In this story, the Lord consistently preserved David's life by varied means. He ordered the path of spears- used human instruments, specifically -and ironically-, Saul's children - Jonathan and Michal- and finally, bypassing all human means, God powerfully, supernaturally, and unusually intervened. Yahweh's protection of His people is as diverse as…

2024 Ladies' Conference - Emotions- To the Glory of God - Afternoon session -Transformed Emotions- How Can I Change----Message Outline--1. The kind of change that is needed -sanctification---a. NOT to live WITHOUT emotion-b. NOT to live FOR emotion-c. BUT to be like Christ--2. How God changes you--a. Change begins with discerning the beliefs and va…

2024 Ladies' Conference - Emotions- To the Glory of God. Morning session -Created Emotions- What Went Wrong--- --Message Outline--1. Created Emotions--a. God is a person and therefore has emotion-b. Created in God's image, human beings have emotion-c. What was the original purpose of human emotion---d. Emotions reveal what we value and believe-e. E…

Once again, the Philistines, Israel's primary nemesis, were mounting up an attack. Out from the Philistine camp came an impressive figure - Goliath of Gath. He stood over 9 feet tall, wore over 150 lbs. of armor, carried a 12-foot spear and defiantly boasted against Yahweh and His people. Goliath brazenly challenged Israel to send a representative …

Chapter 15 opens the third of three Acts in the drama of 1 Samuel- the sun is beginning to rise on -Twilight Kingdom.- Having closed the curtain on Saul's reign with the official record of his exploits in 14-47-52, from this point on, Saul's fall will serve as the backdrop of David's rise. --The priority of the human king who serves over Yahweh's k…

Ruin can come suddenly. In chapters 11-12 of the book of 1 Samuel, it appeared as though the nation of Israel might experience sustained victory over their enemies, but the final words of Samuel suggest that he realized that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Samuel warned in 1 Samuel 12-24-25- -Only fear the Lord and serve him fa…

Saul, the newly anointed and recognized king of Israel, faced the first test of his leadership when King Nahash and the Ammonite army surrounded the Israelite territory of Jabesh-gilead. When he had heard about this from his ranch home in Gibeah, -the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul- -11-6-. Using threats, Saul raised up an army of 330,000 men who w…

Chapters 9-10 of 1 Samuel narrate the identification and inauguration of Israel's king Saul. Saul was a man of impressive height and charm, fulfilling the physical expectation of a monarch. But he was also a poor shepherd as he failed to find his father's lost animals. When he and his companion gave up on their search and turned for home, they -hap…

Job feels that God has become his enemy, but God's loyalty to Job proves otherwise.

Job's responses to his friends reveal that he indeed has faith in God, but that Faith is mingled with many doubts.

When the Israelites had the ark taken away and safeguarded under the priestly household of Abinadab, Israel underwent a season of prayer, repentance, renewal, and peace as they heeded the command of Samuel in chapter 7 verse 3- -If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and…

Job's friends try to help him but they operate from a retributive understanding of the world. Only by trusting in the sovereign God do we truly grapple with the question regarding the suffering of the righteous.

We left our story with a cliffhanger ending- 1- the nation of Israel devastated from a defeat at the hands of the Philistines, 2- Eli's sons killed in battle, 3- the ark captured, 4- the death of Eli and 5- the birth of his grandson, Ichabod, meaning -the glory has departed.- With no ark and no leader, it seemed as though Israel was defeated and Ya…

What is glory-- On the eve of the day when much of Christendom pauses to remember the birth of Jesus, we seek to answer the question by tracing the history of God's glory through the Scripture, taking off in the Garden of Eden and landing on Jesus Christ. The glory -in Hebrew, kavod- of God appears and disappears throughout the Old Testament at key…

Job breaks the silence with a lament about his life. Though he would rather die than be alive, Job holds on to hope.

At the end of chapter 2, three friends come to visit Job in his affliction. Although these men become miserable comforters, this gesture is an example for all of us to follow. Their sacrifice of love and entering into their friend's plight points us to our God, a necessary attribute to hold on to during times of suffering.…

Chapters 4 through 7 of 1 Samuel comprise a single story in the form of a lengthy chiasm. Using similar words and phrases, the author introduces the drama in chapter 4, describing the loss of the ark of the covenant, which he then resolves in chapter 7, with the return of the ark.--In 1 Samuel 4, Israel's initial defeat and loss of 4,000 soldiers a…

Job 2 gives us a glimpse of the battle between God and Satan. Sometimes, the world seems to be under Satan's control, but God is the one who is ultimately in charge.

In Chapter 3 we learn of the call of Samuel- he enters the chapter a boy and exits a prophet. The opening narration sets the stage for this activity by repeated images of the decreased light - the rarity of God speaking in those days, no frequent vision -v. 1-, Eli's diminution of eyesight, not being able to see -v. 2-. Verse 3 leaves us with a gli…

The story of the miraculous birth of Samuel appears as a ray of light during a very dark time in Israel's history. When we read about it in the first chapter and a half of 1 Samuel, we can come away with the idea that from this point on, things will get better as the boy is left to minister in the house of the Lord -1 Sam 2-11-. But the very next w…

A brief introduction to the Book of Job, followed by the question, Why Worship God, especially when everything seems to go wrong--

Psalm 44 -like 42-43, written by the sons of Korah- begins almost as if the author had been reading the previous two Psalms. Psalm 44 begins with the community doing exactly what the repeated chorus of Psalms 42-43 prescribes- Trusting their downcast soul to God by rehearsing God's sovereign and saving grace in the events of Israel's history. In th…

Paul continues to lay out guidelines for Timothy and the church at Ephesus- in this text, he highlights the mutual care that the church should have for her elders.

As night gives way to the approaching sun, we begin our expedition toward the dawn of a kingdom with an obscure family in a remote location. Chapter one of the book of Samuel begins as every story begins, with a mother - Hannah, one of two wives of Elkanah. --One day while she and her husband were at Shiloh, Hannah vowed that if God would give her …