Interlude of Prayer Between Kings
By way of an interlude, consider that our reading has brought us to a time between two kings.
King Saul ruled in the way that fit who he was. He changed some as he became king (God gave him a new heart) and the Holy Spirit came upon him to make him prophesy and lead. In the end, however, he had trouble obeying God and submitting to God’s kingship over him. That is what ultimately made Samuel bring the bad news that God had taken the kingdom away and given it to another. Even after that, 1 Chronicles 10:13–14 says ”13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
David has been in no hurry to take over as king. He had an extraordinary adolescent time of his life. He went from Shepherd and youngest un-noticed son to the great slayer of the giant. From there he was thrown into kingdom life and became best friends with King Saul and then Jonathan. He was living the way that fit who he was. The big difference between David and Saul was what God saw in their hearts.
Both of these men had unprecedented circumstances and events happening to them. Both of these men were loved by the Lord and were in communication with Him. David is credited with writing 76 of the 150 Psalms. Saul is credited with none.
As we have a choice to be Christians, filled with Christ’s life and yet living the way that fits who we are, let us make a conscious decision to lean more like David than Saul.
Before we get into 2 Samuel next week, as a kickoff after Project: Playlist, take a look at the Psalms that are chronologically placed in this time. It’s worth it.
This schedule is taken from the ESV Chronological Daily Bible Reading Plan. On their schedule, each bullet point below is a day’s reading, in the order that they think it happened. These are the Psalms that happened right around what we read this week and going into next week.
Pray some of them now that we’ve traveled with David through these times.
Ps 7, 27, 31, 34, 52
Ps 56, 120, 140–142
1 Sm 25–27
Ps 17, 35, 54, 63
1 Sm 28–31; Ps 18
Ps 121, 123–125, 128–130
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