Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Samuel 18:12 (New Living Translation)

Saul was then afraid of David, for the Lord was with David and had turned away from Saul.

Saul feared David. How and why would Saul fear such a loyal servant as David.

(1) God was with David. Saul’s life had moved Saul away from God. Yikes. Bad situation.

(2) Then there is the human and practical side of this: David was a good warrior. He was quite good in the craft of killing people. I would not want David to be upset with me.

This was Saul’s situation. I don’t think Saul was aware of reason (1) as stated in the verse. I do think Saul was quite familiar with reasons (2).

How aware am I of reason (1)? Has God found favor with me? Has God lost favor with me? I am forgiven. The blood of the Christ covers my sins. Thanks be to God, and please God, help me with my unbelief.

Matthew 1:18 (New Living Translation)

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here we are in late January. A month ago, you probably heard this (hi)story a time or two.

There are a few sentences in the Bible that stand alone in that if we lost much of the rest of the Bible, we would be fine with just the sentence or two. This is one of them.

There was the fellow from a small town. God anointed that fellow to take away the sins of everyone in all time so that we may all be able to enter God’s presence. God put the seed of that fellow into the body of a virgin so that she would bring him into the world for us.

I suppose we could consider the preceding paragraph for a lifetime or a hundred lifetimes. It makes no sense. I makes all sense. It is the basis for everything before and since.

Praise God from whom all blessing flow—Thomas Ken.

1 Samuel 18:5 (New Living Translation)

Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war, an appointment that was welcomed by the people and Saul’s officers alike.

David was a good guy. David was good at what he did. Everyone liked David.

God had appointed David, through Samuel the prophet, to be King of the people one day.

Let’s consider these two things: (1) God appointed David, and (2) everyone liked David.

God does not always work in the realm of popularity contests. I would suggest that God rarely works in the real of popularity contests. In this case, however, God’s choice is popular. I doubt God chose David because he was popular. The other way around is more likely, i.e., the people could see why God chose David.

There is a cliche that goes something like this: God doesn’t choose the equipped, but God does equip the chosen. It means something like God chooses the person with the right heart and imparts the worldly skills in the right place at the right time. I think this is what God did here with David. A little sheep herder who was not the first in line in his own little sheep herding family was chosen by God. God then equipped David so that one day the people and the commanders of the army welcomed him.

Prepare for God’s service. Gain skills. Grow a heart. Love and serve others. Perhaps God will appoint me King or Commander or something and have others welcome me. Perhaps not. Still, love and serve others as Christ did.

1 Samuel 25:24 (New Living Translation)

She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say.

In the verse, she is Abigail—a woman married to a wicked and ill-tempered man named Nabal. He is David—one day to be king, but now a war hero who has fallen out of favor with the current King Saul and is on the run.

Her request, that will save the lives of dozens of innocent persons is, “Please listen.”

How simple can a request be? How important can a request be? This is the plea of persons everyday to other persons: please listen to me. Please acknowledge that I am here.

Many years ago, I was at a church social (yes, such events still exist). A little boy was there. He wasn’t an orphan, but he came on the church bus meaning that his parents were not there and were rarely “there.” He was tossing a ball into the air. He looked at me and pleaded, “Watch me.”

His request was the same as Abigail to David. His request was the same as every person who bends their heart towards God and pours out their life: please listen.

I thank God that there is prayer. I thank God that in prayer, God listens.

Luke 7:28 (New Living Translation)

Pray for those who hurt you.

Jesus is teaching large crowds of people. He tells them many simple yet powerful things—like the short sentence above. And I pause while I consider this. Pretty good advice. How often have I followed it? Not often.

There is much to consider here. Praying—taking my hurts to God—is good for me. It is also good for those who have hurt me. It shows some degree of forgiveness on my part, and that is good for me.

And then there is the, “Whew, finally got it off my chest,” factor. Here God. You take this burden. It was eating a big hole in me. And thank you for taking it.

Pray for those who hurt us. Give the hurt to God. God has always taken the hurt for us. And for that, among many other blessings, we give thanks.

Luke 2:17 (New Living Translation)

After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

The Messiah had been born in a stable and lay in a manger. Sheep herders, who were supposed to be working but had abandoned their jobs, were telling everyone what they saw. They told everyone what the angel told them.

Let’s pause here a moment. Sheep herders claimed that an angel visited them out in the middle of nowhere and told them about the long-promised Messiah. Yeah. Right. Sure. Been in the fields a bit too long, have ya’?

The story was crazy. Nevertheless, it happened. An angel appeared and told them about a stable in town. The sheep herders went there and saw it just as the angel had said. They were not nuts. It was all true.

They had to tell everyone—no matter how crazy the story sounded.

Here we are today. We simply have to tell everyone about how the Son of God lived on earth and allowed himself to be executed so that our sins would be wiped out and… sounds pretty crazy on the face of it, huh? Like the sheep herders, sometimes ya’ just gotta’ tell everyone.

We have to tell everyone—no matter how crazy the story sounds.

1 Peter 2:12 (New Living Translation)

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

This verse continues the thought from the previous one. We are passing through this world as “sojourners.”

While passing through, behave in a manner that the locals will notice. “Hey, look at those folks. They don’t act like us. What’s up with them?”

Is there something different about us? There should be. Is there something worth seeing? There should be. Even when tired of the journey, there should be.

1 Samuel 19:17 (New Living Translation)

“Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.

“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”

Michal is King Saul’s daughter. She is also David’s wife. She knew her father meant to kill her husband. She lied to the King’s men who came after David. Her father asks, “Why?”

She lies to her father. Instead of, “David is my husband. It is my duty and my love to protect him,” she lies again. “David was going to kill me.”

Liars lie. That is the definition.

Sinners sin. That is the definition.

Uh oh. Sinners. That includes me. Just can’t keep from it, huh? We are stuck here in this sinful world. It’s all around us. It rubs off on us. We struggle with it. We are forgiven. We have hope. Thank you God. Please help me in my unbelief.

Titus 3:9 (New Living Translation)

Do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These things are useless and a waste of time.

The different translations use different words for the word following “foolish.” Examples are arguments, controversies, and so on. All the translations use the word “foolish” and all the translations advocate avoiding these things.

What is foolish and why should we avoid it? In this case, foolish was old things that no longer matter. Who are your ancestors? Did they drop a chewing gum wrapper on the sidewalk? Did they chew gum at all?

This is Christianity. This is church. This is serious. If we are wrong, we go to … well, you know. But is chewing gum and sidewalk litter about going to … well, you know?

No, they are not. They may be important to me, or thee, or that fellow over behind that tree (an old expression), but they are not important. They fall under foolish whatever.

Am I willing to let go of foolish whatever even though it has been important to me all my life? Please God, help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 25:8 (New Living Translation)

…So would you be kind to us, since we have come at a time of celebration? Please share any provisions you might have on hand with us and with your friend David.

Ten of David’s men visited Nabal. David’s men had shown kindness to the shepherd of Nabal in the past. At this time, they as for kindness in return. This is part of the (hi)story of David, Nabal, and Nabal’s wife—who would become David’s wife—Abigail. Nabal was rich, crude, and mean…not a good combination.

Asking Nabal for kindness was like…well, just a waste of time.

This translation uses the word “share.” Would Nabal share? We try to teach small children to share. It appears that Nabal never learned that lesson.

Why was Nabal mean and crude? What went wrong in his life? Why was kindness not part of him?

It appears that no one showed much kindness towards Nabal. David’s reaction to Nabal was to sharpen the swords, rally the troops, and go kill him. Abigail intervened.

Ever meet a crude and mean person (with or without the rich part)? Ever return kindness in response the crude and mean? Please God, help me in my unbelief.