Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 23:1-14.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Samuel 23:1 (NIV) 
1 When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,”

On verse 1:  The name Keilah probably means “fortress”.  Yet the Philistines seemed to have no problem attacking and looting this Israelite city.  This tells me 2 things.  First, the only truly unbeatable fortress is God.  Just as Keilah needed David’s help, all of us, no matter how strong we think we are, need the help of Jesus, the Son of David, to save us.  Jesus alone is the true Keilah, the only impenetrable fortress.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 22:11-23.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

For context, let’s start at verse 9.

1 Samuel 22:9-23 (NIV)
9  But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.
10  Ahimelech 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 Ahimelech son of Ahitub and his father’s whole family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king.

On verses 9-23:  To understand what led to the murder of Ahimelech the priest, his family, 84 other priests as well as the entire town of Nob, we must first go back to verses 9-10 and understand who Doeg was and his role in this situation.

On paper Doeg was Saul’s head shepherd (v7), but his real role was as Saul’s personal assassin, his “closer”.  To me Doeg fits the mold of a classic James Bond henchman, a heartless killer who speaks few words and flexes a lot of muscle, a one-man wrecking crew.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 21:1-15.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 
 
1 Samuel 21:1-9 (NIV)
1  David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2  David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.

On verses 1-9:  When David runs away from Saul, the first place David flees to is Nob, “the town of the priests” (see 1 Samuel 22:19).  There David meets Ahimelek the priest, who gives David bread and a sword:

– The bread which Ahimelek gave David was known as “the bread of the presence” (or the “showbread”) and was supposed to be eaten by the priests (Leviticus 24:9).  Ahimelek saw that David needed the bread more than he did, so out of compassion for David, Ahimelek gave his bread to David.  In a way, this points to Jesus our high priest who saw our need and in compassion gave us what He had.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 20:24-42.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 
 
1 Samuel 20:24-29 (NIV)
24  So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat.
25  He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, 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.

On verses 24-29:  Here we see Jonathan protecting David as he had promised and speaking to his father on David’s behalf.  Jesus does the same for us (see 1 John 2:1).