BLOODSHED: Times of War and Times of Peace, 1 Chronicles 28:2-3.

Pictured: “The 2000-Yard Stare” by Thomas Calloway “Tom” Lea, III, oil on canvas (1944).

In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons. –Herodotus.

King David was the commander-in-chief of a kingdom at war. Saul’s kingdom had been one of drama, intrigue, and Saul’s obsessive quest to murder David. David had better intentions, but the bloodshed was not that different.

David swore he would not lay a hand on Saul. But when Saul died, a young man brought to David Saul’s crown and bracelet and falsely claimed to have killed Saul himself, thinking David would reward him. He did not. “Why were you not afraid to raise your hand against God’s anointed? … Thy blood be upon thy head” 2 Samuel 1:14-16. David had the man killed.

David was soon crowned king over the tribe of Judah, but the military commander Abner created support among the other tribes for Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth. King Ish-Bosheth reigned in Israel two years while King David reigned only in Judah, 2 Samuel 2:10.

Then Ish-Bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines. Abner was so offended he withdrew his support for Saul and began supporting David. But Joab killed Abner (2 Samuel 3:27) to avenge the death of his brother whom Abner had killed in self-defense, (2 Samuel 2:23). David mourned Abner and though he chose not to punish Joab at the time—probably hoping to bring peace in the ranks and in the nation—David did force Joab to publicly mourn the man he murdered: “Rend your clothes and dress in sackcloth and mourn for Abner,” 2 Samuel 3:31. Years later, King Solomon had Joab killed, 1 Kings 2:31-34.

Following immediately on the heels of Abner’s murder, two men struck down Saul’s son, King Ish-Bosheth. They killed Ish-Bosheth in his bed, cut off his head, and brought it to David, no doubt expecting a reward. David rebuked the men for “killing a righteous man in his own house,” then David had them killed, 2 Samuel 4:11-12.

David’s fame and even his reign began in battle. His first step toward becoming king was when he ran toward Goliath, slung a stone, then cut the giant’s head off with his own sword. Blood would stain David’s kingdom from that day forward. David fought battle after battle after battle. Now one knows how much blood he spilled or how often he saw the light of life extinguished in the eyes of a warrior he had struck down. No one knows how many men David killed personally. And David’s armies surely killed thousands.

Years later God told David he was not the man to build the temple. Why not? Because David was a man of bloodshed.

Yes, David was a man after God’s own heart.

Yes, God forgave his many failures.

Yes, David wrote 73 of the 150 psalms in the Bible.

He was a composer, a musician, a worship leader, and an amazing Biblical author. David was even an ancestor of Jesus Christ, the “Son of David.”

But David was not the man to build the temple.

“God said unto me, ‘Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood’” 1 Chronicles 28:2-3.

David’s entire career, his entire life was war. God called him to fight and he made David remarkably good at it. Moreover, David may never have obeyed God more fully than he did while at the head of his army. He obeyed.

Yet God himself said, “You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name.” Instead, God chose Solomon to build the temple. King Solomon was a man of peace. Why was Solomon able to be a man of peace? Because David had won all the battles and subdued every enemy.

Solomon’s successful peace was the result of David’s successful wars. But the temple is a place of peace (Isaiah 56:7), just as Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

David the warrior-king yielded his kingdom to Solomon the oracle and empire-builder. Once Israel was secure in its own borders and its enemies no longer a threat, Solomon could focus on his building campaign. Solomon built not only the temple, but a wall around Jerusalem, a royal palace, and more. “I built myself houses … vineyards … gardens and orchards … pools of water … I had great possessions of great and small cattle and silver and gold and the peculiar treasures of kings” Ecclesiastes 2:4-8.

War and peace are often generational cycles. Those who fought the world wars of the 20th century suffered all kinds of privations, rationing, doing without. The generations that followed have witnessed what may be the greatest time of prosperity and economic growth in the history of the world. That pattern is not unusual.

Human societies can direct their energies toward war, or they can direct their energies toward everything else.

War is sometimes necessary to defeat a great evil. But only peace can bring the blessings most people hope for so desperately—blessings such as food, safety, security, liberty, property, and rewarding work.

The Bible is a complex, sophisticated text. While God sometimes calls his people into courageous battles for a good cause, God clearly considers peace the more important virtue.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” Matthew 5:9.

God, give us the wisdom and courage to face the wars we must fight. And give us the gift of peacemaking leaders and lives freed from the crippling costs of war.

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Manly Exploits and the Manly Heart. 2 Samuel 23:8.

Pictured: Yellowfin tuna from this fishing guide’s website: https://alphonsefishingco.com/fly-fishing/species/yellowfin-tuna/

Once, after a day of deep-sea fishing, I joined my friend Doug at a stainless steel cleaning table. Ours was one of four tables, each surrounded by men cleaning fish and swapping stories. It was amazing to see the huge redfish and yellow-fin tuna and amberjack and black drum. As the sunburned men worked through dozens of huge fish, slicing and gutting, snapping bones and hosing away the scales, the waste parts quickly washed from the stainless tabletops directly into the waters of the rocky shore below. Seagulls grabbed everything that landed on the rocks and an endless stream of crabs fought for everything that slipped below the surface.

But it was the conversations that stayed with me. For over an hour I soaked up the most incredible fish tales I had ever heard. And it was not just fishing. The men talked about hunting trips, told stories of injuries they had suffered, football teams they played for, military exploits, and like all good storytellers, they sprinkled in stories borrowed from friends: “’Yeah, buddy a’ mine was down on Matagorda Bay last summer, got into a nest of jellyfish and had to be choppered outta’ there.”

Of all the things I enjoyed about deep-sea fishing, I may have enjoyed story time at the cleaning tables most of all. I do love a great story.

What man doesn’t love a great story?

Men are motivated to fight for glory—on the battlefield, on the sports field, or anywhere a man can find it. There is one kind of glory in dropping an enemy, another kind of glory in dropping a moose, and perhaps a third type of glory in academic achievements and artistic accomplishments. There is even glory in telling a great story.

But life is like a card game: a man must play the hand he is dealt, whether God made him a baller or a baker, a pugilist or a percussionist.

Play the hand you’re dealt; work hard and you’ll find your glory.

But there is a secret to glory in the Christian life: If you want to achieve glory, you must be prepared to give God the glory.

The book of Second Samuel records stories of David’s mighty men, men like “Adino the Eznite: he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time” 2 Samuel 23:8.

And Abishai fought 300 men single-handedly, 2 Samuel 23:18.

Benaiah went into a pit during a snowstorm and killed a lion, then defeated a seven-foot Egyptian by stabbing him with his own spear, 2 Samuel 23:20-21 and 1 Chronicles 11:23.

These stories go on and on. While still a fugitive, David drew to himself the most extraordinary men, fighters for the ages, and David’s leadership inspired them to achieve the impossible. Yet the commander of these mighty men dedicated to God both their achievements and his own:

“With God’s help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale a wall … It is God who arms me with strength … He makes me sure-footed like the deer … He trains my hands for battle, my arms can bend a bow of bronze … You armed me with strength for battle … The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me … who saves me from my enemies … He gives his king great victories” Psalm 18:29-50.

Men love glorious achievements. The life of David indicates one key to great achievements is a grateful heart that never takes credit but gives God the glory in all things.

Talk to God about your dreams and ask him to give you a heart like David’s. Pray the words of Psalm 115:1– “Not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory, because of thy loving kindness and because of thy truth.” That is the Godly path to glory. See also the words of John the Baptist in John 3:30.

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Burial or Cremation? 1 Samuel 31:12-13.

An unforgettable movie line comes from the OUTLAW JOSEY WALES. Wales is busy tracking down Captain Terrill, a man with a bad habit of slaughtering the unarmed. After Wales, played by Clint Eastwood, shoots a pair of Terrill’s killers, he refuses to stop and bury the dead. To make his disdain for the dead men clear, he spits tobacco on one dead man’s forehead and tells his friend, “Buzzard’s gotta eat, same as a worm.”

Though few would leave bodies to the buzzards, different cultures handle the deceased in different ways. Burial is probably the most common. But for every western movie with characters on their knees scratching out a grave with a metal camp plate, the modern world boasts ten thousand buried six-feet deep in 200-pound caskets of stainless steel. Recently, whether motivated by the cost in dollars or in real estate, many have begun choosing cremation instead of burials. Nevertheless, my friend Bruce told me he is against cremation, believing it to be a largely pagan practice not worthy of Christians who expect to receive a resurrection body in the last days. For years, I agreed. I was appalled at the thought of cremation. Until I wasn’t.

After the Philistines defeated Saul’s armies, they committed what Texas law describes as “abuse of a corpse.”

“They cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor, and … fastened his body [and those of his sons] to the wall of Beth-Shan” 1 Samuel 31:9-10.

The book of First Chronicles adds new information: Saul’s head and armor were sent from city to city in the land of the Philistines before they “fastened his head in the temple of Dagon” 1 Chronicles 10:10.

Israel may have lost the war, but the honorable warriors in the city of Jabesh-Gilead refused to let the bodies of the royal family remain a rotting spectacle in the Philistine cities.

“They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of King Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days” 1 Chronicles 10:12.

So Saul and Jonathan were buried? Yes and no. The book of First Samuel adds new information: the men “took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-Shan, and … burnt them. And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days” 1 Samuel 31:12-13.

The bodies of Saul and Jonathan were burned first, then buried.

And the men who did this were honored by King David in one of his first official acts. He sent them a message, writing:

“May you be blessed by the Lord that you have showed this kindness to your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. May the Lord show kindness and truth to you, and I will reward you also because you have done this thing” 2 Samuel 2:5-6.

Though burial is more common, the Bible does not forbid cremation.

The important thing is to handle the bodies of the dead with respect not only for them but for their loved ones. The Texas Penal Code indicates “A person commits an offense [a crime] if the person … treats in an offensive manner a human corpse” §42.08. There is more to the law, but this simple phrase sums it up: our care for the bodies of the deceased must not offend.

If, like my friend Bruce, you believe Christians should be buried to symbolize that death is a temporary sleep before rising with a resurrection body, then you will appreciate this article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/cremation-burial-choice/

If, on the other hand, you would like to know more about what the Bible says (or does not say) about cremation, consider this: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-qa/cremation-a-biblical-perspective/

God, guide us as we address weighty end-of-life decisions. May we treat each other with grace, understanding, and wisdom.

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Trust God With Complicated Matters of International Diplomacy. 1 Samuel 29:3-4. 

One day David finds himself trapped in a complicated matter of international diplomacy. Saul’s quest to murder David had driven him to live among the Philistines. A year later the Philistines begin assembling armies to attack Israel. This creates a sticky situation. David claims to be loyal to the Philistines, but he knows he will one day be the king of Israel—and the Philistines will resume their place as his enemy. But David is outnumbered: he cannot defeat either the Philistines or Saul’s armies (and he has sworn not to raise his hand against the anointed King Saul). Should David go to battle against Saul, using his military power to help defeat the armies of Israel, armies David will one day need on his side? Or should he go into the battle only to secretly turn on the Philistines? David can’t ask the Philistine king to excuse him from the battle because that will prove his loyalties are divided. David is stuck. There is no way out.

But God provided a way out. Suddenly all the Philistine generals demanded their king send David home.

“Why are these Hebrews here? … Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place … Let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us” 1 Samuel 29:3-4. 

The Philistine leaders were convinced David was unpredictable. Dangerous. He was a Hebrew and could not be trusted. The Philistine king disagreed, but his men forced his hand. He apologized to David, but sent him away. This unexpected conflict not only got David out of a tricky situation, but also made him available to handle ANOTHER crisis of international diplomacy!

When David’s men returned to their home in the Philistine city of Ziklag, they discovered a raiding army of Amalekites had looted and burned the city and had captured all the people and livestock. That was another close call (the people were safe), but God had quickly brought David and his army home just in time to execute an incredible rescue operation. David and his army fought the Amalekites for 24 hours.

“And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken from them. David recovered all” 1 Samuel 30:18-19.

When you find yourself in sticky situations—whether complicated matters of international diplomacy, or the more common problems of work, school, and relationships—trust in God. He rescued David. In fact, God used the small matter of Philistine men who refused to trust David to solve not one but TWO huge problems facing David and his 600 warriors. God knows your needs.

God knows your needs not only before you ask him. God knows your needs before YOU know your needs.

He can see three steps ahead. God knows what is coming and he will take care of you and yours.

“What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee” Psalm 56:3.

“In God have I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What man can do to me” Psalm 56:11.

Trust Him.

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They That Wait Upon the Lord. 1 Samuel 26:8-11.

David spent years running all over the wilderness of Israel evading Saul’s murderous armies. He had 600 men on the road, each depending on David for food. One day David and his men hid themselves deep in a cave and Saul came in alone to relieve himself. David’s men whispered, “Kill him, David. God brought him here so you can kill him.” David refused.

Then it happened again. The Lord put Saul and his men into a deep sleep and David and Abishai sneaked into the camp and took Saul’s spear and water from next to Saul’s slumbering body. But Abishai had other plans:

“‘God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day. Now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear … I will not have to strike him twice.’ And David said to Abishai, ‘Destroy him not, for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless? As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed” 1 Samuel 26:8-11.

David’s men thought the opportunity in the cave was a miracle. Surely God arranged this so you could kill Saul! But David said no. Then it happened a second time! The Bible even says “A deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them” 1 Samuel 26:12. So God gave David a SECOND chance to kill Saul and end this cold war in the dusty wilderness. But David refused.

Did David miss his opportunity? Was he too stubborn to see the truth? Does God have to hit David over the head to get him to recognize the obvious? This was his chance! Not only that—after David refused to kill Saul, he had to flee again. This time he moved into one of the Philistine cities and lived among Israel’s enemies for sixteen months, 1 Samuel 27:1-7.

Wouldn’t it have been better if David had simply killed Saul, the way Saul was trying to kill David?

No. David understood BOUNDARIES. There are lines you do not cross.

You don’t touch God’s anointed. Not even if he brought a thousand warriors into the desert to hunt you down. David knew that if God anointed Saul king, it was up to God to remove Saul’s crown.

How often are we like David’s men? How often do we look at situations and tell ourselves NOW’S MY CHANCE? It is easy to look at circumstances and interpret them the way Abishai did: “God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand” 1 Samuel 26:8.

But David was right. Abishai was wrong. Sometimes there are opportunities to cut corners or reveal a secret or cheat somehow—opportunities that look like justice but are wrong.

Maybe you want a better position on the basketball team. If you can trash talk the starter and get into his head, maybe he will make mistakes during practice, and you’ll get your chance.  Or you want to get married, but the timing is not right, yet you do it anyway. Or you and a co-worker are both seeking the same promotion and if the boss knew what you know, it might give you an edge. Do you tell him? Or can you create a crazy plan to share the information anonymously? Or maybe you and another salesman are competing for a client’s business. Do you “accidentally” repeat gossip that will tank his chances?

Rather than forcing the world around us to alter itself to our benefit, we must respect boundaries. What is your role?

Often I find that my role is to do only one thing—WAIT ON THE LORD. Remember what David said about killing Saul:

“Perhaps the Lord shall smite him. Or his day shall come to die. Or he shall descend into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed” 1 Samuel 26:10-11.

Dear God, remind us to wait on the Lord. Give us peace when tempting, tantalizing circumstances present us with unsavory options. Give us hearts like David’s that would trust you rather than overstep our boundaries to bring our desires to fruition. May we trust you more every day. Help us to trust and obey.

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SOMETIMES THE FUGITIVE MUST REMEMBER THAT HE IS ALSO THE FUTURE KING. ~~OR~~ Sometimes Prior Callings Take Priority Over Present Callings. 1 Samuel 23:4-5.

The Bible features reports of several fugitives forced to run for their lives. Jacob fled after he stole Esau’s birthright. Moses fled after he killed an Egyptian. Joseph fled to Egypt with Mary and the baby Jesus to escape the savage hand of Herod. But surely no fugitive faced greater peril than David. King Saul made David’s capture and death not only his personal quest, but the mission of his entire army: “And Saul called all the people together to war … to besiege David and his men” 1 Samuel 23:8.

This was a time of singular focus for David, a man who was used to wearing many hats. He was a shepherd, poet, friend, worshipper, leader, military man, musician, songwriter, and future king. But as long as he was running for his life and living in caves, I’m pretty sure he was focused on simply staying alive.

And just then someone brought him a problem…

“Then they told David, saying, ‘Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors.’ Therefore, David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go and smite the Philistines?’ And the Lord said unto David, ‘Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah’” 1 Samuel 23:1-2.

Suddenly David has to put on his “future king” hat and rescue one of the cities of Israel. But his men are afraid. So he goes back to God a second time.

“Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.’ So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah” 1 Samuel 23:4-5.

While I was a college student, God called me to youth work in two churches. Years later I experienced a dramatic calling from God to attend law school. Nevertheless, when I was informed about a death at one of those churches, I knew I had to set aside my concerns about finals and attend that funeral and bless that family.

I felt a conviction that while the earlier calling was not necessarily more important than what God had called me to later, that prior calling deserved priority, if only because it came first.

But this is no hard-and-fast rule. God may lead you differently. These are matters requiring prayer and wise counsel. But as David had to prioritize his anointing as king over his position as the leader of a band of fugitives, so we sometimes have to remember and prioritize the callings or the messages God gave us in the past.

Sometimes prior callings take priority over present callings and present circumstances.

And notice what David did: he went to God not once, but TWICE. He made absolutely certain that God was calling him to fight the Philistines and save the city of Keilah. Not only did he save the city, winning its loyalty, but he also acquired Philistine cattle that he probably used to feed his 600 men. This was not only a political victory, but God’s provision for men living on the run.

Sometimes when you are the most anxious, when circumstances seem the most risky, God may call you to give your attention to something that looks like a pointless, even dangerous distraction.

Seek God. Pray. Make absolutely certain of His voice. And then obey him. Trust and obey.

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DEFINITELY A LAW AND ORDER GUY. 1 Samuel 21:6.

Pictured: Actors portray Jesus healing a blind man on the Sabbath.

In law school one of my colleagues asked me whether I was going to be a prosecutor.

“Because I figure, you’re definitely a law and order guy.”

I had never been called that before. As a hyperactive child, I spent most of my time on the wrong side of the law and OUT of order. As an English major, I became convinced the best stories elicit sympathy for imperfect heroes whose allegiance to rules is questionable. Jean Valjean spends nineteen years in prison because he steals a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving children. Where is the justice in that?

But I knew it was true: I was a law and order guy. I overcame my childish shenanigans in part by devoting myself to better choices. I went around saying things like, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” I embraced the law long ago; today I want to embrace compassion and grace in the way law is applied.

When David was on the run from King Saul, he and the men with him were hungry. When they came across Ahimelech the priest, David asked him to give David the sacred bread—bread that the law reserved for priests alone, Leviticus 24:5-9. The priest asked David if the men had kept themselves from women. David said they had. Thus the men were ceremonially clean–but that did not make the men Levites.

“So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the shewbread that was taken from before the Lord” 1 Samuel 21:6.

In this case, David both lied to the priest, and ate bread he and his men were not supposed to eat, being from the tribe of Judah. More importantly, the priest GAVE David the bread. He could have said no. But he acted with compassion.

Would David and his men have survived without the sacred bread? Probably. Was the priest wrong to give the bread to them? I don’t know, but it would be hard to build a case against the priest considering what Jesus said about him to the Pharisees in Luke 6:1-5 and in Matthew 12.

“Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? … If you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE MERCY AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” Matthew 12:3-8.

This is a difficult passage to apply. When are we to follow rules and when can we break them? Or when SHOULD we break rules? Because we live under a new covenant, we are not bound by the law, but we live under God’s grace. “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable,” 1 Corinthians 10:23.

So when is it profitable or wise to ignore a rule, a policy, a personal goal or daily commitment, whatever it is—when is it best to err on the side of compassion? I cannot answer that for you: You will need wisdom and grace to address such questions on a case-by-case basis.

But the key is this:

Let’s remember the simple fact that there ARE times when we should set the rules aside and give holy bread to unholy men. There are times when we must set aside rules and err on the side of grace, compassion, and love.

Some of the strictest rules in Israel were the rules of the Sabbath. But Jesus said it over and over: “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath,” Matthew 12:8.

God, give us wisdom. Show us how to balance holiness and high expectations with mercy, grace, forgiveness, and compassion. May we love people the way YOU love people.

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P.S. SEVEN TIMES JESUS PERFORMED MIRACLES ON THE SABBATH:

On the Sabbath Jesus healed Simon Peter’s Mother-in-Law, Mark 1:29-31.

On the Sabbath Jesus healed a man with a withered hand, Mark 3:1-6.

On the Sabbath Jesus healed a man born blind, John 9:1-16.

On the Sabbath Jesus healed a crippled woman, Luke 13:10-17.

On the Sabbath Jesus healed a man with dropsy (water retention/edema due to congestive heart failure), Luke 14:1-6.

On the Sabbath Jesus drove out an evil spirit, Mark 1:21-28.

On the Sabbath Jesus healed a lame man by the pool of Bethesda, John 5:1-18.

–From https://teachingsofthebible.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/jesus-7-miracles-he-performed-on-the-sabbath/

See also– https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/04/16/jesus-picks-a-fight-seven-times-luke-1310-17/

When Miracle Workers Cannot Be Trusted. 1 Samuel 19:20-24.

When the glories of David the giant-killer began to eclipse those of King Saul, Saul was filled with murderous rage. The king made several attempts on David’s life. The first attempt was thwarted by his son, Jonathan, who warned David, then talked Saul out of it, 1 Samuel 19:6. The second was thwarted by David himself, who dodged a javelin Saul threw at him while he played the harp for the king, 1 Samuel 19:10. A third attempt was thwarted by Saul’s daughter, David’s wife, Michal, who lowered David from a window, 1 Samuel 19:12. Following Saul’s repeated attempts to kill him, David fled to Ramah to be with Samuel. Then Saul sent men to seize David.

“When Saul’s agents saw the prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they too began prophesying. When this was reported to Saul, he sent other agents and they also began prophesying. Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents and even they began prophesying. Then Saul himself went to Ramah … The Spirit of God also came on Saul, and as he walked along, he began prophesying … Saul then removed his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He collapsed and lay naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” 1 Samuel 19:20-24.

Once Saul arrived in Ramah—joining the numerous agents he had sent to capture David—David was able to escape safely.

But is that not the strangest way to escape from a murderer? God overwhelms the would-be killer with Spirit-filled ecstatic expression and the victim is free to slip away unharmed?

A note in my study Bible provides insight:

“This seems to be a group of people in Spirit-filled ecstasy. It was very powerful and contagious to anyone who found them. We do not know if they were speaking messages from God or merely joining in ecstatic expression … Although Saul was receptive to the Spirit of God and was caught up in prophesying, his heart and mind were far from loving God and thinking God’s thoughts.”[1]

Picture in modern terms what is happening here: a powerful man, the godfather at the head of an organized crime syndicate, if you will, has sent a dozen men to kill David. They walked into a charismatic service somewhere and were overcome. Six of them began speaking in tongues while the other six were slain in the Spirit. The godfather sends twelve more men. They too are overwhelmed by the Spirit of God and unable to pay any attention to David. So the mob boss sends twelve more men, and they too are either speaking in tongues or slain in the Spirit. Finally, he says, “If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself,” and he marches through the double doors and the moment he does, he begins speaking in tongues and prophesying—and he remains in a Spirit-filled state for several days.

If you saw this, what would you think? What do most people think when they see miracles? Many Christians immediately assume the best about a person who speaks in tongues. And why not?

After all, God used the gift of tongues throughout the book of Acts specifically to bolster the credibility of one group of Christians in the eyes of another, see, e.g., Acts 10:44-48. “Sign gifts” were a sign that God was with a person. Sign gifts were a sign of credibility.

But this story about King Saul proves there are EXCEPTIONS. Bad people with bad motives—motives as bad as murder—may also possess miraculous gifts.

Have you seen someone do amazing things only to discover they had evil in their heart? I have. It is important to remember that no matter how God may appear to be working in or through another person’s life, that person may remain selfish, bitter, unbelieving, or even murderous, like Saul.

I was once quite impressed with the spiritual life of a friend with amazing gifts. My wife, who has the gift of discernment, was not impressed. She said he gave her “the heebee-jeebies.” The Holy Spirit made her uncomfortable around this man and she was proven right … when he went to prison.

Do you know a man or woman with amazing gifts that might not be as trustworthy as they appear? This is a particular risk with people on television. There is nothing wrong with a TV ministry per se, but it is difficult to discern the heart of a person that you cannot talk to in person. We must be vigilant with those who show us only the carefully controlled moments of a television performance.

Never forget that during one of the most murderous times in Saul’s life, he fell down and prophesied for days. And afterward, he picked up where he left off, again plotting to kill David.

When it comes to evaluating the credibility of the Christians around you, “be shrewd as serpents, but innocent as doves” Matthew 10:16.

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“Ecstatic expression” is not part of my life nor the life of the church I attend. However, I know too many people who engage in these experiences to believe they are never genuine. Nor do I hold with the view that ecstatic gifts ceased when the New Testament was canonized (I do not believe 1 Corinthians 13 supports such a view). I believe the gifts of tongues and others named in scripture are real. But God has not given me ecstatic gifts, and I believe the Holy Spirit leads believers and their families to churches that best fit their gifts. I know He has led me to my church.

[1] Chronological Life Application Study Bible, King James Version. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois. 2013, note on 1 Samuel 19:20-24.

DON’T DOUBLE DOWN! 1 Samuel 14:44.

In 2023, New York attorney Steven A. Schwartz represented an airline passenger allegedly injured after being struck by a beverage cart. In March of 2023, Schwartz filed a brief that cited the following case:

Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co Ltd., 925 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2019).

The problem? There is no Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co Ltd. The lawyer had used A.I. to generate his brief, and the Varghese case—and five more like it—was invented by the Artificial Intelligence program Chat GPT. All six cases are fake.

(Did you know ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MAKES THINGS UP? Generative A.I. is programmed to always answer questions. If it cannot find an answer online, it will invent things.)

Instead of spending hours in the law library, Schwartz simply created a detailed prompt and ChatGPT generated the entire brief. Schwartz then filed the brief without looking the cases up. Schwartz further failed to discover that the fake cases were attributed to real judges. That is, the A.I. program not only invented cases, but also invented quotations that it then attributed to ACTUAL judges currently on the bench. Thus, the machine said these real judges had made statements that they never made. That is slanderous at best, a breach worthy of disbarment at worst.

When the cases could not be located, opposing counsel immediately raised questions, then brought the matter to the judge along with a motion for sanctions. By this time an attorney senior to Schwartz was also involved. But when the judge began asking questions, the lawyers did not admit that Schwartz had used ChatGPT. Instead, the two actually said they had read the non-existent cases. Like gamblers about to lose everything, when they should have given up, they doubled-down!

As they sank deeper, the men filed affidavits explaining they had taken their problem back to A.I., asking ChatGPT if the Varghese case was real. It said yes. They asked if the other cases were real. ChatGPT said yes and that the cases “can be found in reputable legal databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw.” [1]  Of course, the cases could not be found. They do not exist.

The judge—a jurist to be lauded for his patience—fined the attorneys $5,000 each, then took the matter one step further, ordering the lawyers to mail copies of their fraudulent brief to each of the judges named therein, along with an apology for smearing the judges’ names in such a reckless manner.[2]

King Saul also had a habit of doubling down. When Saul made a rash vow that would have required the death of his son Jonathan, Saul could not admit error and showed no mercy: “May God punish me, and do so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan!” 1 Samuel 14:44. But the men convinced Saul to let Jonathan live. Later, when Saul failed to wipe out the spoils of the Amalekites, Samuel said, “What is this sound of sheep and cattle that I hear?” 1 Samuel 15:14. Saul did not confess; he made excuses.

Do we do that? How do you respond to your own failures? Do you double-down, trying to hide the mistake under lies and excuses? Do you blame others? Or do you own your decisions?

Here is a truth, an ABSOLUTE FACT that you should take to heart from this day forward: You WILL make mistakes. You will misjudge people, hurt people, say the wrong things, and wound those you love. You just will. You will get facts wrong, memories confused, and you will mis-read circumstances. You are human. We are all human. (Do you know anyone who is perfect? No? Then don’t assume you are.)

You WILL make mistakes. The important thing is how you respond to them.

Confess. Admit the problem. Own your mistakes. Humble yourself, accept that you are imperfect, and be teachable.

“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” James 5:16.

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” Proverbs 28:13.

God, teach us to be honest when we are wrong. Show us how to make a true confession—and bless us also with the grace to know what to keep quiet about, as some lack the maturity or discretion to hear what might be confessed. Most importantly, draw us into complete honesty with YOU. Reveal to us secrets we do not even realize we are holding.

ΑΩ

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/nyregion/avianca-airline-lawsuit-chatgpt.html

[2] https://www.legaldive.com/news/lawyer-fake-chatgpt-cases-sanctions-fines-lawyers-chatgpt-fake-cases/653741/

Prayer, Fasting, and Generational Blessings. 1 Samuel 2:31-33.

“The child Samuel grew in favor both with the Lord and also with men” 1 Samuel 2:26.

How can we have children like that? Is there a way to guarantee your children will walk with God?

The short answer is “No, but…” That is, there is probably nothing godly parents can do to ensure their children never go astray. Some will rebel no matter what—and sometimes God will use that rebellion, as he did with Samson.

But in the Bible, God-fearing parents who pray and fast and wrestle deeply with God over their children, even unborn children, seem to see the best results. Abraham navigated an odyssey waiting until he was 100 to see Isaiah’s birth—and Isaiah was faithful. Jacob literally wrestled with God (Genesis 32:24-29) and fathered the twelve tribes. The parents of Moses allowed him to be raised in the Pharaoh’s palace, and their sacrifice paid off when their son delivered the Hebrews from slavery. Ruth lost her husband, father-in-law, and homeland, but God gave her a son Obed, grandfather of David.

And then comes Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Hannah was crushed over her barrenness, and begged God for a child. In a statement that makes me think of fasting, scripture reports, “she wept and could not eat” 1 Samuel 1:7. (God seems to particularly honor the prayers of a fasting parent.) Eventually Hannah vowed to dedicate to the Lord any son God might give her by bringing him to serve in the temple. And when God gave her a son, she fulfilled her vow. How many people do you know that would follow through? Most would say, “Oh, God knows I didn’t mean it.” But God takes vows seriously. So did Hannah—and he rewarded her for it, giving her three more sons and two daughters.

But Hannah had to surrender young Samuel into the care of Eli the priest, a man whose own child-rearing skills were deeply suspect. In fact, his sons were an abomination, disobeying God’s rules about the tithe by helping themselves to uncooked sacrificial meats, and by sleeping with women of ill repute.

“Therefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord” 1 Samuel 2:17.  

On top of the struggle of giving up a tiny son, I would have been deeply concerned about the influence of these much older sons of Eli. But God heard Hannah’s prayers, and I believe he rewarded her. And Samuel grew in favor with the Lord and with men. Samuel was nothing like Eli’s sons.

Finally, a word about genealogies. I recently noted that Ruth’s son Obed becomes an ancestor of the Messiah, because as God views it, the birth of a child is not the birth of a single man or woman, but the beginning of a line of men and women, a lineage that could last a thousand generations. In other words, God does not bless a single child, but he blesses the line of children to follow, the LINEAGE.

Similarly, sometimes God does not punish a single child, but he punishes the line of children to follow.

In the most obvious example, if a bad person dies before having children, an entire line is over before it begins. Or, as in the case of the permissive father Eli (see 1 Samuel 3:13) and his evil sons, God may not punish a single child, but the line of children to follow. “Behold, I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house … all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age” 1 Samuel 2:31,33.

The legacy of blessings for the line of obedient descendants and the legacy of punishments for the line of disobedient descendants indicate that God looks at our lives not as individual “singletons,” (the only acceptable view to independent-minded Americans) but as part of a line of ancestors and descendants. Your life is not just about you, but about the line of people who follow you.*

May God make us more like Hannah and Ruth: parents who pray, fast, and sacrifice for our children.

ΑΩ

  • Some will rightly object that God expressly stated, “it will no longer be said, ‘the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’ Instead, each will die for his own iniquity.” Jeremiah 31:29-30. This is but one of many such verses: Ezekiel 18:2-4, Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 14:6, and Ezekiel 18:19-20. It is true that God promises that “each will die for his own sin.” But many verses also indicate God deals with us as part of a family line. The key is grace. We live under a New Covenant, we walk in God’s grace, and we should not spend much time thinking about the sins of our ancestors–most of whom we cannot name and whose sins we do not know. I am speaking of God’s view of his children. God does not seem to view of us exactly the way we do–as detached individuals. He does not see us as disconnected “singletons,” but as members of families, tribes, and even a lineage. Even the body of Christ is described as “one body with many members.” We are always connected: to parents, to children, to a lineage, and to fellow believers. It is a beautiful mystery of love and grace and connection. But with that connection, I believe there remains some truth to this: obedience results in blessings for the generations that follow. And if that is true, the opposite is probably not false: disobedience may result in consequences for the generations that follow. As an example, consider the story of the descendants of Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards and notorious criminal Max Jukes. https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2023/08/23/sowing-and-reaping-across-generations/