Scripture:
1 Samuel 24:8-11
Thu, 7 October 2021

Walking Uprightly Before Your Enemies (1)

Observation:

What do David’s actions and words in verses 8 to 11 tell us about him?

Deeper Reflection
THERE WAS NO EVIL or rebellion in David’s hands, nor had he sinned against Saul and yet Saul had been hunting for him to kill him (v.11). “Suffering unjustly” in “doing what is right” is our discipleship lot (1 Pet 2:19-20). How then are we to follow the Lord? Walk the reverse path. Instead of cursing his king, David honoured him as “my lord the king” (v.8). Instead of falling upon Saul in murderous attack, David fell upon the ground and “prostrated himself ” to the king (v.8). Do what is right. The key is “the LORD” (v.10). While recognising that “the LORD had handed” Saul to him, David knew that it wasn’t God’s will for him to kill “the LORD’s anointed”; for to touch, defile and attack the Lord’s anointed was to seek to defile, harm and remove the Lord from His rightful place.16 We do what is right by following God’s Word and submitting to His will. Seek to be reconciled. David sought reconciliation with Saul by presenting “eyewitness evidence”17: “this day your eyes have seen” (v.10). Divine Providence “had handed” Saul into David’s hand, but David’s response was “but I spared you” (v.10). Then David presented to Saul “material evidence”18 of the edge of Saul’s robe that he had cut, that he “did not kill” him when he had the opportunity (v.11). David appealed to Saul to “know and understand” his innocence (v.11). As God’s children, we are to “if possible…be at peace with all men” (Rom 12:18) as “peacemakers” (Matt 5:9).
16 Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel, Focus on the Bible (Christian Focus, 2000), 247
17 Robert D. Bergen, 240
18 Robert D. Bergen, 240
Application:

How do I relate with my enemies or people whom I find difficult to relate with?

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 Outreach/Missions/New Life leaders: To bear the cross of loving their enemies
  • Pray for significant people:
  • Pray for those in need:
  • Pray for self:

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Daily Devo
Daily Devotional Journal
Scripture:
Daniel 10: 4-19
Sat, 30 September 2023

Strengthened by the Divine Touch

Observation:

What is the significance of the repetition of the terms “strength” and
“strengthen” in Daniel’s encounter with God (vv.8, 16, 17, 18, 19)?

Deeper Reflection
When God sent His Word to Daniel in a vision, it was he “alone saw” the “great vision” (vv.7-8). It was a special privilege of divine sovereign grace. The vision was also a vision of God’s holiness and glory manifested in the awesome appearance of a heavenly being (vv.5-6). Daniel was so utterly overwhelmed by the divine vision, that “no strength was left in me” (v.8). The description, “no strength”, is emphatically repeated four times in Daniel’s encounter with God (vv.8, 16, 17). We may not experience such an utterly overwhelming encounter with God like Daniel’s, but we do experience “no strength was left in me” in utterly overwhelming adversities like being “afflicted in every way” (2 Cor 1:8; 4:8-9).When we have “no strength”, we need the divine touch. God responded to Daniel’s fourfold “no strength” with a threefold divine touch (vv.10, 16, 18): He “touched me again and strengthened me”. When we are so greatly afflicted, that we feel no strength is left in us, and yet we persevere in faithfulness, it is because we are being “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of great endurance and patience” (Col 1:11). Note the intensity and immensity of this divine power at work in us! This is the divine touch of “the surpassing greatness of power” from God (2 Cor 4:7-9). But we feel the physical and emotional pains more than the Spiritual power. The greater is our suffering, the greater will be the strength from God in us, and the greater will be our steadfastness in God.
Application:

What is my experience of the Word of God and spiritual warfare like 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 Church Board: To know God’s power that is perfected in weaknesses
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for those in need
  • Pray for self

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