Reading: I Samuel 23 - 26
My Verse: "Then said Saul, . . . Behold I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly" (26:21).
This whole episode of Saul seeking to kill David is rather fascinating in a macabre kind of way. Saul has gone so far down this path (he just had 85 priests killed!) that it would be difficult for anyone to believe or trust him. Here he is admitting himself a fool!
Was this a slip of the tongue? Was Saul so caught off guard by David's behavior?
I think about where Saul was at one time. He was God's chosen one. He had been a humble man. Now he was a murderer. All he could think of was his need to kill David. In this moment, this moment of surprise, he says something that must have been gnawing at his conciousness for sometime, "I have played the fool."
Did he come to the end of himself here? Did the stark contrast of his behavior and that of David cause him to falter? Did he finally allow himself to admit the truth about where he was emotionally and spiritually? It is like Saul realized finally that yes, he had "erred exceedingly" and David would "both do mightily and surely prevail."
It is said that in moments of surprise we say what plays the most on our consciousness. No matter how skillful we may be at deception, at hiding what we are really thinking, eventually our true thoughts come out in moments of stress, surprise - when we are caught off guard. The thoughts will finally blurt out of our mouth!
I like what J. Sidlow Baxter in the Amplified Bible study notes says about this: "There is no escape for any man, as long as reason continues, from the naked truth about himself. He may imagine he has hidden himself from God; but he can never hide himself from himself. In some moment of stress and strain he says what he has been thinking all the time. . ."
Oh, LORD God, how many are plagued by evil thoughts! This is where we need You so much! We need Your healing touch on our thought life. It is so easy to let thoughts spin out of control, drag us down, and keep us shackeled and weighed down needlessly. This does not need to be. We can be free of this.
I do have a part to play in this. You command us in Romans 12:2 to renew our minds. You will help me but I need to take the actual specific steps myself. This makes me think of Joseph when he ran away from Potiphar's wife. He took immediate action to remove himself from the situation. And so I need to take actual steps to keep my thought life free of ugliness.
Your Word is full of promises and guidance. I need to avail myself of that. You have given me a "spirit of self-discipline"(2 Tim. 1:7). Your have promised me "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness . . ." (John 8:12). And Psalm 119:105 tells me. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."
Oh, LORD God, help me to be free of ugly thoughts so I need not be fearful of having a slip of the tongue.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14)
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "Then said Saul, . . . Behold I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly" (26:21).
This whole episode of Saul seeking to kill David is rather fascinating in a macabre kind of way. Saul has gone so far down this path (he just had 85 priests killed!) that it would be difficult for anyone to believe or trust him. Here he is admitting himself a fool!
Was this a slip of the tongue? Was Saul so caught off guard by David's behavior?
I think about where Saul was at one time. He was God's chosen one. He had been a humble man. Now he was a murderer. All he could think of was his need to kill David. In this moment, this moment of surprise, he says something that must have been gnawing at his conciousness for sometime, "I have played the fool."
Did he come to the end of himself here? Did the stark contrast of his behavior and that of David cause him to falter? Did he finally allow himself to admit the truth about where he was emotionally and spiritually? It is like Saul realized finally that yes, he had "erred exceedingly" and David would "both do mightily and surely prevail."
It is said that in moments of surprise we say what plays the most on our consciousness. No matter how skillful we may be at deception, at hiding what we are really thinking, eventually our true thoughts come out in moments of stress, surprise - when we are caught off guard. The thoughts will finally blurt out of our mouth!
I like what J. Sidlow Baxter in the Amplified Bible study notes says about this: "There is no escape for any man, as long as reason continues, from the naked truth about himself. He may imagine he has hidden himself from God; but he can never hide himself from himself. In some moment of stress and strain he says what he has been thinking all the time. . ."
Oh, LORD God, how many are plagued by evil thoughts! This is where we need You so much! We need Your healing touch on our thought life. It is so easy to let thoughts spin out of control, drag us down, and keep us shackeled and weighed down needlessly. This does not need to be. We can be free of this.
I do have a part to play in this. You command us in Romans 12:2 to renew our minds. You will help me but I need to take the actual specific steps myself. This makes me think of Joseph when he ran away from Potiphar's wife. He took immediate action to remove himself from the situation. And so I need to take actual steps to keep my thought life free of ugliness.
Your Word is full of promises and guidance. I need to avail myself of that. You have given me a "spirit of self-discipline"(2 Tim. 1:7). Your have promised me "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness . . ." (John 8:12). And Psalm 119:105 tells me. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."
Oh, LORD God, help me to be free of ugly thoughts so I need not be fearful of having a slip of the tongue.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14)
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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