Scripture:
1 Samuel 27:1-7; 23:1-5, 14-17, 24-29
Wed, 17 November 2021

Looking Back at Those God-Moments… (1)

Observation:

What are the God-moments in David’s discipleship journey that he should look back at when he feared that he would perish one day by Saul’s hand (1 Sam 23:1-5, 14-17, 24-29)?

Deeper Reflection
WHEN WE ARE DOWN in “the darkest valley” (Psa 23:4, NIV) “walking in darkness” and have “no light” (Isa 50:10a), it helps a great deal to look back at those God-moments in our lives, and find assurance to look up and trust in God and rely on His name (who God is) with confidence in our adversities (Isa 50:10b). God does speak to us through this looking back. Sheer tiredness must have dogged David in his almost non-stop running away from Saul’s relentless pursuit of his life and “we cannot help but understand how Philistia seemed to spell deliverance”27 (1 Sam 27:1). But the narrator seems to tell us in the context of David’s discipleship journey thus far that David could have looked back at those God-moments in his life and rest his security in God alone, and not Philistia. David could look back at how he inquired of God about protecting Keilah from the Philistines and God answered him and gave him victory (1 Sam 23:1-5). David should recall how “Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand” (1 Sam 23:14). David should remember: When he was surrounded by Saul at a mountain, under Divine Providence an urgent message of a Philistine raid on Israel led Saul to abandon his pursuit after him (1 Sam 23:26-28). David should find assurance in God’s word to him through Jonathan: “Do not be afraid…my father will not find you…you will be king over Israel” (1 Sam 23:16-17).
27 Dale Ralph Davis, 284
Application:

What were some of the significant God-moments in my discipleship journey?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise:
  • Pray for leaders:
  • Pray for The Next Generation: To experience life-changing God-moments in their lives
  • Pray for those in need:
  • Pray for self:

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Daily Devo
Daily Devotional Journal
Scripture:
Daniel 10:11-12, 14-19
Tue, 26 September 2023

A Man of High Esteem

Observation:

What significant observations can you make about Daniel being called “man of high esteem” (vv.11, 19)?

Deeper Reflection
One of the heavenly beings called Daniel “man of high esteem” (v.11). This honour was bestowed on Daniel emphatically, in that it was repeated twice (v.19). This “high esteem” did not come from man, but from God Himself. God gave this honour to Daniel toward the end of his life when God called him to “enter into rest” (Dan 12:13). As a youth, Daniel “made up his mind not to defile himself with the king’s choice food” (Dan 1:8), and as an old man, he was faithful to God in spending time with Him in his “three times a day” devotion, even if it means to be thrown into the lions’ den (Dan 6:10). Daniel was finishing well in his life with “humbling yourself before your God” (v.12). When we think of finishing well in terms of successful accomplishments, we must be careful that we are not exalting ourselves.It is not for us to see ourselves in any way as a person of high esteem before God. It is for God to say that to us (2 Cor 10:17-18). Daniel never saw himself as a “man of high esteem”. A key emphasis in Daniel 10 is Daniel being greatly overwhelmed by the holiness and glory of God represented by the heavenly being with an awesome appearance (Dan 10:5-10, 15-18). And it was in this encounter with God when he was called “man of high esteem” that Daniel said, “How can such a servant of my Lord talk with such as my Lord?”50 (v.17). The man highly esteemed by God saw his unworthiness before God.
50 I have theologically translated “my lord” to “my Lord”, since the heavenly being is a representation of God.
Application:

What does being highly esteemed by God mean to me?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for pastors and staff: To be able to see oneself as God sees
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for those in need
  • Pray for self

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