Written by: Paul Reynolds - NGM
1
Samuel 18 v 23-25
Saul’s servants said these words to David, but David answered, “Do you
think it is easy to become the king’s son-in-law? I am poor and
unimportant.”
When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, Saul said, “Tell David,
‘The king doesn’t want money for the bride. All he wants is a hundred
Philistine foreskins to get even with his enemies.’ ” Saul planned to let
the Philistines kill David.
Notes
‘How do you see yourself?
David makes an interesting comment here – he says, “I am poor and
unimportant”. Sometimes we can have a really poor image of ourselves – we
compare ourselves to others around us who may well be better looking or more
talented than we are. Often, we look at them and then see ourselves as
unimportant – or worse!
We sometimes think that putting ourselves down and comparing ourselves to others
is what is called ‘humility’.
Actually, humility is about seeing ourselves as God sees us. Not getting
bigheaded and thinking we’re the greatest, and also not walking around feeling
like a loser!
You see, God loves every one of us and sees us all as unique, special and
incredibly precious – and even if we were the only people on the planet, he
would still have sent Jesus to die to take away our sin – isn’t that cool?
Now that’s worth living and basing our view of ourselves on!
Have a look in the mirror today and thank God for who he’s made you – you
are an individual made in the image of God, a reflection of your Creator. Aim to
base your opinion on that truth and allow it to cause life and joy to overtake
you.
1
Samuel 18 v 26-27
When Saul’s servants told this to David, he was pleased to become the
king’s son-in-law. So he and his men went out and killed two hundred
Philistines. David brought all their foreskins to Saul so he could be the
king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife.
Notes
‘Achieving incredible things’
What do you think has been your greatest achievement?
In this passage, David and his men achieve an incredible feat – killing 200
Philistines in one go is very good going.
We live in a world where records are attempted and broken fairly regularly –
sporting superstars are always straining for bigger, better, faster, further.
The recent Olympics and Commonwealth games proves this!
But, it’s not just in the world of sport; businesses amongst others are always
straining for greater profits, status and influence, attempting greater and
greater achievement.
I wonder what our achievements for God would count for when we get to heaven?
How much impact do you think we would’ve made for the gospel?
The things is, it doesn’t matter who you are, you can achieve great things for
God – not necessarily being the next Billy Graham or anything, but finding
God’s plan for your life and doing your best to achieve it.
1
Samuel 18 v 28-30
Saul saw that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved
David. So he grew even more afraid of David, and he was David’s enemy all his
life.
The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but every
time, David was more skillful than Saul’s officers. So he became famous.
Notes
‘God’s companion?’
The phrase here ‘Saul saw that the Lord was with David’ is one that is a big
challenge. It got me thinking about how close a companion God is to me.
I heard a story of a new Christian once, who was wondering about whether his
obsession with films was okay or not, and particularly whether he should watch a
certain film. Someone advised him to take God with him to see it – he thought
that was a good idea – so he did. He went to the cinema, bought 2 tickets even
though the box office people thought he was mad! He went in and began watching
the film – after 20 minutes he left. The reason…? It had offended God, so he
didn’t want to watch it either!
The question of whether I live life with God as my constant companion is do I
give him the space to influence me – do I make choices to do what He wants?
The new Christian did it and if we want God to be as close a companion as
possible, we need to do likewise.
1
Samuel 19 v 1-3
Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan
liked David very much. So he warned David, “My father Saul is looking for a
chance to kill you. Watch out in the morning. Hide in a secret place. I will go
out and stand with my father in the field where you are hiding, and I’ll talk
to him about you. Then I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Notes
‘Hiding place’
A friend of mine once wrote a song called ‘Hiding place’, he was talking
about how he wants to and needs to sometimes get away somewhere with God. He
wasn’t talking of hiding from God - like David does here from Saul - but he
was talking about hiding away with God. He was telling God how he wanted to
devote time and space in his life to being with Him.
He was describing the desire to have a special place in his life for that deep
communion with God – heart to heart, spirit and spirit. As well as having
space for finding God in the mundane-ness and normality of life, his desire was
the special place of intimacy with his Father.
Sometimes it’s easy to allow the busyness, the stress, the worries, the danger
of life to overwhelm us and take us over – to the extent that we lose that
special, close communion with God – it can cloud our minds and hearts and draw
us to focus on the problems rather than on God and rob us of that intimacy we
both need and desire.
Whatever you face, God is always available – desperately waiting for us to
open the door and share the issues of life with Him. The thing is though, that
our hiding places are invite only – so, invite God in to share your successes
and failures, fears and dreams and don’t lose that close communion in your
‘hiding place’ with God.
1
Samuel 19 v 4-6
When Jonathan talked to Saul his father, he said good things about David.
Jonathan said, “The king should do no wrong to your servant David since he has
done nothing wrong to you. What he has done has helped you greatly. David risked
his life when he killed Goliath the Philistine, and the LORD won a great victory
for all Israel. You saw it and were happy. Why would you do wrong against David?
He’s innocent. There’s no reason to kill him!”
Saul listened to Jonathan and then made this promise: “As surely as the LORD
lives, David won’t be put to death.”
Notes
‘Speaking positively’
Jonathan is described in this passage as saying ‘good things about David’-
he sticks up for his friend and does his best to point out to Saul, his father,
that he is in fact in the wrong.
This phrase got me thinking about being ‘someone of good report’ – am I
someone who always speaks the best about others – am I someone who is positive
– someone who looks for the best in others?
None of us like a gossip – someone who you can’t trust to tell the truth or
to not speak behind your back – I’m sure David knew Jonathan wasn’t like
this. The challenge is for us to live like this and be known for it.
What is great is that God is 100% trustworthy – He’ll never gossip about you
or expose you to ridicule – which is so great to know! God is always there to
confide in over our deepest fears, worries and dreams – and he’ll never go
spreading any rumours about us – how cool is that?
It’s certainly an example that I want to follow – to be known as
trustworthy, loyal and positive about others.
1
Samuel 19 v 7-8
So Jonathan called to David and told him everything that had been said. He
brought David to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
When war broke out again, David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated
them, and they ran away from him.
Notes
‘God honours the righteous’
One of the incredible things about obedience is that God always blesses you for
it! Sometimes it may seem that God is asking you to do things that don’t
always seem to make sense – from a human perspective (!)- but, when we’re
willing to do it anyway, God always seems to honour people who honour Him!
A while ago, Billy Graham received special recognition from the president of the
United State – he was honoured for his service to and influence on the USA.
What I find so exciting is that Billy Graham has always sought to be obedient to
God and not compromise the values of obedience with the desire for status or
influence.
His determination to ‘become less, so that He (God) can become greater’ –
his willing obedience to his calling – has resulted in God’s honour being
very clearly bestowed on him – to the extent that his country honours him for
being a man of God.
In the same way – David’s determination to be a man of God in his situation
results in God honouring him with dramatic success in battle.
You see, striving for heavenly pleasure and honour means far greater reward than
worldly acclaim or honour!
1
Samuel 19 v 9-10
But once again an evil spirit from the LORD rushed upon Saul as he was
sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp.
Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David jumped out of the
way. So Saul’s spear went into the wall, and David ran away that night.
Notes
‘God’s protection’
Life isn’t always easy – we face tough situations and decisions regularly,
where we’re in need of God’s covering and protection. David faces a dramatic
and dangerous situation here in this passage and really needs and finds God’s
covering of safety on him.
Someone I know doesn’t really enjoy flying – and they were due to spend some
time travelling to and around South Africa – meeting up with and flying with
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Now, they didn’t like flying in big planes,
let alone some of the 6-seaters that MAF pilots use to reach the small, isolated
communities in South Africa – landing on runways that we would call bad
footpaths!
They really felt worried about this situation and spent some time telling God
about it and asking God for his protection. God replied by giving them a picture
of being in a bubble and telling them that the bubble represented His protection
of them and that He would take care of them! This brought a real peace into
their life and on returning from their trip said that they had felt totally safe
during the whole trip – particularly when in the little 6-seaters!
God’s protection is always with us – like the picture of the bubble – if
you need to feel God’s protection, ask Him to make this a reality for you too.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken
from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by
Word Publishing Milton Keynes