The revealing nature of felt threats - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 22:17-19,

"Then the king [Saul] ordered the guards at his side: 'Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.' But the king's officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord. The king then ordered Doeg, 'You turn and strike down the priests.' So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep."

Here is a man, Saul, whose rank and stature, his wealth and power are threatened. It is all threatened due to his own failure, as king of God's people, to embrace God in faith and trust. The threat is very real and Saul's disposition is already a done deal, awaiting its occurrence.

It is instructive for us to note how a man, whose rank and stature, whose wealth and power is threatened, acts. Saul has brought on his own demise, yet he is busy lashing out at those he feels may somehow be involved in the threat he feels.

In Jesus' day, the leaders of Israel responded in much the same way. Feeling their authority in the community might be threatened, they plotted and schemed in their opposition to him. They planned and plotted how to kill him as he took his message to the folks.

We see it in our day as well. Not just in politics and the workplace, but also in the church. How often it has been seen that when someone's role or stature in the fellowship is threatened in some way, it brings out the worst of them. There is nothing quite like the spectacle of a church leader, sensing a threat, to act like anything but what should be expected from a church leader.

On the other hand, there are many wonderful leaders in the church today, inspired and energized by God and should be recognized by the rest of us as such. Leaders, who when feeling threatened, respond in a way to make the most of all things accrue to the successful mission of the gospel, living their lives to please the Lord, even as a threat is presented.

You can always tell what is in a person's heart as they respond to some form of threat, as did King Saul.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Can I assume how God might accomplish something? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 21:12-15,

"David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, 'Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?'"

Here is a fascinating account! David was afraid that Ackish would turn him over to Saul to kill him. He avoided the threat by feigning insanity, something we might not expect. Certainly something I would never have expected!

What might we expect? David was chosen by the Lord to be the new king of Israel, and so if threatened, we might expect the Lord to send legions of angels to protect him. If not, at least provide some kind of protection through others that might side with David against Saul. But we don't read anything of that.

What we do see is David engineering his own escape by acting like a mad man. Was this God's "will"? Was it God's intent to have David escape by acting like a fruitcake, instead of a more respectable approach through military action or some other demonstration of strength? I don't know... but I do know this is what happened, and it became another link in the protection of David to see him through to the throne, replacing Saul.

Sometimes we assume we know how God might accomplish something. And, if it isn't accomplished in a manner we expect, if it doesn't conform to our preconceived notion, we might dismiss it as something removed from the purview of God.

I don't know if I have ever heard over the years a sermon on this event. However, that does not mean there isn't something to learn from it. What I learn from this is that God's purposes might be accomplished in a manner I might not ever expect! I certainly would not have expected David to escape Saul's clutches by acting like a mentally disturbed person in front of King Achish. Yet, this is exactly what happened.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Only two teams in life - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 20:1,

"Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, 'What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?'"

Jonathan was the son of King Saul. Saul was a man who did not place his faith and trust in God, but lived his life based on the observable circumstances he found himself in, much as so many people do today. Because of his lack of faith and trust in the Lord, the Lord rejected him as king over his people and selected David to replace him. A series of circumstances that pitted the successes of David's faith against the backdrop of Saul's failures (due to his lack of faith) led to Saul's insane quest to murder David. David felt this unjust and unfair enmity Saul held toward him, occasioning his question of Jonathon.

I am reminded of something John would write a millennium later: "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you."

This was true in David's day, a thousand years before John said it, and it is still true today, two thousand years since he said it. We would all do well to recognize there are two teams in this life, and only two: Team Cain and Team Abel. Team Cain is made up of all those who fail to place their faith and trust in God, and Team Abel is made up of those who do place their faith and trust in God. There is no third team whatsoever, "Whoever is not with me [Jesus] is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Luke 11:23.

In the confusion of life, some team members may be found batting for the other side, but generally speaking these two groups are distinct and everyone plays on one team or the other. Cain's team despises and fears God's people and seek their destruction. We see it all over the world today. God's people don't deserve it and never have to do anything to earn the hostility of Cain's team, yet find themselves continually under attack by it. Much of that hostility, I am sure, arises from the fact that Cain's team instinctively "feels" the reality that they are excluded from the Lord's tent and rejected by him. They may not be cognizant of what motivates them, but motivated they are, nonetheless. This is seen in politics, social institutions, debate in the public square, etc., as well as in private life.

What team do you play on?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Gifted by the Holy Spirit while in the pursuit of sin and rebellion - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 19:23-24,

"So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?'"

The Lord decided to remove Saul as king over Israel due to his faithless focus on circumstances rather than the Lord. The Lord chose David to succeed him on the throne and Saul sought to kill him. David fled to tell Samuel and the two went to Naioth.

The above verses follow three previous attempts by Saul in sending men to capture David at Naioth. On each occasion the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they began to prophesy with Samuel and the prophets together with him. So, Saul himself went and he too began to prophesy as he went to Naioth.

Here is what I find to be a fascinating employment of a special ability the Lord gave as he protected his chosen successor to the throne. Saul went to kill and wound up having the Holy Spirit come upon him in a way that caused him to prophesy.

What did Saul and his men prophesy about? We are not told. However, I can't help but think it may have been along the lines of what God was doing in deposing Saul and choosing David as his successor. Just speculation here...

What is not speculation, however, is the use of a very distinct spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit to a man (and others) rejected by God and on his way to do evil against his chosen one. The use of this gift of prophecy by God was to facilitate David's escape from Saul.

The assumption today that anyone who has a special "spiritual gift", a special enablement from the Holy Spirit, must be "in good" with God is not necessarily well-founded. God does the amazing, and at times, the very unusual, and he doesn't check in with us first to see what we think about it or if it agrees with our preconceived theology. God simply does what he wants in the way he wants. 

Folks who neglect the Old Testament Scriptures like these deprive themselves of learning of the rich heritage Israel and we have with the Lord, as well as the many fascinating things he reveals of himself in them.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Faith made David the "better man" - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 18:14,

"In everything he [David] did he had great success, because the Lord was with him."

The Lord blessed David with success. We are told, "Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul's officers as well." Verse 5. Also, "The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well known." Verse 30.

We see the Lord's hand on David, bringing him success in all he did because, unlike Saul, David was a man of faith. Saul's shortcoming was that he made his choices based on the observable circumstances he found himself in, as opposed to trusting in God. In 1 Samuel 13:11 we read Saul telling Samuel, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash..." and so made a deplorable decision demonstrating a complete lack of trust in God.

God's response to Saul was, "the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people" (to replace King Saul). This man to replace Saul was David, a man of whom the Lord said, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you [Saul] today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you." 1 Samuel 15:28.

Listen to David's perspective on things, expressed when he went to challenge Goliath, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

The stark difference between Israel's first king and her second one was that Saul was not a man of faith, unlike David. What made David better than Saul was his faith and trust in God. This faith did not make him a perfect man, as his life would go on to show his shortcomings with his adultery with Bathsheba, murdering her husband, etc.

Faith and faith alone is what made David "better than" Saul. It was this faith the Lord found in him that brought his hand of success in all he did.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Living life in faith on God's promises - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 17:47,

"All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you [Philistines] into our hands."

This statement was made by David to Goliath just prior to killing him. Goliath was the Philistine who challenged Israel's forces. He had threatened King Saul and his forces daily as they shrank in fear of him.

David's words, "All those gathered here will know..." were important words for King Saul, as well as for us today. In Saul's instance, he repeatedly took his eyes off the Lord and acted in a manner that betrayed his lack of faith in him. "On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified." Verse 11. Often, in Saul's reign as Israel's first king, we see him fearful of the circumstances that surrounded him, exhibiting no confidence in God's ability to take care of him and the nation.

Paul holds up another man, Abraham, as our example of the kind of faith God looks for in each of us. This is the faith we see in David's life as well. This faith is manifested when we make choices that reflect we are fully convinced that God has the power to do all he promises, "Without weakening in his faith, he [Abraham] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.'" Romans 4:19-22.  

This is exactly the kind of faith Saul lacked that led to his rejection as Israel's king by God. Saul made his choices in life based on the circumstances he found himself in rather than on the promises of God. We see this repeatedly in 1 Samuel.

The Scriptures are consistent in its claims that success in life is all about our faith in God and his power to do what he has promised!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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God looks at other things - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 16:7,

"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

This is the Lord's statement to Samuel when he was reviewing Jesse's sons to see who the Lord would pick to replace King Saul. The Lord's choice was David, the son no one considered.

We all tend to look at things in others the Lord does not. God does not choose what mankind tends to look at. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

It is not our beauty, our intelligence, our spiritual aptitude, our wealth, our standing in the community, our power, our ability to persuade, who we know or what we have that God seeks in us. The wonderful things that God the Father looks for in us are the things that his Son imbues us with when we embrace him in faith. Note the next verse, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

How thankful I am that God has made it so... else, where would I be?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Our unchanging God has regrets - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 15:29,

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind."

This statement Samuel made to King Saul points to the unchanging nature of God. God does not change and he does not change his mind.

This is an obscure idea to a culture such as ours. Reflecting our own sinful nature, our culture shifts and changes all the time. When I was growing up, homosexuals were considered perverts that children needed to be protected from. Today, it is seen as an honorable thing to hand foster children over to them, or allow them to adopt children. When I was growing up, murdering an unborn child was acknowledged for what it was. Today, we take pride in allowing women to do such a thing.

Our current president has "evolved" on the issue of same sex marriage. Unlike our president, God does not "evolve" on anything. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8. What we learn of God never changes and is always true on any day.

I can't image what our existence would be like if God changed all the time! What would it be like to wake up some morning to hear God say, "I've had second thoughts on this atonement my Son wrought. In thinking it over, you all will have to pay for your own sins!" I thank God he never changes!

That said, another verse from this chapter is quite a surprise to the theology of many. God can regret some of the things he does. Shocking, isn't it? "I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." 1 Samuel 15:11. The regret God expressed was that he chose Saul to be Israel's first king and it was Saul's performance that brought this regret. Did God not know Saul would be a disappointment? Certainly. "... I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'" Isaiah 46:9b-10.

God's regret is not that he makes a poor choice from not knowing what will happen. His regrets flow from the bad choices sinful mankind makes. Another example of this was God's regret at creating mankind at all, just before he destroyed the world in Noah's day, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." Genesis 6:5-6.

Fascinating that our unchanging God has regrets!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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The way of faith - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 14:15,

"Then panic struck the whole [Philistine] army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God."

The Philistines where completely routed that day by the men of Israel, in a fight begun by Saul's son, Johnathon, together with his armor-bearer. The fight started with Johnathon but it eventually engaged Saul and the fighting men together with him.

In the above verse we read that God had sent the Philistines into a panic which resulted with them being "in total confusion, striking each other with their swords", verse 20. It was this act of God that made possible Israel's victory over the Philistines, who had the weaponless Israelites (see 14:19-22) hopelessly out-manned and "out-gunned."

Johnathon knew the Lord's help would make all the difference and counted on him to save the day. The circumstances looked very much like the Israelites were at the complete domination of the Philistines.

But... when God is on our side, it does not matter what the circumstances look like. This is the way of faith.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Driven by circumstances, not faith - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 13:11-14,

"What have you done?' asked Samuel. Saul replied, 'When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, "Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor." So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.' 'You have done a foolish thing,' Samuel said. 'You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command.'"

As the Philistines prepared to attack Israel, King Saul was apparently told by the Lord to sit tight until Samuel arrived to make a burnt offering. When Samuel did not arrive as expected, Saul, instead of trusting in what God told him to do, made the offerings himself, displaying a lack of faith in the direction the Lord had given him. Also, Saul, as Israel's first king, was a Benjamite, and not a priest, and hardly qualified to approach the Lord in this manner.

Saul's stated motivation sounded good, in that he felt compelled to provide the offering himself because Samuel had not arrived and Saul had not yet "sought the Lord's favor". However, it was the military movements of the Philistines Saul had is eye on, as well as his own men who were scattering. Saul had taken his eyes off the Lord, and instead, allowed his circumstances to dictate his actions rather than follow the Lord's direction.

Samuel told Saul, "...  the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command." What kind of man was the Lord seeking? A man after his own heart, and that would have to be someone who was a man of faith. We will see that the man the Lord chose to replace Saul was David, a man of great faith.

The Lord looks for those who will embrace him in faith. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Joshua and Samuel all demonstrated their faith in the Lord and it will be by faith and faith alone that anyone can enter into God's family today. You can be a card-carrying red-blooded conservative American who does all the right things, and it won't help a whit when it comes to gaining a position in God's good graces... it is faith alone, not our accomplishments, not our successes in life, not all the good things we have done (as well as shunning all the bad things others do) that brings us into God's favor.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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Moral clarity - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 12:7,

"Now then, stand here, because I [Samuel] am going to confront you [the Israelites] with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors."

Living in a population, a nation, a world, that is bereft today of moral clarity, how refreshing it is for me to listen to a man of God speak truth. Clear, unadulterated truth, expressed without any further motivation than the truth itself. Samuel does not mince his words and he does not hold back in his indictment of the nation of Israel, clarifying just how unjust the people were to turn their backs on God, the God who had done so much for them.

Samuel outlines how God had delivered the Israelites from their oppressors, beginning with their enslavement in Egypt. God had provided Moses and Aaron, then, later, he provided the various judges: Gideon, Barak, Jephthah and himself. God delivered the people of Israel from those who oppressed them, yet, once delivered, they always turned their backs on their Deliverer.

The current state of affairs had not changed. When confronted with danger, rather than turn to God, the nation insisted on replacing God as the king of Israel for a human king... so they could be just like all the other peoples that surrounded them. They shied away from their status of being God's people, his representative on the international stage.

Samuel made the Israelites stand in his presence while he brought his indictment against them, truth by truth. No spin, no equivocating, no mincing of words. None of the "depends on what the meaning of 'is' is..."

Where we live in a day when truth is only to be used and manipulated to gain power and wealth, such that it rarely sees the light of day, and then often only to support some political agenda, etc. Samuel, as someone who was inspired and animated by God, demonstrated that when a man of God speaks, he does so with sharp, crystal clear moral clarity.

How we need such people today! Maybe if we asked God...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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God's Spirit inspired anger - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 11:6,

"When Saul heard their [the people of Gibeah] words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger."

Saul's anger was directed toward the Ammonites who threatened to gouge out the right eye of all the Jews living in Jabesh Gilead if they did not surrender to them. I suppose it is possible he might have also been angry because the men of Gibeah were weeping at the threat to their countrymen, as opposed to actually preparing to do something about it (but that isn't clear to me).

In any event, the text communicates is was the Spirit of God that "came powerfully upon him" that prompted this anger that burned with Saul's heart. It was in this anger that Saul brought the Israelites together and slaughtered the Ammonites, "The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together." Verse 11.

The Spirit of God is capable of doing all sorts of things in our lives, of motivating us in many ways, of moving us in different kinds of directions. I suspect many have a perspective that when one has had the Spirit of God come upon them, it should look a certain way. The Scriptures don't appear to support that kind of outlook. Where Saul here "burned with anger", others have been humbled (David), frightened (Paul), terrified (Isaiah) and so forth.

God accomplishes many things through those he uses, and to think the Holy Spirit does the same things, the same way, having an identical impact on each, is a misunderstanding of the workings of God.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

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An Imperfect King - Ruminating in the Word of God

I'm sorry I sent the original accidentally before finishing it. Here is the finished version:

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 10:6-7,

"The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you [Saul], and you will prophesy with them [a procession of prophets]; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you."

Samuel anointed Saul as king over Israel and told him he will be changed into a different person as the Holy Spirit will "come powerfully upon" him. We read in verse 9 that God changed Saul's heart, God's Spirit came upon him and he joined in the prophesying of this procession of prophets.

However, it is not long before we see Saul acting in an odd fashion. When confronted by his uncle as to where he had been, and although Saul had now been anointed king over Israel, was changed by God's Spirit and began prophesying, we are told Saul told his uncle nothing of it.

Also, when Samuel gathered the Israelites together to present Saul to the nation as their new king, Saul hid, "...he has hidden himself among the supplies." Verse 22. We are also told there were "some scoundrels" who despised Saul and failed to recognize him as king by not bringing him gifts. Saul's response? "...Saul kept silent." Verse 27.

Clearly this was going to be a flawed king. The Israelites rejected the perfect king for the nation, God himself, in their demands for a human king - so they could be just like everyone else.

Another point catches my attention this morning: Saul was anointed as king, was changed into a different person as the Holy Spirit came upon him, prophesied among the prophets of God, and yet, look at the flaws this man still had! I am reminded that in spite of all the advantages God may give us, when it comes to our lives in this age, we will always have those things we need to work on.

Perfection for us does not arrive until the resurrection!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

- Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 10:6-7,

"The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you [Saul], and you
will prophesy with them [a procession of prophets]; and you will be
changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do
whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you."

Samuel anointed Saul as king over Israel and told him he will be
changed into a different person as the Holy Spirit will "come
powerfully upon" him. We read in verse 9 that God changed Saul's
heart, God's Spirit came upon him and he joined in the prophesying of
this procession of prophets.

However, it is not long before we see Saul acting in an odd fashion.
When confronted by his uncle as to where Saul had been, and although
Saul had now been anointed king over Israel, was changed by God's
Spirit and began prophesying, we are told Saul told his uncle nothing
of it.

Also, when Samuel gathered the Israelites together to present Saul to
the nation as their new king, Saul hid, "...he has hidden himself
among the supplies." Verse 22. We are also told there were "some
scoundrels" who despised Saul and failed to recognize him as king by
not bringing him gifts. Saul's response? "But Saul kept silent." Verse
27.

Clearly this was going to be a flawed king. The Israelites rejected
the perfect king for the nation, God himself, in their demands for a
human king so they could be just like everyone else.

Another reality catches my eye this morning. Saul was anointed as
king, was changed into a different person as the

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

The things God chooses - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 9:21,

"But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?"

The "thing" Samuel told Saul was that he would be the desire of all Israel, "And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?" Israel was demanding they be given a king, just like the surrounding nations had. God was to be the king of the nation, but they demanded a human king, and Saul was the chosen one.

The choice of Saul would not be a happy one for the nation, but when God's best is rejected for the desires of the heart, what else should be expected?

I find the choice of Saul instructive. Saul's comment above reminds me God often looks for things we do not. What we find important, God thinks otherwise. What God finds important, we often think otherwise. In 1 Samuel 16:7b the Lord tells Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

After the failure of Saul's reign, another king will be anointed by Samuel, David. The choice of David is similar in that God chose someone no one else expected. David's father had seven of his sons pass in front of Saul to present them as the possibilities that God had selected one of them. Not seeing who he was looking for, Samuel asked Jesse, David's father, "Are these all the sons you have?" Jesse told him the youngest, David, was tending the sheep. It never occurred to either Samuel or Jesse that the Lord had chosen David. David was not the tallest, David was not the oldest, David was left to the sheep while the rest of the family met with God's prophet... yet, David was God's choice to replace Saul.

I am reminded of something Paul would say a millennium later, "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.'" 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.

Here is something to give real thought to.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

God "gives over" those who reject him - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 8:21,

"When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.'"

This exchange Samuel had with the Lord took place following Samuel's warning to the Israelites as to what would happen to them if they pressed for a king to reign over them. The warning Samuel gave them was directed by the Lord. Here are some of the warnings the Lord gave Israel through Samuel if they were to push for a king:

A king would press their sons into his service in either the military or to work in his fields. He would press their daughters into his service to be perfumers, cooks and bakers. He would take the best of the Israelite vineyards, fields and olive groves to give to others. The king would tax the Israelites and give the revenue to his officials and attendants. He would take servants and the best of the livestock for his own use. Most notably, the Israelites would become the slaves of the king they demanded be placed over them.

The Lord predicted the Israelites would cry out to him for relief from a king they would choose. However, as the Lord pointed out to Samuel, the Israelite's demand for one of their own to be made king over them was an expression of their rejection of God as king over the nation. In 8:7-8, the Lord tells Samuel, "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you."

What catches my attention this morning is that the Lord "gave over" his people to their own devices in their demand for a human king. Although the Israelites would suffer great loss for themselves and although giving in to them facilitated a rejection of the Lord in the life of the nation, the Lord gave them over to their demand. The Scriptures repeatedly demonstrate how the Lord allows mankind to exercise the free will he himself has given them, and, along with allowing people to pursue their own will, he responds in his own way, his own judgment.

Consider this frightful observation made by Paul in Romans 1:22-24, "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." God gave them over!

See also the next few verses, "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error." God gave them over!

Paul's next comment in Romans 1:28-32 outlines the terrible descent into human depravity people fall into as God gives them over to their sinful impulses in their rejection of him, "Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." God gave them over!

The judgment of God for rejection of him can, and often leads to his "giving over" of them, to their own sinful devices that result in their own misery, their own unhappiness and often their own destruction.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Forget religious trappings! Embrace the Lord! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 7:10-11,

"While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew
near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with
loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic
that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed
out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the
way to a point below Beth Kar."

The Lord "thundered with loud thunder" to provide Israel victory over
the invading Philistines. Here is a different picture altogether than
what we read of in 1 Samuel 4:10, "So the Philistines fought, and the
Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter
was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers."

Why the difference? Samuel pointed out the problems Israel had with
the Lord. He told them, "... rid yourselves of the foreign gods and
the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only,
and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." So the
Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord
only." 7:3b-4. Israel had turned her back on God and had even used the
ark as some kind of religious amulet in an attempt to extract a
victory over the Philistines, even while in rebellion against God.

At Samuel's direction, Israel returned to God with their hearts. Now,
rather than "using" God for their own purposes, they turned their
hearts toward him and he responded mightily to their plea for help
against the Philistines.

Wise direction for us in 1 Samuel: forget all the religious trappings
and turn to the Lord with our hearts! He alone can bring us what we
need!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com