Category: Saturday Study

1 Samuel 29-Daniel 2 (10.8.22)

As we move into Daniel and the Exile Era, the setting in the opening chapters of Daniel is in the Babylonian court shortly after Nebuchadnezzar had a troublesome dream that led to insomnia (Daniel 2:1). Ancient Babylonians strongly believed in supernatural forces and looked for omens in the stars, dreams, and even the shapes of animal livers. Nebuchadnezzar could not understand its message, so he called his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and other wise men to help him understand his vision (v. 2). Anyone could invent a meaning they could attach to the dream, but to give the dream itself without help from the dreamer was a sign of clear inspiration of understanding. That is why Nebuchadnezzar demanded to hear both the dream and its meaning (vv. 3–11).

When no Babylonian wise man could help him, Nebuchadnezzar threatened to kill all of his wise men, including Daniel and his friends. But Daniel prayed, and God revealed the dream to him. Before Daniel ran to the king with the interpretation, he set his heart in the right place by proclaiming the sovereignty of God in his most famous words:

Daniel 2:20-23 … “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was concerning the empires that would succeed Nebuchadnezzar. Most likely, we are to understand the kingdoms represented by the various part of the statue as follows: head of gold—Babylon; chest and arms of silver—Media-Persia; middle and thighs of bronze—Greece; legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay—Rome (vv. 25–43). But the end of the dream is the most remarkable part: a rock not cut by human hands would destroy all these kingdoms and become a mountain so large as to fill the whole earth (vv. 44–45). God’s kingdom, not established by human initiative, would rise victorious during the Roman era. Here we have a clear prediction of Jesus Christ.

In verses 46-49, King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

Later in chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzar’s sin would be on high display, as his pride and self-exultation would reveal itself in a statement he makes in verse 30. One day, he looked over his kingdom and said, “Is this not the great Babylon I have built as my royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).

This is in total contrast to everything the Bible teaches, which is that everything you and I have—everything—is from the hand of God, and is to be used, not for our glory, but for His glory.

Isaiah 48:11 “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

Praise God that He is not thwarted from our profaning His name. He is vigilant and does not give His glory to anything or anyone else. Praise God for the cross—for a Savior who saves us from our madness to make our lives all about us. Praise God that He redeems His people to glorify His name, as He is worthy.

The Word of Truth Catechism question 15 is “Why did God make us?”

Answer: God made us to glorify Him, so that His glory would be known and praised.

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The point is, in God’s sovereign plan and purpose ALL THINGS are from Him, through Him, and to Him. Ultimately, it is so He will be glorified in all things. This means He is glorified by those He has chosen to be redeemed and by those He has chosen to be condemned.

Everything that exists, including our lives, exists ultimately for the glory of God.

The word of God is packed full of this reality that God will do what He does for His glory—for His name!

• Exodus 14:4 and 18 say that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened for the glory of God.
• Ezekiel 20:5-9 says that God did not destroy Israel in the desert for the sake of His name.
• 1 Samuel 12:19-23 says the beginning of the Israelites’ monarchy was about the glory of God.
• 2 Samuel 7:23 says Israel became great and powerful among the nations for the glory of God.
• 1 Kings 8:41-45 says Solomon dedicates the temple for the glory of God.
• Malachi 2:2 says God decides to destroy Israel because they would not lay it in their hearts to give glory to His name.
• John 4:34, 7:18, and 17:4 say that Jesus’ life and ministry was about the glory of God.
• John 12:27-28 says the cross of Jesus is about the glory of God.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Peter 4:11, and Matthew 5:16 say that the Christian life is about the reflection of the glory of God off of our lives into the universe.
• Psalm 23:3 says, “… He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
• 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 says the second coming is about the consummation of the glory of God.

The story of the Bible is NOT about you or me–it’s about God! Nebuchadnezzar’s life and fame are not about his glory; it’s about God’s glory, whether Nebuchadnezzar knows it or not.

May we live our lives knowing well for whom we ultimately live. May God be glorified in ALL we do. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”(1 Corinthians 10:31).

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

1 Samuel 24-28 (10.1.22)

Open up your Bibles and let’s go deeper into this week’s chapters of 1 Samuel.

Before we look at chapters 24-28, open up to Samuel chapter two, and let’s read Hannah’s prayer:

1 Samuel 2:1-10

And Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart exults in the Lord;

my horn is exalted in the Lord.

My mouth derides my enemies,

because I rejoice in your salvation.

There is none holy like the Lord:

for there is none besides you;

there is no rock like our God.

Talk no more so very proudly,

let not arrogance come from your mouth;

for the Lord is a God of knowledge,

and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken,

but the feeble bind on strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.

The barren has borne seven,

but she who has many children is forlorn.

The Lord kills and brings to life;

he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich;

he brings low and he exalts.

He raises up the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from the ash heap

to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,

and on them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,

but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,

for not by might shall a man prevail.

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;

against them he will thunder in heaven.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;

he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Hannah really lays down a theme here in this poetic prayer that’s recorded in Samuel. She begins with exultation of God for salvation. This is obviously in the immediate sense of the provision of being able to give birth, but as we go on, we can see the deeper sense of what God will do in providing a savior.

If you remember back to the earlier studies, you will see that Samuel is really telling the story of a new season in the life of the Israelites. Prior to Samuel, the Israelites were ruled by judges, but this system and those judges all proved to be failures. The Israelites wanted a king, and even though this angered Samuel (Hannah’s first-born son and the prophet after whom the book is named), he cried out to God, and God replied to give the people what they want. However, the kings were given this warning, the same warning the judges were given, that as long as the king obeyed and remained humble, God would show him favor and be with him, but if the king became proud, God would not remain with him. We see this here in Hannah’s poem.

Hannah warns people not to speak so proudly or let arrogance come from your mouth, for God is a God of knowledge and by Him, actions are weighed. Essentially, you may talk a big game, but the God of all knowledge will call you to account. Two other ways of saying this are, “Put your money where your mouth is,” or “Don’t let your mouth write checks your body can’t cash.” Hannah goes on to say so clearly why this is the case. God will exult the lowly, but He will bring down the proud. God does this because the lowly or humble are only truly humble if they are so because of their acknowledgment of God. Everything we have comes from Him. Hannah says, “He gives life and He kills.” God is sovereign; therefore, those who become proud have forgotten who they are in relation to who God is. This is where we find Saul in the chapters we have read this week. Beginning in chapter 24, as soon as Saul stops chasing the Philistines (remember last week this was the reason he stopped chasing David), he takes up his pursuit of David again. So Saul grabs a large army to go after David, and when they stop in the area that David was supposed to be in, Saul goes into a cave to relieve himself. Now this happened to be the cave where David and his men were hiding, and while Saul is relieving himself, David cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe to show him that Saul’s very life was in David’s hand, and yet David spared him. So David does not kill Saul, though he so easily could have; in fact, David goes an extra step and keeps his men from killing Saul. David then cries out to Saul and shows him how he could have killed him, but he does not want to harm him, for God had anointed Saul as king.

See the difference between these two men. Saul has become proud and disobeyed God, and God has left Saul. Now in his own strength, as prideful men so often do, Saul is trying to destroy any threat to his greatness, and David has become this threat. Now when David reveals what he has done and how he has spared Saul, even Saul acknowledges that David is a better man then he is. Verses 17-21 in chapter 24 show Saul’s response and then plea to David. One point here is that Saul acknowledges that God has left him and shown favor to David. At this point, you would think, “Well that’s the end; surely Saul understands rightly what’s going on and won’t attempt again to take David’s life.” Well, here comes the ignorance of the proud. Even after acknowledging God’s favor upon David and having his very life spared by the man he was trying to kill, Saul only one chapter later decides he needs to kill David again and starts his pursuit. In between chapters 24 and 26 where Saul attempts to kill David but fails miserably, there is another story of a proud man, and the danger of his pride costs him his life. I hope by now you’re seeing this theme clearly. Prideful men have forgotten that all they have is from God. Remember in Hannah’s poem, she said the Lord makes poor and makes rich. The man in chapter 25 named Nabal was extremely wealthy, and even though he could have easily met the request of David and rightly owed David for the protection David and his men provided for Nabal’s servants, Nabal, in his pride says, “Who are you and why should I give you food?” The interesting part of this story is that Nabal had an attractive and smart wife who saved Nabal’s family (likely some of her own children, for David was planning on killing all the males of Nabal’s house) by intervening and pleading for David to stay his hand. So instead of David killing Nabal and the men of his house, God struck down Nabal, just like Hannah said in her poem. God judges the actions of men–not just their words. He breaks the bows of the mighty, He causes those with many children to be forlorn (abandoned or lonely), He kills, He brings down to Sheol, He makes poor, He brings low, He cuts the wicked off in darkness, He breaks His adversaries to pieces–against them God thunders in heaven. There are some staunch consequences for pride. The infinite God will not allow finite men to exult themselves, when He is the one who has given us life and everything we have.

So, back to Saul. I’ve always been frustrated with this part of Samuel, and I’ve asked myself many times why does Saul repeat this action even after he verbally acknowledged what David had done and how he was wrong? James says something interesting about sin in James chapter one:

James 1:14-15 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

You see, sin is deceitful; it tempts you, and your desire for sin lures you into it. Your sin never tells you honestly that it will lead to death, but when desire conceives with temptation, it gives birth to sin, and fully-grown sin brings forth death. Sin’s aim is always death. Saul’s pride and his desire to be exulted would cause him to pursue David, even after David spared his life. Only sin would cause you to continue to strive against futility, even when that futile aim has clearly withheld its hand from killing you. Sin always aims to bring forth death. Just think about this in your own life: How many times has your own sin convinced you that what you thought had happened didn’t really happen, and you should still be angry? I imagine Saul thinking, “You know what, I bet David found that piece of robe lying in the cave and claimed that he spared my life, but what if he was just saying that?” Just honestly take a second to think about how many times you’ve had an internal dialog that has allowed you to sin or forget that you were shown grace. Many times, we are our own worst enemy, and that is because even after God saves us, we have a real battle to wage against our old self and the sinful desires that remain in us.

So, we see in chapter 26 Saul pursues David again and again. God gives David so much favor that he could have killed Saul in his sleep. Verse 12 says that David was able to do this because the Lord had caused a deep sleep to come over Saul and his men. Afterward, David talks again to Saul, and Saul again sees his error and verbally says he will not do harm to David. Remember what Hannah said in her poem: Don’t speak arrogantly, for God will call you to action. Saul claims he will not hurt David, but his actions prove otherwise. So, David flees, thinking “Of course, this won’t be the last of Saul.” In chapter 28, we see a glimpse of the coming death of Saul, but one thing you do not see is Saul repenting. We will see his final destruction next week, but I want to end on this point today: Do not let your pride keep you from repentance and turning to God, rightly acknowledging Him, and receiving His forgiveness. God has sent a king, the King of kings, to whom all of the kings in the book of Samuel point. In Him–in Christ–we can be humble and rightly acknowledge our utter dependence upon Him. In Christ, we can turn from pride and trying to achieve because He has already achieved all we need. In Christ, we can again and again come to the throne of grace and fight to rightly live according to God’s word. Let us not sow fig leaves as Adam and Eve did in a feeble attempt to hide our sin in our pride; instead, let us run to the God of the Garden of Eden–the God of all creation–to acknowledge our failure and turn from our sin!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

1 Samuel 19-23 (9.24.22)

Last week, we saw God bring about a new king for Israel named David. For those of us familiar with David, we know God used him in mighty ways for God’s people and, more importantly, to point toward the truer King of kings, namely Jesus. Interestingly enough, as this week’s chapters in 1 Samuel show us, even though David was anointed king and prior to taking the throne brought about great victories for Saul, Saul greatly despised David and sought to kill him. Isn’t it crazy that the depth of our sin can run so great that we would, even at the cost of another life, go to such great lengths to keep the idols of our hearts? What’s really interesting here is the theme of the story in Samuel. Saul was raised up to position of king, and through all outward appearances, he seemed to be a great fit to lead the people of God. But as we all know and the Bible has declared, the outward appearance is not always trustworthy. Saul rises to power and quickly begins to trust in himself rather than obey God. Last week’s reading shows us Saul blatantly disobeying God in the destruction of the Amalekites and God punishing Saul for his disobedience. When this happens, we see the gears shift from Saul being the great king of the people of God to David, who from all outward appearances is the opposite of Saul. A major theme is that God looks upon the heart of man and not upon their appearance.   

Looking back, we see the verse where Saul’s heart is hardened against David:

1 Samuel 18:6-9 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on.

When the passage reads that “Saul eyed David from that day on,” it is intending for us to see Saul’s focus and desire to kill this threat to his “greatness.” You see, even though David was anointed as king, he did not attempt to overthrow Saul and was still striving to serve under him. David was not attempting to make much of himself; it was women in the town singing songs that caused Saul’s anger to rise. But notice what Saul said following this little song: “They are ascribing more praise to David. What more can he have but the kingdom?” You see, Saul had forgotten something very important here: The kingdom did not belong to him; it was entrusted to his leadership, but it was not his to own. Here we see the idolatry of Saul claiming something that was God’s to be his own. Unfortunately, here we see the effects of idolatry. When someone becomes a threat to your idols, if God does not grant you repentance from this sin, it can become a very dark and dangerous hole to travel down. Saul is now willing to stop at nothing to remove this threat to his supposed rule, and yet all the while he acknowledges that God has given David favor and left him. It seems crazy to us that someone like Saul could witness the very things he witnessed because of God’s work, and yet turn around and think he could change or stop or even affect something that God has decided to do. We even see Saul require priests who he believed conspired with David to be put to death.

Now in case you’ve missed it, pause here for a second and consider what lengths you have gone to protect and pursue the idols of your heart. Not many of us would likely say that we’ve killed to protect our idolatry, but perhaps some have. What I want to draw our attention to is that Jesus has claimed hating someone in your heart to be a form of murder, and I am quite confident that we’ve all done that in pursuit of our idols. In 2 Samuel, we will see an interaction between David and a prophet named Nathan. After David had pursued his sin with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed, Nathan the prophet comes to visit and tells David a little parable of two men in the same town. One was rich and one was poor. The poor man had a sheep he dearly loved, and it was his family’s only sheep. This sheep would sleep inside, as if it was part of the family. Well one day, the rich man who had many sheep had an unexpected visitor show up, and instead of killing one of the many sheep he had to feed the visitor, he took the poor man’s only sheep, slaughtered it, and fed the visitor. Nathan then asks King David what should be done to the rich man, and David says, “As surely as the Lord lives, the rich man deserves death!” This is where the tables turn, and Nathan says to David, “YOU ARE THE MAN!”

So I want to play the part of Nathan with you reading this today. Here’s my point: We can so easily see the pitfalls that Saul dives into and sit back shaking our head. Even though Saul was a true historical figure, the writer of Samuel wants us to be able to consider the figure’s character and how we might struggle in the same ways with the same things. So consider yourself: How many times have you wanted bad things for someone who never hurt you, just because they were more popular or people seemed to enjoy them more? How many times have we shaken our heads at wealthy people for the way they live, and yet we would do the same thing if only we had the chance? How many times have we judged others for doing the very same thing we ourselves do? My simplest example is texting or looking at your phone while driving. This is an unsafe practice, but I have certainly done it many times. The other day I was yelling at a person who did not see the green light because he was busy texting someone and looking down at his phone. In that moment, I was David, and Nathan the prophet could have said, “You are the man!” You see, we don’t even live up to our own standards. How desperate are we for a Savior?

Christ did not come to be the true King of kings and the sacrificial Lamb without reason. We are desperate for our Savior, and we long for the coming King to make all things new! Consider the present age and darkness; don’t be fooled by the idols of your heart into chasing more and more sin. Repent of these things, love others well, and remember your desperate need of a Savior and the answer we have in Christ Jesus.

**Special thanks to a faithful brother in Christ, Steven Obert, for his work on this week’s study.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

1 Samuel 14-18 (9.17.22)

Few biblical figures are as important in God’s plan of redemption as David, the son of Jesse. He is the second king of Israel and the one with whom the Almighty makes an everlasting covenant for the good of the world. David is a model of loyalty, the writer of over half of the book of Psalms, and an example of godliness for redeemed sinners because even though he sinned greatly, he still remained steadfast after God’s commands and he practiced true repentance.

It was in the midst of a great national crisis that David was selected to rule over the nation of Israel. After Saul proved to be a great failure (1 Sam. 15), the Lord came to the prophet-judge Samuel and instructed him to anoint a new monarch, who would replace Saul.

In 1 Samuel 16, after a long process of having each of Jesse’s oldest and most charismatic sons stand before Samuel one at a time so he might discern which of the lads the Lord had chosen to be the new king, it was God’s will to choose the youngest and “least likely” candidate in David. In this, God teaches us a very important life lesson: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

When the Lord selected David to be his chosen King, He wanted a man who understood the need to be a man “after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). David was surely this, as he was the least of his brothers and a humble shepherd, who did not otherwise aspire to greatness (1 Samuel 16:8–13).

This David was a man after God’s own heart, not because he was perfect, but because he was sensitive to the Holy Spirit and knew to repent when he had sinned (2 Sam. 24:10–25; Ps. 51). Men and women after God’s own heart are sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit and strive not to quench Him as He convicts us of sin and guides us in righteousness. One of the best ways to be sensitive to the Spirit is to study His inspired word, that we might hear Him when He calls. We must also be regular in prayer and committed to our local church where members and elders are tasked by God to encourage us in holiness and admonish us for sin. Our fight against sin and the temptations of this world are too real not to make these God-given things a priority in our lives.

Despite being anointed as king over Israel in his father Jesse’s house (1 Sam. 16:1–13), David did not ascend to the throne immediately; rather, he was pressed into the service of King Saul (vv. 14–23). It was in the first part of his service to this king that David displayed many of the heroic qualities that would be so closely associated with him later on.

It is in 1 Samuel 17 that we get a front row seat for one of the most famous fights in all of history and the true, public coming-out party of David as a strong and worthy leader. The phrase “David and Goliath” has become the illustration of the underdog overcoming the favored champion.

Soon after David entered the court of the king, the Philistines moved to attack the nation of Israel. As was common then, the armies of each nation stood opposite one another on two mountains with a valley in between them — squaring off, so to speak (1 Sam. 17:1–3). From their vantage point, the Philistines and their champion, Goliath, engaged in a bit of psychological warfare, taunting Israel and boasting of their military superiority (vv. 4–10). This was also the usual way for armies to face each other before battle, and the clear atmosphere of the land of Palestine made it easy for shouts to be heard up to a mile away. Thus, Saul and his army had no problem hearing Goliath, and they were “greatly afraid” (v. 11).

Even though King Saul and his armies were greatly afraid of Goliath and the encroaching Philistine army, David rose to the occasion, not in his own ability or reputation as a victorious warrior, but in the strength and name of God. David trusted God to do His perfect will.

I Samuel 17:45-47 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

Like David, we should not fear when we are pressed into service; indeed, we should be the first to volunteer to face potential suffering for the sake of Christ. We can be sure that God will give us the final victory when we fight for Him according to His ways. Though there will be some casualties on our side, the war’s outcome is decided, and all those who suffer now will be raised in triumph in the world to come.

I Samuel 17:48-49 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

God surely gave a great victory to David and the Israelites that day, as the giant was slain, and the Philistines fled. But this is not just a story of moral inspiration, as it has commonly been made out to be. It is a great foreshadowing of the truer and better David, Jesus Christ, without whom all of our victories on earth are but a broken plastic trophy with no lasting value. Jesus is the One who defeated the true giant in our place. He is our victor and the One who gives a dead people new life to go out and make much of God’s name among all the nations. While David’s faith to stand up to the giant who should have brutally slaughtered him is great and an example worthy of following, it is Jesus, our bloodied champion over sin and eternal death, to whom David points us that matters most.

David was eventually made king, and the greatest king in ancient Israel he would be. He was a poet, musician, and warrior, and great leader. He was “a man after God’s own heart” (see 1 Sam. 13:14) because of his extraordinary devotion to the Lord.

But David was not perfect or sinless by any means; instead, he is also remembered as one of history’s greatest sinners. 2 Samuel 11 tells the famous story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah to try to cover his guilt and sin.

Like many of our own daily sins, David saw something he shouldn’t look upon, but instead of turning away, he pursued the lust in his heart of the sin. Instead of confessing the sin and repenting from it, he tried to cover it up by having Bathsheba’s husband killed. How often does our engagement in sin slip fast and hard into addiction or more consequential sin? Oh, how we must fight our sin every day. This is why we are desperate for God’s word to instruct us and lead us unto righteousness. This is why we lean on the Holy Spirit in prayer and petition–not just over our cheerios, but all day long. This is why we do not make decisions alone but lean into our blood-bought family for godly counsel, encouragement, and admonishment when needed. We cannot fight this fight alone, nor should we when Christ has given us so much to armor ourselves and fight for His holy name.

Like God has done for us in Christ, He mercifully forgave David when David acknowledged his sin, but this does not mean David’s transgressions had no horizontal consequences. This we see in 2 Samuel 12, as Nathan faithfully brings to mind and heart God’s view and judgment on David’s sin. David would lose the child in Bathsheba’s womb, but David would not curse God for His righteous judgment; instead, David would worship the Lord even after these consequences were brought to pass (2 Sam. 12:15b–23). This showed that David acknowledged his guilt and the justice of God’s verdict. This is a huge example to us today. Many things that come about in this life or consequences we or loved ones face set the table for us to be angry at God and sinfully curse God instead of trusting His ways are always good and righteous and perfect.

Do you harbor lingering bitterness toward the Lord over the consequences you suffer from your sin or the hardships and loss that come with this broken world we live in? We must always have faith in God. He is God and worthy of our praise no matter the situation. Circumstances do not ever change the fact that God is worthy of our praise and due our trust and faith in Him.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

1 Samuel 9-13 (9.10.22)

In I Samuel 8:7-18, we read that the people demanded a king. 

Why was this a bad thing?

1. Because God was Israel’s King, and who can be a better King than God? So their desire to have a human king was to fulfill selfish, fleshly longings that they believed would bring them to a better place in the land. But in the end, this desire was a rejection of God as King. This is a total offense to God and all that He deserves.

2. The other problem with the people’s demand for a human king was the negative things that would happen to them under the rule of a man. Samuel warned them of all of this, but they still wanted what they asked for.

Illustrating the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it,” the Lord responded to the pleas of the Israelites to give them a king like the other nations. As we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9, we see Samuel obey God’s command to give the people what they ask for and to raise up Saul as the first King of Israel.

Saul is the people’s idea of a king as he is attractive, large in stature, impressive, and noble. But as we have read, he lacks the key quality God wants to see in a king which is faithfulness of the heart that leads to covenant obedience. Without this attribute, Saul is a failure in God’s sight, no matter how successful he may appear to the human eye.

This week we read about Saul’s story. As we dig in today, let us worship God who is at work in all these things, even in the failed leadership of Israel’s first King.

In 1 Samuel 9:1-2, we read that there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was a Benjamin and a man of wealth. He had a son whose name was Saul, who was a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward, he was taller than any of the people.

Oh, how we love to judge each other based on our looks and outward appearance or performance. As we will study in the next lesson, God looks beyond the outer appearance and performance and looks into the heart and character of a man. Again and again, God’s word leads us to look for the fruit—and not just the fruit of words or actions, but the fruit that reveals the heart and character of a person. We would do well to focus on the inside and let that produce what is on the outside.

In 1 Samuel 9:3-14, we read that Saul is sent by his father to look for some lost donkeys, and it becomes quite the adventure until he runs into Samuel. By God’s sovereign appointment, Samuel has instructions for Saul that will change his life and alter the course of all of Israel.

1 Samuel 9:15-16 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel, “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

In 1 Samuel 9:17-27, Samuel blesses Saul with food and provisions and a place to sleep. In 1 Samuel 10:1-8, Samuel tells Saul that he will be the prince of the people of God, and he gives Saul very specific instructions to follow until Samuel would come meet him again and there provide a burnt offering for the Lord.

1 Samuel 10:9-13 shows us how God was with, working in, and through Saul. Saul was given a new heart, and the things Samuel said would happen came to pass. This was especially highlighted in the fact that Saul was prophesying, which took the people by surprise, as it was out of place for Saul to do this. The Holy Spirit was at work in these things, and God’s hand was setting the table for Saul’s rise to power. But it is super interesting how it is noted that the people were so shocked, as these spiritual things were not who Saul was and weren’t in line with his character. This is yet another sign that what we see on the outside is not always a right indication of who that person is on the inside. We must take our time to really know who a person is.

In 1 Samuel 10:17-24, Samuel reveals that Saul is the one who will be their king, and the people celebrate and shout, “Long live the king!”

Read 1 Samuel 13:1-23.

Saul goes from conquest and victory to being pinned in a corner and ultimately out of patience. In verse 12, we read that Saul usurped the authority and role of the priest and offered sacrifices to the Lord on his own authority. This is a blatant act of disobedience. Now, this doesn’t seem that big of a deal to you and me, but we must understand it is a transgression and willful disobedience against God’s command. Even though Saul might have intended to honor the Lord in his actions of sacrifice and burnt offering, he dishonored God by doing it his way.

Can you think of a time when you did what you thought was the right thing, but in the end, was still an act of disobedience to your parents, the law, or God? We must be oh-so-careful not to ever decide that our way is better than God’s way, even when it seems to be a good idea in our minds.

1 Samuel 13:13-14 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Samuel makes it clear to Saul that he had broken God’s command, and therefore his reign as king will not continue. Instead, God will command another man who lives to honor God. In verse 14, we read the phrase that will become most famous in describing King David: “a man after his own heart.” While David will be far from perfect and will himself have many moments of disobedience and sin, he will have a heart, a character, a core desire to honor God and not himself. This is just like the hearts of the saved and redeemed that live to honor God, even though we struggle with sin. We no longer live as slaves to our sin but live to honor and worship the one true God.

God is surely at work to show the people of Israel the difference between the kind of king they desire and pick based on outward appearance and the kind of king that God has for His people—ultimately a King that will be totally righteous forever and ever: Jesus Christ.

Next week, we will read in chapter 15 the next step of selfish disobedience by Saul against God. Long before the time of Saul in the days of the wilderness wandering, Israel had been savagely attacked from the rear by the Amalekites, a deed the Lord had promised to avenge someday (Exodus 17:8-16). The time had now come, so Samuel commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites totally, that is, to place them “under the ban.” This was a wartime practice of total destruction of a people and their property. This kind of ban was only able to be decreed by God, but Saul failed to obey the command and kept some of the spoils of the land and even the king himself to benefit by personally and to show off to his people upon his return. Once again, Saul is a perfect representative of his people who only want what they want. He doesn’t hold in high regard the instruction of the Lord and does his own self-benefitting thing. For this, he would be punished.

In 1 Samuel 15:10-35, Saul is filled with excuses and doesn’t own up to his sinful actions. Samuel is patient with him and makes it clear that God desires our obedience before our sacrifice or offerings. If we obey Him from the get go, we show Him that we honor Him above our sinful longings. To ignore His commands and be disobedient and think we will just bring an offering of atonement is to manipulate our Lord. May we fight sin and our desire to do it our way. May we love to honor God and obey His commands.

May we be people after His own heart, in that we truly want to live for Him in all we do, despite the fact that we struggle with sin.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church