Reading for Today:
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1 Samuel 12:1
Chapter 12 1 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.
–13:23
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Psalms 56:1-13
Chapter 56 1 Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up: All the day long he fighting oppresseth me. 2 Mine enemies would swallow me up all the day long; For they are many that fight proudly against me. 3 What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee. 4 In God (I will praise his word), In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; What can flesh do unto me? 5 All the day long they wrest my words: All their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, They mark my steps, Even as they have waited for my soul. 7 Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God. 8 Thou numberest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle; Are they not in thy book? 9 Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day that I call: This I know, that God is for me. 10 In God (I will praise `his' word), In Jehovah (I will praise `his' word), 11 In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; What can man do unto me? 12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render thank-offerings unto thee. 13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: `Hast thou' not `delivered' my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living? Psalm 57 For the Chief Musician; `set to' Al-tash-heth. `A Psalm' of David. Michtam; when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
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Proverbs 15:21-23
21 Folly is joy to him that is void of wisdom; But a man of understanding maketh straight his going. 22 Where there is no counsel, purposes are disappointed; But in the multitude of counsellors they are established. 23 A man hath joy in the answer of his mouth; And a word in due season, how good is it!
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Luke 22:47-71
47 While he yet spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them; and he drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48 But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? 49 And when they that were about him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? 50 And a certain one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye `them' thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. 52 And Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and elders, that were come against him, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves? 53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched not forth your hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. 54 And they seized him, and led him `away', and brought him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed afar off. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and had sat down together, Peter sat in the midst of them. 56 And a certain maid seeing him as he sat in the light `of the fire', and looking stedfastly upon him, said, This man also was with him. 57 But he denied, saying, Woman, I know him not. 58 And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou also art `one' of them. But Peter said, Man, I am not. 59 And after the space of about one hour another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this man also was with him; for he is a Galilaean. 60 But Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said unto him, Before the cock crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And he went out, and wept bitterly. 63 And the men that held `Jesus' mocked him, and beat him. 64 And they blindfolded him, and asked him, saying, Prophesy: who is he that struck thee? 65 And many other things spake they against him, reviling him. 66 And as soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away into their council, saying, 67 If thou art the Christ, tell us. But he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68 and if I ask `you', ye will not answer. 69 But from henceforth shall the Son of man be seated at the right hand of the power of God. 70 And they all said, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 71 And they said, What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth.
Notes:
1 Samuel 12:12 when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus, Nahash was campaigning over a large area. It was that Ammonite threat that seemingly provoked Israel to demand a human king (8:1–20). the LORD your God was your king. The clearest indictment of Israel for choosing a mere man to fight for her instead of the Lord God (see 8:20).
1 Samuel 13:19 no blacksmith. The Philistines had superior iron- and metal-working craftsmen until David’s time (see 1 Chr. 22:3), accounting for their formidable military force.
Psalm 56:8 my tears…Your bottle. David asked God to keep a remembrance of all of his sufferings, so that God would eventually vindicate him.
Luke 22:51
51 But Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye `them' thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.
Permit even this. I.e., the betrayal and arrest (see
John 18:11
11 Jesus therefore said unto Peter, Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
). All was proceeding according to the divine timetable. touched his ear and healed him. This is the only instance in all of Scripture where Christ healed a fresh wound. The miracle is also unique in that Christ healed an enemy, unasked, and without any evidence of faith in the recipient. It is also remarkable that such a dramatic miracle had no effect whatsoever on the hearts of those men. Neither had the explosive power of Jesus’ words, which knocked them to the ground (
John 18:6
6 When therefore he said unto them, I am `he', they went backward, and fell to the ground.
). They carried on with the arrest as if nothing peculiar had happened (v. 54).
Luke 22:53
53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched not forth your hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
this is your hour. I.e., nighttime, the hour of darkness. The arresting group had not the courage to confront Jesus in the presence of the crowds at the temple, where He had openly taught each day. Their skulking tactics betrayed the truth about their hearts. Nighttime was a fitting hour for the servants of the power of darkness (Satan) to be afoot (see
John 3:20
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
, 21; Eph. 5:8, 12–15; 1 Thess. 5:5–7).
DAY 5: Why was Saul judged so severely?
When Saul was anointed king by Samuel, Saul was commanded to wait 7 days to meet Samuel in Gilgal. Samuel would offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he would show Saul what he should do (1 Sam. 10:8). After 7 days of waiting and Samuel had not come, the people were scattered (1 Sam. 13:8). Saul’s men were deserting him because of anxiety and fear over the coming battle.
Rather than continue to wait, Saul “offered the burnt offering” (v. 9). Saul’s sin was not specifically that he made a sacrifice (see 2 Sam.24:25; 1 Kin.8:62–64), but that he did not wait for priestly assistance from Samuel. He wished to rule as an autocrat, who possessed absolute power in civil and sacred matters. Samuel had waited the 7 days as a test of Saul’s character and obedience to God, but Saul failed it by invading the priestly office himself.
Confronted by Samuel, Saul’s response was “When I saw…” (v. 11). Saul reacted disobediently based upon what he saw and not by faith. He feared losing his men and did not properly consider what God would have him do. Consequently, Samuel places the responsibility fully on Saul’s shoulders: “You have not kept the commandment” (v. 13). “Now your kingdom shall not continue” (v. 14). Instead of Saul, God was going to choose one whose heart was like His own, i.e., one who had a will to obey God. Paul quotes this passage in
Acts 13:22
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; to whom also he bare witness and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who shall do all My will.
of David. Someone else, namely David, had already been chosen to be God’s leader over His people.
From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.
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