Category Archives: Psalms

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Psalm 7

Psalm 7

1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands-
4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe–
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God, decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoplesgather around you. Rule over them from on high;
8 let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.
10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.
12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.
15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.
16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.
17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

Verse nine is the theme of this psalm “O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.” It contains our acknowledgment of who God is and what should be the theme of our daily prayer. I Corinthians 2:11 states “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?” should be your guiding light when dealing with others. Stop and think how many times in course of your daily routine that you are quick to pass judgment on a person’s actions. Stop and think how many times in course of your daily routine that you hear others around you who are quick to pass judgment on a person’s actions. But in reality, do we really know what they are thinking? No, we can try to perceive their thoughts but only they know what they are really thinking. But God does know the thoughts and intents on the mind and the heart of all individuals. So, our prayers should be: God bring to an end the violence of the wick and make the righteous secure. I Corinthians 2:11, 12, 16 tells us how to have the mind of Christ; “In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” As you walk daily with Christ and study his word daily you should see a transformation in your own life of the striping away of the old self and the putting on the new man. God’s judgments are based on the thoughts and the intents of a man and not the actions of man as portrait in this psalm. I Corinthians 2:16 bring out an important reason to study God’s word “That we may understand what God has freely given us”. Surely goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I pray that this is the peace that you have with Christ tonight.

The Way of Our Walk

“And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?” – Genesis 50:19

As you go about your journey on this earth, do you have to be in control of the events in your life? Genesis 50 gives us a picture of how Joseph followed his father’s last wishes on his burial in the land on Canaan. Joseph took control and followed his father’s wishes and made everything happen the way Jacob wanted it to happen. However, after the funeral his brothers sent a message to him referring to Jacob’s request for the brothers to carry out concerning their past sin to Joseph. They were living in his presence however; since, they still had not confessed their sin and asked for his forgiveness, they probably did not have the close brotherly relationship with him as they should. Now with Jacob’s death they feared that Joseph would now carry out his our justice and give them the judgment that their sin desired. They were now at the mercy of Joseph who had the power to carry out judgment with his own hands.

Joseph’s reply was simple: “Fear not: for am I in the place of God?” Joseph knew the time, the place, and who was going to judge all men. The time is in God’s hand and he and he only knows it. The place is before him. And finally, it will be God who judges us. However, as you go about your journey on this earth you can partake of an attribute of God just as Joseph did. This attribute is our ability to forgive others. As Christ preached in Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” and then as Christ expanses on this in verse 14 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”. This was probably the thought that Joseph had then he replies to his brothers “I cannot judge you for your evil, however I can forgive you” and this is also the way in which we must walk.

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Psalm 6

Psalm 6

A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
5 No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

In the devotional My Utmost for His Highest for April 2, 2009 Oswald Chambers writes “The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others.” as the spiritual insight that we need to portray in our daily walk. This psalm is an example of those events that take place in our life in which we know God, but we cannot grasp an understanding on how God is using those events in our life at that moment to shape us for his purpose.

In this psalm David knows the Lord. He knows of God’s anger and discipline and he knows of his unfailing love. He had witness how God had used Saul to united Israel as a nation, but also witness how God had deserted Saul when he refused to obey God. He saw the pain and suffering that Saul went through when the Spirit of the Lord left Saul. He also saw the type of person that Saul became when he forsook the Lord’s way and pursued his own path. However, he also saw how much pain and suffering Saul could inflict on others. Events such as when Saul had Doeg the Edomite kill eighty-five members of the priest family were hard for David to grasp when it came to understanding God intervention in the affairs of man.

As I study the issues that David must have faced in this psalm and apply it to the issues that I face I realize that David is wrestling with gaining an understanding of the events surrounding him. The more I study the psalms the more I realize that David was writing his psalms to help him understand the nature and attributes of God. David knew that God was in control, however, he also realized that evil existed in the world and that this evil was godless. Godliness and godlessness cannot exist together. Therein lays the conflict that we see in the world today, those who walk in the way of the righteous and those who opposes the righteous way of God. The major issue that I see today is that many believers strive to make a stand against all unrighteous that they see exist all around them and take matters into their our hands, instead of leaving it to God. We should become like David and become obsessed with the pursue of knowing God and living a blameless life. If we truly believe like David; then we like him, will know that the four results of verses nine and ten will take place.

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy

the LORD accepts my prayer.
All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed

they will turn back in sudden disgrace

Living a blameless life is different than living a perfect life. One of the earliest struggles that I faced as a Christian was striving for human perfection. Paul also gives us an example of his struggle with living a life of perfection in Philippians chapter three. Paul purpose changed from striving to live a life of perfection to knowing God and the power of his resurrection. He sought the fellowship of Christ suffering and being made conformable unto God’s nature. Oswald Chambers summarizes Christian perfection in his devotional from December 2 as “Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life.” So as we go through times in our life that we cannot understand God’s leading look at them as a time that God is making us conformable unto His nature.

Thought for the day. Do I really know the ten commandments?

Thou shall have no other gods before me.
Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image.
Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shall not kill.
Thou shall not commit adultery.
Thou shall not steal.
Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shall not covet.

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Psalm 5

Psalm 5

1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, considers my sighing.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.
6 You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.
7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies– make straight your way before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

As you read this chapter think back to the examples that God has given to us in the Old Testament as examples of righteousness and unrighteousness lifestyles. Also, as you reflect on the psalms remember that the writer and the readers did not have all the scripture that we have now. The Pentateuch (the writings of Moses) were the main writings that David or the writers of the other psalms were referring to as God’s Word or his Law. However, in this law they were given examples such as Cain and Abel, Isaac and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, and others as an illustration on how they should live their life on this earth.

This is a psalm related to prayer. The very reason I started my reading of the psalms several years ago was to help my prayer life. Prayer is the process of making request to God. As I have been studying the psalms in my quest to improve my prayer life, I have found out how important the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-15 is in a believer’s life. This prayer has five simple parts which are very important in guiding our prayer life.

  1. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
  2. Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
  3. Give us today our daily bread.
  4. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
  5. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Simply put we look to God for our daily needs. Leave the future to him. In the past few years my prayer request has change from praying for things to a prayer of becoming more Christ-like in my daily walk. As I take a close look at this psalm, the Lord’s prayer and the life of Christ from the Gospels I realized that our daily prayer is a prayer for God to need our physical needs and a prayer to guide us in the activities of the coming day. That all! In this process the things that God has taken out of my life and the things He has brought into my life has richly blessed me. The psalmist stated better than I could in verses eleven and twelve of this psalm. So just take refuge in Christ, rest in the peace he gives you, and enjoy the blessings he brings your way.

One of the interesting facts about the Bible is that it is a great history book of the nation Israel. One interesting period of this history is the first one hundred and twenty years of nation under the three kings: Saul, David, and Solomon. If we looked at the first one hundred and twenty years in American history 1789 – 1909 we can see how much God has blessed this nation just like Israel was blessed. This time period in American history would represent the time period of the presidents from George Washington to William Howard Taft. During this time period our nation grew from the thirteen original states to forty-six states. It grew from the western boundaries of the nation being the Appalachian Mountains to the western boundaries being the Pacific coast. It grew from a colonial state that just gained its independence to one of the most powerful nation in the world. When we look at the history of Israel during these one hundred and twenty years, we must consider that the growth of the nation of Israel was also similar to the growth of the America during her first one hundred and twenty years. It grew from a group of disorganized tribes to the most powerful nation on earth at that time. When studying the psalms, the reader must realize that much of the history of this book was written during the latter part of Saul’s reign and the reign of David as king. By understanding the history of this time period and the relationship between Saul and David, as well as the relationships of David with his sons and other officials we can grasp a better understanding of the psalms.

As one grows daily in the Lord, we learn that the disappoints that come into our life are usually self-imposed or imposed upon us by others. Yet, we listen as the inexperience and immature believer question situations in their life as to “why God would let this happen to me?”. The simple reply to their question is “Have you turned your eyes upon Jesus?”. The words from Helen Howarth Lemmel song Turned Your Eyes upon Jesus remind us that when we do turn our eyes upon Jesus that the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

One of the greatest signs that a believer walk is mature is where his or her focus on life lies. Is it on the things that causes the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life or is the focus on walking with Christ?

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Psalm 2

Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
3 “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

This psalm is about the Lord. As you look at this psalm you will see a lot of purple that represents the Lord and a lot of green which represents those against the Lord. However, the only red which represents the saints is found only in the last sentence. We are blessed (reread psalm one) our refuge is in him. It is not by our acts but by his grace that we are blessed. Therefore, heed verse twelve kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you be destroyed in your way. Notice that way is singular. In Psalm 1:6 David writes but the way of the wicked will perishes, this is the way that the son destroys in verse twelve of this psalm. Kiss the son is an act of reverence. Your way then is simply put to this one question “what do you think of Christ?” Is he the way, the truth and the light in your life?

As I read Psalm two, I wonder what the Lord told the two disciples going to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32) about this portion of the scriptures. In Luke 24:32 “And they said one to another, was not our heart burning within us, while he spoke to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures?” was a trip that one of my favorite Bible teachers stated as his dream trip. That short journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus was the best discourse on Old Testament theology that was ever delivered. Christ himself gives us the keys to understanding the scriptures in Luke 24:46,47 “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Simply put it is the gospel.

As I watch the news and listen to everyday discussions about the affairs of men, I see little refer being made to the King of Kings in either case. As I study the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters five through seven, I see the King of Kings presenting his kingdom and his principles to mankind. The theme of this psalm can be found in the first three verses. The people of this earth take their stand against God. Their goal is to break the chains that they state that God has placed upon them. These chains that the kings and the rulers want to break are simply the desire to set themselves up as gods so that men would worship them instead of God. As I study Isaiah fourteen verse twelve through seventeen, I realize that this was the same chains that Satan wanted to break. In Isaiah 14:12-17:

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?”

Just as Satan, these kings and rulers of the earth paid no heed to God’s law and disregard the honor due Him. However, God has set Christ up as King. As you study the gospels take a close look at the parables that Christ gave after his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The parables of the two sons, of the tenants, the wedding banquet, the ten virgins, and the talents all point to a returning Lord. As we approach each day are our eyes focused on the clouds and looking for the coming King or are we so focused on the daily activities around us and being part of this world that we have taken our eyes away from looking for the return of the coming King.

I was asked the other day if God ever laughs. Here in verse four of this Psalm, as well as Psalm 37:13 and Psalm 59:8 I have found the answer. God laughs at the wicked. In these three Psalms the issue that God laughs at is the stand the wicked have taken against God and his anointed One. He laughs that they believe that they can rebel against God and free themselves from his ways. God looks down from heaven and views this as foolishness. His advice is simply “serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling”. So be warned “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you will be destroyed in your way”.

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Psalm 1

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

As I start my quest of detailing my philosophy of life to my children over the next one hundred and fifty days, I will explore each of the one hundred and fifty Psalms and will focus on these four universal questions:

1. Does God exists?

2. Who am I?

3. Is there a correct way to live?

4. How can we live together?

Psalm one is a great stating point since all four of the questions are addressed. Does God exist? It is interesting that the very first verse of the Bible states “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In this Psalm God is the law giver, he is the judge, and the protector of the righteous. So, the very first Statement I must make in writing about my philosophy on life is the fact (the foundation) of my belief statement is that God is the creator of both heaven and earth.

The second question is what or who am I? If God is the creator of the world than does that means man is a creation? In this Psalm man is described as either walking with the wicked or meditating on the law of the Lord (the path of the righteous). It is interesting that this Psalm gives us a way to walk. Our walk or way seems to determine what or who we are. So, what is man? A creature created by God who has the gift of choose. The law of God was simple to Adam and Eve as Eve stated it the serpent: “And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” However, the counsel of the wicked changes God’s words: “And the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.” And as the story goes in Genesis chapter three, we realized that this was the fall of man. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons.” (ASV) As Paul writes in Roman five verses 17 through 19: For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.  So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life.  For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous. (ASV) So with first decision to disobey God by Adam the sinful nature was passed upon all mankind.

There with this sinful nature being a part of all mankind is there a correct way to live and if so, how can we live together? His Psalm address this path as the law of the Lord. But it not a law to know but to be mediated upon. Live is very complicated. And because of the sinful nature that exist in everyone we must follow David’s advice of mediating on God’s law both day and night.

As I was growing up one of the pictures that was in many Christian homes was an old man praying for his meal with a Bible next to him. Growing up I witness my grandparents finishing the evening by reading the Bible before bedtime. It is amazing how busy our lives have become that the simple pleasures of hiding God’s Word in our heart has lost it importance, The truth I want to leave my children is the importance of hiding God’s Word in your heart and mediating on it all day long. Life is not easy. However, I start the day out knowing to answers of two of the four major questions. Yes, God exist and is in control, and yes, I know I am a sinner saved by grace. The other two questions can only be answered daily by mediating on God’s Word. For it is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that helps my sinful nature grow closer to God.

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The one who sees me

Genesis 16:13

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (NIV)
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees me”; for she said, “Have I even seen Him here and lived after He saw me?” (NASB )
And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? (KJV)

As I study the Bible I use three Bibles, King James Version, New International Version, and the New American Standard Bible. As I was reading these verses this morning about Hagar after fled from Sarai into the wilderness, I decided to see if I had notes about this verse in my other Bibles. As I read this verse I noticed that they had the same reading for the name she gave God, but a different reading for Hagar’s reason for using this name.

Her name was for God (Yahweh or Jehovah) was El Roi (God Who Sees). She had witness the faith of Abram and knew of his devotion to his God. She had slept slept with him and was carrying his first-born child. She had been a servant to his wife and now had the role of giving him his desire of a son. However, Sarai was still her master, the one that controlled her life. So she was still a servant that was bearing her master’s husband a child and not the wife of Abram. All we know is that Sarai mistreated her causing her to flee. This sets up her meeting with the angel of the LORD.

In Genesis 16:8-12 it reads “And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” (KJV) In these verses the angel of the LORD gives Hagar a new assurance of her new role in Abram’s and Sarai’s life, and also a glimpse of her son’s life future. She now knows that the God that Abram serves also sees her.

However the meaning of the second half of verse thirteen is difficult to understand. The NIV reads “I have now seen the One who sees me.”, the NASB reads “Have I even seen Him here and lived after He saw me?”, and the KJV reads “Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” The NIV ends with a period and treats it as a statement and the NASB and KJV ends with a question mark and treats it as am amazing fact. As I read the NIV verse it makes me think that Hagar now has seen the God who sees her and realizes God as real as Abram does. However, in the other two versions it makes me realize that Hagar can’t believe she is still living after seeing God. Abram look to God as someone he could speak to face to face. Abraham plead for sparing Sodom from destruction is a good example of his relationship with God. Hagar on the other hand only had a fear of God. I believe she could not perceive that God would be involved in a person’s life. This belief can be seen in her life many years later when Sarah sent Hagar and Ishmael away from Abraham. In the desert as she was probably going back home toward Egypt she ran out of water. Believing her fifteen year or older son would die she cried for him. However, God appeared again unto her and again assured her of her son’s future.

As we study the scriptures, we must realize that God has given this Book as a guide for walking in the way. We read that at the end of Abraham’s life that both Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham. There must have been some type of relationship between the two brothers for this to take place. Isaac was seventy-five at this time, and Ishmael was eighty-eight. So, after seventy-five years of Hagar and Ishmael being send away Abraham must have been in the picture of Ishmael’s life.

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But it is written

Genesis 3:4 “You will not surely die” the serpent said to the woman.

As I was reading these words this morning, the realization of how much the ways of the serpent has worked it way into the culture of man is amazing. Here in Genesis chapter three we see the beginning of the way of the wicked, sinners, and mockers unfold. The first step is to deny and question the Word of the Lord. As a believer today the Bible and the truth it embraces is being totally denied by our society. And yet even the wicked, sinners, and mockers fight among themselves. The serpent made the fruit look good for food and was pleasing to the eyes. So too does the wicked try to make their claims to follow them look to us.

So how do we know truth? First, we must hide God’s Word in our heart. Second, we must meditate on it day and night. Third, we must not walk, stand, or sit with the wicked, sinners, or mockers. This is not an easy task for today’s believers. We were given the illustration as a guide on how to address issues like the one that Eve and then Adam faced in the garden. We are confronted daily to express our opinions on multiple topics in which we truly give the answer “but it is written”. This is how Jesus answered Satan in the wilderness during his temptations in Matthew chapter four. So, remember use the Word of God as your answer and lean not on your own reasoning. It might look good and be pleasing to the eyes, heart and mind, but is it right from the sight of God’s Word.

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Fear and Dismay

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belonged to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. (I Samuel 17:1-11 KJV)

Goliath the champion of the Philistine took his stand against the Israelites with a challenge to take on any man from Saul’s army. It is interesting that Goliath referred the armies of Israel as “ye servants to Saul”. Saul has probably been the King of Israel for twenty years or more at this time. Samuel the judge that served Israel for forty years before Saul went to Ramah after anointing David. We know from I Samuel 16:2 that he feared Saul after Saul forceful ask Samuel to worship God with him. This was after Saul’s failure of following the Lord’s command to utterly destroy the Amalekites. and the announcement from Samuel that God would take the kingdom of Israel from Saul. With Samuel out of the picture the nation of Israel was no longer referred to as the servants of God but ye servants of Saul.

Verse eleven portrays the conditions in Israel at this time as being in dismayed and greatly afraid. Saul was probably between the age of forty-five to fifty years old at this time. It is interesting that Saul could not find a man in his army to face Goliath. As we look at these eleven verses, we see an enemy that was defeated several years before now leaving the nation of Israel in dismay and afraid. This is what happens when a nation turns away from the way of God. Not only was Israel afraid of the threat from the army of the Philistines they were afraid of one man, the Philistine’s champion.

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Opening doors

I Samuel 16:19-22

Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight.

The Lord opens the door for David to continue his training as the future King of Israel. Like Moses, David needed the solitude of being alone tending the sheep to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Paul’s also needed this quiet time to grow in the knowledge of understanding God’s way. Soon after his conversion on the road to Damascus Paul had to flee for his life to Arabia. It was only after three years later did he return to Jerusalem (Galatians chapter one). So as we look at this new stage of David’s life we must realize that he entered it with a firm foundation of knowing God’s way. This quiet time of studying God’s Word is a must in a believer’s life.

In these verses David comes into Saul’s court and soon becomes his armourbearer. We see God opening the door for David. David reflects his belief in Psalms 139 on how much he saw God’s hand as always present in his life. David’s early studies of the scriptures of seeing the hand of God’s presence in a person’s life could have been the story of Joseph’s life. Here in these verses from I Samuel 16 we see God opening the doors for the God’s chosen king of Israel, a man after God’s our heart.

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The theocracy rejected

I Kings 15:5 presents David as a man after God’s own heart.

As I have attempted several times in my life to start a study of David’s life I have always been drawn back to I Kings 15:5: “Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (KJV) These words speak volumes on how God viewed David’s heart and his life. In verse three of this chapter it is said of David as having a perfect heart with the Lord his God. The Hebrew meaning implies not sinless perfection, but a single-minded sincerity to God’s Word.

So as I study David’s life from the almost one thousand references to him in the scriptures this verse will be my starting point. David’s heart was the human reflection of God’s heart to mankind. Even through his life on this earth was over three thousand years ago the words that David penned in the Psalms alone brings comfort to millions everyday. The words written by David are still being used by God every day on this earth. Therefore as I study David’s life it will be in light of how David’s words and actions reveals to me how to be more of a man after God’s own heart.

Understanding the events that happen with the rule of Saul before David was anointed by Samuel to become King (I Samuel 16:12,13) will not only add an extra understanding to David’s life, but will also give insight on the way God works in the daily affairs of a nation. Samuel anointed Saul king because the people of Israel wanted to be like other nations. This was over Samuel’s objectives which was displeasing to him, but he took it to the Lord in prayer. The Lord’s answer to Samuel was to hearken to the voice of the people of Israel and give them a king, because they have rejected Me and did not want God to reign over them. So as part of my study of the life of David I will include the reign of Saul. The reign of Saul is a reflection of rejecting God’s way and the making self the most important issue in one’s life and career. The reign of Saul can serve as an example of a nation under God, but not conducting itself as a nation living in God’s way.

The theocracy rejected

I Samuel 8:9 “Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.” (KJV) The decision of having a king over the nation of Israel so that they could be like the other nations would cost them their children, land, and they themselves would become his servants. And then Samuel warned them that when they would cry out to the Lord in that day, He would not answer them. However, the people refused to listen to Samuel’s voice. They wanted a king like all the other nations who would judge them and go before them to fight their battles. This was the setting for the selection of Saul.