August 26

1 Samuel 18 “Praise the Lord!” was my comment to my teammate as I returned to the bench after the series of downs. It was the last game of the season of my senior year. I had never been a good football player. I had never even suited up before my senior year. The coach had let me start the first two home games. During both games, he yanked me out because of poor performance on the field. I rarely played after that. But this was the last game of the season. My best friend, who had sustained a mild injury in the previous game played both offense and defense. Coach wanted him to play just offense in order to preserve his strength during the game. So, I received the call to play his defensive spot. All week long I was praying that the Lord would allow me to play above my ability so as to bring glory to His name. The Lord answered that prayer. I played above my ability because of Him. When my teammates commented upon my play level, I had no other choice but to say, “Praise the Lord!” It was His doing. Assuming Saul reigned 40 years, assuming David was 30 when he became king upon the death of Saul, David was born in Saul’s 10th year as king. Assuming Jonathan was 15-18 years old when he began leading 1,000 men, assuming that was in Saul’s second year as king (see August 21, 1 Samuel 13), there is a 25-27 year age gap between Jonathan and David. Yet there was this natural friendship between Jonathan and David. Perhaps Jonathan saw something of himself in David. Maybe, like himself, he saw a 15-year-old who wasn’t afraid of overwhelming odds. David had the same kind of spirit as Jonathan. Jonathan was secure in his relationship with God. David was not a threat to him, but an encouragement. It was refreshing to see someone like himself who would trust God in the midst of overwhelming odds. What a contrast with Saul! Saul, for whatever reason was always insecure in his relationship with God. Maybe it was because his father was bent. Maybe it was a lack of self-confidence. After all Saul was the one found hiding in the baggage when it came time to anoint him king. One thing is certain; Saul had great difficulty in full obedience to the Lord. He couldn’t wait for Samuel, so he took it upon himself to lead in sacrifice. He couldn’t wait for the answer from the Lord via the priestly ephod, when Jonathan unexpectedly began the rout of the Philistines. He rashly made a vow when commanding his troops not to eat anything during the battle. This led to the soldiers eating blood (a clear violation of the law) when they finally had a break. He did not fulfill the command of the Lord when he defeated the Amalekites. He saved the best for himself, rather than destroying all. He teetered on leading the army into battle against the Philistines in the valley of Elah, and let 15-year-old (or less) David go fight the giant. Instead of rejoicing over the victory that God gave, he became jealous. What a contrast with Jonathan and David! So God sent a distressing spirit upon Saul. For some people it just doesn’t seem right for God to send an evil spirit upon someone. How can a good God send an evil spirit on someone? For an explanation better than I can give on that subject, go to this website: http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=1278 Saul was focused upon his own glory. Jonathan and David both understood the glory of God. Focusing upon His glory resulted obedient acts of valor when the occasion demanded it. Saul’s focusing upon himself resulted in disobedient acts of valor when the occasion demanded obedient acts. Oh by the way, after reviewing the game films of the last game, the coach told me, “If I knew you could play that position like that, you would have been there all year.” Well, that is the rub, I couldn’t play the position like that. I was playing above my ability. The Lord was teaching me to focus on His glory. When we do, He glorifies Himself, and lets us enjoy doing it with Him. Lord, may I always focus on your glory so that when the occasion demands it, I will walk with you in obedient acts which bring glory to Your name! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

August 22

1 Sam 14 Recently a number of “little things” have begun to gnaw on me, weighing my heart down. None of them are particularly insurmountable, but the sum total of them drain the energy out of me. We’ve lost a number of significant people in our church. In one case the parting included some hard relational problems. I have been patiently working through an audit with the IRS. It has demanded an accounting for every bank deposit in the 2010/2011 tax years. Every time I give an answer, it seems they want more information. I have a relative who has mental problems. He called me the other night when I was not there and left a message on the answering machine which threatened to have “my a__ thrown in jail.” According to the message, he thinks that my wife works for the Social Security office and that she caused Social Security to deny him $49,000 in benefits. My wife has nothing to do with Social Security. I am a care giver for my 91-year-old mother. Her house had a fire the other day; the roof leaks (unrelated to the fire); a sewer line had to be replaced; several trees are dropping limbs as a result of the previous two years of drought; at least two trees died and need to be cut down. My own house has issues. Limbs are dropping, the roof leaks from one of the limbs, the water heater sprang a leak (it was brand new in 2007). The dog is in heat and there is a problem with our male. The list could go on, but I will stop here. There are just a lot of little things that seem to weigh the heart down. There are things that are done in the heat of passion when the adrenaline is rushing and foolhardiness overwhelms us. Then there are things that are done in a cold calculating manner when it is determined that we can be successful. Then there are things that are not done because the multitude of little things against doing the right thing weigh the heart down, and the will becomes enmeshed in in a shroud of negative thinking. The children of Israel had experienced a great victory over the Ammonites. Saul had galvanized the nation and 300,000 men showed up in the adrenal rush of their new king. They rescued Jabesh Gilead, but farmers can’t stay in the army forever. They returned home to their families and crops. So a year or two later, Saul had only a small standing army of 3,000. Jonathan took his 1,000 and his youthful adrenaline, and he defeated the Philistine garrison raising the ire of the Philistines. Unlike the Ammonite army, the Philistine army had technology on their side, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, plus a huge number of soldiers. It overwhelmed the standing army of Israel. The citizens and much of the army became afraid and began to hide in the abundant caves of the mountains of Israel. Saul’s army was reduced from 3,000 to 600. This wasn’t just a multitude of little things; it was an overwhelming flood! Was Jonathan filled with the memories of Jabesh Gilead and the defeat of Philistine garrison, or was he caught up in youthful adrenaline and foolhardiness, or did he really believe that the Lord could and would deliver them from their oppressors. Whatever his true motivation, these are his words: “It may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.” Wow! May his kin live forever! His words indicate that he knew the glory of the Lord! He and one other guy crossed the pass at Michmash, scaling the cliffs while the Philistines watched and waited for them to come to the top. (You can see pictures of Michmash by going to google images and type in the word Michmash.) It was 20 against 2+the Lord. The 20 were mismatched. In half an acre of land Jonathan and his armor bearer brought the Philistines to their final meeting with the Lord. It began a rout. The Lord used Jonathan’s victory to cause fear to spread through the Philistine camp. The army began to melt away in fear. Meanwhile back at the camp, Saul had called a priest with an ephod to determine from the Lord whether or not he should attack the Philistines. Before the priest could toss the urim and the thummim, the noise of the retreating army reached Saul’s ears. Always a man of action over waiting upon the Lord, Saul commanded the priest to withdraw his hand. He immediately set out to join in the rout. He gave a rash oath designed to motivate the troops to victory, but it led to sin against the Lord. When victory was assured in the evening, he took time to seek the Lord concerning the wisdom of pursuing the Philistines into the night. The Lord would not answer. One gets the impression that Saul seemed more concerned with weighing his various options rather than his concern for what the Lord wanted. As A.W. Tozer once put it, “The Lord tells the man who cares.” Saul has demonstrated a lack of whole hearted devotion to seeking the Lord. This little devotion led to him placing requirements upon his army which led to sin. Their hearts and passions were revealed by ravenous eating of meat that had not been properly bled. Their hearts were found lacking. On the other hand, Jonathan helped himself to some ‘clean’ food. A little honey from the honey comb allowed him the right energy that was needed in the midst of the battle. Jonathan would not allow the overwhelming flood of the Philistine army to shroud the glory of the Lord. Saul let the problems fog His sight. His vision was set upon the problems. I am faced daily with the same choice. You are faced daily with the same choice. Which path will I follow? Which path will you follow? I choose the glory of the Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

August 21

1 Samuel 13 The race was coming to an end. My lungs felt like fire; my bowels felt like they were going to explode, and my legs felt like lead weights. It was a six mile jog that was offered by my biology teacher as extra credit to all who run it and complete it. Many of us took him up on the offer. Few of us trained for it. As I neared the finish line, I saw an accomplished athlete from our class. He had left me in his dust at the beginning of the race. Now he was walking. I kept on chugging along. He looked back when he heard my breathing. Immediately he said, “Chaffin, I can’t let YOU beat me! Stop running!” He took off running. I couldn’t answer. My lungs burned too much. I tried to give it a kick. We ran neck and neck for quite a way. He kept telling me to stop. He said he didn’t have much left, but he couldn’t let ME beat him. I am not a great athlete, but I am not a quitter. I kept putting one foot in front of the other. He kept telling me to quit. He crossed the finish line one step in front of me. “Why wouldn’t you quit?” I did not have the breath to answer him, but the answer is, “Because I just don’t have it in me to quit.” Saul had taken at least a year since his coronation, maybe two years, to develop a standing army of 3,000. With his son Jonathan in charge of 1,000 at Gibeah, he had 2,000 at Michmash, just 4 miles as the crow flies to the northeast of Gibeah. The Philistines had a garrison in Geba 3 miles to the northeast of Gibeah. Whether Saul commanded Jonathan to attack, or whether the 15-18 year-old Jonathan did it in youthful impetuosity, is unclear, but it caught the Philistines by surprise and Jonathan was successful at Geba. It brought the full force of the wrath of the Philistines to Michmash – 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen against Israel’s farmers armed with sharpened farming implements. Saul retreated to Gilgal and called Israel together. Saul was getting nervous. He was instructed by the Samuel, as a commandment of the Lord, to wait at Gilgal, seven days, until Samuel came to sacrifice. Gilgal had been a very important location in the life of Israel to this point. It was the base camp of the people after crossing the Jordan River ending their wilderness wanderings. Near here they set up a pile of stones to commemorate their crossing. Here they renewed the covenant with Yahweh by circumcising all the males. This sign of the covenant had not been practiced since they left Egypt. Then the Lord said, “I have rolled away your reproach.” (Gilgal means ‘wheel’ or ‘rolling.’) After healing from the circumcision, they celebrated the first Passover in Canaan. It served as their base camp for the military conquest of Canaan. Here Saul received his coronation as king of Israel. It is the furthest point east in the center of Israel without crossing the Jordan. It is a significant location historically, religiously and militarily. The command was simple, “Wait seven days.” Perhaps Jonathan won at Geba because he had surprise on his side. Perhaps it was because the garrison at Geba was small. Perhaps it is because God was with him, but when the massive Philistine army showed up at Michmash, it was overwhelming. People ran and hid. Saul’s little force of 3,000 began to dwindle to 600 and Saul was worried. Waiting for battle caused his force to dwindle rather than grow. Instead of people rallying to his side, they ran and hid. Saul waited until the last minute, but Samuel hadn’t shown. If he waited any longer, he might have no army. He would not wait any longer. He was a man of action, and he acted. His heart was set on the circumstances not upon the Lord. The Lord engineers races for us to wait upon Him. It is a wait race. In so doing He reveals our hearts to us. Saul’s heart was revealed. It was not set upon the Lord; it was set upon the circumstances. He lost the wait race. The Lord wants people whose hearts are set upon Him not circumstances. How long will I wait upon Him before I bolt and run? I guess it depends on how set my heart is upon His glory. That is why I need to see His glory every day. Otherwise the guy running in front of me can dissuade me, and I will quit running. But when I see His glory, oh I cannot help but keep running! I cannot help but put another weary foot in front of the other. I cannot help but breathe another fire-filled breath. I am running into His glory and that makes all the difference. With His glory before me, I just don’t have it in me to quit. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

August 17

2013 1 Samuel 9 This story of Saul marks the end of the judges. A member of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of the tribes, one of Saul’s ancestors would have been one of the few surviving men of the tribe when the other tribes almost wiped them all out in punishment for not bringing justice against the men of Gibeah. One of Saul’s ancestors would have been one of the virgins stolen from Jabesh-Gilead in order to be given as wives to the surviving men of Benjamin. Kish means ‘bent.’ Kish’s father’s name was Abiel, which means God is my Father. Do you suppose Abiel named his son ‘bent’ in memory of the travesty that had taken place in the Tribe? Maybe, maybe not. Saul’s name means ‘desired.’ Why did Kish name him ‘desired?’ Had he been difficult to conceive and thus desired and prayed for? At any rate, Benjamin is the least of the tribes and Saul was desired. Kish apparently was a wealthy man. The text says that Kish was a mighty man of power. That could mean that he had a small army, or it could mean that he had a small fortune, or both. Saul, the ‘desired’ one, was looking for his father’s lost female donkeys. TWOT indicates, “She-asses are listed among Job’s possessions but not male asses. . . Female asses are mentioned because. . . of their milk and their breeding. They are also better for riding than male asses.” Hence one only needed one male ass in a herd. If you had more than one, to lose a male was no big loss, but to lose several female asses was to lose much. Saul, the ‘desired’ one, was on a journey to recover his father’s wealth. Israel desired a king like the other nations. God gave them what they desired. Saul was tall, handsome, from a rich family. Everything you would want for a king. So the desired one, on a journey to recover his father’s wealth, finds not the she-asses, but the desire of Israel, the crown of the country. Everybody but God gets what they desired. Kish gets his donkeys; Saul gets a crown, and Israel gets their king. What does God get? He already had it, rejection. Where is the glory in that? Our Lord works through our rejection to accomplish His will. He would one day reject the desire of the nation to provide a King of His choice, David. He would promise to David to bring of his seed, the Messiah. He provided Jesus as that seed. The nation rejected Him. Yet still as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to become children of God. Saul was desired and wanted, but evil. Jesus was despised and rejected, but good. Saul was handsome. Jesus was one from whom we hid our eyes. Saul was acclaimed; Jesus was mocked. Saul sought David’s death; Jesus endured the cross and loved us still. It is easy to love those who love you. Jesus loved us even while were yet sinners and hated him. What a contrast in glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

August 16

1 Samuel 7-8 In January of the this year, I was reading concerning Obamacare. In the news at the time was how his program was requiring all companies to provide healthcare which provided abortion coverage and coverage for drugs which might cause an abortion. In as much as the Scripture indicates that human life begins at conception, and the taking of human life apart from self-defense or at the direction of God-ordained authority is murder, then to force companies to provide for abortion or abortive drugs is tantamount to forcing those companies to be accomplices to murder. Some companies such as Hobby Lobby objected that they were being forced against their conscience to provide such services. They are being forced to either comply or face fines which will drive them out of business. Naturally, I wrote Obama an e-mail which strongly expressed my dismay at such an evil practice. Two weeks to the day after I sent the e-mail, I received letter from the IRS that I was being audited. The audit continues to drag on to this day. I have a hard time believing that this was just a coincidence. Am I surprised? A little bit. Should I be surprised? Not really. Governments under the best of men have their faults. Governments under lesser men go south quickly. Is Obama a lesser man? Absolutely! It is demonstrated in his unwavering support of abortion at any age including partial birth abortion, which really is nothing less than infanticide. It is demonstrated in his unwavering demand that people like me acknowledge that homosexual relationships should be equivalent to marriage. I acknowledge that in our form of government homosexuals have the right to practice their sexual preference, but the government does not have the right to force me to pronounce it as morally good as marriage. That is just nonsense. It is similar to the government forcing me to declare that adultery, fornication and divorce & remarriage are all morally good. It is just nonsense! Yet Obama desires and demands that I agree with him. What does this have to do with the glory of God? In today’s passage the nation rejects Samuel’s sons as leaders for the nation. Instead they want a king. In so doing they were rejecting the Lord as their king. God wanted them to know what they would be getting when they asked for a man to rule over them. They would be getting military conscription, forced servitude for their sons and daughters, and taxes that are overwhelming. We are not far off. The further away from the Lord that we and our leaders wander, the greater will be our bondage to our government. Thomas Jefferson once said, “That government, governs best which governs least.” Only when a people voluntarily submit to the glory of God and obey him can a government afford to govern least. Unfortunately, we have a leader like Obama because we deserve him. We have rejected the Lord as our king in exchange for pleasure, prosperity and security. We have rejected the glory of the Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

August 15

1 Samuel 5-6 The glory of the Lord is such that He will avenge His own glory even if it means the destruction of His own people. He will not allow His people to wallow in sin. At the same time, He will not allow those who are not His to triumph over His glory. The ancients often believed that what happened on earth was a reflection of the struggle of the gods in heaven. Thus if the Philistines conquered the Israelites, it was because the god of the Philistines, Dagon, had defeated the God of the Israelites, Yahweh, in the heavens. In reality there is only One God. What happens on earth has nothing to do with a struggle of God, but has everything to do with how we perceive His glory and respond in obedience. I cannot help but think that God has somewhat a sense of humor as He deals with the Philistines. They place ark of the covenant, the central symbol of the presence, glory and covenant of God, in the temple of their God Dagon. In the morning the find the idol representing their god lying prostrate upon the ground before the ark. Hmm. . . must have been an earthquake. They set it upright again. The next morning it had fallen again. Its head and hands were broken off. Hmm. . . maybe something unfortunate is happening in the heavens. They still don’t get it. God strikes them with swellings. The Latin Vulgate says, “Swellings in their secret parts.” What might these swellings or tumors be? Boils? Hemmoroids? Cancers? STD’s? Whatever it is, they try to solve the problem by moving the ark closer to Israel. Maybe Yahweh will be satisfied if His ark is a little closer; send it to Gath. Didn’t work. Maybe it wasn’t close enough. Send it to Ekron. Didn’t work. Send it away from the city; maybe the people will not be struck with the swellings. Out in the fields rats came and ate their crops. Yahweh will not allow His glory to be trifled with. I personally think the way in which He dealt with them is humorous. It certainly is more gentle than He could have been. What should they do? They realize now that they have offended Yahweh, and He is greater than Dagon. Give sacrifices to Yahweh, and send the ark back! They make gold images of the judgments He used against them. They hitch to cows together who have never been yoked before and keep their calves behind. The cows immediately leave the calves on their own and work in unison to head toward Israel. That would be an unheard of happening in their agrarian society! God reveals His glory to the Philistines, and He returns the ark to Israel. The people of Beth Shemesh (House of the Sun) are delighted to see the ark coming back. They still have not learned. They treat the ark as a curiosity. They open it up and look inside it. They did not treat it as holy. Note how God deals so much more severely with them than He did with the Philistines. He kills 50,070 men of Israel as a result! That’s not funny. God expects His people to uphold and revere His glory. He holds us to a higher standard. We have been redeemed by the precious blood of His Son. He will not allow us to trample underfoot the blood of His covenant. That is something of which we should always be cognizant! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john