05/15/2019 DAB Transcript

1 Samuel 17:1-18:4, John 8:21-30, Psalms 111:1-10, Proverbs 15:11

Today is the 15th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you as we move ourselves through the middle of the week and I guess…I guess halfway through today, technically, is the halfway point of through the month of May. So, welcome to the middle of May. It’s great to be here with you. So, here in the middle of the week and in the middle of the month, we find ourselves in the middle of the book of first Samuel and we’ve been learning about Israel’s first King, Saul. And yesterday we came into contact with this guy named David and we’re going to find that David and Saul’s story are going to get very intertwined in very interesting ways and we will find some very good wisdom as that story becomes a mirror into our own lives. And, so, we’ll take the next step forward. We’re reading from the Voice Translation this week. First Samuel chapter 17 verse 1 through 18 verse 4.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in modern-day Israel in the Shfela, which is the low lands south west of Jerusalem lies a narrow and fertile valley called the Valley of Elah and on either side of that valley there are hills, they rise up and then roll away. And in ancient times this valley was the borderline between Philistia and Israel and there are many cities along this valley. So, Azekaha, which was named in the Scriptures today, Socoh, which was named in the Scriptures today, Shaaraim, the road that passes by the city of Shaaraim was mentioned today. And, so, this is the site of the great showdown, right, in the very, very, very popular story of David and Goliath. But we have traveled to the story of David and Goliath in context and through the Scriptures and so we’ve seen that there’s a king in Israel and his name is Saul and his greatest fear is what everybody thinks about him and this has stripper the kingdom away from him. This has brought him into terrible error and rebellion. And, so, this kid David shows up he plays harp and all this, but what happens in the Valley of the Elah today is what enmeshes their lives inseparably because no one is willing to go fight that giant. And, incidentally, Goliath of Gath, that city exists as an archaeological ruin. It’s a very active archaeological site today. They find all kinds of Philistine stuff, all kinds of things about the history of Gath even as they dig now. So, Gath is in the Promised Land films. It’s a place that we’ve been and filmed. Actually, all the cities mentioned today are places that we’ve been and filmed. Most of them are inaccessible by bus like Shaaraim, up on the side of the hill of the Valley of Elah, you’ve gotta hike there. So, anyway, we know the story. There’s this giant, he’s out there taunting the armies of God, and David comes along and he’s listening to all this and he’s listening to all the soldiers and the soldiers are like, “you know, the one who kills as giant has no taxes, his families free from taxes, he gets to marry into the royal family.” You know, like…and so David being this young man is just like, “wait, what?”, you know, like, “tell me that again.” And it’s really interesting because David’s big brother, right, his oldest brother happens to be listening to his little brother ask questions and he just shames him. He’s like, “I know your heart. You just want to be here to watch the battle. Like, I know what’s going on here.” And David’s like, “can’t I even ask a question?” It’s just that little aside in this story should let us know, because I’ve been at ministry long enough to know that so many of the wounds of our lives and I’m coming from our brothers and sisters from our nuclear family. And, so, we can go back thousands of years into this story and see just a little aside in the Bible and know, like, this has been going on a long time. You know, I mean, what a wounding thing to say to your little brother. But at the end of the day what’s got David so perturbed is that this giant, this person is willing to insult God. That’s what’s got David so upset. And, so, as the story goes, we know that David goes down into the valley and picks up some stones. And there’s a little stream that runs through that valley. And there’s little stones in it. And he probably didn’t, you know, like in my minds-eye, as I grew up with the story, I’m thinking like golf ball size rocks, but probably not, probably not, probably more like small stones. After all, this stone, according to the Scripture, sunk into the forehead of the giant, right? So, it would have to be like more like some kind of a small projectile, likely. Anyway, Saul insults David. They exchange words. David says some pretty intimidating and powerful things about the power of God that is about to be displayed and shown in the life of the giant. And, so, David starts running, he starts running to face him, a stone flies, the giant falls over, and just like that, just like that, David goes from total obscurity to a national hero. Like, that moment changed his life forever. And his popularity, as we’ll see, David’s popularity that comes on like a tidal wave has a profound effect on a very insecure king Saul. So, so far in first Samuel we’ve been watching Saul’s insecurities and fears as they consistently undermine his own leadership. And from this point forward though, David and Saul’s lives are entangled and it will open entirely new levels of paranoia and drama for Saul. But it will also offer dramatic opportunities for reflection on our own heart and our own motivations.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for this story that we’re in and we thank You that each person that we encounter in Your word and each story that is told in Your word, it offers us the opportunity to certainly to read it but if will open our hearts, it will read us. So, come Holy Spirit would pray as we move through the remainder of this week and get deeper into this story. Come Jesus we ask in Your mighty name. Amen.

Announcements:

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And something is going on around here today and I’ll only be mentioning this today because they’ll be gone by tomorrow. A couple times a year, once or twice a year, we get some stock of Clean Canteens, Daily Audio Bible Clean Canteens because they are the best, the best thing I have ever found to drink coffee or tea from. And, you know, kind of a coffee snob over here a little bit, although I’ve been drinking a lot…a lot more tea lately. But, as you probably know, we roast our own Wind Farm coffee and we have our own tea. And, so, this has been going on for years and years. And years ago I went in pursuit of the greatest thing to drink that coffee from, something that will keep it warm, right? I used to use those little boilerplate things that you plug into the wall, right, and you set your coffee cup on the boilerplate and it kind of keeps your cup warm overtime. But I realized, you know, every five minutes it gets worse and worse and worse, right? And the coffee starts tasting like liquid pencil lead. So, I was looking, and I was out on the West Coast in Oregon that I first encountered my first Clean Canteen. And it was in a coffee shop and I bought it and I was like this…this looks great and I never turned back. We then contacted Clean Canteen. And, so, we make Daily Audio Bible Clean Canteens a couple of times a year. So, these are the 16-ounce clean canteens, the large ones with the café lid 2.0. So, they don’t spell when you knock them over, at least if you have them closed. And these will keep your coffee and/or hot tea hot for a long time. I pour myself a cup in the morning and I’m still drinking my hot beverage in the afternoon. And if you put something cold in it, I mean, like if I put ice water in it, which I have done, yeah, I’m still drinking ice water with ice in it a day later. So, they’re awesome. They’re double-walled surgical stainless practically indestructible. I’ve had the same one for years and years and carried it all over the world with me. But they’re not cheap for us to get and so we don’t keep them stocked in the warehouse. So, Clean Canteens are now available at dailyaudiobible.com in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Lifestyle section. But 24 hours from now, not likely. So, jump in and get them while you can and check out the other resources that are available for the journey that we are on day by day step-by-step through the Scriptures this year.

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And that is it for today. I’m Brian and I love you and I’ll be waiting for you right here tomorrow.