we arrived home early this morning from nashville, tn. e|merge 3.0 is almost done and i'm excited about all the work we got done. big props go out to pete and alton for all the hard work they have done. also, props go out to kevin alton (a UMC youth pastor) and josh tinley, our editor.
just in case you need them, here is a list of this weeks readings:
Day 001, 1 Sam 16:1-23
Day 002, 1 Sam 17:1-25
Day 003, 1 Sam 17:26-37
Day 004, 1 Sam 17:37-54
Day 005, 1 Sam 17:55-58 & Psalm 27:1-10
i'm going to paste in the text for today's reading as it comes from the message translation (source: biblegateway.com)
SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 17:26-37 (the message)
26 David, who was talking to the men standing around him, asked, "What's in it for the man who kills that Philistine and gets rid of this ugly blot on Israel's honor? Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?"
27 They told him what everyone was saying about what the king would do for the man who killed the Philistine.
28 Eliab, his older brother, heard David fraternizing with the men and lost his temper: "What are you doing here! Why aren't you minding your own business, tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you're up to. You've come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!"
29-30 "What is it with you?" replied David. "All I did was ask a question." Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before.
31 The things David was saying were picked up and reported to Saul. Saul sent for him.
32 "Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
33 Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
34-37 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."
Saul said, "Go. And God help you!"
OBSERVATIONS:
-you've got to love david's toughness. he takes offense that goliath is slamming god and wants to take a stand.
-like i said yesterday, i think that eliab (remember him from monday's reading... he is the one that samuel thought was going to be king, but god doesn't throw popularity contests) began to believe the lie that goliath was shouting out every morning. listen to a lie long enough and it may seem like the truth.
-seems like eliab was already ticked off even before david got there. david again is put down because of his age.
-here's what i think saul thought... if no one goes out to fight goliath... he'll just keep coming out... or maybe he'll just go away. saul had a major problem but it seems as if he was content to ignore it. he must have thought that if david goes out and loses... he can save face by saying, "after all... he was just a kid". seems like in a way he could be lowering expectations.
-david had prepared for this day by fighting bears and lions. we'll see more of his preparation tomorrow.
APPLICATION: don't ignore your problems, face them with / in god's power! i need to face my problems (or giants) face on and not just ignore them hoping they will go away. david realized that with god's power he could deal with goliath.
PRAYER: god, help me to not ignore problems that i have... thinking they will just go away. help me to face them head on and in your power conquer them!
milthaler
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