Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments. Psalm 112:1

1 Samuel 18-19

1 Samuel 18

Jonathan Befriends David

¹ After David had finished speaking to Saul, Jonathan and David’s lives were knit together, soul to soul, and Jonathan loved David as himself. ² Saul took David that day and would not let him return to his father’s house any more. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as he loved himself. ⁴ Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his clothing, including his sword, his bow, and his sash.

Saul Envies David

⁵ David went out wherever Saul sent him and behaved himself wisely, and Saul set him over the men of war. It was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

⁶ As they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. ⁷ The women sang to one another as they played and said,

“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”

⁸ Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have credited David with ten thousands, and they have only credited me with thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?” ⁹ Saul watched David from that day forward. ¹⁰ And it came to pass that the next day, an evil spirit sent from God came mightily on Saul, and he was raving in the middle of the house. David had his hand at the lyre, playing as every other day. Saul had his spear in his hand, ¹¹ and Saul threw the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” David escaped from his presence twice. ¹² Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and had departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and made him his captain over a thousand, and he led the army out and brought them back.

¹⁴ David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in fearful awe of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he led them to war and back.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Saul said to David, “My elder daughter Merab, I will give to you as wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul said, “Don’t let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.” ¹⁸ David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”

¹⁹ But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

²⁰ Saul’s daughter, Michal, loved David, and they told Saul, and this pleased him. ²¹ Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, “You shall today be my son-in-law a second time.” ²² Saul commanded his servants, “Talk with David secretly and say, ‘The king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore be the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³ Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and little known?”

²⁴ The servants of Saul told him, “David spoke like this.”

²⁵ Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except 100 foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ” Now Saul thought he would make David fall at the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline, ²⁷ David arose and went, he and his men, and killed 200 of the Philistine men. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. ²⁸ Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him. ²⁹ Saul was even more afraid of David, and Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the Philistines’ military leaders went out to battle, and as often as they went out, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.

1 Samuel 19

Jonathan Warns David

¹ Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. ² Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning and go live in a secret place and hide yourself. ³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you, and if I see anything, I will tell you.”

⁴ Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David because he has not sinned against you and because his works have been very good toward you, ⁵ for he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

⁶ Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.”

⁷ Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as before.

Saul Seeks to Kill David

⁸ There was war again. David went out and fought with the Philistines and killed them in a great slaughter, and they fled before him.

⁹ An evil spirit from the Lord was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, and David had his hand at the lyre, playing.

¹⁰ Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.

Michal Saves David

¹¹ Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped. ¹³ Michal took the teraphim and laid it in the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵ Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ When the messengers came in, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”
Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”

¹⁸ Now David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth. ¹⁹ Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

²⁰ Saul sent messengers to seize David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of the Lord came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. ²¹ When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Then he also went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu, and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
One said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.”

²³ He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God came on him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

John 8:31-59

The Truth will Set You Free

³¹ Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. ³² You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ A slave does not live in the house forever. A son remains forever. ³⁶ If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸ I say the things which I have seen with my Father, and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”

³⁹ They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹ You are doing the work of your father.”

They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”

The Children of the Devil

⁴² Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I have not come of myself, but he sent me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

⁴⁸ Then the Jews answered him, “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ But I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. ⁵¹ Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”

⁵² Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets, and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God.

⁵⁵ You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him and keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.”

⁵⁷ The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet 50 years old! Have you seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”

⁵⁹ Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple, having gone through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Psalm 112

Blessed is He who Fears the Lord

¹ Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who delights greatly in his commandments.
² His offspring will be mighty in the land.
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches are in his house.
His righteousness endures forever.

⁴ Light dawns in the darkness for the upright,
gracious, merciful, and righteous.
⁵ It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends.
He will maintain his cause in judgment.
⁶ For he will never be shaken.
The righteous will be remembered forever.
⁷ He will not be afraid of bad news.
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
⁸ His heart is established.
He will not be afraid in the end when he sees his adversaries.
⁹ He has dispersed, he has given to the poor.
His righteousness endures forever.
His horn will be exalted with honor.
¹⁰ The wicked will see it, and be grieved.
He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.

Proverbs 15:12-14

¹² A scoffer does not love to be reproved.
He will not go to the wise.
¹³ A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but an aching heart breaks the spirit.
¹⁴ The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge,
but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

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