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“And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests” (1 Samuel 22:21 NKJV).

May 18, 2017

Abiathar, son of the high priest, Ahimelech, must have been left behind to care for the sanctuary when Saul called for his father’s attendance. When he heard that Saul had killed all the Lord’s priests, he fled to David.

Saul had falsely accused Ahimelech of “inquiring of the Lord” to aid David against him. But now by killing the Lord’s priests, he had actually driven Abiathar to David’s side, bringing the ephod, with the Urim and Thummim, with him (1 Sam. 23:6).

Saul’s killing of the priests was one of the most heinous acts of any Israelite king. It revealed his heart’s rejection of the Lord. Saul’s foot soldiers, who ran beside his chariot, refused to carry out his order to murder the priests. They feared the Lord, but Saul knew one who did not. So, Saul called on Doeg the Edomite to kill them. Doeg turned and killed not only the 85 priests, but went to their city and killed every living thing including women, children and nursing infants. That Saul would stoop to instruct an Edomite, to even touch the Lord’s priests, showed the insane hatred he had for the true king, David.

Centuries later, the son of an Edomite named Herod became king over Israel as a vassal of Rome. After hearing of the birth of the prophesied Son of David from the Magi, he murdered every baby boy under 2 years of age in Bethlehem attempting to kill Jesus. But he failed, for the Lord protected Jesus, just as the Lord protected David.

“So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away” (1 Samuel 21:6 NKJV).

May 17, 2017

As David and his men fled from Saul, they stopped by the Tabernacle to ask the priest for bread. However, the only bread the priest had was “showbread,” which was the twelve loaves that were to be continually kept on the Table of Presence in the Holy Place. When fresh bread was baked to replace the twelve loaves, the older loaves were to be divided among the priests and their families to eat. The showbread was not to be given to those outside the priestly tribe.

Yet, the priest gave the bread to David and his men because it was all he had to offer. He decided that his moral obligation of hospitality toward God’s man overrode his ceremonial obligation to God’s house.

When the Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath, He referred to this story of the priest allowing David to have the showbread as a better understanding of the Sabbath’s purpose. Jesus told them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

We cannot rightly understand and follow God’s law without the Spirit of Christ to indwell and lead us. For Christ is the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).

“Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.” (Psalm 111:1 NKJV).

May 15, 2017

Whole-hearted worship.

The psalmist opens in the Hebrew with “Hallelujah” (“Praise the Lord”)! With this exclamation of praise, he both announces his intention and invites our participation. The psalmist is headed to the Temple to offer “whole-hearted” praise to Jehovah along with other worshipers. That’s what he is going to do. What are you going to do? Will you join him?

In order to bring whole-hearted worship, we must ask the Holy Spirit to help us examine our hearts. Does He reveal fire and zeal for the Lord there? If not, fan your faith into flame! There is no room for half-hearted passion in worship. Does He see anxiety and worry? Turn it into prayer and petition. Empty your heart in prayer that you may be filled with peace and praise. Does He uncover doubt or discouragement in you? Speak truth from the promises of God’s Word to your doubts and instruct your soul to lift up its countenance to the Lord. Ask the Spirit to root out any place in your heart where you are not worship-ready.

And then, bring your worship with you when you go to church. Arrive with intent to express whole-hearted worship, in song, in prayers, in Scripture reading, in hearing the Word preached, in tithes and offerings, and in response.

Whole-hearted worship doesn’t happen on its own. We must be intentional about expressing worship with our whole heart!

‘The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4 NKJV).

May 14, 2017

This psalm of David points to the coming Messiah who would be both priest and king. Jesus quoted from this psalm saying that David spoke “in the Spirit” (Matt. 22:43), for truly David’s words were Spirit inspired.

Since the offices of priest and king were separated in Israel, David had to look back to Melchizedek, whose name means “king of righteousness,” to find such a one. Melchizedek appears suddenly on the pages of the book of Genesis as the King of “Salem” (“shalom,” meaning “peace”) and “Priest of the God Most High” (Gen. 14:17). He blessed Abraham, who paid him a tithe, and then he is not heard from again until the Spirit brought him to David’s mind.

Who is this that would come in the “order of Melchizedek” that the Lord would swear and “not relent” to establish His eternal priesthood? It is Jesus the Christ. For Christ “arises in the likeness of Melchizedek” (Heb. 7:15) becoming both our King and our eternal and Great High Priest!

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37 NKJV).

May 12, 2017

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles when the Jews commemorated how the Lord had brought them through 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus stood up in the Temple and cried out with a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, come to Me and drink.” There was surely a great and noisy crowd in the Temple courts that day. Yet, above all the voices, Christ was heard crying out.

How appropriate. What perfect timing. During the Feast when the Jews remembered the rock from which Moses called forth water to quench Israel’s thirst, Jesus called spiritually thirsty people to come to Him to drink.

Why? Because “that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor.10:4).

“I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations” (Psalm 108:3 NKJV).

May 12, 2017

David declared his intent to praise the Lord not only among his own people in Israel, but to sing praises among all the peoples and nations of the world. This is evidence of God’s Spirit at work in David. For it was always God’s intent to bless the whole world through the seed of Abraham. As the Lord said to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 22:18).

That “Seed” is Christ Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of God. And the Spirit that worked in David to declare God’s praise among the nations, now works in us, moving us to fulfill Christ’s commission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19).

“Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6 NKJV).

May 11, 2017

Samuel anointed the young Saul to be king over Israel as the Lord had commanded him. Saul had sought the prophet’s help in finding his father’s donkeys, instead he found his true identity.

When Samuel began to tell Saul of his God-given identity, he resisted, saying, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?” (1 Sam. 9:21).

Saul’s identity was tied to his tribe, race, and nation, as all traditional identities are formed. Yet, God wanted to give him His Spirit and turn him “into another man,” the man who would rise above his former self and lead Israel as king.

Traditionally, identity has been formed by external cues, as Saul’s had been. Today, our modern culture encourages people to look within to find their identity independent of external realities, relying on whatever dreams or desires they possess. However, both of these approaches are poor mirrors of discovering the true self.

The true, Creator-given self can only be found in Christ. Come to Christ and He will give you a new name and a new identity. Looking to Christ, you will find your true self reflected in His face.

As the apostle John wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

“Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” (1 Samuel 9:16 NKJV).

May 10, 2017

The way God spoke to Samuel concerning the anointing of Saul was both relational and revealing. The instruction included what time, what family, for what purpose and even what moved God to do it. When Saul arrived the next day, God whispered in Samuel’s ear, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you.” Oh, what a wonderful relationship Samuel had with the Lord, that God would speak to him in such a way!

Not only did God speak, but notice what motived Him to anoint Saul–– it was the people’s “cry” that had come up to God. Not only does God speak, God hears. His relationship with Samuel was so close that He even revealed how what He heard from the people’s prayers moved Him.

Does God still reveal Himself as He did to Samuel? Is such a relationship with God possible today? Yes! And even more for those who are in Christ and seek His face.

“Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:15 NKJV).

May 9, 2017

After Jesus had miraculously fed the multitude, He “perceived” that the crowd had it in their minds to make Him king. So, He went into the mountain alone, staying there until nightfall. Jesus would not allow the people to determine His identity and purpose. The Father had not sent Him to be a temporal king, but a Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world. He was establishing an eternal kingdom.

We do not get to make of Jesus what we will. He will not allow it. We must receive Him for who He claims to be. Then, willing submit to Him, asking Him to make of us what He wills.

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).

May 8, 2017

An hour is coming when the resurrecting life of Jesus will raise all of humanity bodily. The resurrection of the body is both the hope and the dread of the Christian faith. For the “voice” of Christ will call and all will “come forth” just as Lazarus did. Those who have believed in Jesus will be raised to eternal life with Him. But those who have not believed will be raised to “condemnation,” which is the judgement of God already passed against them because of their sin.

The resurrection of the righteous will come first, preceding the resurrection of the condemned. There is much more on this in the Scriptures, yet this point is to be understood: The resurrection of the body is central to Christ’s teaching. This is not to be understood as a metaphor, but a reality. Christ taught the resurrection of the dead, then He proved it by being raised from the dead on the third day.