Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 27:1-28:2.  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 27:1-12 (NIV)
1  But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2  So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath.

On 27:1 to 28:2:  In this passage we see David giving into his fear.  Verse 1 says, “David thought to himself, ‘One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul.'” (v1) Notice those first few words:  “David thought to himself.”  The King James translation puts it this way: “David said in his heart”.  Whenever you read the Old Testament and it says a person “said in his heart”, it often means that the person has allowed a lie or a fear to poison their thinking.  That’s what happened with David.  David gave into his fear and lived as if his biggest worry was certain to come true.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 26:1-12.  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 26:1-2 (NIV) 
1 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?” 
2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search there for David. 

On verses 1-2:   Previously in chapter 24 Saul had an emotional encounter with David and with God where his sinfulness was exposed and Saul seemed to be repentant.  Yet here in chapter 26 we find Saul returning to his old ways, hunting David down again.  How did Saul’s bad habit restart?  Verses 1-2 give us a clue: The Ziphites, who had previously committed to helping Saul hunt down David (1 Samuel 23:19), were still acting as informants to Saul, telling Saul where David was hiding. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 25:1-22.  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 25:1 (NIV) 
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 Maon. 

On verse 1:  Chapter 25 begins with the death of Samuel.  It was fitting that all Israel assembled and mourned for their leader Samuel, whom they bury in his hometown of Ramah.

1 Samuel 25:2-11 (NIV)
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, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.
4  While David was in the desert, 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.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 23:15-29.  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 23:15-18 (NIV)
15  While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that 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.

On verses 15-18:  When David was hiding from Saul in the desert, Jonathan went to David and helped him find strength in God.  He spoke encouraging words to David and reminded David of God’s calling on his life (v17).  

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.