6/30/2020— 1 Samuel 25-26

By June 30, 2020 Devotion

每日读经:撒母耳记上25-26 

( https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1samuel+25&version=CUVS )

每日金句:

撒母耳记上26:23-24  23 今日耶和华将王交在我手里,我却不肯伸手害耶和华的受膏者。耶和华必照各人的公义诚实报应他。 24 我今日重看你的性命,愿耶和华也重看我的性命,并且拯救我脱离一切患难。

每日问题:

  1. 你有没有被诱惑去做得罪神的事?你如何抵挡诱惑?

2. 你愿意听取别人智慧的训言吗?

3. 你现在需要更多以神为中心的克制力还是以神为中心的勇气?

每日灵修:

撒母耳记上第24章我们看到了大卫的谦和仁慈和宽容,但是25章我们看到了大卫差一点就行了残暴!大卫被拿八激怒。拿八在希腊文是愚蠢的意思。他也的确是“名至实归”。大卫找拿八帮忙,但拿八却辱骂大卫和他的手下的人,激怒大卫要将拿八所有的男丁都杀死。令人惊讶的是大卫对扫罗所表现出的克制力并没有在拿八身上重演。拿八无疑是愚蠢的,但是大卫这里的行为也是愚顽的。

讽刺的是,站在大卫和暴行中间的是一个智慧的女人亚比该。她平息了大卫的愤怒,并且奇妙得将大卫的注意力转移到神的掌权和公义上!她的这段话和大卫在山洞外对扫罗说的话很相似 (参见24:11-15). 大卫马上就被说服了并且意识到他自己所要行的恶。让我们感谢神无数次拦阻我们行恶,甚至把“亚比该”带到我们的身边。也让我们学习箴言书中的智慧人,谦卑领受责备(箴言13:18)。

撒母耳记上第二十六章和二十四章很相似。扫罗再一次寻索大卫要杀他,而当神把扫罗交在大卫手上的时候,大卫再一次展现了他的克制力。我们看见大卫信心的增长,这一次他比24章更加勇猛。大卫主动深入扫罗所在的敌营。大卫因为坚信上帝的主权,在攻击扫罗时表现出了胆识和克制。我们应该自己思想23和24节大卫的话。大卫深知神是奖赏者,给予者和拯救者。如果我们也这样坚信,那我们就会有勇气面对威胁我们的敌人因为知道神掌权;与此同时,我们也不会自己去伸张正义因为知道神在掌权。

祷告:

亲爱的天父,求你帮助我每一天更像你!求你帮助我谦卑的领受你的责备和他人智慧的训言。当自己受到别人不公正地对待时,求你帮助我像你一样学习饶恕,仁慈地对待别人。求你帮助我信靠祢的主权在掌管一切!奉主耶稣基督的名祷告,阿们!

6/30/2020— 1 Samuel 25-26

Daily Verses:

1 Samuel 26:23-24 “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”

Daily Questions:

1. Are you being tempted to anything that is foolish or sinful? How will you resist it?

2. 2. How good are you at listening to the wisdom of others?

3. Do you need more God-centered restraint at the moment, or more God-centered courage?

Daily Devotioin:

In 1 Samuel 24 we saw David’s meekness and mercy, but here in 1 Samuel 25 we see David’s violence as he comes to the brink of committing an atrocity! David is provoked by Nabal whose name actually means “fool” in Hebrew. Nabal truly lives up to his name. In response to a request for help, he insults David and his men, provoking David to come and kill him and others. It’s very striking to see here how David’s restraint with Saul isn’t repeated with Nabal. Nabal is undoubtedly a fool, but David is also acting like a fool himself.

Ironically, the only thing that stands between David and an atrocity is a wise woman, Abigail. She appeases David’s anger and remarkably, refocuses David on the Lord’s sovereign plan and justice (vv. 26-31). Her speech was similar to the speech David had just given Saul outside the cave (24:11-15)! David is immediately convicted and recognizes the evil that he was about to commit. Let’s be thankful for the countless times the Lord has restrained us from evil, and even sent us out own “Abigails”. Let’s also imitate the wise man in proverbs, who always listens to correction (Prov. 13:18).

Chapter 26 echoes chapter 24. Once again, Saul pursuing David to kill him, and David showing restraint as the Lord gives Saul into his hands. We see David’s faith at work in this story as his actions prove to be even bolder than chapter 24. This time David deliberately enters the heart of the enemy camp where Saul is. Convictions about the Lord’s sovereign control give David courage and restraint in attacking Saul. We should think hard about David’s words in verses 23-24. David knows that the Lord is the one who rewards, gives, and delivers. If we believe that, we can be courageous today because the Lord is in control of every enemy that threatens us, and yet, in being courageous, we don’t need to take the justice into our own hands precisely because the Lord is in control.

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to be more like you every day! Help me to be humble to heed your correction and listen to the wisdom of others. Help me to be merciful and forgiving when others wrong me. Help me to trust in your sovereign control and perfect justice! In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!