Podcasts about niv david

1 Samuel 30:6 NKJV: Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. NIV: David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

Word for Today:1 Samuel‬ ‭17‬:‭32‬ ‭NIV‬‬David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine, your servant will go and fight him.”

I Samuel 30:1-5 (NIV) David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them but carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel I Samuel 30:6-7 (NIV) David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, Own Your Spirit Pray for Guidance I Samuel 30:8 (NIV) …and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.” Go Together I Samuel 30:9 (NIV) David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some stayed behind. Expect Recovery  I Samuel 30:18 (NIV) David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken…

Pastor Carlos HuertasHave you heard that appearances can be deceiving? The story I bring you today is about a young man who was once again looked down upon, even by his own family. The army of Israel was ready for battle against the Philistines. They had formed ranks, and suddenly, their best weapon appeared: a very strong giant who was also very well protected. In addition to his weapons, he began to insult the army of Israel.1 Samuel 17:8-11 (NIV)- The Israelites were shocked and afraid. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt shocked and afraid? How did it go for you? It amazes me that the army prepares, for battle, but this giant makes them feel fear. Many people live in this way, full of fear, afraid of what will happen. Addictions are often the result of fears or anxieties. Infidelities are the result of insecurity. Divorces are often the result of a lack of commitment from people. We are dismayed and fearful, even within the church.1 Samuel 17:12-15 (NIV)- David was the youngest son in the family, the one who had to take care of the family's sheep. Even to his own family, he didn't seem very important. But David had found favor in the eyes of God. God Himself says to the prophet, referring to David, "I have found a man after My own heart."1 Samuel 17:22-23 (NIV)- This stirred something in David because he couldn't understand why his people were so afraid and in such a condition before this giant. He heard that whoever defeated the giant would receive a series of rewards from the king. His brothers got angry with him, but David went and spoke to the king.1 Samuel 17:32-33 (NIV)- David was neither a soldier nor a warrior; he was a shepherd. David knew that while he was in the fields, caring for his father's sheep, God was with him and gave him strength to fight against bears and lions. David had already experienced these situations. He knew that the battle wasn't his; it was God who was with him and fought for him.1 Samuel 17:40-45 (NIV)- David defeated Goliath by throwing his first stone, just with a stone.Isaiah 28:16 (NIV)- Isaiah talked about Christ Jesus, who would be the foundation for the church and all those who believe in Him. He gave himself as a sacrifice for us. Christ died for us when we fell short of God's glory. David defeated Goliath with a stone, and Christ is that rock on which our faith is built.Psalms 18:2 (NIV)- The Bible records that David had to fight with other giants. There were giants he could not defeat alone, and other people at his side beat them for him. This gives us an understanding of the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who help us fight.There are people here whose first step is to invite and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Today, some people are fighting personal battles and have tried to fight on their strength. Today, you must rest and believe Jesus has already won the war.

1 Samuel 20 (NIV) David and Jonathan 20Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wrongedyour father, that he is trying to kill me? 2Never! Jonathan replied. You are not going to die! Look, my father doesnt do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isnt so! 3But David took an oathand said, Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved. Yet as surely as theLordlives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death. 4Jonathan said to David, Whatever you want me to do, Ill do for you. 5So David said, Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast,and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hidein the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.6If your father misses me at all, tell him, David earnestly asked my permissionto hurry to Bethlehem,his hometown, because an annualsacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.7If he says, Very well, then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper,you can be sure that he is determinedto harm me.8As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenantwith you before theLord. If I am guilty, then killme yourself! Why hand me over to your father? 9Never! Jonathan said. If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldnt I tell you? 10David asked, Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly? 11Come, Jonathan said, lets go out into the field. So they went there together. 12Then Jonathan said to David, I swear by theLord, the God of Israel, that I will surely soundout my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know?13But if my father intends to harm you, may theLorddeal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely,if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May theLordbe withyou as he has been with my father.14But show me unfailing kindnesslike theLords kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed,15and do not ever cut off your kindness from my familynot even when theLordhas cut off every one of Davids enemies from the face of the earth. 16So Jonathanmade a covenantwith the house of David, saying, May theLordcall Davids enemies to account.17And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oathout of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. 18Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.19The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hidwhen this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel.20I will shoot three arrowsto the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.21Then I will send a boy and say, Go, find the arrows. If I say to him, Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here, then come, because, as surely as theLordlives, you are safe; there is no danger.22But if I say to the boy, Look, the arrows are beyondyou, then you must go, because theLordhas sent you away.23And about the matter you and I discussedremember, theLordis witnessbetween you and me forever. 24So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feastcame, the king sat down to eat.25He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,and Abner sat next to Saul, but Davids place was empty.26Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially uncleansurely he is unclean.27But the next day, the second day of the month, Davids place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why hasnt the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today? 28Jonathan answered, David earnestly asked me for permissionto go to Bethlehem.29He said, Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrificein the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers. That is why he has not come to the kings table. 30Sauls anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Dont I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?31As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdomwill be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die! 32Whyshould he be put to death? Whathas he done? Jonathan asked his father.33But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intendedto kill David. 34Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his fathers shameful treatment of David. 35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him,36and he said to the boy, Run and find the arrows I shoot. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.37When the boy came to the place where Jonathans arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, Isnt the arrow beyondyou?38Then he shouted, Hurry! Go quickly! Dont stop! The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.39(The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.)40Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, Go, carry them back to town. 41After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground.Then they kissed each other and wept togetherbut David wept the most. 42Jonathan said to David, Go in peace,for we have sworn friendshipwith each other in the name of theLord,saying, TheLordis witnessbetween you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever. Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical view/perspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence. If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast. Jesus views the Psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) as “by the Holy Spirit.” Mark 12:36 NIV “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:  ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”'” Jesus was quoting from… Psalm 110:1 NIV Of David. A psalm.  1 The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” So when we read the Psalms we should have the same view Jesus had. Psalm 147:1 ESV “Praise the LORD!” “The LORD” in our English Bibles is indicating that in Hebrew God's name, Yahweh, is used. Yahweh is the ancient Hebrew verb form for “HE IS.” God's name in the Hebrew scriptures is used more than any other term for God. More than “God” is used. When we survey the various truths associated with God's name, HE IS, in the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament), four important aspects of God are emphasized.  HE IS the Creator and Sustainer of ALL that exists, including this entire universe.  HE IS the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life everywhere always. HE IS the Eternal God. HE IS ALWAYS 100% present with you in every present moment (without being any less present anywhere else in the universe, because HE IS infinite). These four realities of what God's name means are easy to memorize, and so to remember them when you “Praise the LORD” will help you replace anxieties and self-protective guarding with a calm confidence and peace. Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it. Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecover Follow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePod Our audio engineers are Matthew Matlack and Diego Huaman. This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.

In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical view/perspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence. If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast. Jesus views the Psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) as “by the Holy Spirit.” Mark 12:36 NIV “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:  ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”'” Jesus was quoting from… Psalm 110:1 NIV Of David. A psalm.  1 The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” So when we read the Psalms we should have the same view Jesus had. Psalm 147:1 ESV “Praise the LORD!” “The LORD” in our English Bibles is indicating that in Hebrew God's name, Yahweh, is used. Yahweh is the ancient Hebrew verb form for “HE IS.” God's name in the Hebrew scriptures is used more than any other term for God. More than “God” is used. When we survey the various truths associated with God's name, HE IS, in the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament), four important aspects of God are emphasized.  HE IS the Creator and Sustainer of ALL that exists, including this entire universe.  HE IS the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life everywhere always. HE IS the Eternal God. HE IS ALWAYS 100% present with you in every present moment (without being any less present anywhere else in the universe, because HE IS infinite). These four realities of what God's name means are easy to memorize, and so to remember them when you “Praise the LORD” will help you replace anxieties and self-protective guarding with a calm confidence and peace. Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it. Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecover Follow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePod Our audio engineers are Matthew Matlack and Diego Huaman. This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.

Message for 06/11/2023 "Fight the Right Battles" by Justin McTeer. *All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted* 1 Samuel 9:1-2 - There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land. 1 Samuel 16:6-7 - When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord's anointed!” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 17:45-47 - David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us!” 1 Samuel 25:23-28 NIV - When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you. 28 “Please forgive your servant's presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord's battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 1 Samuel 25:32-33 NIV - David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 1 Samuel 17:45-46a - David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you 1 Samuel 17:26-30 ESV - And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 1 Samuel 24:3-7 - At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave! 4 “Now's your opportunity!” David's men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.'” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul's robe. 5 But then David's conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul's robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn't attack the Lord's anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” 7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul. 1 Samuel 22:11-18 - King Saul immediately sent for Ahimelech and all his family, who served as priests at Nob. 12 When they arrived, Saul shouted at him, “Listen to me, you son of Ahitub!” “What is it, my king?” Ahimelech asked.13 “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me?” Saul demanded. “Why did you give him food and a sword? Why have you consulted God for him? Why have you encouraged him to kill me, as he is trying to do this very day?” 14 “But sir,” Ahimelech replied, “is anyone among all your servants as faithful as David, your son-in-law? Why, he is the captain of your bodyguard and a highly honored member of your household! 15 This was certainly not the first time I had consulted God for him! May the king not accuse me and my family in this matter, for I knew nothing at all of any plot against you.” 16 “You will surely die, Ahimelech, along with your entire family!” the king shouted. 17 And he ordered his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of the Lord, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn't tell me!” But Saul's men refused to kill the Lord's priests. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You do it.” So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments. 2 Samuel 15:24-26 - Zadok and all the Levites also came along, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until everyone had passed out of the city. 25 Then the king instructed Zadok to take the Ark of God back into the city. “If the Lord sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. 26 But if he is through with me, then let him do what seems best to him.” Fight the right battles 2 Timothy 2:23 - Again I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 2 Samuel 11:1-4 - In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. Ephesians 6:10-12 - A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. James 4:7 - So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Isaiah 41:10 - Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand 1 Peter 5:9 - Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

Sermon Notes 1 Chronicles‬ ‭28‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬ "David also said to Solomon his son, 'Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.'" God is with you! Therefore, you do not need to fear your circumstances. God will never fail you nor forsake you. 1 Chronicles‬ ‭28‬:‭21‬a NIV‬‬‬‬ "The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work." God always gifts his people with the abilities needed to get the job done. 1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬ "With all my resources, I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen." 2 Samuel 24:24 NIV "But the king (David) replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.'" 1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬ "Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?" "… just wanted to let you guys know we had our HS students do their commitment cards last night for Relentless Pursuit. …just wanted to celebrate that they have committed just over $____ to Relentless Pursuit over the next 3 years! It's been super cool to read through some of their commitments and see how excited they are for Relentless Pursuit and not just in finances but everything in general! God's doing some cool things in our hs students!" – Christian Crampton 1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬ "Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly." "celebrate that [our High School Students] have committed just over $6800 to RP over the next 3 years!" That total is over: $800,000! 1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV "David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, 'Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name.'" ‬‬‬‬‬‬ 1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬ "Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you." John 12:32 NLT "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself."

Special Guest Speaker Leah Rios brings this week's message, “Distractions." Key Verses: 2 Samuel 11:1–5 NIV “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”” 1 Samuel 17:45–46 NIV “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.” 2 Samuel 12:15–17 NIV “After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.” Sermon Topics: Distractions, Faith

Sermon Notes: August 14, 2022 After God's Own Heart: God Loves Passionate Praise - Jeremy Thom 2 Samuel 6:3-5 (NLT)They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the hillside home of Abinadab. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab's sons, were guiding the cart with the Ark of God on it, with Ahio walking in front. 2 Samuel 6:3-5 (NLT)David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all their might, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments. 2 Samuel 6:8 (NLT)David was angry because the Lord's anger had blazed out against Uzzah. 2 Samuel 6:14-15 (NLT)David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. 2 Samuel 6:14-15 (NLT)So David and all Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams' horns. 2 Samuel 6:20b-23 (NIV)David retorted to Michal, ‘I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and his family! 2 Samuel 6:20b-23 (NIV)He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord. So I am willing to act like a fool in order to show my joy in the Lord. 2 Samuel 6:20b-23 (NLT)Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, but I will be held in honor by the girls of whom you have spoken!' 2 Samuel 6:20b-23 (NLT)So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her life. 2 Samuel 6:22 (NIV)So I am willing to act like a fool in order to show my joy in the Lord. God Loves Passionate Praise Passionate praise comes from sacrificing your own pride and posturing yourself before the Lord. David sacrifices his pride: And returns to obedienceBefore all of IsraelWhile Michal reveals her prideAnd comes before the Lord Romans 12:1 (NET)Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is a reasonable service. “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”. - A.W. Tozer: "The Knowledge of the Holy" God loves passionate praise because it comes from a heart of sacrifice, postured before the only audience that matters, before the Lord.

Guest: Niv David Guest title: Customer Cyber Security Director, Ericsson North America; Fellow & Lecturer, Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, Tel-Aviv University Language: English Abstract The 5th generation of cellular networks is not just an upgrade of previous generations such as LTE. 5G is changing the cellular networks infrastructure, deployment, orchestration, operations and security. 5G infrastructure, and Private Networks, blur the traditional distinction between IT, 3GPP, Wi-Fi and Cellular, providing incredible functionality, while creating new challenges. In this episode we spoke with Niv David, Customer Cyber security director at Ericsson North America, about the innovation of 5G networks and how it is changing the networking infrastructure and cloud usage.

It seems like there's always something to worry about in our lives. Even when things are going pretty well, we all know that is a precarious window that could shatter at any moment. It seems like one of the guaranteed rhythms of life is that there are good times and then there are going to be difficult times we have to go through. Exciting times. Painful times. Times when it seems everything is sunny. And then super disappointing times. And then long stretches of time when we're not sure which way things are going to go. That's life in this exiled world waiting for Heaven to come back to earth when Jesus returns. But the entire message of the Bible tells us that we can have an anchor of certainty in the rhythms of life's uncertainties. And until we find that anchor we're going to be tossed up and down with every next big wave. We see this in the life of David in the OT, which is one big reason why his psalms (meditation poems/songs) have been so important in the lives of God's people (including Jesus) for 3,000 years.  In one particularly painful and stressful time in his life, he and his 600 soldiers were away from their families and, upon returning, discovered that their enemies had burned their homes and kidnapped their families.  1 Samuel 30:4 (NIV)  So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. And his men had almost turned against him for it. 1 Samuel 30:6 (NIV) David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. Phrases like that in the Bible should stick out to us as important doors for us to walk through that give us the key to how to live in this world. "But David found strength in the LORD his God.” This is what Christian meditation is/does. It is a way for us to find strength in the LORD our God. Continue to focus on your breathing/relaxing rhythm while I read from one of David's psalms. There is a psalm David wrote (don't know if it was this occasion)… Psalms 31:9-10 (NIV)  …I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. …My strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. David brings into his meditation the effect of stress and anxiety on his body. Let's do that in our meditation today.  Give attention right now to the present condition of your body; your mood, thoughts, emotions, fears, and feelings as they are right now in the present. This is a way to inhabit your body fully. To feel the body from within. Body awareness keeps you present with whatever message your body is getting from your brain. The first step in noticing anxiety is to pay attention to how it manifests in your body. Anxiety generally starts in either a distracted mind (ruminating on a past conflict or hurt; or an anger fantasy about the future), a racing heart, or a clenched body (tension).  So let's put our attention on different parts of our body to be aware of any signs of anxiety or tension and then begin the process of relaxing clenched muscles and distracted thoughts by a meditation where we can find strength in the LORD our God.  Your soul is inseparable to your body. Everything is intertwined. …Your brain and body are inextricably interconnected. So in David's moment of great stress and anxiety, “David was greatly distressed…But David found strength in the LORD his God.” Your English translation of the Hebrew says David found strength in the LORD, but the LORD is a kind of translation of God's name in the Hebrew Bible — Yahweh.  It's translated in your Bible as LORD in all capital letters so you know the author or speaker is referring to God by his Hebrew name — Yahweh. This is actually the most often used reference for God (in the Old Testament) in the Hebrew Bible — far more than the word God is...

It seems like there's always something to worry about in our lives. Even when things are going pretty well, we all know that is a precarious window that could shatter at any moment. It seems like one of the guaranteed rhythms of life is that there are good times and then there are going to be difficult times we have to go through. Exciting times. Painful times. Times when it seems everything is sunny. And then super disappointing times. And then long stretches of time when we're not sure which way things are going to go. That's life in this exiled world waiting for Heaven to come back to earth when Jesus returns. But the entire message of the Bible tells us that we can have an anchor of certainty in the rhythms of life's uncertainties. And until we find that anchor we're going to be tossed up and down with every next big wave. We see this in the life of David in the OT, which is one big reason why his psalms (meditation poems/songs) have been so important in the lives of God's people (including Jesus) for 3,000 years.  In one particularly painful and stressful time in his life, he and his 600 soldiers were away from their families and, upon returning, discovered that their enemies had burned their homes and kidnapped their families.  1 Samuel 30:4 (NIV)  So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. And his men had almost turned against him for it. 1 Samuel 30:6 (NIV) David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. Phrases like that in the Bible should stick out to us as important doors for us to walk through that give us the key to how to live in this world. "But David found strength in the LORD his God.” This is what Christian meditation is/does. It is a way for us to find strength in the LORD our God. Continue to focus on your breathing/relaxing rhythm while I read from one of David's psalms. There is a psalm David wrote (don't know if it was this occasion)… Psalms 31:9-10 (NIV)  …I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. …My strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. David brings into his meditation the effect of stress and anxiety on his body. Let's do that in our meditation today.  Give attention right now to the present condition of your body; your mood, thoughts, emotions, fears, and feelings as they are right now in the present. This is a way to inhabit your body fully. To feel the body from within. Body awareness keeps you present with whatever message your body is getting from your brain. The first step in noticing anxiety is to pay attention to how it manifests in your body. Anxiety generally starts in either a distracted mind (ruminating on a past conflict or hurt; or an anger fantasy about the future), a racing heart, or a clenched body (tension).  So let's put our attention on different parts of our body to be aware of any signs of anxiety or tension and then begin the process of relaxing clenched muscles and distracted thoughts by a meditation where we can find strength in the LORD our God.  Your soul is inseparable to your body. Everything is intertwined. …Your brain and body are inextricably interconnected. So in David's moment of great stress and anxiety, “David was greatly distressed…But David found strength in the LORD his God.” Your English translation of the Hebrew says David found strength in the LORD, but the LORD is a kind of translation of God's name in the Hebrew Bible — Yahweh.  It's translated in your Bible as LORD in all capital letters so you know the author or speaker is referring to God by his Hebrew name — Yahweh. This is actually the most often used reference for God (in the Old Testament) in the Hebrew Bible — far more than the word God is...

Join us as Brian continues The Greatest Stories Rarely Told, taking a look at some of the greatest, yet lesser-known stories of the Bible, that point back to our 3 core values; Sacrificial Generosity, Radical Hospitality, and Uncommon Humility. I've accepted Jesus • https://willamette.cc/follow-christ • Let us know you made this decision, and we'll help you discover what's next! Get Baptized • https://willamette.cc/baptisms • If you have accepted Jesus but have never had the opportunity to celebrate your new life in Him through water baptism, this is your next step! Let us pray with you • https://willamette.cc/prayer • Fill out a quick form to let us know how we can be praying for you. Sermon Notes - July 25, 2021The Greatest Stories Rarely Told - Brian Becker Sacrificial Generosity Radical Hospitality Uncommon Humility 2 Samuel 3:4 (NIV)Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth. Radical Hospitality:People you don't know but need to love.People you do know but don't want to love. This past year we have been conditioned by society who “our people” are and who “our people” are not. But we are being invited to be reconditioned by Jesus to see people and love them the same way he would. People would rather draw lines than extend a hand; draw lines than seek to understand. 2 Samuel 3:4 (NIV)Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth. 1 Samuel 18:10b-11 (NIV)Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I'll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. 1 Samuel 18:28-29 (MSG)As Saul more and more realized that God was with David, and how much his own daughter, Michal, loved him, his fear of David increased and settled into hate. Saul hated David. 2 Samuel 9:3 (NIV)David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show… 2 Samuel 9:3 (NIV)David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness… Kindness: חֶסֶד/ ḥeseḏ / (kheh'-sed)Khesed combines the ideas of love, generosity, and enduring commitment all into one. Khesed describes an act of promise-keeping loyalty that is motivated by deep personal care. Kindness: חֶסֶד/ ḥeseḏ / (kheh'-sed)“Extraordinary acts of kindness; meeting an extreme need, outside the normal run of perceived duty, and arising from personal affection or pure goodness.” 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)“Don't be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's steward, and said to him, “I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. 2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table; he was lame in both feet. 2 Samuel 9:8 (NIV)Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” Exodus 34:6Compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6Compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with khessed and faithfulness. Psalm 136Give thanks to the Lord for he is good… Psalm 136Give thanks to the Lord for he is good…his khesed endures forever. God's kingdom is a kingdom of kindness, even to those who were once enemies. EVIL for Good=Maniacal EVIL for Evil=Predictable GOOD for Evil=Remarkable Matthew 5:43-45a (NIV)“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with Khessed and faithfulness. 1.Have I experienced (or re-experienced) the Khessed of God in my life? 2.Who am I living in hostility towards, and how can I move towards hospitality in that area? 3.How can I create environments of restoration when I welcome people into my life?

We worked verse by verse through Psalm 23 during our most recent series, and made our way through verse 3. There has been so much to dive into! There are more verses in this chapter that we didn't cover over the weekend, so we've put together a bonus episode for you this week! Let's talk about Psalm 23:4-6 Catch up on the entire Psalm 23 sermon series from our YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYU8tP-3OqjJokNZNGTS9VnYtKqE445K What has stood out to you throughout this series? Special guest, one of our Dream Teamers — Melissa Gott Verse 4 “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭23:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬ You only go to a mountaintop for a short time. The majority of time in life is spent in the valley. We were never designed to live on the mountaintop. In the valley we find nourishment. What does the rod and staff represent? Rod — protection, fends off predators The rod is a weapon used in close combat with an animal. He can also throw it when a dangerous animal was in the near distance to fend off the predators. Staff — direction and correction, nudge and draw sheep back onto the right path, rescue from danger It brings us to safety! “We can hate the storm, or we can grow through the storm.” -TJ McCormick One of the greatest things you can do is plant yourself in the house of God and be surrounded by protection! The Way of the Shepherd: Seven Secrets to Managing Productive People by Kevin Leman and William Pentak https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shepherd-Ancient-Managing-Productive/dp/0310250978/ref=nodl_ Get comfortable being uncomfortable in the Christian life. “because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” ‭‭ Proverbs‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Verse 5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬ David wrote this at the end of his life. Samuel came to his town, a feast was thrown for him. 1 Samuel 16 David fights Goliath 1 Samuel 17 ANOINT in Hebrew: fatten, make healthy, make fresh David's purpose and confidence is secure in the Lord. Growth and maturing is taking place. Focus on the feast before you, rather than the enemy. The blessing and hope before you. Verse 6 “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭23:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬ “Surely” is a confident word because their is strength and maturity in the relationship. Verses 2-6 are promises that God gives you when you have God as the Good Shepherd in your life. God dwelling with us now, and for eternity. Where are you, God? Know and notice God, especially when you are feeling far from Him or in the midst of a trial or struggle. A Shepherd's Look at Psalm 23 https://www.amazon.com/Shepherd-Looks-Psalm-23/dp/0310274419/ref=nodl_ The Promise Bible: All of God's promises highlighted for you https://www.amazon.com/dp/0842354379/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_DT5GS6C40N7ZJX10JQ2D Next weekend our new series, “Voices” begins! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coastalchurch/message

1 Samuel 25:1–44 (NIV)David, Nabal and Abigail25 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran. 2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite. 4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours! 7 “ ‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.' ” 9 When David's men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David's name. Then they waited. 10 Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?” 12 David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies. 14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.” 18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I'll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. 21 David had just said, “It's been useless—all my watching over this fellow's property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. 22 May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!” 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.

Episode Intro“God told me that he wants you to a missionary.” “God has put it on my heart to pray for you.”What do we do with statements like that?In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we've been looking at God's words in the Bible. The Bible is God's words written for his people, by his Spirit, about his Son. The Bible is God's authoritative word and we need to listen. The Bible is God's powerful word.But does God still speak? And does he speak to us outside the Bible?That's what we're thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology.Does God still speak through people? What about prophecy? Does God still prophesy through people? Or does he only speak to us through the Bible?Podcast IntroHi. My name is Karl Deenick. I'm a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.Prophecy is about JesusIn thinking about how and whether God still speaks, a good place to start is with Acts 2.Acts 2 is the account of God pouring out the Holy Spirit in fulfilment of his promise in the Old Testament. Jesus' life, death and resurrection has opened the way for God to remake humanity in the image of Jesus. And that begins on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 as the Spirit is poured out on believers and the Spirit unites them with Jesus and all that he has accomplished on their behalf.Peter and the other disciples are gathered together when a sound like the blowing of a violent wind suddenly comes upon them. They see tongues of fire coming down from heaven and resting on each of them. And when the neighbours hear and see what's happening, a crowd begins to form.But then miraculously the disciples begin to speak in other languages that they hadn't known before. And the crowd who are listening are absolutely astonished.It's at that point that Peter says, that what was happening was the fulfilment of something Joel prophesied in the Old Testament. Peter says in Acts 2:17–18,In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17–18 NIV)Peter says that what was happening on the day of Pentecost was not only the beginning of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the people who trust in Jesus. But it was also the beginning of a great prophetic movement. In the past God had spoken through a few prophets here and there but now with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit all kinds of people will see visions and dreams and will prophesy.But what Peter means by that is really, really important to understand. If we're not careful what we'll do is import our understanding of what we think that means, rather than looking at the text of Acts 2 to understand exactly what Peter means.And what's really interesting is that Peter says that what he and the other apostles are doing in Acts 2 is prophesying and fulfilling Joel's prophecy.But if you read Acts 2, there are no dreams or visions that the apostle's share and there are no predictions of what will happen in the future. There's no words about what God will do in this person's life or that person's life.Rather what you get in Acts 2 is Peter explaining how Jesus is the Messiah and how Jesus has come in fulfilment of the Old Testament.So Peter says in verse 29,“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet….So David was a prophet. But what did David prophesy about?Peter says,But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. (Acts 2:29–33 NIV)David's role as a prophet was to look ahead to the coming of Jesus and to his death and resurrection.Peter's role and the role of his fellow apostles was not to speak about what was to come so much as to be witnesses of Jesus' death and resurrection.They speak about Jesus who has come. And the message that they were speaking to the crowds was the message of the Spirit who, Peter says, “you now see and hear.”Similarly, Peter writes in his first letter, in 1 Peter 1:10,Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.So the prophets in the Old Testament spoke about “this salvation”. That is, the one Peter has outlined in the verses just before. The salvation which is through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus, the Son of God. The Spirit of Christ in the prophets was pointing to the sufferings of Jesus and the glories that would follow.But then Peter goes on to say,It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. (1 Peter 1:10–12 NIV)So the same Holy Spirit that was given to the prophets in the Old Testament to speak about the Messiah who was to come; that same Holy Spirit has now empowered the preaching of the gospel.Peter says, “Even the angels long to look into these things.”The mistake that we can make, I think, in thinking about prophecy is that we think that the greatest mystery in life is what we will do and what will happened to us and how God will use us. But in the Bible the greatest mystery is the mystery about Christ. That is, the message of the gospel. That through his own dying on a cross, God would save a people for himself.It's called the mystery of God because for ages past is was kept hidden. It was spoken about in shadows and in mystery by the prophets of the Old Testament, but it's now been revealed in the preaching of the gospel. And everywhere that the gospel is preached and brought to bear on the lives of people, there prophetic ministry continues. When God speaks through people to make the gospel of Jesus known, the work of prophecy continues.So listen to what Paul says in 16:25–26. He writes,Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith…. (Romans 16:25–26 NIV)What the Bible is saying is that prophecy is fundamentally about Jesus. It's about the revelation of the mystery that was hidden for ages past and which has now been revealed.In fact, Revelation 19:10 gives this rather remarkable definition of prophecy. It says,For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10 ESV)To say that prophecy is about the testimony of Jesus Christ doesn't mean that prophecy is only about evangelism and telling people who don't know Jesus about him. It's a bit like saying that the Bible is about Jesus.Prophecy broadly understood is not just evangelism. It's showing people how the Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ. It's challenging people to repent and believe in Christ. It's showing people the new life that Christ has called us to live in obedience to him. It's challenging people to take up their cross and follow Christ.Prophecy is the word about Christ which challenges, rebukes, encourages, equips, trains, makes wise for salvation, which is really the purpose of the whole Bible.God Gives Us His Spirit So That We Can Speak About JesusSo prophecy is primarily about the testimony to Jesus Christ.But not only is that the heart of prophecy, but that's also the key reason that God has given his Spirit to his people. That is, so that every Christian can speak words about Jesus.In seeing that, it helps to look at what God said to some of the Old Testament prophets and then to also look at how that is paralleled in the New Testament.So God says to Moses in Exodus 4:11–12,“Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:11–12 NIV) Or in Deuteronomy 18 God tells Moses,I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. (Deuteronomy 18:18 NIV)Or God says to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1,“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”But Jeremiah says,“Alas, Sovereign Lord … I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:4–9 NIV)But now listen to these words in the New Testament from Matthew 10. Jesus says,On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:18–20 NIV)What is striking is that in the OT when the prophets spoke it was by the Holy Spirit that they spoke. It was the Holy Spirit who gave them the words to speak. But now Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will give words to his disciples. Again, not to tell the future, but to proclaim Christ.And you see the same thing in the book of Acts. When the Holy Spirit comes on people with power they don't speak a new message about the future but they proclaim the gospel about Jesus.So Jesus says in Acts 1:8,But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)Or in Acts 4:8 we're told,Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them… (Acts 4:8 NIV)And then Peter preaches a gospel sermon.Or in Acts 4:31, it says,After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31 NIV)Similarly, Acts 11:23–24 tells us about Barnabas:When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. (Acts 11:23–24 NIV)Does God still speak? Yes, God still speaks. He uses us to speak. In the past God used a few prophets to speak about the coming of Jesus, but now that Jesus has come, God pours out his Spirit on all believers so that they can speak about Jesus.The most exciting and wonderful blessings that the Spirit brings to our lives is the power and ability to speak words about Jesus into a lost world.Christians often think, “Well, God could never use me because I don't know the right things to say.” But God has given us his Spirit for exactly that purpose to empower us to speak.If we know that gospel we can make it know to others as well. We can make known to them what they didn't know before. And we can do that because God has given us his Spirit for exactly that purpose.Does God Give People Insight into the Future?So the heart of prophecy is speaking the truth about Jesus. And God empowers every Christian with his Spirit to do exactly that.But doesn't answer the question of whether God still ever gives people special insight into future like he did in the past?I think it's reasonable to suppose that God still can and does at times prompt people with respect to the future.There doesn't seem to be any reason to suppose that he wouldn't do that any longer. And there are certainly a few examples of that in the New Testament.There are examples of the Holy Spirit leading people in plans and in decisions. We see that in Acts, as the Holy Spirit leads Paul and others regarding where to do their missionary work. So in Acts 13 it says,While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2 NIV)And it does seem in experience, too, that the Holy Spirit does prompt and prod us to do certain things.I remember a friend of mine was going for a walk one morning and she walked past a man waiting at a bus stop, and she thought to herself, “I should talk to that man.” She kept walking and then she thought, “No, I really think I should go back and talk to that man.” And so she went back and asked him if he knew Jesus or something like that. At which point he broke down and by the time the bus came this man wanted to trust and follow Jesus.I remember in my own experience too, I once had the overwhelming conviction while I was reading a part of the Bible that I should go and talk to a particular and make sure they were ready to die and to make sure that they really trusted in Jesus. Their life didn't seem to be in immediate danger but I felt very convicted that I should do it so I prayed and went. We had a wonderful conversation and we prayed together. And two or three weeks later they were admitted to hospital suddenly and within about 48 hours they had died.The Holy Spirit certainly prompts and stirs us to do things and we ought to be responsive to those things.But we also need to remember that impressions, thoughts, ideas, and strong emotions are not the sure word of God. Feelings and ideas and impressions can be wrong and misleading. And so we need to test them against the Bible and hold them loosely. We can't trust them in the way that we can trust the sure words of God in the Bible.But more than that, we also need to keep absolutely crystal clear that the reason God has given us his Spirit is not so that we can do some neat party tricks, or so that we can know God's plans for our lives or the lives of others.God's great gift of the Spirit is for the purpose of making his great gospel known. God has spoken so that we would know his Son, Jesus, and so that others would know him too.If that disappears from our understanding of what it means to speak prophetically then we've missed the point.How Does the Spirit Equip Us to Speak?But a final question, then, is how God puts his words in our mouths. How does he do that? How does the Holy Spirit equip us to speak about Jesus?Well, of course, God can do that directly. He can put words into our minds and hearts to speak. But one of the key ways that God equips and trains us to speak is through the Bible.It was the Holy Spirit who caused the Bible to be written down for us. And the Holy Spirit has not suddenly decided to abandon the Bible.The Bible is not a dead book. The Bible is the living word of God. And the Holy Spirit still speaks to us through the Bible.We tend to think that supernatural insight must be something that comes to us spontaneously. But according to the Bible, even just to understand the Bible is supernatural insight.Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 that we only understand the gospel because God has given us the Holy Spirit.We saw earlier those words of Peter, in 1 Peter 1:10, where he says,Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care…. (1 Peter 1:10 NIV)The prophets searched intently and with the greatest care. They didn't just put their feet up and wait for the next revelation. They searched and combed through the Bible.And one thing you notice when you read the prophets is how steeped they are in the Bible. They knew the parts of the Bible that they had inside out. And the words that God gave them to speak were applications of the Bible. The apostles constantly refer to the Old Testament in their evangelism and in their letters. You couldn't do that without knowing the Bible really well.It's entirely possible that God could give us some spontaneous, supernatural insight into what the Bible means. But almost the entire emphasis of the New and Old Testaments is that God prepares people slowly to speak for him by teaching them and through them studying his Word.It's a mistake to think that God is only speaking through us when we say something unprepared and spontaneous. As though God is only involved in our lives at the last minutes and has been absent from our lives for the long years of formation and correction that we've already lived.OutroDoes God still speak? Yes. God still speaks to us in the Bible. And in the Bible the Holy Spirit equips us to speak words to people. God puts his words in our mouths to build up the church, to proclaim the good news about Jesus, to call people to repentance, to train us for every good work and to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.That's it for this episode of Thinking Theology. And that's it for this year of Thinking Theology.There will be a special bonus episode in the next week or so dealing with the current pressing issue of vaccination and how we as Christians should think about that. In that episode I'll be speaking with my sister, Associate Professor Dr Elissa Deenick, who is a research immunologist with the University of New South Wales and the Garvan Institute. She'll be joining me to talk about vaccines, Covid and Christianity. So look out for that.And next year we'll be continuing on with Thinking Theology by looking at who God is and what he's like.Please join me then.

2 Samuel 6:1-15 (NIV) David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God. Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

2 Samuel 6:1-15 (NIV) David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God. Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

"I identify with David: I, too, am a mixed bag. But it reminds me that I can't read this story with the idea that I'm supposed to be like David." Leaders set examples. They become examples: ideals to respect and emulate. The Bible is full of leaders—like David, a man after God's own heart. Samuel tells the story of David, but that's just a couple of chapters in a big book. What about the whole Bible? What's the story of the Bible and who's the hero? Learn how to read the Bible from David in 22 (https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/) . In this episode, we discuss David, Bathsheba, and Uriah. Listen to How to Make It Right With God (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-make-it-right-with-god-david-in-22-2-samuel-12/id1477778533?i=1000459292221) for more context. To learn more, visit our Twitter (https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo) @TheCrossingCOMO.   Outline 0:15 - Ways to read the Bible 1:20 - People in the Bible 2:00 - Hero of the Bible 2:40 - 2 Samuel 22.1 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+22%3A1&version=NIV) 2:55 - Psalm 18 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+18&version=NIV) 3:15 - David's Song (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel+22&version=NIV) 4:30 - God's bigger story 5:00 - 2 keywords 5:45 - 2 Samuel 22.21-25 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+22%3A21-25&version=NIV) 7:05 - God declares His name (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+34%3A5-6&version=NIV) 8:05 - Paul's conscience (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+24%3A16&version=NIV) 8:35 - David's military victories 9:35 - Interesting twist ( David's Mighty Warriors (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+23%3A8-39&version=NIV) ) 10:50 - Identifying with David 11:55 - Subscribe. Rate. Share.   Social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO) Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO) Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo (https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo)   Passages 2 Samuel 22.1: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+22%3A1&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+22%3A1&version=NIV) Psalm 18: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+18&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+18&version=NIV) 2 Samuel 22.21-25: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+22%3A21-25&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+22%3A21-25&version=NIV)   References Hannah's Song (1 Samuel 2.1-10): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+samuel+2%3A1-10&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+samuel+2%3A1-10&version=NIV) David's Song (2 Samuel 22): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel+22&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel+22&version=NIV) God's declares His name (Exodus 34.5-6): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+34%3A5-6&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+34%3A5-6&version=NIV) Paul's conscience (Acts 24.16): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+24%3A16&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+24%3A16&version=NIV) David's Mighty Warriors (2 Samuel 23.8-39): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel+23&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel+23&version=NIV)   Related The Consequence of Confronting God:... Support this podcast

"It's ironic—to me, at least—that our currency in the United States says, 'In God We Trust.' We all know the truth" Why is faith important? It's fundamental to being a Christian, but do you know why? It's because Christianity is all about having a relationship with God, and you can't have a relationship without trust. Faith is trusting in God. You know it, but do you do it? Our money says, "In God We Trust," but do we? David didn't, and it eventually caused his kingdom to crumble. Discover what David trusted instead of God as David in 22 (https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/) . To learn more, visit our Twitter (https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo) @TheCrossingCOMO. Outline 0:15 - Patrick's teenage years 1:10 - Bizarre assumption 2:05 - 2 Samuel 5 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5&version=NIV) 3:40 - 2 Samuel 5:11-13 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5%3A+11-13&version=NIV) (David's frays) 4:45 - Deuteronomy's warning (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+17%3A16-17&version=NIV) 5:45 - David's second fray 7:00 - Contemporary application 7:30 - "In God We Trust" 8:00 - Are there fractures forming in your life? 9:15 - Subscribe. Rate. Share. Social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO) Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO) Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo (https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo)   Passages 2 Samuel 5: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5&version=NIV) 2 Samuel 5:11-13: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5%3A+11-13&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5%3A+11-13&version=NIV)   References Deuteronomy 17:16-17: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+17%3A16-17&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+17%3A16-17&version=NIV)   Related David in 22: https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/ (https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/) Support this podcast

"When a kid, who's not prone to much emotion or drama, starts crying on Christmas morning, you're like, 'Okay, something went terribly wrong.'"  Some people love surprises, but some people hate them. The people who love surprises don't understand how you could possibly hate them, but the people who hate surprises know how terribly wrong things can go. (They probably have a few surprising stories of their own!).  When Saul died, the most surprising thing was not how he died but how David reacted. Hear how David in 22 (https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/) series. To learn more, visit our Twitter (https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo) @TheCrossingCOMO. Outline 0:15 - Christmas mornings 1:35 - Unexpected responses 2:00 - Saul's kingship ending 3:35 - 2 Samuel 1 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1&version=NIV) 4:45 - 2 Samuel 1:11-12 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1%3A11-12&version=NIV) (David's unexpected response) 5:15 - 2 Samuel 1:14 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1%3A14&version=NIV) 5:50 - Lesson 1 7:15 - Lesson 2 ( Romans 12:19 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+12%3A19&version=NIV) ) 8:05 - Lesson 3 10:20 - Subscribe. Rate. Share Social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO) Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO) Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo (https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo) Passages 2 Samuel 1: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1&version=NIV) 2 Samuel: 1:11-12 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1%3A11-12&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1%3A11-12&version=NIV) 2 Samuel 1:14: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1%3A14&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+1%3A14&version=NIV) Romans 12:19: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+12%3A19&version=NIV (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+12%3A19&version=NIV) Related David in 22: https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/ (https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/) Support this podcast

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. Psalm 78:70-72 (NIV) David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the seasoned warriors. 2 Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. 3 But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.' 4 Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's house, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.' 8 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. 9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10 Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.” 1 Chronicles 28:1-10 (ESV) And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able… 3 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God… Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord?” 6 Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God… 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly. 1 Chronicles 29:1-9 (ESV)

2 Samuel 22 (NIV) David's Song of Praise 1 David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield[a] and the horn[b] of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me. 4 “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. 5 The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 7 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. 8 The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens[c] shook; they trembled because he was angry. 9 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 11 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared[d] on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness his canopy around him— the dark[e] rain clouds of the sky. 13 Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of breath from his nostrils. 17 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. 20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. 21 “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. 23 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 24 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 25 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness[f] in his sight. 26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 27 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. 29 You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 30 With your help I can advance against a troop[g]; with my God I can scale a wall. 31 “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. 32 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? 33 It is God who arms me with strength[h] and keeps my way secure. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 You make your saving help my shield; your help has made[i] me great. 37 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way. 38 “I pursued my enemies and crushed them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 39 I crushed them completely, and they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. 40 You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me. 41 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. 42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the Lord, but he did not answer. 43 I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets. 44 “You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, 45 foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. 46 They all lose heart; they come trembling[j] from their strongholds. 47 “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! 48 He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, 49 who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me. 50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. 51 “He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.” Footnotes: 2 Samuel 22:3 Or sovereign 2 Samuel 22:3 Horn here symbolizes strength. 2 Samuel 22:8 Hebrew; Vulgate and Syriac (see also Psalm 18:7) mountains 2 Samuel 22:11 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Psalm 18:10); most Hebrew manuscripts appeared 2 Samuel 22:12 Septuagint (see also Psalm 18:11); Hebrew massed 2 Samuel 22:25 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate (see also Psalm 18:24) to the cleanness of my hands 2 Samuel 22:30 Or can run through a barricade 2 Samuel 22:33 Dead Sea Scrolls, some Septuagint manuscripts, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Psalm 18:32); Masoretic Text who is my strong refuge 2 Samuel 22:36 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text shield; / you stoop down to make 2 Samuel 22:46 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate (see also Psalm 18:45); Masoretic Text they arm themselves 2 Samuel 23 (NIV) David's Last Words 1 These are the last words of David: “The inspired utterance of David son of Jesse, the utterance of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, the hero of Israel's songs: 2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.' 5 “If my house were not right with God, surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part; surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire. 6 But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns, which are not gathered with the hand. 7 Whoever touches thorns uses a tool of iron or the shaft of a spear; they are burned up where they lie.” David's Mighty Warriors 8 These are the names of David's mighty warriors: Josheb-Basshebeth,[a] a Tahkemonite,[b] was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed[c] in one encounter. 9 Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim[d] for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. 11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled from them. 12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory. 13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief warriors came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” 16 So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord. 17 “Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors. 18 Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three.[e] He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three. 19 Was he not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them. 20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab's two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. 23 He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard. 24 Among the Thirty were: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa, 27 Abiezer from Anathoth, Sibbekai[f] the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heled[g] son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin, 30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai[h] from the ravines of Gaash, 31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan 33 son of[i] Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam son of Sharar[j] the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai the Maakathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal son of Nathan from Zobah, the son of Hagri,[k] 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite 39 and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all. Footnotes: 2 Samuel 23:8 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts suggest Ish-Bosheth, that is, Esh-Baal (see also 1 Chron. 11:11 Jashobeam). 2 Samuel 23:8 Probably a variant of Hakmonite (see 1 Chron. 11:11) 2 Samuel 23:8 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:11); Hebrew and other Septuagint manuscripts Three; it was Adino the Eznite who killed eight hundred men 2 Samuel 23:9 See 1 Chron. 11:13; Hebrew gathered there. 2 Samuel 23:18 Most Hebrew manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:20); two Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac Thirty 2 Samuel 23:27 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 21:18; 1 Chron. 11:29); Hebrew Mebunnai 2 Samuel 23:29 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate (see also 1 Chron. 11:30); most Hebrew manuscripts Heleb 2 Samuel 23:30 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:32) Hurai 2 Samuel 23:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:34); Hebrew does not have son of. 2 Samuel 23:33 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:35) Sakar 2 Samuel 23:36 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:38); Hebrew Haggadi 2 Samuel 24 (NIV) David Enrolls the Fighting Men 1 Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab and the army commanders[a] with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.” 3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” 4 The king's word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel. 5 After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. 6 They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. 7 Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah. 8 After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand. 10 David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” 11 Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer: 12 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.'” 13 So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three[b] years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.” 14 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” 15 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,[c] have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.” David Builds an Altar 18 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. 20 When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.” 22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23 Your Majesty, Araunah[d] gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels[e] of silver for them. 25 David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped. Footnotes: 2 Samuel 24:2 Septuagint (see also verse 4 and 1 Chron. 21:2); Hebrew Joab the army commander 2 Samuel 24:13 Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 21:12); Hebrew seven 2 Samuel 24:17 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have the shepherd. 2 Samuel 24:23 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts King Araunah 2 Samuel 24:24 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams

2 Samuel 15 (NIV) Absalom's Conspiracy 1 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.” 4 And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.” 5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel. 7 At the end of four[a] years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. 8 While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.[b]'” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron. 10 Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.'” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. 12 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept on increasing. David Flees 13 A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.” 14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.” 15 The king's officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.” 16 The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. 17 So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. 18 All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king. 19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. 20 You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your people with you. May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness.”[c] 21 But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.” 22 David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him. 23 The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness. 24 Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city. 25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.” 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you understand? Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you, and also Abiathar's son Jonathan. You and Abiathar return with your two sons. 28 I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there. 30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. 31 Now David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Lord, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness.” 32 When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. 33 David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I will be your servant; I was your father's servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,' then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's advice. 35 Won't the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king's palace. 36 Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear.” 37 So Hushai, David's confidant, arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city. Footnotes: 2 Samuel 15:7 Some Septuagint manuscripts, Syriac and Josephus; Hebrew forty 2 Samuel 15:8 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew does not have in Hebron. 2 Samuel 15:20 Septuagint; Hebrew May kindness and faithfulness be with you 2 Samuel 16 (NIV) David and Ziba 1 When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine. 2 The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.” 3 The king then asked, “Where is your master's grandson?” Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather's kingdom.'” 4 Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” “I humbly bow,” Ziba said. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.” Shimei Curses David 5 As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. 6 He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. 7 As he cursed, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel! 8 The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a murderer!” 9 Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.” 10 But the king said, “What does this have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,' who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?'” 11 David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12 It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.” 13 So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt. 14 The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted. And there he refreshed himself. The Advice of Ahithophel and Hushai 15 Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 16 Then Hushai the Arkite, David's confidant, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17 Absalom said to Hushai, “So this is the love you show your friend? If he's your friend, why didn't you go with him?” 18 Hushai said to Absalom, “No, the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and I will remain with him. 19 Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.” 20 Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?” 21 Ahithophel answered, “Sleep with your father's concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23 Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel's advice. 2 Samuel 17 (NIV) 1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I would[a] choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. 2 I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king 3 and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.” 4 This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel. 5 But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say as well.” 6 When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.” 7 Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. 8 You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops. 9 Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first,[b] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.' 10 Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave. 11 “So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba—as numerous as the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle. 12 Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. 13 If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not so much as a pebble is left.” 14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom. 15 Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. 16 Now send a message at once and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.'” 17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A female servant was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left at once and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. 19 His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it. 20 When Absalom's men came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman answered them, “They crossed over the brook.”[c] The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.” 22 So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan. 23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father's tomb. Absalom's Death 24 David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25 Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether,[d] an Ishmaelite[e] who had married Abigail,[f] the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. 26 The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. 27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils,[g] 29 honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows' milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.” Footnotes: 2 Samuel 17:1 Or Let me 2 Samuel 17:9 Or When some of the men fall at the first attack 2 Samuel 17:20 Or “They passed by the sheep pen toward the water.” 2 Samuel 17:25 Hebrew Ithra, a variant of Jether 2 Samuel 17:25 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 2:17); Hebrew and other Septuagint manuscripts Israelite 2 Samuel 17:25 Hebrew Abigal, a variant of Abigail 2 Samuel 17:28 Most Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew lentils, and roasted grain 2 Samuel 18 (NIV) 1 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.” 3 But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care; but you are worth ten thousand of us.[a] It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.” 4 The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders. 6 David's army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel's troops were routed by David's men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword. 9 Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. 10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.” 11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels[b] of silver and a warrior's belt.” 12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels[c] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king's son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.[d]' 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy[e]—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.” 14 Joab said, “I'm not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him. 16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes. 18 During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day. David Mourns 19 Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.” 20 “You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king's son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off. 22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.” But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward.” 23 He said, “Come what may, I want to run.” So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain[f] and outran the Cushite. 24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer. 26 Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!” The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.” 27 The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “He's a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.” 28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.” 29 The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king's servant and me, your servant, but I don't know what it was.” 30 The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there. 31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.” 33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”[g] Footnotes: 2 Samuel 18:3 Two Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts care; for now there are ten thousand like us 2 Samuel 18:11 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams 2 Samuel 18:12 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms 2 Samuel 18:12 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts may be translated Absalom, whoever you may be. 2 Samuel 18:13 Or Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously toward him 2 Samuel 18:23 That is, the plain of the Jordan 2 Samuel 18:33 In Hebrew texts this verse (18:33) is numbered 19:1.

2 Samuel 9 (NIV) David and Mephibosheth 1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. 3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” 4 “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. 7 “Don't be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” 8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's steward, and said to him, “I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's[a] table like one of the king's sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table; he was lame in both feet. Footnotes: 2 Samuel 9:11 Septuagint; Hebrew my 2 Samuel 10 (NIV) David Defeats the Ammonites 1 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David's men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn't David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David's envoys, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away. 5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.” 6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob. 7 On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. 8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country. 9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.” 13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. 15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer's army leading them. 17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.[a] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore. Footnotes: 2 Samuel 10:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 19:18); Hebrew horsemen

2 Samuel 6 (NIV) The Ark Brought to Jerusalem 6 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah[a] in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name,[b] the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it,[c] and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,[d] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 Then David was angry because the Lord's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.[e] 9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. 12 Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. 17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. 20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” 21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. Footnotes: 2 Samuel 6:2 That is, Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Chron. 13:6) 2 Samuel 6:2 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate do not have the Name. 2 Samuel 6:4 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text cart 4 and they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill 2 Samuel 6:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 13:8) songs 2 Samuel 6:8 Perez Uzzah means outbreak against Uzzah. 2 Samuel 7 (NIV) God's Promise to David 1 After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” 3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”' 8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders[a] over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me[b]; your throne will be established forever.'” 17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. David's Prayer 18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human![c] 20 “What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. 21 For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. 22 “How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?[d] 24 You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. 25 “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, 26 so that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' And the house of your servant David will be established in your sight. 27 “Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.” Footnotes: 2 Samuel 7:11 Traditionally judges 2 Samuel 7:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts you 2 Samuel 7:19 Or for the human race 2 Samuel 7:23 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 17:21; Hebrew wonders for your land and before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt, from the nations and their gods. 2 Samuel 8 (NIV) David's Victories 1 In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines. 2 David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute. 3 Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at[a] the Euphrates River. 4 David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers[b] and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses. 5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. 6 He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. 7 David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tebah[c] and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze. 9 When Tou[d] king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he sent his son Joram[e] to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze. 11 King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: 12 Edom[f] and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites[g] in the Valley of Salt. 14 He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. David's Officials 15 David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. 16 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; 18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.[h] Footnotes: 2 Samuel 8:3 Or his control along 2 Samuel 8:4 Septuagint (see also Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Chron. 18:4); Masoretic Text captured seventeen hundred of his charioteers 2 Samuel 8:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 18:8); Hebrew Betah. 2 Samuel 8:9 Hebrew Toi, a variant of Tou; also in verse 10 2 Samuel 8:10 A variant of Hadoram 2 Samuel 8:12 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac (see also 1 Chron. 18:11); most Hebrew manuscripts Aram 2 Samuel 8:13 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac (see also 1 Chron. 18:12); most Hebrew manuscripts Aram (that is, Arameans) 2 Samuel 8:18 Or were chief officials (see Septuagint and Targum; see also 1 Chron. 18:17)

1 Samuel 22 (NIV) David at Adullam and Mizpah 1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. 2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him. 3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?” 4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold. 5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. Saul Kills the Priests of Nob 6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. 7 He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.” 9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul's officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob. 10 Ahimelek inquired of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he answered. 13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?” 14 Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king's son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? 15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father's family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.” 16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.” 17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king's officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord. 18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. 20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David. 21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22 Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family. 23 Stay with me; don't be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.” 1 Samuel 23 (NIV) David Saves Keilah 1 When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,” 2 he inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3 But David's men said to him, “Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!” 4 Once again David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him, “Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah. 6 (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelek had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.) Saul Pursues David 7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” 8 And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” 10 David said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will.” 12 Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will.” 13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there. 14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. 15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that[a] Saul had come out to take his life. 16 And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 17 “Don't be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” 18 The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh. 19 The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 20 Now, Your Majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for giving him into your hands.” 21 Saul replied, “The Lord bless you for your concern for me. 22 Go and get more information. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty. 23 Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah.” 24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David. 26 Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.” 28 Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth.[b] 29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.[c] Footnotes: 1 Samuel 23:15 Or he was afraid because 1 Samuel 23:28 Sela Hammahlekoth means rock of parting. 1 Samuel 23:29 In Hebrew texts this verse (23:29) is numbered 24:1. 1 Samuel 24 (NIV) David Spares Saul's Life 1 [a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way. 8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you'? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord's anointed.' 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,' so my hand will not touch you. 14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.” 16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father's family.” 22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. Footnotes: 1 Samuel 24:1 In Hebrew texts 24:1-22 is numbered 24:2-23. 1 Samuel 24:4 Or “Today the Lord is saying 1 Samuel 25 (NIV) David, Nabal and Abigail 1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.[a] 2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite. 4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours! 7 “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.'” 9 When David's men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David's name. Then they waited. 10 Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?” 12 David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies. 14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.” 18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[b] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I'll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. 21 David had just said, “It's been useless—all my watching over this fellow's property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. 22 May God deal with David,[c] be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!” 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you. 28 “Please forgive your servant's presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord's battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.” 32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” 35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.” 36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. 39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal's wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. 40 His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.” 41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord's servants.” 42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David's messengers and became his wife. 43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives. 44 But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel[d] son of Laish, who was from Gallim. Footnotes: 1 Samuel 25:1 Hebrew and some Septuagint manuscripts; other Septuagint manuscripts Maon 1 Samuel 25:18 That is, probably about 60 pounds or about 27 kilograms 1 Samuel 25:22 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew with David's enemies 1 Samuel 25:44 Hebrew Palti, a variant of Paltiel

1 Samuel 18 (NIV) Saul's Growing Fear of David 1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul's officers as well. 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” 8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. 10 The next day an evil[a] spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I'll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. 12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. 14 In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns. 17 Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul said to himself, “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!” 18 But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?” 19 So[b] when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah. 20 Now Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21 “I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.” 22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: “Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.'” 23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known.” 24 When Saul's servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.'” Saul's plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines. 26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage. 28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. 30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well known. Footnotes: 1 Samuel 18:10 Or a harmful 1 Samuel 18:19 Or However, 1 Samuel 19 (NIV) Saul Tries to Kill David 1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.” 4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?” 6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.” 7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before. 8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him. 9 But an evil[c] spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre, 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape. 11 Saul sent men to David's house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, “If you don't run for your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats' hair at the head. 14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, “He is ill.” 15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.” 16 But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats' hair. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?” Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?'” 18 When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul's men, and they also prophesied. 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said. 23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Footnotes: 1 Samuel 19:9 Or But a harmful 1 Samuel 20 (NIV) David and Jonathan 1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?” 2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn't do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn't so!” 3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.' Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.” 4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I'll do for you.” 5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.' 7 If he says, ‘Very well,' then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?” 9 “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?” 10 David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11 “Come,” Jonathan said, “let's go out into the field.” So they went there together. 12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord's kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David's enemies to account.” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.' If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,' then come, because, as surely as the Lord lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.” 24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,[d] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty. 26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.” 27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David's place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.' That is why he has not come to the king's table.” 30 Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!” 32 “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. 34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David. 35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn't the arrow beyond you?” 38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don't stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.” 41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most. 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.'” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.[e] Footnotes: 1 Samuel 20:25 Septuagint; Hebrew wall. Jonathan arose 1 Samuel 20:42 In Hebrew texts this sentence (20:42b) is numbered 21:1. 1 Samuel 21 (NIV) David at Nob 1 [f]David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.” 4 But the priest answered David, “I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever[g] I set out. The men's bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away. 7 Now one of Saul's servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief shepherd. 8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don't you have a spear or a sword here? I haven't brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king's mission was urgent.” 9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” David at Gath 10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?” 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” Footnotes: 1 Samuel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-15 is numbered 21:2-16. 1 Samuel 21:5 Or from us in the past few days since

1 Samuel 16 (NIV) Samuel Anoints David 1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. David in Saul's Service 14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil[a] spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 Saul's attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.” 17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.” 19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. Footnotes: 1 Samuel 16:14 Or and a harmful; similarly in verses 15, 16 and 23 1 Samuel 17 (NIV) David and Goliath 1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels[b]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.[c] His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was very old. 13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. 17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[d] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[e] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.” 20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. 25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” 26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 28 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” 29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can't I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” 38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[f] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent. 55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know.” 56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.” 57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head. 58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him. David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.” Footnotes: 1 Samuel 17:4 That is, about 9 feet 9 inches or about 3 meters 1 Samuel 17:5 That is, about 125 pounds or about 58 kilograms 1 Samuel 17:7 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms 1 Samuel 17:17 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms 1 Samuel 17:18 Or some token; or some pledge of spoils 1 Samuel 17:52 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew of a valley New International Version (NIV)

FIRST YOU NEED A HOT MAN. The Life Of King David / Hot Date Marriage Series Part 1 Credit: Wild At Heart by Dr. John Eldridge “Many women want a passive man if a man at all; Churches often wants a tamed man – called priests or Nice Guys; University wants a domesticated man – Called Professors or Intellectuals; Corporation wants a…sanitized, shaven, shallow man.” Real Question: What Kind of Man does God want…? Ladies have to learn Want the same kind of Man God really wants! Understand a Man’s Heart…If the Man in your life is Bored, You are in Trouble! A Hot Man Becomes Cold Without… I. A Battle to Fight Question he asks himself: What can I do? The Giant Goliath - 1 Samuel 18:6-7 (NIV) 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. 7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Lead the cheer for victory in his Battles II. An Adventure to Live “Adventure with all its requisite danger and wildness – is a deeply spiritual longing literally WRITTEN into the soul of a man.” Question he asks himself: Who Can I Be? The Career of A King 2 Samuel 2:1b-4 (NIV) David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the LORD answered. 2So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns. 4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. 2 Samuel 5:2b-5 (NIV) And the LORD said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’” 3When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. If a man has lost this desire, says he doesn’t want it, that’s because he doesn’t know he has what it takes, or believes he will fail the test… Secret: A Woman often makes her Husbands Adventures, Careers, Promotions by Her attitude toward him… Encourage his path of adventure beyond life’s ordinary borders. Remember: Pray and Say, “I think you can do it… I believe in you…” III. A Beauty to Rescue Question: Who Desires Him? Who Believes in Him? Who Will share Adventure? There is nothing that inspires a man to be his best more than a woman who needs him to be. Its not enough to be a Hero; It’s that he is a Hero in the eyes of someone… Let Him Win – Let Him Win YOU!!!