Short Reflection from 2 Samuel 1-14

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[8:26 am, 07/06/2022] S.R: 𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙:𝟚𝟜

"O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel."

David didn't rewrite history. He didn't diminish the works of Saul. He eulogised him! If David could eulogize Saul, if David could ask the people to honor Saul, is there anyone I cannot eulogize? In the words of Steve Lawson, we can even eulogize the devil: that he is consistent.

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚:𝟙𝟜

“Then Abner said to Joab, ‘Now let the young men arise and hold a contest before us.’ And Joab said, ‘Let them arise’”

Hmm! What a gory scene! Can't imagine it. And the Scriptures didn't shy away from such event!

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟛:𝟚𝟟

"So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother."

I have observed that almost every leader has someone who is like Joab, and how devastating they can be. And I say this not in sympathy with them but as an indictment. David wasn't wise or brave enough to change his commander.

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟜:𝟠

"Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, ‘Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the LORD has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants.’"

They thought they were doing something great in the will of God. But David wasn't pleased with them.

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟝:𝟙𝟚

"And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel."

Great things have been often done by those who believed God has called them.

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟞:𝟡-𝟙𝟘

"So David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, ‘How can the ark of the LORD come to me?’ And David was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite."

It looks like a protest against God. I am afraid I have done like that sometimes.

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟟:𝟙𝟠

"Then David the king went in and sat before the LORD, and he said, ‘Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?’"

Let's learn to be grateful like David.

In this circumstance, David was disappointed because he wasn't allowed to build the house for God. He desired, planned, and was excited to build. The Lord forbade him, saying he was disqualified.

However, in the goodness of God, his son shall build the house of God. Actually, this is better because it means the kingdom will go on prosperous even after his death. Because if there's war and threat around the kingdom will not have the resources and strength to build the temple. In a sense, it was a double assurance about the prosperity of his descendants and the building of the temple.

God is good and great! Learn to recognize His greatness and goodness, and be grateful to Him!

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟠:𝟙𝟝

"So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice and righteousness for all his people."

Surely, David wasn't a perfect man, but his reign was well-commended. We need leaders like him.

But we need to honor leaders too. That includes forgiving their mistakes, overlooking their blunders sometimes, and speaking well of them.

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟡:𝟞

"Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, ‘Mephibosheth.’ And he said, ‘Here is your servant!’"

I am still thinking about what to learn from this verse, or from this chapter for that matter! It happens, sometimes. 😬🙃

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟘:𝟛

"the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, ‘Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?’"

Suspicion. Picking a fight with someone he cannot win.

Trust, Humility, Kindness are virtues even if they lead to death!

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟙:𝟚𝟟

"When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD."

Indeed, God overlooks our sins. Yet He also doesn't overlook our sins. So, let's not play with sins. And let's be quick to repent of sin unto God!

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚:𝟜

"Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

One of these days, I shall write a poem on this. This is a very relevant parable.

The rich robbing the poor!

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟛:𝟚𝟙

"Now when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry."

David was a sinner in the lowest category of this kind, so, where would he draw moral courage to confront this wickedness?

Our sin will make us disqualify to correct others!

 

𝟚 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟜:𝟚𝟚

"Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king; then Joab said, ‘Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, O my lord, the king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.’"

Joab didn't know what his alliance with Absalom would do to them. Were they partners in crime? What led this seemingly beautiful friendship to turn out to be later on?

Absalom would set the field of Joab on fire, and Joab would spear Absalom to death!

Beware of making friends with people of ill reputation!

Short Reflection from 1 Samuel 18-31

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (PG as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟠:𝟛𝟘

"Then the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed."

Behavior, manner, discipline will save a man from many troubles!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟡:𝟙𝟙

"Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.’"

Michal is the opposite character of Delilah! God is sovereign!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟘:𝟛𝟟-𝟛𝟠

"When the lad reached the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad and said, "Is not the arrow beyond you?" And Jonathan called after the lad, "Hurry, be quick, do not stay!" And Jonathan's lad picked up the arrow and came to his master."

This drama always fascinates me whenever I read. But I think I would do the same if I were there. It was a brilliant idea, but I think I would be brilliant too. My point is not to say I am brilliant but to say this is very realistic. And therefore, the Bible has to be a true history that happened in a real place, in real time, with real people. The Bible is not just an ancient document, it's a real history.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟙:𝟚

“David said to Ahimelech the priest, ‘The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.'’”

David was a liar, not just this and that for what he was known for. This lie led to the death of many priests!

 

[3:39 pm, 26/07/2022] S.R: 𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟚:𝟚𝟚

"Then David said to Abiathar, 'I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father's household.'"

I do not have the skin of David to endure such trials. David had caused the death of many, priests of God. If somebody is in trouble on account of me, I think I will be terrified.

David had to go through a lot of criticism and attacks, verbally and physically. Yet he never gave up. And he had the strength and passion to comfort others.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟛:𝟚

"So David inquired of the LORD, saying, 'Shall I go and attack these Philistines?' And the LORD said to David, 'Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.'"

God told David to help the citizens of Keilah from the enemies. And these citizens of Keilah would not return the favor. They would give David to Saul to be executed. David might be suspicious of that too. Anyway, God told him to go and he went. And David fled Keilah after helping them. How many of us would be happy with that betrayal? Yet, the actions and obedience of David honored God.

We can honor God even in deep betrayal.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟜:𝟙𝟛

"As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you."

I must constantly remind myself that I shall not return evil for evil, and that I should be good even when other harms me.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟝:𝟙𝟝-𝟙𝟞

"Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep."

There's a similarity in the recruitment of David's soldiers and Manipur underground (insurgency), but their conducts are way different from each other. David, being God's anointed and since he knew that, he behaved righteously and so were his men.

All my villagers had a desire that all the NSCN-IM cadres posted at my village in 2018 were dead by some plague because they weren't like David soldiers but harassing the villagers.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟞:𝟙𝟙

"The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go."

I don't need to do God's work; He will do it. I don't need to help God; He can do it. It's God who would kill Saul at the hands of a random Philistine soldier. David didn't need to seize the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. He knew God was alive, active, and alert!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟟:𝟙𝟚

"So Achish believed David, saying, ‘He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.’"

Both were tricksters. We aren't told whether they were right or wrong. But one thing is sure: they were military men, though kind of allies now, they had been enemies.

Military strategies are to deceive in order to win.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟠:𝟞

"And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets."

Scriptures have mentioned many times that the way of a transgressor is hard. Saul was desperate. He had to seek after the devil, disguised himself as someone who disregarded a king's order, went after a woman, disobeyed his own order, and had no strength even to walk or eat.

And he perished at the hand of an ordinary soldier. A big lesson for all Christians to not forsake their first love!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝔸𝕄𝕌𝔼𝕃 𝟚𝟡:𝟠

"And David said to Achish, ‘But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?’"

What a bluff master! Anyway, he wasted his time there and his town was raided by enemies.

Was David stupid or extraordinarily cunning? But the Lord prevented him from the battle. At the same time, the Lord sent enemies to raid his own town.

He was busy bluffing when his own home was burnt down!

Just an observation for tonight!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟘:𝟚

"and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way."

David used to terrorize others’ towns and kill every one of them. And these people didn't kill anyone of David's people. Hmmm!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟙:𝟡

"They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people."

I guess I have been reading this account without careful attention or my memory is just not that good. It looks like this is the first time I read the beheading of Saul. Ought to read Bible again and again!

Short Reflection from 1 Samuel 1-17

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (PG as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[6:19 pm, 19/02/2022] S.R: 𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙:𝟚𝟛

"Elkanah her husband said to her, ‘Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word.’ So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him."

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟚:𝟚𝟞

"Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men."

One of my favorite Bible verses to quote on birthdays!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟛:𝟙𝟠

"So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, ‘It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.’"

I agree with Eli, it's good to submit to the will of God even if he should slay me in the words of Job. 🙏

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟜:𝟡-𝟙𝟘

“‘Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight.’ So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.”

God used men of courage to win the battle either for or against the Israelites.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟝:𝟜

"But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him."

I wish this happen again and again in our time also!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟞:𝟙𝟡

"He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter."

Of all peoples, the people of God should have the greatest reverence for God, not familiarity because of its privilege. And I am afraid I and many of us are in great danger!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟟:𝟙𝟘

"Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel."

Should we pray to God to confuse Putin and his armies to go back to Russia? 🤔🙂

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟠:𝟛

"His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice."

There's no guarantee that our children will be Christians. Eli's sons were killed by God. Aaron's sons. Judah's son. Even David's sons.

In our times, Francis Schaeffer' son, John Piper's son. May the Lord save our children! Let's not be presumptuous. Rather, let's be like Job praying for his children every day!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟡:𝟚

"He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people."

Saul was handsome and tall. A perfect combination for greatness those days. Yet, God's favor didn't last long with him.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟘:𝟠

"Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day."

Changed by God.

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟙:𝟞

"Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry."

Anger, after all, is not a sin in itself. There's righteous anger and sinful anger. Deliver me from the latter one, Lord!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚:𝟛-𝟝

“"Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you." They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand." He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand." And they said, "He is witness."”

Oh! Samuel grew up like Jesus Christ. And He challenged the people to find fault in him like Jesus Christ. And he prayed for his people like Jesus Christ. I want this man's integrity!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟛:𝟙𝟛

"Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.’"

Fear of man vs Fear of God. Foolishness vs Wisdom. Destruction vs Prosperity!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟜:𝟜𝟜-𝟜𝟝

"Saul said, "May God do this to me and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan." But the people said to Saul, "Must Jonathan die, who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die."

The brave people resisted the mad coward king to protect the righteous warrior!

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟝:𝟙𝟙

""I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night."

Will the Lord regret me for commissioning me to His service because of my unfaithfulness!? 🥶

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟞:𝟙

"Now the LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.’"

For every rejection of Sauls there must be Davids. 🤔

 

𝟙 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟟:𝟚𝟞

"Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, ‘What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?’"

David was zealous for the honor and fame of God's name! May that be seen in me by all!