Sept 28

1 Samuel 26:1-25

1 Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.” 2 So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him down in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, 4 he sent out spies to verify the report of Saul’s arrival. 5 David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors. 6 “Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother. “I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied. 7 So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him. 8 “God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!” 9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the LORD’s anointed one? 10 Surely the LORD will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. 11 The LORD forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!” 12 So David took the spear and jug of water that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even waking up, because the LORD had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep. 13 David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a safe distance. 14 Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner, “Wake up, Abner!” “Who is it?” Abner demanded. 15 “Well, Abner, you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone came to kill him? 16 This isn’t good at all! I swear by the LORD that you and your men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the LORD’s anointed! Look around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?” 17 Saul recognized David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?” And David replied, “Yes, my lord the king. 18 Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? 19 But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the LORD. For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the LORD’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ 20 Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the LORD? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?” 21 Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.” 22 “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The LORD gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the LORD placed you in my power, for you are the LORD’s anointed one. 24 Now may the LORD value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.” 25 And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home.


Poor Joseph. He was minding his own business, working for a man named Potiphar, when the boss's wife started getting fresh. She said, "Yo, Joe, come to bed with me" (Genesis 39:7, loose translation). So what did Joseph do? He made a quick dash for the exit! Joseph did the right thing, and you know what? He ended up in prison for it! Poor Elijah. He was minding his own business, doing his thing as a prophet of God in Israel, when God told him to summon to Mount Carmel all the people of Israel, including 850 false prophets. So what did Elijah do? He prayed and won a mighty contest against the enemies of God! Elijah did the right thing, and you know what? He had to run for his life from an angry Queen Jezebel (see 1 Kings 18:1-19:9). Poor Daniel. He was minding his own business, praying to God three times a day in his own room, when the king decreed that for thirty days no one could pray to anyone except the king (see Daniel 6:1-18). So what did Daniel do? He prayed to God, just as he had always done. Daniel did the right thing, and you know what? He got thrown into a den of lions! "Whoa, now!" you might say. "Are you telling me that those guys all did the right thing, and they ended up worse than before?" Yup. "But," you might ask, "I thought right choices were supposed to protect us and provide for us." Yup. "So how come," you might wonder, "all those bad things happened to Joseph, Elijah, and Daniel? It doesn't sound like they were better off for making right choices." Actually, they were. But their experiences-and the experiences of many people since-show that right choices aren't always rewarded. There's no guarantee that doing the right thing will bring immediate benefits; in fact, much of the time, doing the right thing doesn't seem to bring any good results at all. When David was being chased by King Saul (1 Samuel 26), he chose to show mercy toward the king God had anointed. But sparing Saul's life made things worse for David, not better. His actions didn't promise immediate benefits, but David did the right thing anyway. And eventually God made David the king in Saul's place. Doing the right thing may not always be rewarded immediately-perhaps never. But whether it's rewarded or not, doing the right thing will please God. As David himself said, "The Lord gives his own reward for doing good" (1 Samuel 26:23).

REFLECT: Have you ever been sorry for doing the right thing? Why or why not?

PRAY: "Lord, help me to do the right thing, even when I may not be rewarded. Right now I most need your help doing the right thing in the area of..."

I basically got the message saying that God will put you through a lot of troubles, but he is only doing that, so he could create a bigger and better outcome!
It's like struggling to study for a huge test, and the work is hard to memorize, but after constantly trying, your mark is a really great one, and everything is just lollipops and rainbows.
Um yeah I think that is it!
See you guys tomorrow!

Alright, I was a littleeee bit confused about this one but I'm pretty sure it's about being the better man.
Being patient and kind to someone who was not patient or kind to you.
THIS is something I try to do as often as I can. I'm always trying to be more patient or kind than people are to me because really, if we all treat each other poorly because the other had, ... what does that solve? Nothing.

Be generous and have grace when it comes to others because hey, who knows! you may inspire someone else to!

Didn't get a ton from this devo, and seems like the devos from the past week or so are based around the same theme. Had to do with being merciful and forgiveness and doing whats right. The part of todays devo that struck me especially was the thing about ending up worse. As a human being, it's easy to conform the what the world views as success. Getting thrown into a pit of lions for doing the right thing isn't exactly a reward by the standards of our world, but the fact that we did good is golden to God. While the fact that we are pleasing God is all that should matter, it's not always easy to remember that, so always keep in mind that everything we do is for God. We are not here to be crowdpleasers and whatnot. Do what is right in the eyes of God and not of this world.

My brains so fried, so I'll try to keep this short and simple so that I can handle this.

We have to observe the incentives we get for doing God's will from a point of view where not only we reap the benefits. Be thoughtful as to others' feelings and instead of us getting a gift, think of ourselves as a gift to the person we helped.

-i'll cut myself off since my brain's getting fried.

This devo didnt have a part that spoke to me.
But the prayer is important. I pray that God will help me make right decisions and proper ones even if i may not be rewarded.
Ill pray for this and hope that i will find what right things i do and shoudl continue to do although i wont get any rewards or gifts.