1 Samuel 1-16; Psalms 8,23
Peace be with you, listening
friends. We greet you in the name of God, the Lord of peace, who wants everyone
to understand and submit to the way of righteousness that He has established,
and have true peace with Him forever. We are happy to be able to return today
to present your program The Way of Righteousness.
In our last program, we saw that the time following
the prophet Joshua was a dark and corrupt period in the history of the
nation of Israel. But even in that dark time we observed the light of the
faithfulness of God. The Lord had not forgotten what He had promised to Abraham
and his descendants concerning the Redeemer who was to come forth from the
nation of Israel.
Thus we saw how God was at work in the life of a woman
called Ruth. Ruth was not an
Israelite, but she believed in the God of Israel with all her heart. And while
many Israelites turned from the Lord their God to follow the religions of the
surrounding nations, Ruth chose to turn from the religion of her father to
follow the God of Israel. Ruth moved to the land of Israel and settled in the
town of Bethlehem where she married an Israelite named Boaz. Boaz and Ruth had
a son named Obed; and Obed begot Jesse, the father of the prophet David. Thus God's plan to
redeem the children of Adam from their sins was moving ahead, because it was through
the descendants of David that the Redeemer would come into the
world. It was in Bethlehem, David's hometown, that
the Savior was to be born. In future lessons, we will hear how God's prophets
predicted all these things and then how the Redeemer fulfilled them hundreds of
years later. Only God could do such a thing!
The prophet David {Dawud in Arabic} is very
prominent in the Holy Scriptures. His name appears more than one thousand
times. What do you know about the prophet
David? Perhaps you know that he was the young man who defeated Goliath, the
giant, with just a sling and stone. You probably also know that David was a
great king in Israel and the prophet who wrote much of the book of Psalms {Zabur}. If you know these
things, that is great, but your knowledge of David should not end there. If we
know that David was a great king, but do not know what
made him great-of
what use to us is such knowledge? Or if we know that David wrote the Word of
God in the Psalms, but do not know what he wrote-of what use is that to
us?
Friends, if you want to increase your knowledge
concerning the prophet David and hear some of the
wonderful and powerful words that he wrote in the Psalms, then we invite you to
join us for today's study and for the next five lessons.
Do you know the name of the prophet of God who
preceded the prophet David? It is the prophet Samuel. God chose Samuel to
turn the people of Israel back to the Lord their God, because their hearts were
very far from God. Today we will read from the book of
Samuel. This
holy book is important among the Writings of the Prophets, because it contains
valuable stories from the life of Samuel and the first three kings of Israel:
Saul, David and Solomon.
As we have seen, God gave the Israelites leaders such as Moses, Joshua
and Samuel to guide and judge them. However, the Lord God, who delivered them
from their bonds of slavery in Egypt, was their rightful
King. God,
who commanded them to make a special tent so that He could place His glory in
their midst, wanted to be their Ruler. They were to obey and follow Him alone.
However, most of the Israelites were not content to have just the Lord as their
King. They wanted to be like all the nations of the world and have a
son of Adam to reign over them as their king!
In chapter eight of the first book of Samuel, the
Scripture says:
(1 Sam. 8) 4So
all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5They
said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now
appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other
nations have." 6But when they said, "Give us a
king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7And
the Lord told
him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they
have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8As
they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day,
forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9Now
listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will
reign over them will do."
Thus, God told Samuel to give the people what they
wanted and to appoint a king for them. God did not want the Israelites to have
another king besides Him, but since they had rejected God's reign, God would
not rule over them by force. In the next chapter, we see how Samuel appointed
for the Israelites a man by the name of Saul. The Scripture says: "Then
Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head." (1 Sam. 10:1) That is
what the Israelites did whenever they appointed someone. They poured oil on the
head of the prophet, priest or king to set him apart. After Samuel poured oil
on Saul's head, he said to all the people, "'Do you
see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the
people.' Then the people shouted, 'Long live the king!" (1 Sam. 10:24)
At first, the Israelites rejoiced greatly in their
king, Saul. He was strong and brave, and young and handsome, and taller than
all the other children of Israel. By outward appearances, Saul should have been
an excellent king. But God does not evaluate things as man does. Man looks at
the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. King Saul started out
well, but, in time, he became proud and jealous and self-sufficient. Saul
honored God with his lips, but his heart was far from Him. Saul did not respect
and obey the Word of God. He did what he wanted to do instead of what God
wanted him to do.
Thus, the Scripture tells us that some years after
Saul was appointed king,
(1 Sam. 15) 10…the
word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11"I am grieved that I
have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not
carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to
the Lord all that night.12Early in the morning Samuel got up and
went to meet Saul…13When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The
Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions."… 22But
Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and
to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is like
the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because
you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king!"
Thus, Samuel told Saul that the kingdom would be taken
from him and given to another. In the next chapter, the Scripture says,
(1 Sam. 16) 1The
Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have
rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I
am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of
his sons to be king."2But Samuel said, "How can I
go? Saul will hear about it and kill me." The Lord said, "Take a
heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' 3Invite
Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for
me the one I indicate." 4Samuel did what the Lord said.
When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met
him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?" 5Samuel
replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate
yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse
and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6When they
arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands
here before the Lord."7But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do
not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The
Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
8Then
Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said,
"The Lord has not chosen this one either." 9Jesse
then made Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the Lord chosen this
one." 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel,
but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen these." 11So
he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is
still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending
the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he
arrives." 12So he sent and had him brought in. He was
ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said,
"Rise and anoint him; he is the one." 13So Samuel
took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from
that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in
power.
Thus we see how God appointed David to be the king of Israel
after Saul. But you must understand that David did not become the king of
Israel on that day. David was only a youth and the time which God ordained for
him to reign over the nation of Israel had not yet come. In fact, David would have
to wait ten years before he would sit on the throne of Israel.
So David returned to the fields surrounding Bethlehem
to tend and guard his father's flocks. David was a good and faithful shepherd.
He feared nothing because he trusted in the Lord. For example, one day,
when David was tending his father's sheep, a lion snatched up one of them.
David went after the lion, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When
the lion turned on him, David seized it by its hair, struck and killed it. (1
Sam. 17:35)
David was not only an excellent shepherd; he could
play the harp and sing too. The Spirit of God inspired David to compose many
hymns and to write them in the book of Psalms {Zabur}. Oh, how David
loved the Lord God and His Word!
We would like to conclude today's program with a few
excerpts from the Psalms of David. Try to imagine David in the lush fields,
among the sheep, playing the harp and praising God with songs and thanksgivings
produced by the Spirit of God. Listen:
"O Lord, our
Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!…When I consider your
heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set
in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care
for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowed him
with glory and honor.…O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the
earth!" (Psa. 8:1,3-5,9)
"Your word is a
lamp to my feet and a light for my path! I have hidden your word in my
heart that I might not sin against you!" (Psa. 119:105,11) "The law
of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul! The statutes of the Lord are
trustworthy, making wise the simple! The precepts of the Lord are right, giving
joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the
eyes! They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter
than honey, than honey from the comb! By them is your servant warned; in
keeping them there is great reward!" (Psa. 19:7,8,10,11)
"The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters; he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your
staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and
love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever!" (Psa. 23) Amen!
Friends, thank you for listening. In the next lesson,
we plan to continue the story of David and see how God was with him as he faced
Goliath, the giant.…
God bless you as you think about what God told Samuel:
"The Lord does not
look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the
Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)
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