Devotionals

When a story is said to take place near the Crags of the Wild Goats, you know it’s going to be interesting. We find ourselves at those Crags as the rising action of 1 Samuel 16–23 comes to a climax in chapter 24 when the Lord delivers King Saul into David’s hands in a...

Ancient Greek philosopher Plato famously wrote in his work, Republic, that “our need will be the real creator.” This is the earliest iteration of the modern proverb, “necessity is the mother of invention.” We are familiar with this phrase, either because we’ve heard...

The closest thing I own to a sword is a Nepali Gurkha warrior’s knife, called a khukuri, given to me by a missionary. According to Wikipedia, it is a type of knife or short sword with a distinct recurve in its blade. It serves multiple purposes as a melee weapon and...

This is such a stark and brutal set of texts. David’s father-in-law, the king, goes insane and tries to murder him. Sometimes we miss the shock of this because we’re familiar with it, but it reads like a true crime novel. David has done nothing but serve Saul. He...

David and Goliath – a story almost everyone in our culture is familiar with. David defeats the giant with just a sling and stone. He is victorious! The world would say you too can have victory if you just have fortitude to stand against the odds. The problem is people...

Proverbs 18:24b says, “but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” These words were penned by Solomon, son of king David. It’s likely that Solomon grew up hearing stories of the great friendship between his father and Jonathan, son of the man who preceded...

The book of 1 Samuel is a tale of two drastically different kings. The first king is Saul, who is loved because of his appearance. He came from an upstanding and wealthy family and is described as the tallest and most handsome in all of Israel (1 Samuel 9:1,2). While...

In the first part of 1 Samuel, the Israelites wanted a king to rule over them. The man who was chosen, Saul, quickly disqualified himself and it became evident the throne needed a successor. Throughout all of this, God was not surprised or caught off guard. God had a...