow of Christ’s most powerful religious enemies.

Martha, Martha…
Teach us to wait in faith.
Teach us to believe.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us saying: “…In all truth I tell you, I am the gate of the sheepfold. All who have come before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep took no notice of them. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: such a one will go in oud out and will find pasture.” — John 10.7-9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 11 (Listen – 2:43) 
Romans 9 (Listen – 5:15)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Submit a Readers’ Choice
Let our community hear how your faith has grown. What post made you want to share?

Read more about One Thing Needed
We often preach on Martha’s scolding of Jesus about her sister and too rarely preach about Martha’s open declaration that Jesus was the Messiah.

One Thing Needed
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The Art of Ending

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 5:3
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit.

Reflection: The Art of Ending
The Park Forum

The magnitude of the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys is astonishing — 48 locations, and over 8,000 miles of travel, in less than two decades. Add in the intensity of traveling on foot and animal, without modern cartography or weather prediction, and we begin to see the nomadic apostle’s fortitude.

Physical strain was only part of the weight Paul carried though. He mentions at times ferocity of spiritual attacks, but his writings allude to another pain he would have carried daily: the emotional weight of leaving friends and work behind as he pursued his calling. In his letter to Corinth he reaches back as if to say, though our time together ended, my love for you has not.

“Great is the art of the beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Endings in vocation or relationship are difficult. Industry leaders soften the blow with words like pivot or merger; relationships now dissolve after one party gets ghosted.

“Whether we like it or not, endings are a part of life,” explains Dr. Henry Cloud in his book Necessary Endings. “They are woven into the fabric of life itself, both when it goes well, and also when it doesn’t.”

“Certainly I am not saying that every time something is not working, it should end. In fact, it is usually the opposite…. But there is a time, a moment, when it is truly over.” — Henry Cloud

We try to avoid endings because of the pain they bring. Yet sometimes endings need to happen — new opportunities need to be pursued, painful (or abusive) relationships need to be abandoned.

The word in scripture for life without endings is “eternity” — until that point we must navigate endings well. Dr. Cloud suggests three principles:

  1. Accept life cycles and seasons.
  2. Accept that life produces too much life.
  3. Accept that incurable illness and sometimes evil are part of life too.

Dr. Cloud concludes, “When done well, the seasons of life are negotiated, and the proper endings lead to the end of pain, greater growth, personal and business goals reached, and better lives. Endings bring hope.”

One of the reoccurring themes modeled in the apostle Paul’s life is his profound grasp on hope — Christ himself, who would never leave nor forsake us. It was the good news of Christ’s steadfastness which allowed Paul to traverse the many endings of life, even death itself.

The Greeting
The Lord lives! Blessed is my Rock! Exalted is the God of my salvation! — Psalm 18:46

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 24 (Listen – 3:36)
1 Corinthians 5 (Listen – 1:58)