Read 1 Samuel 18-20, Psalm 59
 
1 Samuel 18:7-9 This was their song: “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousand!” 8 This made Saul very angry. “What's this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousand and me with only thousands. Next they'll be making him their king!” 9 So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
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1 Samuel 19:1 Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David.
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Psalm 59:17 O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.
 
SAUL is King of Israel. He was God’s choice to lead. But he was a lousy leader because he neglected God’s leading. To be a good shepherd one must follow the Good Shepherd.
   Saul’s story describes how he did not walk with total faith in his call to kingship. Instead, he has tiptoed in uncertainty and fear. Fear kept Saul stifled under Goliath’s taunts. With great uncertainty Saul sent David, a young shepherd who had just come from the pastures, into a battle with fearsome Goliath.
   In God’s power David won the day and then won other victories for Saul. He then quickly became a loved and respected leader in Israel’s army. David did not seek personal gain but fought to glorify his king. David knew who he was. His words from Psalm 59 declare his full trust in God’s protection, even amid the trouble of Sau’s persecution.
   Saul’s troubling spirit distrusted God and David. Evan as1 Chronicles tells of Saul’s victories, Saul ignored God’s promises and diminished God’s power. Saul’s spirit steadily declined to become jealous, vengeful, murderous and insane. This man’s destructive emotions would devastate his family and lead to civil war in Israel.
   What should Saul have done? He could have used Abraham, Moses, Joshua and Samuel as his examples for servant leadership. Before God and God’s people, Saul should have celebrated David, too. Saul should have thanked and praised God for giving him such a loyal warrior and leader. David’s intelligence and integrity would have served Saul well for many years. How powerful Israel would have become if Saul had fully welcomed David into his kingdom.
   With humility and a servant’s heart, Saul could have been a great first king for Israel. Instead, his weak relationship with God and unfounded fears destroyed him.
   Has God given you opportunities to lead? He has, indeed, made you a leader if he’s made you a Christian. Use, then, your God-anointed strengths to serve the King. Humbly join with others’ strengths, too, so you can together fulfill God’s purpose for his church. When you know the LORD is your strength and your refuge, when he shows you unfailing love, you will surely be a winning warrior with God.
   Just think how your life of faith is a valuable asset to the King of kings. 
 
 

Read 1 Samuel 16-17
 
1 Samuel 17:26 “Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
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1 Samuel 17:37 “The Lord who rescued me from  the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from  this Philistine!”
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1 Samuel 17:45-46 “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
 
WHAT do you think makes the David and Goliath story so appealing? Is it the youth destroying the seasoned-warrior giant? Is it the shepherd David going forth when fear grips Israel’s soldiers? Do we rejoice that Good wins over Evil? Perhaps it is David’s trusting knowledge of God. The young warrior knows he is a servant in God’s kingdom.
   One thing we can notice is that David never referred to Goliath as a giant. Instead, “pagan Philistine” or “Philistine” is how David saw him. To David, Goliath was an enemy soldier another country who defied God – nothing more. In fact, David saw Goliath as weak and powerless against the LORD. David’s living faith was his assurance God would use him to conquer Goliath. “Fear”, “giant”, “can’t”, “impossible” and “defeat” were not in David’s vocabulary.
   Giants challenge us, too, don’t they? They’re named Uncertainty, Hurt Feelings, Jealousy, Disappointment, Unforgiveness, Disease, Poverty and Anger. They loom large before us, daring us to come against them. They call out to us each day to bind us to fearful inaction. These enemies will never back down until we attack them with trust the Living God will defeat and destroy them.
   The good news is that giants get very small – they even die – when we trust the Living God’s power to conquer them.

Read 1 Samuel 14:46 through 1 Samuel 15 and 1 Chronicles 5:10-22
 
1 Samuel 15: 3 “Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”
 
THIS is likely one of those Bible verses you’d like to read past or not even consider. Yes, it is difficult to once more see God’s command to completely destroy a people group – even their animals. We saw this in Joshua as the LORD instructed Jericho’s destruction. And elsewhere God issued this command to eliminate all people of particular nations. Many people, including Christians, attack God for this. Some reject God or the entire Old Testament because of these types of passages. How do you understand God’s commands? What might be El Shaddai’s reason for this total death?
   Let’s consider this: Could this be God’s warning to all the world? We know from end-times Scriptures that this kind of destruction is God’s judgment day promise when Christ comes again.
   Yes God promises salvation. And he promises condemnation. The Amalekites had opposed Israel since the time Israel left Egypt. God had promised at that time he would destroy the Amalekites. Exodus 17:14 After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Saul was to be God’s instrument of judgment.
   Always keep in mind he LORD’s focus on human life is eternal. That’s why he made a covenant with Adam to send a Redeemer that would destroy death. Remember, too, all the times Israel has been tempted to worship idols and do detestable acts, violating God’s commands. The human nature is prone to sin. The LORD God Almighty commanded Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites as their judgment day in order to sustain his own people as his possession.
   If you might think God is too harsh or unfair, then consider that the truly fair thing for God to do is to destroy us all. We all are born enemies of God, subject to his wrath. Yes, we can thank God he does not do what is fair. God is so committed to your life he unfairly sent his own holy Son to a complete death on a tortuous cross, so you may have life eternal.
   Do you understand this incredible, sacrificial act God has done? Do you understand God promises judgment as well as salvation? He does and will keep his promises. Let’s be alert, in turn, to keep God’s commands. Samuel lived to consistently say to God, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Saul lived, it seems, to say, “Speak, Lord, and I’ll decide what I want to do.”   
 

Read 1 Samuel 13-14
 
1 Samuel 14: 7 “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”
 
1 Samuel 13-14 relates how Saul begins his rule unable and unwilling to lead in God’s directives. His actions and lack of actions will bring a fear of the enemy and chaos into Israel.  
   Jonathan, Saul’s son, is much different than his father. He is a righteous young man who was very confident in the LORD’s provision.
   Apparently his faith influenced his armor-bearer. An armor-bearer is a most trusted officer selected from the bravest soldiers. He carried the leader’s war weapons, protected him and absolutely obeyed the leaders offers. An armor-bearer complements his leader’s life. Inother words, he adds to the capability of a warrior to do battle. He’s the type of man one could trust with his life.
   Jonathan’s unnamed armor-bearer can be called Faithful. True. Trusted. Honorable. Servant. Warrior. His words to Jonathan are the words our LORD wants to hear from us. We can be God’s armor-bearers to fight for and stand with God against the mortal enemy Satan. God has given us his Word as a two-edged sword to pierce Satan’s lies, a tool to cut away temptation and a healing edge to remove sin’s infection.   
  
            

 
Read 1 Samuel 8-12
 
1 Samuel 8:5 “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
 
IT is a sad day when the people of God want to be “like all the other nations”. Samuel had led Israel back to a stronger faith in God, and they were safe in the Lord’s commands. He had raised his sons to do the same, and he gave them authority to rule in Israel.
   But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. (1 Samuel 8:3) They became as Eli’s immoral sons and put Israel in the line of God’s judgment. The elders’ solution, then, was not to repent and more earnestly seek God’s rule, but they wanted to appoint a worldly ruler to lead as other nations were ruled.
   It seems there is no change in mankind’s heart to this day. Since Christ’s resurrection, his church has many times become more as the world. Leaders for Christ have become politicians for their own purpose. The church’s language has been to appease a broken world but not to teach God’s saving truth. The King of the church said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36b) There is no salvation until the broken, sin-laden world knows that.
    
Samuel, Faithful Leader
 
1 Samuel 12:23-24 “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you.”
 
AS Samuel’s rule and life come toward the end, the prophet teaches us in chapter 12 some essential qualities of a godly leader.
   First a God-centered leader points his people to remember God’s power to form and save them. He recounts Israel’s birth and then deliverance from Egypt. This is always a critical element of God’s story. For the Jews, their freedom from Egypt in God’s miraculous power was (and is for Orthodox Jews) the same as the cross and empty tomb are for us today. We are to always lead people to remember God has delivered us from sin and raised us to life.
   Second, Samuel leads his people to praise. To praise God means we thank God. Praise reminds us all life comes form the Creator and is his to sustain and empower.
   Third, Samuel commits to prayer. What powerful words, “Far be it from  me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.”  Prayer is essential for the godly leader. If one says, “I lead for Christ.” but fails to pray, it displays a lack of trust in God. For whom do you pray today? Do your prayers praise and thank God as well as petition him?
   Fourth, Samuel commits to teach the way that is good and right. What else is there to do when you say, “I follow Christ. I lead others to see Jesus.”
   Fifth, the faithful judge encourages a proper fear of God, “Be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him.” Again, this fear is a reverent worship. We know and acknowledge God is holy and sovereign. Samuel desired his people revere God and obey his commands.
   These are five good points to guide our lives.
           

Read 1 Samuel 3-7
 
1 Samuel 3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions…3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was…10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle”…18 So Samuel told Eli everything, hiding nothing from  him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.” 19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.
 
SAMUEL is the next person in God’s Love Story to expand God’s revelation to the world. As with others such as Noah, Abram and Moses, Samuel first had to learn God’s voice. Then he listened with a faithful heart to God’s messages. Then he began to  speak the complete truth to Israel. In this moment, Samuel became the next prophet in Israel, speaking only what the LORD told him.
   His first message is judgment against Eli’s family and Israel. Samuel heard his lesson well. From that day on, Samuel grew into his purpose as a righteous prophet, priest and judge to guide Israel toward God’s Word even as they changed from a theocracy to a monarchy.
   This is your history as a Christian. Even as it seems Israel’s faith was diminishing, God’s plan to save you took a big step forward here. Out of a dim light in Israel would come more prophets, kings and leaders to shine the bright glow of God’s glory to the nations.
   How about you today? Might you feel God’s light is dim in the world? Are you listening with a servant’s heart to discover his voice? Are you speaking God’s truth? Are you revealing God’s righteous judgment and gracious salvation to a new generation?
 
Samuel’s Victory Stone
 
1 Samuel 7:5 Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” …10 But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites…12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”
 
GOD favored the Philistines, Israel’s enemies! Israel’s leaders and priests had committed sacrifice and sexual sins against God’s law. Several times in Israel’s history, the LORD used pagan empires as his judgment sword on Israel.
   Then Samuel became Israel’s judge. He urged them to call on the true God. Israel listened and acted. They exhorted Samuel to pray for them! Through God’s power display among the Philistines, the ark of the covenant returned to Israel. Then Israel removed the pagan enemy from the Promised Land.
   In victory and praise, Samuel raised a stone he named Ebenezer – the “stone of help”. As other judges and leaders, Samuel made a physical marker to remember the LORD Almighty’s victory. It is very important to note the stone wasn’t worshiped. It was another memory of God’s great work for his people.
   I wonder, do we now consider the cross as our Ebenezer? Is it our remembrance of victory?
    
 

Judges 19-21
 
Judges 19:1 Now in those days Israel had no king.
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Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
 
WHEN you read these three chapters did you wonder, “Did we go back to Sodom and Gomorrah?” The Benjamites’ depraved behavior is the same as those cities God judged into oblivion. From the Levite to the Benjamites to the entire nation, all lived as if they knew nothing of God.
   Each phase of the story in Judges 19-21 has its victims. The Levite’s concubine – who had all the rights of a wife – was abused to her death. The father sent his daughter into the depraved crowd. Benjamin’s citizens who had nothing to do with the sin of a few were killed in the war. The “solution” to get wives for the surviving Levites was to kill all but 400 virgins of Jabesh-gilead because the town had not joined in Benjamin’s punishment. Other women were kidnaped during a festival. One evil upon another.
   It all began with the Levite. He should have known God more than the others, but he became an example of how Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. The man was born into the tribe of God’s priests. He lived at his pleasure while he neglected his call to serve God. He slept while his wife was abused to her death. To avenge her death, he again broke God’s law for retribution and caused a civil war in Israel.
   The Levite seems an agent of Satan. He did and encouraged evil. He had no god but himself and did as he pleased to resolve his own desires. His sins led to thousands dead and lives damaged. This unnamed Levite was a destructive force to his own nation as any invading enemy. When God is not king of a nation, the nation will suffer an agonizing death.
   One commentator points out that we can become very critical at the father who sent his daughter into the crowd to be abused. But do we too often do the same thing in our modern way? We allow – and perhaps even send – our children to view media that corrupts their minds. We have no rules, only suggestions to guide our children’s desires. We say we want them to experience the world while the world’s intention is to corrupt and destroy.
   Yes, these stories of evil and death in Judges are very difficult to read. So then, let’s be alert to God’s lessons here. Are these accounts in any way a mirror to help us understand whether or not the Holy God is in our life, our house, our church?  
 
 

Read Judges 17-18
 
Judges 17:1–6 There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.” “The LORD bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest. In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
 
THE Scripture’s last sentence defines the root cause of Israel’s many challenges. There was a King in Israel. His name was Yahweh – LORD God Almighty – I AM, El Shaddai, King of kings. But he was not king of Israel’s national heart, nor was he king in Israel’s homes.
   As God commanded from Eden and through the law, the worship of God begins at home. Micah and his mother totally negated God in their home. They broke seven of the 10 commandments! They worshiped other gods, formed graven images, coveted, lied, stole, dishonored the mother and used God’s name in vain. Micah’s home was a center of religious confusion and moral convenience. God was far from their hearts.
   This is the challenge of the ages. We speak today of the many distractions that influence our children away from God’s commands. But what is each of us doing to worship God only, to block any images and idols first from our own eyes, heart and mind? Many have been dismayed for some 60 years in the United States that prayer isn’t corporately allowed in school. And markers with the Ten Commandments have been removed from the public square. That’s not our problem. The problem is the removal and the neglect of prayer in the home and the commandments written on our hearts. It does no good for a public display of piety if you do not privately worship the King.
   Judges 17-18 describe how Micah, the tribe of Dan and a Levite had no interest – no faith – to live into their God-given roles. Here’s a good prayer to protect our hearts from those sins. Proverbs 30:8 First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. 9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.
   Let the “Amen” be on your heart.
 

 

Read Judges 13-16
 
FEW accounts in the Bible are as tragic as Samson’s life. As we wondered about Jephthah’s senseless vow, why would Samson, a man of so many faults, be mentioned among the honorable in Hebrews 11:32?
   In truth, you can ask the question of Israel. Why does the Bible refer to this disobedient nation who continually surrendered to temptation as God’s chosen people? Of course, it is because they are. Yet, this nation God formed to himself grew away from God’s power and purpose. Samson’s life could have been God’s way to show Israel its own broken relationship with God.
   The first way we can see Samson as the image of Israel is that he was set apart before birth: “The boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from  birth.” Samson, though, rejected the LORD’s consecration on his life. He was a man of the world and became a distasteful object of ridicule among the Israelites. In a like manner, God chose Israel long before it was born. Then his people became a weak object of ridicule among the nations.
   The second way Samson illustrated Israel is the way he  rejected his parents’ faith legacy. Samson’s parents were devout Israelites, who sought the Lord. How simple and faithful is this prayer: “Teach us what we shall do unto the child” (Judges 13:8). Samson’s father was persistent to seek the Lord’s directive. Judges 13:12 So Manoah asked (the Angel of the LORD), “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy’s life and work?” He is expectant and submissive to the LORD’s answer.
   Samson, though, defied his parents in the same way Israel defied God’s commands. Samson “went down” to the Philistines  – geographically from Israel’s hills to the Philistines seaside country, and he went down spiritually – to seek a wife. He rejected God’s law in Exodus 34:16, forbidding Israel to marry foreign women. His disobedience continued with his rejection of the fifth commandment, dishonoring his parents. How tragic to witness God’s chosen servant so severely abuse God’s righteous commands.
   The third way Samson illustrated Israel was the way he defiled his body. His astounding strength became a means to display his arrogant, selfish heart, not a selfless service to God’s power. He engaged in immoral sex. He played with people’s emotions. Samson rejected each of his Nazirite vows. Samson’s violence, arrogance and lust destroyed him.    
   Think of how Israel lived within so many visible demonstrations of God’s power as no other nation ever has. Yet, they became arrogant to complain of his leadership, resist his grace and forget his authority. God left Samson and Israel to be destroyed by their enemies. Yes, Samson’s final act caused great destruction. But it did not defeat and remove the Philistines from Canaan.  
   Fourth, Samson’s blindness also illustrated Israel’s decline. Samson’s life is a pattern of his arrogance and strength leading not to peace in Israel but to conflict. Yes, the Spirit of God occasionally came upon Samson to use his strength to defeat the Philistines. But these events occurred in very limited occasions. Remember, God’s purpose for Samson was to begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. (Judges 13:5b). Samson’s supernatural strength was a sure sign God’s power was at work in him to complete that purpose. But Samson misused the gift’s purpose. Samson lived for his own selfish desires and vengeful purposes, not for God’s glory.
          How is God’s power is your life? Be humble. Use God’s gifts to the full extent to do his will on earth.

Read Ruth
 
Ruth 1:20 “Don't call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.”
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Ruth 2:20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “Boaz is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. Boaz is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”
 
Ruth begins as a sad account of a family destroyed by doubt, drought and death. Not trusting God’s provision amid difficult times, Elimelech moved his family to the pagan Moab, a country born of sin and continually oppressive against Israel. Elimelech and his sons die leaving three widows. Orpah and Ruth are Moabites. In truth, Naomi could be alone physically and spiritually. Hope was not with Naomi.
   There is no record Naomi sought God’s provision and direction for her life. She even encouraged Orpah and Ruth to return to their gods. Orpah left. Then Ruth spoke the first words of faith: Ruth 1:16 But Ruth replied, “Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
   To Bethlehem Ephrata – the House of Bread – Naomi returned, and hope one day, too, returned to Naomi. Ruth volunteered to gather grain in the harvest fields. The Spirit sent her to Boaz’s field. Boaz receives and protects her.
   This is the Lord’s redemptive work in two ways. First, God cares for the poor: Leviticus 19:9-10 “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. 10 It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”
   Second God provided a way to redeem a widow from poverty and a life without children. Boaz is a kinsman, a relative, to Naomi through her deceased husband; and thus, he is also kinsman to Ruth. Because both Naomi’s husband and sons are dead, Boaz has a right by Hebrew law (Leviticus) to buy land Naomi’s husband owned. He also can choose to marry either Naomi or Ruth. In short, Boaz can purchase the land and give Naomi income to live for her lifetime. And through marriage, he can redeem Ruth from  childless widowhood. Now there is hope for a future heir.
   That hope is wonderfully fulfilled. From Boaz’s and Ruth’s marriage comes Obed, then Jesse, then David and ultimately Jesus. As Boaz is the women’s kinsman redeemer who paid what the law required, he is an illustration of Jesus to come. Jesus, fully God and fully man, is born through the ancestral blood of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah. Jesus is our brother, born of woman, lived, died, risen to redeem all who call him “Lord” from sin’s poverty, separation and death. He has paid what God’s law required. He has paid the debt for you. Through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith, you are an heir of God. He has given you the right to be called a child of God, a kinsman of the King.