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1Samuel, chapter 25, comments

 

1Samuel 25:1 ¶  And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

 

Samuel, the prophet and judge over Israel who was instrumental in instituting the monarchy, dies. For this great man of God there was naturally a very great mourning. David and his assembly now move to the wilderness of Paran as they try to elude the king and his men.

 

1Samuel 25:2 ¶  And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3  Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 4  And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. 5  And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6  And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 7  And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8  Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. 9  And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 10  And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. 11  Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?

David now encounters a wicked man named Nabal and a woman who will become a wife named Abigail. Nabal is one of those people who have great wealth in spite of the fact that they are churlish and evil in their doings. A churlish person is rude and stubborn and quite mean-spirited.

 

Certainly, the property did belong to Nabal but just as certainly he didn’t use good judgment in his dealing with David’s men. On principal Nabal was perfectly justified in denying these, what he would think of as brigands or runaway servants, of the sustenance provided for his own servants but it was not well-advised considering that there are hundreds of armed men out there.

 

1Samuel 25:12 ¶  So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. 13  And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. 14  But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. 15  But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: 16  They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17  Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

 

David is furious and Nabal and his servants and household are on the verge of a very tragic encounter with hundreds of armed men. However, one of Nabal’s servants, apparently familiar with Nabal’s wife’s Abigail’s temper of mind, told her the truth. David’s servants had been a help not hindrance or a threat to them. Most likely the danger was from Philistine raids or even just ordinary brigands and robbers who would have been a danger to the servants abiding Nabal’s flocks. The perjorative son of Belial is a reference to a worthless and wicked man or men. When from a Hebrew word it indicates worthlessness and from a Greek word it signifies Satan. It is like saying he’s, “a son of the devil.”

 

1Samuel 25:18 ¶  Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. 19  And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. 20  And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. 21  Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. 22  So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. 23  And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, 24  And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. 25  Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. 26  Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27  And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. 28  I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. 29  Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. 30  And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; 31  That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

 

Abigail, having more wisdom than her husband, does something that should disturb most Fundamental Baptists. She takes of her husband’s store of goods and gives to David and his men without even telling him. I bet that is a shocker for some of you. She even badmouths her wicked husband as she honors David. Let every prideful husband, every drunken husband, every husband who runs his family’s finances into the ground with get-rich-quick schemes, or is mean-spirited beware lest you have an Abigail who will save you in spite of your stupidity and arrogance and hot temper.

 

Abigail also acknowledges that it is the LORD Jehovah who has prevented David from shedding blood and avenging the disrespect shown David and his men. Abigail knows that David will be king, that God is going to use him as David fights the battles of the LORD. She is very prophetic in speaking thus for David and against Saul who is pursuing him. She only asks that David forgive her impertinence and that when God has rewarded David that he remember her. This is a very smart woman.

 

As an aside, here the phrase, the bundle of life, is used. Life is a rare thing in the universe, I should think. Biological life defies all common sense in a cold, dead universe and I also presume that it takes a lot to maintain conditions in the universe for life to exist here on earth. Maybe at some time we will find biological life on other planets but I suspect we will not.

 

1Samuel 25:32 ¶  And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 33  And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 34  For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. 35  So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

 

David blesses God and Abigail. Due to Abigail’s prudent and courageous behavior David promises that Nabal’s house will be spared any retribution. The phrase in verse 22 suggests that David was prepared to execute Nabal and all of the men of his household.

 

1Samuel 25:36 ¶  And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37  But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38  And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. 39  And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 40  And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. 41  And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 42  And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43  David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives. 44  But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

 

Foolish and wicked Nabal dies of probably heart failure that took ten days to kill him, an act of God. Abigail was destined to become a wife of David. God had originally spoke of marriage as a contract between one man and one woman.

 

Genesis 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

 

However, as culture and civilization developed men of wealth could afford to take on more than one wife and we see in the Bible that they often did. This does not mean that it was in God’s perfect will but it is clear that He will use man’s failure to reach the mark He sets as part of His ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself. Abigail will bare David a son as will Ahinoam.

 

1Chronicles 3:1  Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess:

 

Saul, though, has given his daughter, Michal, David’s wife, to another man while David was on the run.

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Psalm 54 comments

 

Psalm 54:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?» Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. 2  Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. 3  For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

 

1Samuel 23:14 ¶  And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. 15  And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood….19 ¶  Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20  Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand. 21  And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me. 22  Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly. 23  See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah. 24  And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25  Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

 

David pleads for deliverance from the disaster of being caught by Saul. This is a Psalm we can claim in times of trouble. He calls on God to save Him by His name, the only person who could save him. It is God’s goodness, power, and mercy that can save and God’s name is invoked as being Himself.

 

David not only pleads with God to save David by God’s name, being Himself, but to judge David’s cause by His strength. He asks that God hear his heartfelt prayer as he calls Saul’s forces foreigners and oppressors who do not care for God. Remember Doeg the Edomite? Saul uses Canaanites in his military and in the administration of his kingdom, probably most who do not honor the God of Israel.

 

Psalm 54:4 ¶  Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. 5  He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth. 6  I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good. 7  For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

 

Psalm 118:6  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?  7  The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me….13  Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.

 

David affirms his confidence in God’s help in David’s time of trouble. He knows that God will take care of those who oppose him and seek his death. David praises God and declares that he will offer sacrifices, confident beforehand that God will deliver him and deal with his enemies.

 

It is David’s confidence in a praise of God that we should emulate. Most of us are not being chased by the chief executive of a country and his minions in government to our destruction.

 

But my point is here that we can use this prayer to express our confidence in God’s mercy and deliverance from the evil that threatens us.

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Psalm 53 comments

 

Psalm 53:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.» The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. 2  God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3  Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4  Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. 5  There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 6  Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

 

This is a repetition of Psalm 14. So, we might say sarcastically that April 1^st is day dedicated to them; April Fool’s Day. It is impossible to please God with good actions if one doesn’t believe in Him.

 

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

Let’s look at Psalm 14 again in its entirety.

 

Psalm 14:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.» The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2  The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

    4 ¶  Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. 5  There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. 6  Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. 7  Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Here is a condemnation of atheism. Even in David’s day it is possible it was acknowledged that there were people who believed in no god. However, it is also entirely possible in this very religious world where Greeks and Romans were called atheists who did not believe in the gods of the state that this is, in David’s context, a condemnation of the heathen who follow Baal and other gods. This could very well be about people who do not seek after God, capital G, the Creator of the universe and the Lord of all eternity. From my study, and this is my conclusion only, in the world of the Ancient Near East it is unlikely that people would believe in no god at all but we have the evidence I just stated that people were called atheists who did not believe in the gods of the state or in the Ancient Near East even the god of the city as we have learned that individual cities were religious entities in their beginning consisting of people who worshipped the same god or gods which were perhaps different from another city.

Prophetically, Paul will bring out these points consistently. First, in the religious history of mankind, which is worth reading, he goes over this general concept.

Romans 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

    19 ¶  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and

fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Paul quotes this passage in the context of showing that we are all sinners, lost without Christ;

Romans 3:9  What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

For us personally, we should keep in mind this idea when we are witnessing that it doesn’t matter what someone believes, what their final authority is, if it is not Christ and His Bible, which in a manner of speaking is Him in written form then we are undone forever. They are lost, in the same boat as atheists who don’t believe in God the Creator. They are the same as a functioning atheist, a Unitarian, Hindu, Muslim, or Christian who doesn’t believe Christ was and is the visible image of the invisible God.

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Psalm 52 comments

 

Psalm 52:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.» Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. 2  Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3  Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. 4  Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. 5  God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

 

Let’s examine the event that inspired this Psalm.

 

1Samuel 21:1 ¶  Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2  And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 3  Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 4  And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but

there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5  And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6  So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 7  Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. 8  And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. 9  And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

 

David then fled to the Philistines but was driven away. The narrative picks up again in the next chapter of 1Samuel.

 

1Samuel 22:6 ¶  When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) 7  Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; 8  That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? 9  Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10  And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 11  Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. 12  And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. 13  And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? 14  Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? 15  Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. 16  And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. 17  And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. 18  And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. 19  And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

 

    20 ¶  And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 21  And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD’S priests. 22  And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. 23  Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

 

In this passage in Psalm 52, the first part of it, David seems to be tearing into Doeg’s character as an evil man. The implication here is that Doeg was not just ‘doing his duty’ as we would say but relished in bringing the destruction of the priests and used his duty to the king as an excuse, knowing the king’s paranoia and what fruit it would bear. We all know people who, while doing what is considered the right thing or the dutiful thing, did it with the wrong attitude. They can do the right thing with a malicious, evil bent of mind.

 

Be warned as you inform on someone who has committed a crime, a sin, or simply a mistake in the world, at work, or in your family that you will be judged by your attitude in doing so. A smarmy, self-righteous frame of mind or a malicious smile is not suitable for a Christian to carry.

 

Notice the context of people whose tongues devise mischief and work deceitfully.

 

Romans 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

 

Commentators like John Gill suggest that this is also the character of the Antichrist, the Beast of Revelation.

 

Psalm 52:6 ¶  The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: 7  Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. 8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. 9  I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

 

David speaks here of laughing at the circumstances the wicked person will bring on himself. This is a sort of modern “how’s that working out for you?” sort of comment. I am reminded of;

 

Psalm 7:16  His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

 

The evil that men and women do sometimes comes back on them. While I do not think it is seemly for a Christian to laugh at the misery of someone else, even misery that person brought on himself, I can understand why we would laugh.

 

But God does not take pleasure in the misery of the foolish or the wicked.

 

Ezekiel 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

 

Those who depend on their riches can have a shock waiting for them, and rather quickly.

 

Luke 12:16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I

have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

 

But David is like a green olive tree and he trusts in, praises God, and waits on the mercy of the Lord.

 

Psalm 1:1 ¶  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

 

God can be trusted, David says, and waiting on the Lord is good for those sanctified by Him. God will deal with both Doeg and Saul.

 

 

Bible study with Fred, #671: Leviticus 1: 10-17; offerings are precursor...

Matthew, chapter 28, comments

 

Matthew 28:1 ¶  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8  And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9  And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10  Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

The first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection, has always held an important place in the history of the Christian church. Notice here how God uses a natural force, an earthquake, as the method by which His angel, His appearance, which we can be assured is Christ Himself unrecognized by the women, as an angel is an appearance of someone whose actual physical person is somewhere else, removes the stone.

Christ is the appearance of God; the angel of the Lord, His presence, as God the Father is a Spirit.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Who led the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Judges 2:1 ¶  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Also notice His appearance.

Revelation 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

The guards, whether they were Roman soldiers, Temple guards, or a combination of both, quaked in fear and could not act, frozen in their panic. For what could have been battle hardened veterans serving in a very hostile part of the empire this appearance must have been pretty remarkable.

The angel of the Lord declares that Christ is risen, that He is not there for them to see, and that they were to go tell the others that He will meet them in Galilee. First, though, Christ shows who He is to the women. Then, He repeats the order to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee as He had already told them He would meet them there.

Matthew 26:32  But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

As I said before I did not want to make my study of Matthew a harmonization of the Gospels. There are variations in the eyewitness accounts, which there should be if they are genuine. People remember things differently and witness things differently. It is a testimony to the Holy Spirit’s involvement in the preservation of the Bible that scribes and translators did not feel justified in making every account line up with every other. It is also clear that the Gospel writers did not copy each other as skeptics sometimes say. So, there are some differences in the description of what happened. I would say that is due to the difference of whether a writer was there physically or was reporting the event as it was told to them by someone else. If four different people give an account of an event and the accounts are exactly the same then they all got together to create the narratives they present and are not trustworthy but if there are variations in their accounts the situation is more believable.

Notice also in verse 8, the great fear and the great joy the women had. Certainly, these two feelings show this to be an overwhelming event.

Matthew 28:11 ¶  Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. 12  And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13  Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 14  And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15  So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

In verse 27:65 Pilate suggests they have a watch so make the tomb as sure as they can. Verse 11 suggests that it was the Temple Watch as they report to the Chief Priests and yet the bribe is said to be paid to the soldiers so again we have the question of whether or not it was the Temple Guards alone or a combination of the The Guards and Roman soldiers or just Roman soldiers. However, Roman soldiers asleep at their guard duty would have required a punishment of execution. Whatever the case, the Jews believed Jesus’ body had been taken by His followers based on this lie.

Matthew 28:16 ¶  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Verse 16 shows that not every one of the eleven were convinced that He had risen from the dead. Some doubted. But here was the evidence right in front of them. Jesus has risen and returned to interact with His disciples.

For verse 18 I want to point out two different statements that Jesus made.

Matthew 11:27  All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Matthew 16:28  Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

It is through the risen Jesus that man can approach God.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Saviour of mankind, is how God achieves His ministry of reconciling mankind, whosever will, to Himself. Christ is the bridge between Heaven and Earth, Jacob’s ladder, if you will.

We now await His return to call us, His church, out and to rule over the kingdoms of the earth.

1Corinthians 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

But in the meantime we are given a task, an assignment. It is popularly called The Great Commission. Some hyperliteralists insist that only the chosen Apostles were called to teach all nations and this would not even include Paul, so it is a nonsensical belief that we are not all called to this task.

Christ references the three parts of God, popularly called the Trinity, a word not found in the Bible.  There are other references to the three parts of God. Examples within a single verse are;

2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

1John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

His disciples were commanded to teach all nations teaching them to observe all things that Christ had commanded.  For you Greekophiles we have teach and teaching from two different words in Greek so as much as many evangelicals get twisted in knots around “make disciples of” let me just say that the command to teach strongly suggests the making of a disciple. I don’t understand how you can be taught truthfully and fully the doctrines set forth in the Bible and not be wholly convinced of their truth and follow Jesus as a result.

While we are doing this Christ will always be with us. As I write commentaries on the Bible that are seen around the world I am counting on this promise. I can’t do it without His consent or help even as I tell people that it doesn’t matter whether they think I’m right or wrong in my interpretations but that they just go and do likewise.

Hebrews 13:5b  …for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

So the Gospel According to Matthew ends.

 

 

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Psalm 51 comments

 

Psalm 51:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.» Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

David has been confronted by Nathan and will lose the child of his adultery with Bathsheba. Please see 2Samuel 12 for Nathan’s confronting of David for his sin.

What follows is a plea for forgiveness, an acknowledgement of his transgressions and there were many. It is also an acknowledgement of David’s sinful nature although not using that as an excuse but a lamentation. Solomon noted that there is no one who doesn’t sin and he said it twice for us in the Bible.

1Kings 8:46a  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,)

Ecclesiastes 7:20  For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Then Jeremiah lets us know about our hearts.

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

This passage also implies that God knows our most inward thoughts.

Psalm 94:11  The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

We also need to see that our sins are against God first, then the offended party. We would do well to listen to this psalm and make it our prayer knowing we have committed an egregious sin.

David asks that God blot out his transgressions based on God’s tender mercies and to cleanse him from his sin, which is always present in his mind. He can’t escape from it.

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Some commentators and Bible paraphrases say that verse 5 isn’t a condemnation of either the lawful sex act or David’s mother but that it is saying that David states that he was born a sinful man, that’s his legacy from his conception, and we might say that it was passed on from our ancestor, Adam. John Gill who preached in Charles Spurgeon’s church a century before him, states this, that the verse refers to David being a sinner from the beginning.

Isaiah 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

God desires truth in our hearts and that is something only He can provide us, through His words.

Psalm 119:11  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Psalm 51:7 ¶  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Hyssop is an evergreen plant, a garden herb of the mint family. It is used to ritually cleanse in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It is also mentioned in relation to Christ.

John 19:29  Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

Note also a verse in Isaiah that I quoted for the first part of this Psalm.

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Here, David’s sorrow is likened to broken bones and those bones, when healed, rejoicing, so there is no danger our misunderstanding this figure of speech. David seeks to have his sins blotted out as he has already stated in the first part of this Psalm.

For verse 10 see one of the promises we have, written by the apostle, John.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Here David pleads also that God not remove His holy spirit, lowercase h and s, the wisdom, guidance, and understanding that God has given Him not a reference to God’s very mind, His Spirit, uppercase S, which came upon a person of the Old Testament rather than indwelling them.

See other times the spirit of God, lowercase s, is used.

Isaiah 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

The best thing I can say is that this is a matter of emphasis and making sure we understand that the very mind of God is not indwelling David but that God has given him wisdom and understanding and that spirit, lowercase s, from God, David pleads not to lose. It is a sweet and fulfilling relationship with his Creator and that connection to God that David does not want to lose. Notice though that for the Christian God’s Spirit, uppercase S, abides with us and inside each of us. Note the uppercase H and S in Luke.

Luke 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

And this promise from Christ;

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

And then these statements from Paul and Peter with the uppercase S for spirit;

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

1Peter 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

So a lowercase spirit from God refers to an attribute, wisdom, knowledge, or understanding sent from God to man while the uppercase S refers directly to the very mind of God 

Here are passages where spirit and mind are linked. The Spirit is the mind and heart of God just as the spirit of man includes the heart, reason, emotions, intellect, and talents. For contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with mind please see the following;

Romans 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Ephesians 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

2Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Salvation in verse 12, like in 99% of the Bible, is not a reference to eternal salvation but to the deliverance that David has experienced as God’s mercy was always so abundantly expressed in relation to David.

He wants to experience that joy again that he experienced when delivered from very bad things. I, too, have known that sense of wonder and gratitude that came from knowing that God’s hand was directly involved in my deliverance, usually from things I deserved. He declares, as we sometimes think, that his deliverance will be a testimony to others and will play a part in turning sinners like himself toward God.

Remember that David has done a very bad thing in committing fornication with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband  at the hands of Israel’s enemy. He is pleading for God’s mercy and restoration from a very bad place, a place that fortunately nearly all of us will never find ourselves.

Yet there are many things that we can relate to in this passage and in this Psalm. We don’t want the light of the Holy Spirit of God quenched within us and we want to experience again the joy we felt when we knew that God has saved us eternally. While, David, as an Old Testament Jew, would have meant one thing by what he has written here we can apply these very words to our present condition in Christ when we realize how badly we have sinned against a righteous and holy God.

Psalm 51:14 ¶  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18  Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19  Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

David pleads with God to remove the stain of his murder of Uriah the Hittite. Here is a typical Old Testament Israelite making a deal with God. God’s deliverance of David’s guilt will result in David singing God’s praise.

No sacrifice nor offering can remediate David’s sins. He deserves to die. But see here what is called for in such an extreme situation in verse 17. Also see this previous verse;

Psalm 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Do we mourn for our sin and for the sins of mankind in general? Are we not broken-hearted at our failures and weaknesses? Some commentators interpret the following from the Sermon on the Mount as referring to realizing we are morally and spiritually bankrupt before Christ and being exceeding sorrowful for how sin has separated us from God.

Matthew 5:3 ¶  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

What will please God are the sacrifices of righteousness, a humble spirit before Him and doing what is right in all circumstance.

Psalm 4:5  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

Notice also what we are called to as Christians;

Romans 12:1 ¶  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

If truth be told we are all guilty of David’s egregious sin. It has been said that our sins put Christ on the Cross and that mankind used Roman government agency to murder Him no less than what David did to Uriah the Hittite, one of the Christ figures of the Old Testament. Old Testament sacrifices of animals will not compensate for our sin but only a living sacrifice to God in Christ to live our lives directed by Him.

Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Philippians 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: