1 Samuel 29:1-31:13, John 11:55-12:19, Psalm 118:1-18, Proverbs 15:24-26
Today is the 21st day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we bring to a close another work week. We’re actually bringing to a close another one of the books that we get to read together. We’ve been working our way through 1 Samuel, as…as we all know learning about King Saul, getting to know David. After we learned Samuel him…himself, his story, the final judge of Israel and the prophet and priest of God. So, we will conclude 1 Samuel today and then move into 2 Samuel tomorrow. So, today we’re reading from the English Standard Version. 1 Samuel 29, 30 and 31.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we conclude the book of 1 Samuel and release that. We’ll move into 2 Samuel tomorrow and we can see there’s kind of a line here between these, even though they were one manuscript, there’s kind of a line here. Saul, the King, the 1st King of Israel, has fallen dead on Mount Gilboa. So, as his life comes to an end that’s how 1 Samuel comes to an end and then we’ll focus upon David and his ascension to the thrown, which does not just happen by default, that is actually a…a process because Israel’s King is dead. Alright, so their 1st king but the King is dead, and the Princes are dead. What’s supposed to happen is that the kingdom is supposed to…to pass to the next son, they’re dead so this creates a power vacuum that David has to find himself in. So, David’s kind of gotten sucked into this whole story and his life has radically changed and we’ll focus on that as we go forward. But let’s remember now as we say goodbye to Saul for this time through the scriptures, let’s remember what we’ve learned because Saul was a very insecure person, a good-looking man, looked the part, domineering, all of that but…but deep inside himself very insecure and that led to paranoia and erratic behavior and just all kinds of stuff that we…that we witnessed. And we even examined our own lives while we were going through that because we like to think that we’re the mighty warriors but that’s only sometimes like once in a while. But often we…we can find that the same kinds of fears that…that Saul had inside of our own lives. It’s just that they ran away with Saul and just pulled him in so many profoundly unhealthy directions. And, so, we…we release that story.
And speaking of erratic, paranoid, strange behavior that’s what we see shaping up in the book of John. They want Jesus dead and they have already determined like it’s better that He’s dead then everybody’s dead. And we can see like the…the struggle that they’re in because they got this…the whole political power with the Roman Empire, all this power sharing going on between the Sanhedrin and the Romans as long as…as long as the religious leaders of the Jews can keep people under control then they can have their religion. And, so, they’re like, “yeah, Jesus just has to be sacrificed because everybody’s going after Him. And He doesn’t seem to want to go to war with the Romans. So, everybody’s going after Him and who knows what’s going to happen. It’s better that He’s dead than all of us are dead.” And now Jesus is back in Jerusalem and He’s with Lazarus. And, so, they’re like, “this…this guy that Jesus raised from the dead we’ve got to kill Him the second time because his witness is making everybody go after Jesus.” So, it’s a bit erratic. You have a person in your midst performing miracles in the name of God but…but just not playing by all of your rules and…and definitely flying in the face of some of them and challenging them and yet the people are flocking to the…to this person. And then He raises someone from the dead. And you would think, you would think that at that point everybody would have to stop for a second and go like, “wait, we need to really talk this through because like if we kill Lazarus after he’s been resurrected what’s to say that he’s not gonna rise from the dead again.” Like, they’re just trying to figure out a way to do away with Jesus, do away with Lazarus get this whole thing behind them, let this vanish into the past so that everybody can return to the status quo before Jesus, which of course the world never did. It still hasn’t. But that’s where we find ourselves in the book of John and we’re beginning to kinda turn the corner toward home. And it will be the last journey. I’ve mentioned it each time that we go…you know, through any of these important stories in the gospels that we pay attention, that we…that we don’t just think to ourselves, “I’ve heard this a thousand times”, that we actually truly engage because once we leave the gospels, we won’t be in this territory anymore for the rest of the year. We’ve got plenty of ground to cover. It’s not like we’re…we’re not gonna have anything to talk about, but it’s a really, really beautiful, special time of the year when we go through the gospels and we begin our year that way and then we just walk with Jesus all the way in…into the warmer weather at least here in the northern hemisphere. And, so, that’s kinda where we’re…where we’re at. We’re moving our way through the final of the gospels. And, so, let’s pay attention.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word every single day and we thank You for each other most every single day. It’s Your word and us together moving through the scriptures that has become such a profound thing in each of our lives over these years. And, so, we thank You for that and we ask that You plant the scriptures in our hearts and that they would be cultivated, that we would collaborate in cultivating…that we might become mature and strong and aware and awake, have our eyes opened and our ears opened so that we are very clear on our path as we walk with You through this life. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. 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 and Praise:
Hi family this is Soaring on Eagles Wings from Canada. Just finished listening to the community prayers for March 8th and I heard Angel Heart. And I sense you are in a desperate place, unable to figure out what’s happening to you. I don’t understand it, but I do know that the Spirit of God lives within you and inside of you. Where the Spirit of God dwells, no other spirit can reside. The enemy bombards our mind day and night trying to defeat us with thoughts of…of negative issues preventing us from recognizing who we are in Christ and also who’s we are. So, you get dressed, you’re in a war, you need your helmet of salvation that so…that he…he may knock on your armor…helmet but he can’t enter. Put on your breast plate of righteousness, your shield of faith, your sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Your belt of truth of who you are, and your feet shod with the gospel of peace. You will not be defeated. And if you need to go and get some counseling, go ahead. But I am praying and asking our Abba Father to reach down and touch you and remove all these issues that are blocking your…your…your vision and…and your hearing. May he open up your eyes to the truth. And family she needs to be…have prayers every single day so that she can hear it, so that she can know that we are standing with her and no enemy’s going to defeat her. So, in the name of Jesus I pray that whatever is causing you, all those issues and confusion we’ll be destroyed in the name of Jesus. We’re praying for you. I love you sister. I’ll pray for you…
Oh Dwayne, I heard the anguish and pain in your heart that only God our Father can truly understand. Lord, You see Your servant Dwayne and he is hurting tremendously for his son. The righteous cried out and the Lord hears and delivers them over the farthest travels. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and save such as have a contrite spirit. Heavenly Father, I pray today, and I ask You Lord God that You would put your righteous right hand around the shoulder of this father who’s hurting so badly, who is crying out for help for his son, Nathan. Lord, wherever Nathan is at this moment I pray God that You would reach down your hands Lord and speak to his heart Lord, give him a receptive heart to receive Your love Lord. Lord I pray also that you will comfort this father Lord and help him to continue to trust in You because You are God, You are the God that parted the Red Sea and there’s nothing impossible for You to do. Thank You for what You are going to do for this family.
Hi, this is Diane from Pennsylvania. I’m calling in a prayer request for my husband Dave. Over the past year he has had esophagectomy surgery and he had some margins that still had cancer. So, he’s been going through rounds of chemotherapy since November. And we just got the test results that didn’t work. So, I’m praying for wisdom for the doctors and us as we navigate what to do next. We are putting it all in the Lords hands and whatever He has for us. His will be done. But I…we’ve been married for 53 years and it’s hard. So, I’m just calling in and thanking you for your prayers. I love you and I thank you and I love you Jesus, thank you.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Guardian from New England. I just got done listening to the…the May 17th podcast and I’ve been a listener for…this is my 5th year now. And I have to say they’re have been many, many times when…Brian, when I…when I’ve listened to your…your…your teaching at the end of the readings and I’ve been just amazed and awe struck by the way you boil the message down to its essence and really drive the point home and sometimes hit me right between the eyes. And today was one of those days. I just wanted to say how much I…I loved your…your message about us and the boxes we make for God and…and then us trying to stuff Him into those boxes. And, so…so, I just wanted to say thank you for that and…and also for your beautiful words about, you know, look for…look for the light, look for where the love is growing and…and that’s where the kingdom of heaven is here, you know, where it’s coming here on earth. And, so, thank you Brian for that. And again, this is long overdue because you’ve had so many of those moments for me over the last 5 years. So, thank you for that and in…in my remaining time here I just want to say I heard the request for prayer for Julianna, the women who’s 7 months pregnant and in the hospital with…with COVID pneumonia. So, I just wanna say a prayer for her. So, Father we lift up Julianna in prayer and we hope…we pray that You could bring her healing from COVID so that she could get back home and finish up her pregnancy in the comfort of her own home and with her family and so she can be back home and with her husband and their other child. So, we…we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. And thank you all everybody have a blessed day.
Good morning today is May 19th, 2021 this is New Vision calling out of New York. I’m calling just to uplift a caller, I don’t know the young man’s name, but he called in and he wanted prayer because of pornography. And I know he said he knows a lot of men who was suffering from this. I want to tell you that it’s not just men, it’s women, it’s not just young people, it’s old people. And brother you got this. Know that that feeling and that urge anytime it comes up, there is a way of escape, okay? And I need for you to stand fast. I also need you to guard your gates. For me they were little things that lead up to me getting to that point, certain music that I would listen to, certain people I would be around, it led to that. So, know that you have to guard your gates. I also wanted to pray for a young lady that said she was doing a marathon and she needed prayer. The fact that God placed you in that arena, please know that you are number 1 every day. You’ve already one the biggest race and that’s the race for Jesus. I also wanted to pray for those who are suffering from mental health. I work in law enforcement and a lot of times I see people who are incarcerated and their suffering from mental issues, they don’t need to be locked up. There are children, adults and children, who have never dealt with trauma in their life and the only thing they know to do is to act out, so they’re arrested for it. But they’re a lot of people walking around undiagnosed with mental health. So, I just want us to really just keep those people in prayer everyday those who are suffering from depression and trauma and a spirit of rejection and abandonment and it comes out in other forms. So, thank you I love you all, I love the DAB family. God Bless. Pray for me and I will be continuing to pray for you. Amen.