1 Samuel 20:1-21:15 ~ John 9:1-41 ~ Psalm 113:1-114:8 ~ Proverbs 15:15-17
Today is May 17th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today and how is your week going? Here we are in the middle of it all and we’ll turn a corner and head toward the backside of the week. We’re reading from the Names of God Bible this week and we’re in the intriguing story right now with King Saul and a young David and just what gets brought up in the two of them because they are in proximity to each other and what that can mean for our lives. So 1 Samuel chapter 20, verse 1 through 21, verse 15 today.
Commentary
Okay, if it wasn’t clear that Saul wants to kill David (and it was clear, by the way), but if it wasn’t clear, it is very clear now. And Jonathan, David’s best friend, the son of the king, the prince of Israel, he knows it’s true and so he has to help his best friend get away. It’s just a pretty sad scene because we’re seeing, like we talked about, where the insecurity and unsettledness and people-pleasing of Saul, the things that intimidate him are taking his life over and they are affecting the way that he leads. So you see that Saul has become very obsessed about David. He’s very jealous about David, but he is also very, very insecure and he’s isolating himself and he’s getting stranger and stranger and stranger as it goes because that is kind of how that works. So his insecurity and his isolation are also turning into paranoia and just all kinds of things are going on inside of Saul.
David, on the other hand, he didn’t deserve any of this. He didn’t ask for any of this. David had to grow up really fast all of a sudden. One morning his father sends him to the battle lines to bring his brothers some supplies and see how things are going and the next thing you know he is like a national hero. The next thing you know he’s killed the giant Goliath. So it’s been a whirlwind ever since I’m sure with some really, really wonderful days, but David had to grow up fast. He had to grow up in the limelight. He had to grow up really fast and then all of a sudden now it is pretty clear he’s gone from national treasure, like national hero to fugitive, outlaw on the run and being pursued by the king of Israel, this one man.
So we see like a desperation. He flies to a priest and gets himself a weapon and gets him a little bit of supplies and then he goes to Gath. So he’s literally left the borderlands. He’s left Israel and is seeking asylum with the Philistines. He goes to Gath, which is this nearby city that happens to be the hometown of Goliath. That’s how pressed in David is, ‘it would be more safe for me to go to Gath, the hometown of the giant that I killed, than to be in my own homeland right now.’
So David has no really good options and really hasn’t done anything but be loyal, faithful, a good servant to the king, a good leader to the soldiers and David has become a warrior in the process with nowhere to go and King Achish, once they figure out who David is, it is not a good environment for David to maybe lay his head down to rest in so he has to pretend he’s insane just to get out of there. And we’ll pick that story up tomorrow. But it is just important to see kind of the diverging paths. Everything that is happening in David’s life as far as him being on the run and an outlaw is completely a repercussion of Saul’s insecurity. Things that we let run rampant in us, the lies that we have believed all this time that pull us into isolation and can keep making us stranger and stranger, they affect people around us and we’re seeing that in Saul’s life and we’re seeing that in David’s life.
Prayer
Father, we invite you into that. We invite you into that because the things that are making us feel less than, I mean, whether they have any basis in truth or not, they melt away in your face. So when we go to those places and we live in those places and we isolate ourselves, we’re essentially saying that you’re not capable of redeeming us. There is no new start for us. There is no mercy that is renewed in the morning for us. There is no all things new for us. That is pretty much what we’re saying. And that is not true. So we’re believing a lie and living into that and we’re watching where that road leads with Saul and we ask you to help us. We need your Holy Spirit’s power in those places, those wounds and agreements that we have made covenant with and lived from for so long that were never true in the first place. Come Holy Spirit into those places. We invite you. We reject those things. We reject anything that is not from you or of you. We reject anything in our lives that exalts itself above you. We pursue you with our whole heart. We love you, Lord. Come Holy Spirit, speak truth into our lives. Lead us on the path of life, we ask. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Announcements
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Hi. My name is Lynn and I love the Lord very much. I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for about two years now and just really enjoy it. I’m a first-time caller. Thank you, Brian, for having this podcast available and thank you to all the prayer warriors out there who are praying for each other. It is very comforting to listen to the prayer line and I too am praying for others as they call in. Today I’m calling thanking God for my mom and my grandma who both loved the Lord very much and are with him now and I’m missing them today on Mother’s Day and I pray for all those who are also missing their mothers this day especially and for you, Brian. I know it is especially hard that first Mother’s Day. I also ask prayer request for my adult son who will be deployed to Afghanistan next week. He serves in the Air Force Reserves and I just ask for prayers for his safety and for his family’s protection while he’s away. I also ask for prayers for my younger adult son and his wife and they are going through a rough patch in their marriage right now. I pray for healing, reconciliation, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and perseverance through the hard times. Lord, protect their marriage. Thank you, God, for being so faithful and so good. I love you, dear Lord Jesus. Amen.
Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Sandy from New Hampshire. I’m calling on Mother’s Day. I’m letting you know, Hardin family, that you’re in my thoughts and prayers and sending you a hug. It blessed my heart to hear different folks reaching out to you and that just touched my heart. I’m calling today to encourage people that are discouraged, that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. He comes to steal your joy. He comes to destroy your trust in God and he comes to kill your faith. And so I’m praying right now for people to have that assurance from the Lord that he is with you. He has not forsaken you. You are in the called and the beloved and he loves you. I’m praying for you today. So Father, in the name of Jesus, I give you thanks. I give you praise for each and every person in the Daily Audio Bible family. I pray, Father, for your Holy Spirit to speak in the hearts and to encourage. Lord, what the enemy has sought to steal, kill and destroy, I pray, Father, that you will refresh, refuel and revive each soul, in Jesus’ mighty name, for your glory, Lord God. This is Sandy in New Hampshire. God bless you.
Lee in New Jersey, I want to thank you again for your message on clarifying what it is I was trying to convey on the DAB Prayer Line. I appreciate your prayers so much and I want you to know that I am standing in agreement with asking God for wisdom and to reveal his plan to you as well as the inappropriate stuff that your daughter and other children are being exposed to on the Internet. I want to tell you that my brother __ had a very similar issue and what they did is they got one computer, a Mac, and put it in the living room in open space so that their two kids, when they need to do work, it is done in an open space and an open, controlled area and they monitor their time, so I hope that will help you. Rose in Queens, I love you, too. Will in Bozeman, MT, I’m praying for your brother’s cancer. I pray for full recovery and just ask God to give you wisdom and protect you and your family. Christy in Kentucky, your mama passed away. Girlfriend, I don’t know what to say except that I am standing in the gap and I’m praying for you. I want to thank Victorious Soldier. I want to thank Richard and Francine in Canada for calling in. Roselyn and Walta and Sheila in Texas, restoration of your marriage. __ along with the ladies I just mentioned, thank you so much for calling in and sharing your testimony. I think it is so important that while we call in for prayer reports, we also call in with stories of success and hope that that will bless you. So just sending everybody my love and big hugs to you. Cheers! Asia in Munich.
Good morning Dabbers. This is Walta, the burning bush that will not be devoured for the glory of our God and King. Guys, my beautiful mom, the one who showed me who God is and woman of faith, well, she has been diagnosed with colon cancer and today as I speak she is going into surgery for removal of a tumor. Please pray for my mom. She is the best mom in the world. Just pray for her to make it out safe and healed and that she will know that God is with her. He will never leave her nor forsake her in this entire process and to be with us as we pray for her healing and safe surgery and healing after the surgery. Thank you guys. I love you. I love you all. God bless.
Hi, this is Christine with a bumpy dog in North Carolina. I’ve been a long time listener and call in occasionally but I’m calling in today with a prayer request and a praise. I just listened to the May 11th broadcast and heard Keith. I’m so thankful that he called in and it’s so heartening that he said his son made poor choices in high school but now, as he’s in his 20s, he is maturing in his faith and can see Jesus in his heart. I’m also calling, Jordan had called in several times with requests as a teacher to work with several difficult children in his class. He’s praying to know when to push and yet keep a positive relationship between him and the students. So it is with both of these that I call for my son who also has made poor choices in school. He has suffered the consequences and as a parent it really hurt to watch him do that and it also hurts to administer consequences here at home in support of the school, but I’m now praying for wisdom and discernment from the Holy Spirit as I speak to my son as he has seen several serious situations involving other students where he has not seen a consistent way of administering justice. I’m praying for wisdom and discernment to know as a parent when I should speak up and model for him correct behavior and when I should be quiet and the ability to have that conversation with him about that delicate balance between mercy and justice as a follower of Christ. Thank you again for your prayers.