1 Samuel – Chapter 11

And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 2 Samuel 11:3 – We now are in the chapter that is a black mark on the holy life of David, the story of David and Bathsheba. David sees a woman bathing one night, has her come to him, they sleep together, and she becomes pregnant. What we see by the end of the chapter is David seeking to cover his sin by murdering Bathsheba’s husband and being the “hero king” and marrying the soldier’s widow. While a verse like the one above likely wouldn’t have meant much to us, it should have meant a great deal to David. It told David this wasn’t just some nobody peasant girl (even though that wouldn’t have made the sin any less wrong). Eliam and Uriah were two of David’s mighty men. These were the band of brothers that surrounded David and were his favorite and best warriors. Bathsheba was the daughter of one his mighty men, Bathsheba was the wife of one of his mighty men, and Bathsheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel which was one of David’s chief counselors. Bathsheba wasn’t a nobody to the king, and the result of this sin would impact many people close to David. David should have taken the time to dwell on all the people close to him that this sin would impact and maybe this would have steered him away from committing such a sin. We too ought to take the time to dwell on the people close to us that our sin will impact. When we think about the effects on our family, church family, children, spouses, friends, and the Lord, hopefully that will steer us away from falling into the temptation. Be willing to make this pause before you commit a sin and dwell on who that sin will hurt. The hope is that as that list begins to grow the desires for that sin shrinks. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3030

1 Samuel 11 Daily DEVO And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. 1 Samuel 11:11 – We see in our passage God establishing Saul and saving His people. Something else though we can see is a clear definition of what defeat looks like. It said after the enemy was defeated, they were scattered and no two of them were left together. They became isolated and distant from each other and that was proof of their defeat. I can’t help but connect that to being “defeated” in church. Our enemy wants nothing more than to separate us from one another. To breaks the bonds of unity and family and turn our backs to each other. This is when we are the most weak and vulnerable, when we don’t have each other to support us. So be aware of attitudes, thoughts, and actions that are divisive that tend to creep into your relationships with your church family. Those are attacks from your enemy because he knows that if he can separate you all like we see in our passage, that’s a defeat on us. Find forgiveness for them and show love even when it’s hard, do what needs to be done to keep us together. Us together is a victory, don’t allow your attitude to change this very possible victory into a defeat. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 411

But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.” 1 Samuel 11:2 – Don’t make a treaty with the enemy. He doesn’t have your best interest at heart so know there is always more to what he is doing. Take what happened here. Maybe you’re like at least they’ll have their left eye to see. What you may not know about these men is that they were trained to carry their large shields with their left hand. This would make the vision from their left eye mostly blocked when fighting so they would rely heavily on what they could see through the right eye. So what if the right eye was gone? They now couldn’t fight well anymore, exactly how the enemy wanted them. Know there is always hidden agendas with our enemy, don’t trust him. As we see in our story, even if the enemy seems overpowering and close by, choose still to run to God because He can always come through for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1636

And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 1 Samuel 11:9 – An enemy had come to a city of God’s people and was threatening them. God’s people would either be killed or surrender and have their right eye gouged out…neither option sounded great. Fearful of their future, they sent messengers all throughout the land of Israel to see if anyone would save them. Word got to their new king, and he rallied the troops, and came to their rescue. When word that the king’s forces were heading their way to save them, the people of the threatened city “were glad.” And rightfully so, when you know that your savior heard your cry and you know salvation is coming, “glad” is a proper way to feel! Today then, we ought to be the gladdest people on the planet! For Jesus, the Savior of the world, has heard our cry. He came Himself, defeated the enemy that was threatening us, and brought to us the salvation we could never earn ourselves. While today you may still be navigating some of the heaviest of things life offers, even in the midst of that heavy we can still be glad in the Lord for what He has done. The devil that was at your door, condemning you to death, has been defeated. The rescue you cried out for and sought after and thought would never come, has come through the power of Jesus. Freedom and salvation are yours because of Jesus, and that’s a solid reason to be glad. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2888