One Year Bible, May 18

1 SAMUEL 22:1-23:29                                                                                                 

ADULLAM: The gathering of the righteous outcasts.  400 bankrupt, agitated whiners joined David there, and in 16 months they became his "Mighty Men".  Instead of holing up and feeling sorry for himself, David sang and wrote: "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in mouth."  In Psalm 34 written at this time, David invited all those people to come into the cave and he would teach them "the fear of the Lord" - which he described as "broken heart...and a contrite spirit".  This is why they became mighty. David also wrote in Psalm 142, "When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then Thou knewest my path." And then, "The righteous shall surround me.....for Thou shalt deal bountifully with me."  Imagine that: written from a cave!   And in Psalm 57, also written from the cave, David declared that his heart was FIXED.  He would NOT be moved by his emotions!

KEILAH:  Betrayed by those you have helped.  David delivered Keilah from the Philistines, and in turn, the men of Keilah would deliver David up to save their city.  But David had already fled into the mountainous wilderness.  There Jonathan came to encourage him and made another covenant with David that he would "rule and reign with him" (Rev 1:6; 5:10).

(SAUL AT THIS TIME:)  "There is none of you that is sorry for me....."   Saul's self-pity was part of his mental breakdown.   Doeg led him to Nob where the priests had helped David - and Saul gave the order to slay all 85 priests!   Then he also massacred all the inhabitants of Nob: men, women, children, babies, and animals.   David blamed himself.

WILDERNESS OF ZIPH: Jonathan left David there because he wanted to rule without suffering (Rom 8:17; 2 Tim 2:12).  David is hiding in "his haunt" and in "his lurking places where he hideth himself".  He had learned how to hide in "the secret place of the Most High". (Col 3:3; Psa 27:5; Psa 91).  He wrote in Psalm 54 at this time, "I will praise Thy Name, O Lord, for it is good. For He hath delivered me out of ALL trouble."

MAON:  The name means "refuge". Here David was actually surrounded by Saul and his men when the message came to Saul that the Philistines had invaded!  How timely!   David named that place "Sela-hammahlekoth" - the "Rock of Escape".  David was delivered from his enemies because his Refuge was actually the Lord!

RESPONSE:   I have often said that if all those outcasts tried to join me in MY cave, I'd tell them to go "get their own cave! This one is mine!"  Imagine being joined by 400 people with the same problem you have!  David didn't have even one day to stew over his situation.  He had to pull it together and lead.  His secret?  He took EVERYTHING to God.  And we have a written record of how he did it!

JOHN 10:1-21 - a continuation of the confrontation of the Pharisees in Chapter 9.         

"I AM THE DOOR" - "I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD"  Being a "door" is part of the obligation of a "shepherd".  He sleeps in the doorway of the sheepfold to protect the sheep. The "sheepfold" is the NOW Kingdom of God where we enter in prayer for protection, nurture and nourishment provided by the Shepherd.  This makes Jesus the "good Shepherd" and the Pharisees the "false shepherds" - "hirelings" (people who do it for the money and the prestige).  They are also the "thieves and robbers" - as Jesus had already called them in Mark 11:17, et al ("den of thieves"). The hostility of the Pharisees against the man born blind demonstrates that they are false shepherds, hirelings.  Jesus, on the other hand, is the Good Shepherd.  The man born blind heard the Voice and responded to the call of his Shepherd, even while the Pharisees were climbing over the walls of religious activity to steal, plunder and destroy God’s fold.

"THE LIFE":   The “abundant” life Jesus gives is one that overflows.   The word “abundant” means "to have a surplus, far and above, excessive, beyond measure, vehemently more, superabundance, till it overflows.”  The Greek word translated “abundant” (perissos) is a mathematical word meaning "a surplus".  (Jesus had a surplus of leftovers after He fed the 5,000. )

"THE LIFE" - "The Life" that Jesus is talking about is Himself (John 14:6). It is a life that is integrated and whole, in an interactive relationship with God, connected by prayer. This life is characterized by "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom 14:17), and fullness and sufficiency and by ABUNDANCE.  This life is manifested in us, not imitated by us. We draw our life from God, as our lives are intermingled with His one step at a time, following "the Voice".

RESPONSE:   Jesus came to bring "the Life" - HIS Life in us. And to do this, our "Good Shepherd" had to "lay down His life".  V. 17-18 bring out something worth noticing: Jesus was a SACRIFICE, NOT a VICTIM.   If He hadn't laid His life down, no one could have taken it.  He is not only LIFE itself, but He is the SOURCE of ALL life.  It is imperative that I stay connected to Jesus - to make the connection moment-by-moment, every day - so I don't shrivel up and die spiritually. It is exciting to live that way! I know!

PSALM 115:1-18                                                                                                                    
THE ONLY GOD: "Where is our God?"  Here is the answer: "Our God is in the heavens: He does whatsoever He pleases."  The heavens belong to the Lord, but He gave the earth to mankind. 1 Cor 10:26 says, "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof"; but he has let out that vineyard to these unthankful husbandmen, from them he expects an account of how they use it.

CHARACTERISTICS OF IDOLS (Substitutes for God - usually ourSELVES):  They can't speak, they have no vision or purpose, they can't hear our God's voice, their noses don't work (no discernment), they have hands but no ministry, they can't walk this out, and have no sounds of life.  And we become like our idols - like what we worship and serve - even if it is ourSELVES. 

PROVERBS 15:18-19                                                                                                        

"A WRATHFUL MAN":  A hot-tempered man stirs up fights and quarrels. Prov 14:17 says that a person with a quick temper does stupid things, and causing quarrels is one of them.  Prov 22:24 says not to associate with a habitually angry person. The evil of anger is that it centers on getting control.  Anger is "caused" by a perceived threat or perceived loss of control.  (Actually, anger is a CHOICE that through repetition, became a habit.)   Anger is an expression of FOOLS (Eccl 7:9).   NOWHERE DOES THE BIBLE CONDONE ANGER.  Even Jesus' wrath was an expression of GRIEF (Mark 3:5, "And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.."  The first person in the Bible described as "angry" or "wrathful" was Cain.  Anger is associated with a murdering spirit and self-preservation.

RESPONSE:   To make me "fit for the Kingdom of God", God purges out uncleanness and self-preservation.  Self-preservation ALWAYS leads to betrayal of God.  Impatience, self-pity, addictive behaviors, habitual complaining, filthy language, fault-finding are all symptoms of ANGER.  To get free of these and form new good habits in their place, I must repent, forgive everybody, submit my whole life and attempts to change to God, and commit to obedience.  All this is done, of course, in increments.  Anger is just a habitual response - so it can be changed.  I can CHOOSE to be happy - that is my ultimate freedom (choice) and through repetitious choices, my NEW response (of gratitude and thanksgiving to God) will become automatic.  We can't make the flesh better; we can only become more and more dependent on the Holy Spirit and the Life of Jesus in us. REMEMBER: Whatever is on your plate....God put it there.