Thought for the Day

1 Samuel 22:1-2 (1) David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. (2) And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. In the closing verses of the previous chapter David had "...feigned himself mad..." (1SAM 21:13) before Ach...

1 Samuel 21:1-6 (1) Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? (2) And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. (3) Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loave...

(1 Samuel 20:3) And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. This chapter gives us the stirring account of a friendship and love so deep, so committed and so covenanted that the son of a king would jeopardize his future crown and even his own life for the sake of his friend. Jonathan was D...

1 Samuel 19:8-10 (8) And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. (9) And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. (10) And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. Our text ...

1 Samuel 18:1-9 (1) And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. (2) And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. (3) Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. (4) And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and t...

1 Samuel 17:38-51 (38) And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. (39) And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. (40) And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and...

(1 Samuel 16:1) And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. In this chapter we see a marvelous thing: God cashiers Saul's services and so "...the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul..." (1SAM 16:14) to alight upon David so that "...the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul" (1SAM 18:12). Saul, f...

1 Samuel 15:1-3 (1) Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. (2) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. (3) Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Thi...

1 Samuel 14:31-35 (31) And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint. (32) And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood. (33) Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day. (34) And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the p...

1 Samuel 13:19-22 (19) Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: (20) But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. (21) Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. (22) So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor sp...

1 Samuel 12:20-25 (20) And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; (21) And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. (22) For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. (23) Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LOR...

1 Samuel 11:11-13 (11) And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. (12) And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. (13) And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death t...

(1 Samuel 10:1) Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? Here we have the anointing of Israel's first king, the establishing of a new system of civil rule in the land. King Saul was awarded to Israel as a judgment (HOS 13:11) for their rejection of God (1SAM 8:7) and the saviors (NEH 9:27) that He had sent to judge them. Samuel was the last of a long line of judges that ruled...

1 Samuel 8:1-5 (1) And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. (2) Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. (3) And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. (4) Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, (5) And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: no...

1 Samuel 7:4-12 (4) Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. (5) And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. (6) And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. (7) And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to...

1 Samuel 6:4-8 (4) Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. (5) Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land....

1 Samuel 5:1-12 (1) And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. (2) When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. (3) And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. (4) And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground...

(1 Samuel 4:3) And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 
In this chapter we see the bitter judgment of God against Eli and his sons (1SAM 4:10-18), the death of Eli's daughter in law, and the awful legacy of her son's name, Ichabod: the ...

1 Samuel 3:11-14 (11) And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. (12) In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. (13) For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. (14) And therefore I have sworn unto the house of ...

(1 Samuel 2:30) Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. This second chapter sets forth an amazing juxtaposition: a faithful mother who lent unto the LORD (1SAM 1:27-28) against a less-than-faithful father whose sons stole from the LORD (1SAM 2:12-17) and who honoured his sons above...

1 Samuel 1:1-7 (1) Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: (2) And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. (3) And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the...

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and after finishing all the host of them He looked on everything that He had made and saw that it was very good (Gen 1:1,31; Gen 2:1). God's creation was perfect and in order and in subjection to the Sovereign LORD in all things - until, as Ezekiel darkly reveals, iniquity was found in the anointed cherub whom God had created (Eze. 28:14,15). God had given the covering cherub great beauty, which became the source of the lifting up of the cherub's ...

Gen 11:4-  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

Sometimes man in his supposed infinite wisdom gets things totally backwards.  Genesis chapter 11 tells...

Faith-Grace-Faith-Grace

Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Acts 18:27: And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed throu...