Tues.’s Devo - A New King is Anointed

Read: 1 Samuel 15:1-16:23; John 8:1-20; Psalm 110:1-7; Proverbs 15:8-10 God told Samuel that he was ready to settle an account with the Amalekites who attacked Israel when they were coming out of Egypt. He wanted Saul to attack them and kill them all, people and animals. Samuel told Saul and he gathered 21,000 men. Saul called the Kenites out from among the Amalekites so they wouldn’t be killed along with them. Then they attacked and killed all the people except the king, Agag. They kept the best of the sheep and cattle for themselves. When Samuel rebuked Saul for letting them live, Saul blamed the people for taking the spoil so they could sacrifice them to the Lord. Samuel made it clear that God would rather have obedience than any gift they could give him. God can not be bribed. *** God also said that rebellion was the same as witchcraft and stubbornness was the same as iniquity and idolatry. Because Saul had rejected what God said, God had rejected him as being king. *** Saul repented bitterly for his sin and the fact that he feared the people more than he feared God. *** God told Saul that he was taking the kingdom from him and giving it to someone who was better than him. Ouch! *** Saul proved he was more worried about his outward appearance than his standing before God. He begged Samuel to honor him and go with him to worship the Lord so his elders would see that Samuel was still honoring him. *** Samuel went with Saul to the sacrifice, but then he had them bring out Agag and cut him into pieces. *** Samuel went back to Ramah where he mourned the rejection of Saul. God told Samuel to stop mourning for Saul and go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse and anoint one of his sons to be God’s king. *** Samuel obeyed and Jesse brought his seven sons to Samuel, but God hadn’t chosen any of them. Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons and Jesse said his youngest son, David was keeping the sheep. Samuel told him to bring him and when he came, God said he was the one. Samuel took a horn of oil and poured it over his head in the midst of his brothers. *** When Saul had been anointed by Samuel, he did it in secret with a vial of oil. He anointed David with so much more and he did it in front of his brothers. *** The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day. It left Saul and God sent an evil spirit to torment him. It was so bad that his men looked for someone who could play a harp to calm him down when he got manic. They found David, who went and soothed Saul with his Spirit and his music. *** In John, Jesus was teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. The scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Where was the man? Then they tried to tell Jesus what the law said. They missed the part where the law says that they both are to be stoned. This proves once again that they didn’t know the law they so piously proclaimed. *** Jesus began to write with his finger on the ground. The only other time we know that the finger of God wrote something was the law. Jesus finally stood and said, that the one who was guiltless should cast the first stone. They started feeling convicted and the oldest turned to leave. They soon were all gone. Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were and she told him there were none and Jesus told her that he didn’t condemn her either but she should go and not sin again. Then Jesus said that he was the light of the world and that anyone who followed him would walk in the light of life. *** The Pharisees argued that he could not be his own testimony to truth. Jesus argued that his record was true because it was based on truth. He knew who he was and where he was going. They judged after the flesh. He didn’t judge, but if he did, his judgment would be the right one because he was judging as God. In their law they had to have two witnesses. He had two: him and his Father. *** When they asked where his Father was, Jesus told them they didn’t know his Father. If they had known him, they would know he came from him. *** Again, Jesus was speaking in the open and no one laid a hand on him because it was not his time. *** Lord, we can rest in this fact also. We do not need to fear death or tomorrow because you hold our times in your hand. When we walk with you, we are walking in the light and no darkness can come in.