365 Reflections

1 Samuel 29:6–7 (ESV)   Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7 So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” The end of 1 Samuel is approaching and we are like movie-goers awaiting the tension to be resolved and the resolution to come. Saul is descending further and further into moral disaster, David is living among the Philistines, war is on the horizon between Israel and Philistia. What will happen? How will it all end? This is good storytelling and we do well to pay attention to the movements here on out.  The first move toward resolve is the rejection of David by the Philistine lords. While Achish had no qualms with his apparent loyalty, the other four Philist...

What is the measure of a man? If we take our cues from culture, we may miss the very man God would use! When I consider the choice of David in 1 Samuel 16 I am struck by how many different people groups overlooked him as God's man. This speaks to us today. For who has not been rejected by one of these groups at some point or another? 1 Samuel 16 is the proof text that the only measurement that matters in our lives the one God gives. Consider the groups: First, David's own father Jesse disregards him as a potential choice to succeed Saul. Jesse leaves David out with the sheep. Now I have heard some say that this was because David was the son of Jesse but perhaps not the son of his brother's mother. That is pure speculation and the text says nothing of the sort. But for whatever reason, Jesse is not able to see God's potential in David and leaves him out of the selection process altogether. Second, David's brothers reject him. This doesn't happen until...