Mon.’s Devo - Exposing the Truth

Read: 1 Samuel 24:1-25:44; John 10:22-42; Psalm 116:1-19; Proverbs 15:20-21 Saul finished fighting the Philistines and came to look for David again. Saul went into a cave to relieve himself and it just happened to be the cave David and his men were hiding in. While Saul was doing his business, David crept up and cut a piece of the hem of his robe. *** Once Saul left the cave and was on his way, David shouted to him and showed him the piece of his robe and told him he could have killed him, but it had never been his intent to kill Saul, who God anointed to be king. *** Saul was humbled for a moment and even told David he knew he would be the next king and that the kingdom would prosper under his rule. Saul left for a season. *** Samuel died and was buried in Ramah. *** Meanwhile, David and his men went to Maon where the wealthy Nabal lived. He had a beautiful wife named Abigail. All during the time of raising Nabal’s sheep, David and his men were protection for the shepherds and their sheep. When it came sheep shearing time, David sent a message to Nabal asking if they could come and join with their festivities and get a good meal for his men. Nabal knew who David was. He knew that his father was Jesse and that he was running from Saul. He was clearly not interested in the kingdom but only his own life. He told them they couldn’t come. *** David told his men to strap on their swords because they were going to go and kill Nabal and his family for their lack of hospitality. It was an unwritten law that all who had anything to do with the raising of the sheep got to be invited to the sheep shearing feast. David and his men were the reason for their great success. *** Abigail heard what had gone down and hurried with supplies to feed David’s men and expressed her sincere apologies about what her husband had said. David thanked her and promised not to retaliate. *** When Abigail returned home, her husband had a party going on and was drunk. Then next day, she told him what she had done and he had a stroke. Ten days later, God struck him and he died. *** David found out and sent for Abigail to be his wife. She accepted and brought five servants and married David. He also married Ahinoam from Jezreel. Saul had given his wife, Michal to another man. *** Sheep shearing took place in the spring which would be the time of Passover. In this story, the one who died was the ungodly Nabal. In the first Passover, the ones to die were the first born of the ungodly Egyptians. In the fulfillment of Passover, Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. New life came for Abigail who got a new husband. We who believe in Jesus become the bride of Christ and get a new life just like Abigail. Later, in Acts, others came to be his bride just like Ahinoam and others became David’s wives. In John, it was the time of celebrating the Festival of Dedication or Hanukkah. This celebrated the reinstitution of the Temple as the worship of God. It centered around the oil that brought light to the Temple and how God supernaturally kept it lit till they could make more oil. *** Some of the people were begging him to tell them if he was the Messiah or not. Jesus discerned that they were not his sheep and told them that he had put the light right in their faces and they hadn’t seen it. He had done miracles and given them enough proof that if they were going to believe, they would. The ones God had given him were secure in him and no one would be able to snatch them out of his hand. This made the people so mad, they picked up stones to stone him with. Jesus asked them which good work were they stoning him for. *** They said they were stoning him for what he said, not what he did. Jesus told them that the Scriptures called those who received God’s message ‘gods’. So how could they say he is blaspheming when he says he is God’s son. They should see and understand that the works he does are God’s works. *** Then they tried to arrest him, but he got away and went to where John used to baptize and stayed there. This gave the people to think about what John had said about him. It had all come true, so some reconsidered and believed. *** Lord, may we reflect on all you have done and be strengthened to believe even more about who you are and who you want to be through us. May we yield ourselves as your servants to do your will.