Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:14 Understanding to grow in Because salvation is by God's grace, his free favour, every Christian receives an inheritance whether they have given much in service or not. This was the shock of Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matt 16v1-20). And it's the shock when David gives an equal share of the plunder to the men too exhausted to fight. The point is that anything he received in battle was the Lord's gift (30v23). Our service is therefore given not for gain but from gratitude, not to earn salvation but as a dsiplay of allegiance to our Saviour. The contrast again is Saul. God is not with him and so not with Israel. Saul himself is therefore killed and plundered by th...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:13 Understanding to grow in It's only too easy to resent hard times and give up on serving God; "Why should I" we might say, "when he's brought this on me?" Not so David. Since being anointed king by Samuel he has faced hostility from Saul and been roaming homeless. Now he has to take shelter amongst the despised Philistines, Israel's enemies. But even here he doesn't forget the Lord. He protects Israel by raiding the surrounding Canaanite peoples who should have previously been destroyed. One thinks of how Christ kept serving even when things were at their worst and calls us to be ready to lose everything for his sake. "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay hi...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:12 Understanding to grow in Twice judgement for rejecting David is left to the LORD. First, David almost destroys Abigail's husband but she turns him from it. Her husband then dies by God's hand. Second, David refuses yet again to kill Saul, leaving his future instead to God (26v10). As the perfect king Jesus never even comes close to destroying his enemies, even washing the feet of Judas. He is able to patiently await the day of judgment when all things are to be brought to account. Paul applies the same point to Christians (Rom 12v18-19). When people treat us badly or oppose us because we belong to Christ, we can seek to be at peace with them and not seek revenge, because we know that on...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:11 Understanding to grow in The contrast continues. The seriousness of Saul's rejection is seen in it driving God's newly anointed king to find shelter amongst the surrounding pagan nations - a parallel to Christ having to shelter in Egypt from Herod. Jesus came to his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1v11). Yet God is seen to be with David. And his superiority over Saul is evident in his refusal to even harm Saul despite Saul's hostility. It commends such a reverence for God, that we act respectfully to those he has appointed even if, for his sake, we must oppose them because they are dishonouring him (Acts 23v1-5). As you read note David's qualities. 1 Samuel 22-24 ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:10 Understanding to grow in Jonathan's commitment to David is seen now by his readiness to risk his own life for God's king. 20v4 provides the sentiment: "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it for you." It is the attitude we should have to Christ as David's greatest descendent. As David was to Jonathan, he is not just our king, but makes us his friends. And just as Jonathan entered into a covenant with David, asking his protection on his descendents when David gains power, so we look to Christ to look kindly not just on us, but on the family he has entrusted to us. As you read note Jonathan's response to David. 1 Samuel 20-21 Finish this reading by pausing to ask...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:9 Understanding to grow in Jesus taught that we must be prepared to choose him over family (Lk 14v26), and the principle is illustrated here with David. He is God's chosen king, and Saul's children Jonathan and Michal chose him over their father. It's encouragement for all Christians who find their faith bringing hostility from a family member. We must deal with unbeliving relatives respectfully and wisely, but Jesus must come first. Saul's dire spiritual state is seen in the fact that he is open to the influence of evil spirits - although even they serve God's purposes. And God's concern for David is seen as he protects him by causing Saul and his men to prophecy. The sen...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:8 Understanding to grow in We all need God's man. We see it first with Saul. God uses only David to calm him when tormented by the evil spirit. It's a small scale of what David does for the nation. Goliath torments them, and God uses David to defeat him. But it is all of God. David has neither armour or sword - only faith. He is motivated by godly provocation that Goliath is defying God's armies and so dishonouring God; and he trusts God to give him victory. It's one of the clearest ways David patterns Christ. For the honour of his Father and the good of his people, he waged war against the Goliath of sin, death, the devil and hell. And just as David's victory was counted as Is...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:7 Understanding to grow in We do not worship God on our own terms. Jesus said many will cry "Lord, Lord" on the last day, but he will say "I never knew you" because they didn't obey his Father (Mat 7v21-23). So it was with Saul, persistently. And when confronted, rather than repent (as David would later do), he made excuses and sought to justify himself. It's a lesson to us all. And it leads to God's choice of David. Unlike Saul, he doesn't look the part, but "the Lord looks at the heart" and sees someone of genuine devotion. This is what he esteems. As you read note why God is provoked at Saul. 1 Samuel 15:1-16:13 Finish this reading by pausing t...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17: 6 Understanding to grow in It was a test of faith. The pressure was on. The enemy assembled. Would Saul hold is his nerve and obey God's word through Samuel by waiting for him to come and make the sacrifice? It's the crisis we all face when disobeying God might help get us out of a tricky situation. Saul's failure cost him and his family the monarchy. And that was particularly tragic because his son Jonathan, who would have followed him as king, was of kingly material - so confident of God that he was prepared to attack an outpost with just an armour bearer and turn the tide of the war (14v6). Again Christ is foreshadowed in so trusting his Father that he took on sin, death and the d...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:5 Understanding to grow in We are never content. Israel had everything. God was their king, mediating his rule through the righteous Samuel. But still they wanted a human king. We immediately see the problem. Saul looks the part being taller than all others, but lacks faith in God, hiding timidly when called (10v22-24). And it is only by the Spirit of God that he manages to play the part at all (11v6). Yet in grace God does not reject the people despite the fact that their request effectively rejects him. Samuel, who was already God's man for the people prays for them and teaches them what is good and right (12v23-24). They needed no-one else. It's a reminder that in Christ we have all we...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:4 Understanding to grow in Just as was the case with Gideon, Israel again ask for a king for the wrong reasons. They do not want a king to help them obey and honour God, they want one to be like the nations, and to go out before them and fight their battles (8v20). This is a blatant rejection of God. He had called the to be set-apart from the nations, and previously it was he who led them into battle in the ark and fought for them. Likewise we should guard against desiring the sort of celebrity leaders in our churches that are so esteemed in the media or business today, looking to them to give us success. Instead, we should seek out those who will lead us in reliance upon God - looking ultimately...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:3 Understanding to grow in The heart of our reading is 6v20: "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?" Because he was especially present in the ark, for it to be amongst the Philistines who had no covenant of law and sacrifice to deal with their sin, would inevitably mean that his wrath at sin would break out. Likewise, for the Israelites who looked into the ark and so drew too close to the LORD. This is why we need the full cleansing of Christ if the Lord is to indwell us by his Spirit, and why all who are not cleansed by Christ must one day face his wrath. The incident with Dagon proves the point: He is the one true and living god as opposed to the false idols our mi...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:2 Understanding to grow in Samuel and his parents are being contrasted with Eli and his sons. The sons sin as priests by keeping what was due to God for themselves and engaging in sexual immorality. Although he rebuked them, Eli sinned by not properly discipling them. And this brings down judgment on them and his family. It's a stark reminder to parents, children and church ministers that we cannot presume God's favour. We must turn from sin ourselves, and seek to turn those God gives us responsibility for. By contrast faithful Hannah experiences ongoing blessing and Samuel grows in stature and favour with the LORD and the people. He is going to replace Eli as the leader the people need, ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 17:1 Understanding to grow in There is one key aspect of God's promise to Abraham (Gen 17v1-9) still to be fulfilled. He has become a great nation that has inherited the land of Canaan and given God's covenant law to obey. But as yet, kings have only been anticipated. The book of 1 Samuel records the rise of monarchy in Israel, but begins with her most righteous judge - Samuel. His parents are righteous too and his Mum's song on being given the child she prayed for is of such significance that Mary modelled her own on it (Lk 1v46-55). And there is an encouraging note here about prayer itself. God hears and "remembers" those who love him, even when praying over their personal st...