- Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came before the king. 2 Samuel 19:8 – This was the right thing for David to do. After his soldiers and people fought hard for him to reestablish him as king, what they needed was to see the king and be able to speak with him. Yet, while this was the right thing to do, David didn’t feel like doing it. David was in deep sorrow over the loss of his son. The verses prior to the one above tells us that David was in such excessive sorrow that any joy from the battle’s victory was stripped away from his people and they felt as ashamed as if they had lost the battle. After though a stern talking to from one of his generals, King David got up, took his seat at the gate, and saw the people like he was supposed to…even though he didn’t feel like doing it. There will be many times for us that we won’t feel like doing the things God is calling us to do. We won’t feel like loving our enemy. We won’t feel like giving up our weekend to go help someone in need. We won’t feel like choosing to remain pure in our dating life. Many of the things God calls us to do we won’t feel like doing, but regardless we ought to arise, take our seat at the gate, and do what God is calling us to do, even when we don’t feel like it. For in this story we aren’t the main character, Jesus is. Our lives shouldn’t have us at the center and shouldn’t be dictated by our feelings in the moment. When our feelings are telling us to hold off on what God has called us to do, choose to make the faithful choice to follow God’s lead instead. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3038
- 1 Samuel 19 Daily DEVO 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 19:24 – Understand here Saul isn’t completely naked like we’d understand it. It’s referring to the fact that Saul removed his royal robe and laid it down. Without it he was naked like maybe a police office would say they’re naked without their gun. For Saul, that robe was a symbol of pride and standing; it meant he was king. Yet as God’s Spirit got a hold of Saul the very thing that Saul’s pride was wrapped up in was the very thing he shed and laid before God. So should it be with whatever your identity is in other than God. As we move closer to God’s heart in our walk with Him, there needs to be a humbling of ourselves. There needs to be a stripping off of whatever is building this pride in our life. If there is something you’re too afraid to lose because you know it will change the way you’re seen, that’s what’s holding your pride. Like Adam and Eve’s figs leaves, or Saul’s royal robe, begin to shed what’s keeping you from being able to be completely open and seen by God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 419
- 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. 1 Samuel 19:10 – You can be doing everything right and God still bring a change in your story. Don’t always equate change with God punishing you. Here David was being faithful yet is being forced to flee his home, wife, and run for his life. You may get a demotion or fired. You may lose someone in your life. You may not get the college acceptance letter. The path you’re on may change even if you’re faithful on that path because change isn’t a punishment. Sometimes our story has to have a change in it for us to get to where God is leading us. So when an unexpected change comes, take a look at your walk. If we’ve been living unfaithfully then seek to see what the change is supposed to teach us. If though we have been faithful, trust God is using this change for your blessing even if it doesn’t seem that way in the moment. God isn’t about hurting those who are faithful to Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1644
- 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?’” 1 Samuel 19:17 – Truly what a sad phrase to come out of King Saul’s mouth. As he was speaking with his daughter about why she let her husband David escape from the king’s attempt to assassinate David, the king labels David a new name…my enemy. How though could David be seen as such? He defeated Goliath for Saul, he won battle after battle against the Philistines, and he willingly humbled himself to be the king’s musician to calm him down when the evil spirit came over the king. Nothing about David was an “enemy” to Saul, but when Saul allowed sin to be the lens he saw the world through, suddenly even those around him that loved and supported him became “his enemy.” Be wise and do not allow sin into your life. We see one horrible side effect to sin is beginning to see those around you wrongly. Rather that friend, you see enemy. Rather than supporter, you see hater. Rather than family, you see stranger. As the wrong glasses would cause you to see the world incorrectly, so does sin cause us to see people differently. We may be surprised to discover that when we set aside the sin in our life, many of the individuals that we have distanced ourselves from and even postured ourselves defensively against begin to appear differently to us. How changed could the story have been if King Saul set aside the sin, and how different our stories could be if we too set aside the sin. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2896
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