May 10

Mark 12:28-34

[28] And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” [29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” [32] And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. [33] And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [34] And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

2 Corinthians 9

[1] Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, [2] for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. [3] But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. [4] Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. [5] So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

[6] The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. [7] Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. [8] And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. [9] As it is written, 

    “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

        his righteousness endures forever.”

    [10] He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. [11] You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. [12] For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. [13] By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, [14] while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. [15] Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Psalm 104

    [1] Bless the LORD, O my soul!

        O LORD my God, you are very great!

    You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 

    [2]     covering yourself with light as with a garment,

        stretching out the heavens like a tent. 

    [3] He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

    he makes the clouds his chariot;

        he rides on the wings of the wind; 

    [4] he makes his messengers winds,

        his ministers a flaming fire.

    [5] He set the earth on its foundations,

        so that it should never be moved. 

    [6] You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

        the waters stood above the mountains. 

    [7] At your rebuke they fled;

        at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. 

    [8] The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

        to the place that you appointed for them. 

    [9] You set a boundary that they may not pass,

        so that they might not again cover the earth.

    [10] You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

        they flow between the hills; 

    [11] they give drink to every beast of the field;

        the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 

    [12] Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

        they sing among the branches. 

    [13] From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

        the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

    [14] You cause the grass to grow for the livestock

        and plants for man to cultivate,

    that he may bring forth food from the earth 

    [15]     and wine to gladden the heart of man,

    oil to make his face shine

        and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

    [16] The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,

        the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 

    [17] In them the birds build their nests;

        the stork has her home in the fir trees. 

    [18] The high mountains are for the wild goats;

        the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

    [19] He made the moon to mark the seasons;

        the sun knows its time for setting. 

    [20] You make darkness, and it is night,

        when all the beasts of the forest creep about. 

    [21] The young lions roar for their prey,

        seeking their food from God. 

    [22] When the sun rises, they steal away

        and lie down in their dens. 

    [23] Man goes out to his work

        and to his labor until the evening.

    [24] O LORD, how manifold are your works!

        In wisdom have you made them all;

        the earth is full of your creatures. 

    [25] Here is the sea, great and wide,

        which teems with creatures innumerable,

        living things both small and great. 

    [26] There go the ships,

        and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

    [27] These all look to you,

        to give them their food in due season. 

    [28] When you give it to them, they gather it up;

        when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. 

    [29] When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

        when you take away their breath, they die

        and return to their dust. 

    [30] When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,

        and you renew the face of the ground.

    [31] May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

        may the LORD rejoice in his works, 

    [32] who looks on the earth and it trembles,

        who touches the mountains and they smoke! 

    [33] I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

        I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 

    [34] May my meditation be pleasing to him,

        for I rejoice in the LORD. 

    [35] Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

        and let the wicked be no more!

    Bless the LORD, O my soul!

    Praise the LORD!

1 Samuel 21

[1]  Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” [2] And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. [3] Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” [4] And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” [5] And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” [6] So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

[7] Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.

[8] Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” [9] And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”

[10] And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. [11] And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, 

    ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

        and David his ten thousands’?”

    [12] And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. [13] So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. [14] Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? [15] Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

1 Samuel 22

[1] David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. [2] And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

[3] And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” [4] And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. [5] Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

[6] Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. [7] And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, [8] that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” [9] Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, [10] and he inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

[11] Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. [12] And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” [13] And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” [14] Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? [15] Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” [16] And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” [17] And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. [18] Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. [19] And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

[20] But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. [21] And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. [22] And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. [23] Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

1 Samuel 23

[1] Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” [2] Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” [3] But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” [4] Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” [5] And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

[6] When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. [7] Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” [8] And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. [9] David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” [10] Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. [11] Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” [12] Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.” [13] Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. [14] And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

[15] David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. [16] And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. [17] And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” [18] And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

[19] Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? [20] Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” [21] And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. [22] Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. [23] See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” [24] And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. 

Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.  [25] And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. [26] Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, [27] a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” [28] So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. [29]  And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.

How Does Respecting Parents Affect Our World?

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

EXODUS 20:12

 

PONDER THIS

The Ten Commandments address a vertical and a horizontal relationship. They start with our relationship with God; that’s the vertical relationship.

Then the last six commands talk about our horizontal relationships—our relationships with others. Only ten commandments and one is given to the important subject of honoring father and mother. It is also the first commandment with a promise. God says there's a reason you honor your parents: that your days may be long in the land God gives you.

Society cannot long endure when children fail to honor their parents. Our parents are the first people we meet. And if we're not right with our parents, if we cannot love and respect our parents, how can we expect to love and respect others? The home is the foundation, the basis of expressing the love we have for God first and foremost. The very next step is to love and honor our parents.

What is challenging about following this command to honor one’s parents?

How can we do this, even if we have broken relationships with our parents or even if they are no longer living?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray that God would equip Christian parents and strengthen them as they raise up the next generation. Pray also for children to honor their parents and the ways of the Lord.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What It Means to Love God

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. (Psalm 63:1–2)

Only God will satisfy a heart like David’s. And David was a man after God’s own heart. That’s the way we were created to be.

This is the essence of what it means to love God: to be satisfied in him. In him — not just his gifts, but God himself, as the glorious person that he is!

Loving God will include obeying all his commands; it will include believing all his word; it will include thanking him for all his gifts. But all that is overflow. The essence of loving God is admiring and enjoying all he is. And it is this enjoyment of God that makes all of our other responses truly glorifying to him.

We all know this intuitively as well as from Scripture. Do we feel most honored by the love of those who serve us from the constraints of duty, or from the delights of fellowship?

My wife is most honored when I say, “It makes me happy to spend time with you.” My happiness is the echo of her excellence. And so it is with God. He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

None of us has arrived at perfect satisfaction in God. I grieve often over the murmuring of my heart when I lose some earthly comfort or convenience. But I have tasted that the Lord is good. By God’s grace I now know the fountain of everlasting joy.

And so I love to spend my days luring people into joy until they say with me, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

John Piper 

May 9

Mark 12:13-27

[13] And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. [14] And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” [15] But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” [16] And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” [17] Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

[18] And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, [19] “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. [20] There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. [21] And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. [22] And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. [23] In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

[24] Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? [25] For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. [26] And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? [27] He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

2 Corinthians 8

[1] We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, [2] for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. [3] For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, [4] begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—[5] and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. [6] Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. [7] But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

[8] I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. [9] For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. [10] And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. [11] So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. [12] For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. [13] For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness [14] your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. [15] As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

[16] But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. [17] For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. [18] With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. [19] And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. [20] We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, [21] for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. [22] And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. [23] As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. [24] So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.

Psalm 103

Of David.

    [1] Bless the LORD, O my soul,

        and all that is within me,

        bless his holy name! 

    [2] Bless the LORD, O my soul,

        and forget not all his benefits, 

    [3] who forgives all your iniquity,

        who heals all your diseases, 

    [4] who redeems your life from the pit,

        who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 

    [5] who satisfies you with good

        so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

    [6] The LORD works righteousness

        and justice for all who are oppressed. 

    [7] He made known his ways to Moses,

        his acts to the people of Israel. 

    [8] The LORD is merciful and gracious,

        slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 

    [9] He will not always chide,

        nor will he keep his anger forever. 

    [10] He does not deal with us according to our sins,

        nor repay us according to our iniquities. 

    [11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

        so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 

    [12] as far as the east is from the west,

        so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 

    [13] As a father shows compassion to his children,

        so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 

    [14] For he knows our frame;

        he remembers that we are dust.

    [15] As for man, his days are like grass;

        he flourishes like a flower of the field; 

    [16] for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

        and its place knows it no more. 

    [17] But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

        and his righteousness to children’s children, 

    [18] to those who keep his covenant

        and remember to do his commandments. 

    [19] The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,

        and his kingdom rules over all.

    [20] Bless the LORD, O you his angels,

        you mighty ones who do his word,

        obeying the voice of his word! 

    [21] Bless the LORD, all his hosts,

        his ministers, who do his will! 

    [22] Bless the LORD, all his works,

        in all places of his dominion.

    Bless the LORD, O my soul!

1 Samuel 19

[1] And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. [2] And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. [3] And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” [4] And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. [5] For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” [6] And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” [7] And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

[8] And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. [9] Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. [10] And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

[11] Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” [12] So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. [13] Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. [14] And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” [15] Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” [16] And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. [17] Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”

[18] Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. [19] And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” [20] Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. [21] When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. [22] Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” [23] And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. [24] And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 20

[1] Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” [2] And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” [3] But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” [4] Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” [5] David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. [6] If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ [7] If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. [8] Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” [9] And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” [10] Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” [11] And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.

[12] And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? [13] But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. [14] If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; [15] and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” [16] And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” [17] And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

[18] Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. [19] On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. [20] And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. [21] And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. [22] But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. [23] And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.”

[24] So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. [25] The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.

[26] Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” [27] But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” [28] Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. [29] He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

[30] Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? [31] For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” [32] Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” [33] But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. [34] And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.

[35] In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. [36] And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. [37] And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” [38] And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. [39] But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. [40] And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” [41] And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. [42] Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

Who is Running Your Life?

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

JOHN 14:6

 

PONDER THIS

So many are sitting on the throne of their lives, saying, “It’s my life. I’m going to do what I want to do. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do. Nobody’s going to make me do anything. I’m going run my life myself.” The interests of life: business, family, pleasure, sex, home, vacations, education are influenced by who is on the throne. The self-directed life is full of many pursuits without any true satisfaction.

In a Christ-controlled life, Christ is not outside of life. Christ is in that life, and Christ is on the throne of that life. A Christian is not somebody who merely believes intellectually that Christ died for sins. The devil believes that. A Christian is somebody who has invited Christ into his or her life to take control as Lord. Jesus takes the throne.

What are some ways you have sought to run your life? How has that worked out or not worked out?

What does it look like to have Christ as Lord of your life? Who has been an example of that for you?

PRACTICE THIS

Thank someone who has been to you an example of a life under Christ’s lordship. Ask that person for insight on how you can do likewise.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Pleased with His Precepts

This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:3–5)

What is plain in these verses is that being born again — being born of God — turns the commandments of God from being burdensome to being our delight. How does that work?

How does being born of God make the commandments of God a delight rather than a burden?

The apostle John says, “This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (1 John 5:4). In other words, the way that being born of God overcomes the worldly burdensomeness of God’s commandments is by begetting faith. This is confirmed in 1 John 5:1, which says, literally, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

Faith is the evidence that we have been born of God. We do not cause ourselves to be born again by deciding to believe. God creates our willingness to believe by causing us to be born again. As Peter said in his first letter, God “caused us to be born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). Our living hope, or faith in future grace, is the work of God through new birth.

So, when John says, “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world,” and then adds, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (1 John 5:4), I take him to mean that God enables us, by the new birth, to overcome the world — that is, to overcome our worldly disinclination to keep God’s commandments. The new birth does this by creating faith, which evidently includes a disposition to be pleased by God’s commandments, rather than put off by God’s commandments, so that they feel burdensome.

Therefore, it is faith that overcomes our inborn hostility to God and his will, and frees us to keep his commandments and to say with the psalmist, “I delight to do your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8).

John Piper 

May 8

Mark 12:1-12

[1] And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. [2] When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. [3] And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. [4] Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. [5] And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. [6] He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ [7] But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ [8] And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. [9] What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. [10] Have you not read this Scripture: 

    “‘The stone that the builders rejected

        has become the cornerstone; 

    [11] this was the Lord’s doing,

        and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

    [12] And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

2 Corinthians 7

[1] Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

[2] Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. [3] I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. [4] I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

[5] For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. [6] But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, [7] and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. [8] For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. [9] As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

[10] For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. [11] For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. [12] So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. [13] Therefore we are comforted. 

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.  [14] For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. [15] And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. [16] I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

Psalm 102

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.

    [1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;

    let my cry come to you! 

    [2] Do not hide your face from me

        in the day of my distress!

    Incline your ear to me;

        answer me speedily in the day when I call!

    [3] For my days pass away like smoke,

        and my bones burn like a furnace. 

    [4] My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;

        I forget to eat my bread. 

    [5] Because of my loud groaning

        my bones cling to my flesh. 

    [6] I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,

        like an owl of the waste places; 

    [7] I lie awake;

        I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. 

    [8] All the day my enemies taunt me;

        those who deride me use my name for a curse. 

    [9] For I eat ashes like bread

        and mingle tears with my drink, 

    [10] because of your indignation and anger;

        for you have taken me up and thrown me down. 

    [11] My days are like an evening shadow;

        I wither away like grass.

    [12] But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;

        you are remembered throughout all generations. 

    [13] You will arise and have pity on Zion;

        it is the time to favor her;

        the appointed time has come. 

    [14] For your servants hold her stones dear

        and have pity on her dust. 

    [15] Nations will fear the name of the LORD,

        and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. 

    [16] For the LORD builds up Zion;

        he appears in his glory; 

    [17] he regards the prayer of the destitute

        and does not despise their prayer.

    [18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

        so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: 

    [19] that he looked down from his holy height;

        from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, 

    [20] to hear the groans of the prisoners,

        to set free those who were doomed to die, 

    [21] that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,

        and in Jerusalem his praise, 

    [22] when peoples gather together,

        and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

    [23] He has broken my strength in midcourse;

        he has shortened my days. 

    [24] “O my God,” I say, “take me not away

        in the midst of my days—

    you whose years endure

        throughout all generations!”

    [25] Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,

        and the heavens are the work of your hands. 

    [26] They will perish, but you will remain;

        they will all wear out like a garment.

    You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 

    [27]     but you are the same, and your years have no end. 

    [28] The children of your servants shall dwell secure;

        their offspring shall be established before you.

1 Samuel 17

[1] Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. [2] And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. [3] And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. [4] And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. [5] He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. [6] And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. [7] The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. [8] He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. [9] If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” [10] And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” [11] When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

[12] Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. [13] The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. [14] David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, [15] but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. [16] For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

[17] And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. [18] Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”

[19] Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. [20] And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. [21] And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. [22] And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. [23] As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.

[24] All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. [25] And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” [26] And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” [27] And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

[28] Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” [29] And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” [30] And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

[31] When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. [32] And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” [33] And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” [34] But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, [35] I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. [36] Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” [37] And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”

[38] Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, [39] and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. [40] Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

[41] And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. [42] And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. [43] And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. [44] The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” [45] Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [46] This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, [47] and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

[48] When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. [49] And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

[50] So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. [51] Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. [52] And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. [53] And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. [54] And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

[55] As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” [56] And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” [57] And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. [58] And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

1 Samuel 18

[1] As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. [2] And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. [3] Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. [4] And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. [5] And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

[6] As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. [7] And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, 

    “Saul has struck down his thousands,

        and David his ten thousands.”

    [8] And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” [9] And Saul eyed David from that day on.

[10] The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. [11] And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

[12] Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. [13] So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. [14] And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. [15] And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. [16] But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

[17] Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” [18] And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” [19] But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

[20] Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. [21] Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” [22] And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king’s son-in-law.’” [23] And Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” [24] And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” [25] Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. [26] And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, [27] David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. [28] But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, [29] Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.

[30] Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.