2 Samuel 1:1-2:11, John 12:20-50, Psalms 118:19-29, Proverbs 15:27-28
Today is the 22nd day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it’s wonderful to be here with you today, this day that begins another week. And, so, we open the door to it and open our hearts to it and look upon it. It’s all out there in the future and it’s our story to tell in the adventure of life that we are on with the Lord and with each other as we move day by day step-by-step through the Scriptures. And, so, this week we will read from the New English translation. And of course, like every day we pick up right where we left off. It just so happens the that we left off yesterday by concluding the book of first Samuel, which brings us to the book of second Samuel.
Introduction to second Samuel:
And we went through all of this when we started first Samuel, about how first and second Samuel and first and second Kings were all one text originally and have been broken apart over the years for reference. And, so, we know who Samuel is. We know his story. We know how he became the final judge of Israel and how he was a prophet of God that anointed Israel’s first king. Saul. And then we spent a good portion of the book of first Samuel, focusing in on that first king, king Saul and his character. But part of the story of King Saul is the intertwining of David in his life and how that really unsettles him because Samuel anoints David as the king to replace Saul, which means Saul will not have a dynasty and he will not have an heir to sit upon his throne. This very, very much destabilizes Saul and then Samuel dies. And in a pretty dramatic fashion just as we reached the conclusion of first Samuel we see Saul go to a medium bring Samuel up from the dead and Samuel tells Saul that the kingdom indeed has been stripped from him, and that tomorrow he and his sons will be where he is, which means they will have left human life and reached the conclusion of their earthly journey, which is what happened the following day in a battle with the Philistines. So, now as we turn the page and move into second Samuel Israel has no King. And we may know that David becomes the second king of Israel. We may know that, but it doesn’t just happen by default. And, so, whereas first Samuel gave us a really intimate glimpse into the life of King Saul second Samuel puts the same kind of focus on the soon to be king, David. And, so, we will have a sharp contrast between Saul and David as if we haven’t already. But we will be able to focus in on the character and integrity of David. And as with Saul, there is a lot for us to learn about ourselves in the coming pages. And, so, with that we begin. Second Samuel chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 11.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this new week that we are entering into, and we thank You for this new territory as we begin to focus our attention in second Samuel on the life of David. We invite Your Holy Spirit to come. May we drink deeply, and may we learn much as we continue into the pages that are in front of us. Come Holy Spirit and plant what we’ve read in the past week into our hearts as we continually ask that we are continually planting goodness inside of us, so that in due time we will continually be harvesting the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Come Jesus we pray. In Your mighty name, we ask. Amen.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning I’m Christy from Kentucky, the other Christy. I just heard from the teacher, soccer coach, mom, wife that is overwhelmed and burdened and my first thought was gratitude. Father God, I just thank You that we have teachers that know where their strength comes from, that no to reach out in prayer. Lord, I thank You for these godly women that are teaching our children, that are coaching our children. Lord she is overwhelmed. Lord, I ask that You give her the grace to have moments of time to rest in Your presence and to seek You and to allow You just to flood her with love and comfort and to know that You’re in this with her. Lord, I ask that You place a hedge of protection around her marriage, her family and all those girls that she’s coaching and her students. Lord, I ask that no flaming arrows have any lasting effects. Lord, I just praise You and I thank You for this woman. Just continue to give her strength in Your wisdom in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Hi this is My Heart Belongs to Jesus from Minnesota. First time calling in been listening for three years. I have four daughters and five sons. Kelly your prayer request today just touched my heart. You’re on a journey with your daughters and it will be a bumpy road. All four of my daughters have gone through a time or going through a time where a space that they had a hard time respecting or loving me. As a mom, man this is painful, and I can hear that pain in your voice. Keep praying for them. I know that’s hard but don’t show anger towards them. Have a humble heart. Be gentle with them. Let them see that God is the most important thing in your life. Trust the Lord and when you struggle trusting God, ask Him to help you. Beg Him for wisdom. And on a side note, I would recommend charging your daughter for rent. I’ve had four and soon to be five children back home for seasons of their lives. I’ve had each one of them pay according to their ability. They may not have liked it and I might not feel comfortable asking them, but it helps them move forward as independents. Them…they are adults, and we need to help them see that they’re adults. And by giving them an opportunity to pay rent it helps them in that stage. And it might also help you in your financial ability. You might see it as a blessing. As far as Tony, I just want to say thank you for all of your…poems are so insightful. There’s a young man who I know lost his mum a few years ago and taking care of his brother. You are still on my heart, and I still remember your mother and what a sweet woman she was. I thank you guys all. I really do pray for you, and I’m just blessed to be a part of this whole family around the Global Campfire. Thank you so much again. I appreciate all of you. Have a blessed day. My Heart Belongs to Jesus.
Hi family I just wanted you to please help me lift up my daughter in prayer. You have prayed for her before. She…this school year has not gone well for her. She is in 7th grade and has not made excellent choices. Kind of an understatement. But she is working hard at turning things around and her heart is for the Lord and I’m so thankful most of all for that. Over the last week and a half or two weeks she finally put up a boundary with her bad news friends and told them that she didn’t want to be their friend anymore. And, so, of course they wanted to beat her up and yesterday that happened. I can’t tell you what that has done to my mom’s heart. It kind of took me back a couple months ago when to when my parents both died. I really really was scared for her and she’s OK. And she’s been really strong. Like, I just dropped her off at school and she’s like mom there’s no…I mean, I can’t avoid this, it’s always going to be this way, that, you know, she’s going to have questions no matter when she goes back and if she stays home, she’s just gonna have more homework. So, just…would you pray for her, and would you pay for those girls? Pray for my heart. I am…there were several kids around her, surrounding her, calling her names, and laughing when this girl beat her up. It just breaks my heart. I can’t fathom somebody standing around watching somebody suffer like that and not doing anything. It reminded me of Jesus how people were taunting Him when people were coming His suffering. And it just breaks my heart. So, I covet your prayers a lot as usual. I love you guys.
Hello Daily Audio Bible this is Ryan from Santa Barbara. I just prayed for all the people that came in and shaved requests and I’m just super blessed by the word and prayer really. Just wanted to share that and that you guys help me as I navigate my…my 20s and my prayer life. And, yeah, there was somebody…I…I called in probably a year ago and asked for prayer and there was somebody else from Santa Barbara and you reached out to me I think on Facebook, and I somehow lost you. Please reach out again. And I think that's…that’s all. I’ll just pray for you guys. God bless the Daily Audio Bible. God bless Brian. God, I thank You so much that You have built a community in an invisible way, and I just thank You so much for how they’ve all blessed me with their sharing and their prayers. And I just thank You so much Lord that there’s one of You and there’s one church and You’re just so good to confirm that to me through Daily Audio Bible. And I thank You for Your word. I think You had a sharp and active, sharper than any two edge or dividing between joint and marrow judging the thoughts and intents of the heart. In Jesus’ name. God bless you guys. And have a great day and be encouraged. Your God reigns. This is Ryan from Santa Barbara.