Key Verse: 1 Samuel 28:6
And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.

Our key verse underlines the fact that God does speak to people. In Saul’s case, God chose not to speak to him in a dream (we can mess it up because we must d...

Key Verses: 1 Samuel 30:6b, 24
But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God…For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.

How do we react under pressure? Perhaps we can learn fro...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 1:19
The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

There are several ways to read the Bible: (1) critically (2) historically (3) devotionally. In the first consideration, we could abhor the rough “frontier justice” or lack thereof. We can cond...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 2:5
So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him…”

To be “blessed” is to experience the favour of God and people. The men of Gilead blessed Isr...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 3:1, 36
Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker… Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people.

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Key Verse: 2 Samuel 5:4
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Early in David’s life he was fully aware that someday he would replace Saul as King of Israel. Being human, he must have been tempted to take a shortcut to the throne instead of waiting for God...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 6:14-15
Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

Psalm 68, a song, may have been composed by King David for t...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 7:16
And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

Let’s fast forward to Luke 2:1-7. Jesus, the Seed of David, is born in “The city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he (Joseph) was of the house a...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 9:7
So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

In Chapter nine we see the Lord’s kindness to King Sau...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 12:7a
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!…”

In today’s Bible reading we learn that it is impossible to hide from God. God told the prophet Nathan all about David’s sin. David had tried to cover it up. God will rip the covers off in His time and for His purpose. Perha...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 13:15a, 28
Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her…Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, “Watch now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 14:14
For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.

In this chapter we read of King David’s General Joab, who...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 15:31
Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

Now, David prays. He’s in big trouble. From Chapter 12 onward, David’s story, and that of his fami...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 16:23
Now the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

In today’s reading, the prayer of David, that is recorded in 2 Samuel 15:31, is answered. Ah...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 17:14
So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring disaster on Absalom.

God permits certain thi...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 18:33
Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: “O my son Absalom — my son, my son Absalom — if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!”

In today’s reading King David prepares for battle ...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 19:3
And the people stole back into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

The people who had stood shoulder to shoulder with David were discouraged by David’s response. They could not understand the depth of his grief. Self pity was...

Key Verses: 2 Samuel 21:1, 14b

Now there was famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.”…So they performed all that the king had commande...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 22:2
And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…”

The words of today’s reading take on much more significance because of the previous chapters in the life of King David and those around him. David has lived a perilous life. He has fled from King Saul a...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 23:3b, 4
He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.

In today’s reading, King David re...

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 24:24
Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

In today’s reading, th...

Key Verse: Galatians 1:6
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.

As believers in Jesus, can we recall the first days of our lives as Christians…days of enormous joy and peace? This should be particularly memorable if we...

Key Verse: Galatians 4:6
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

What a great change! We were enemies of God, but have become His friends…and more than friends, we have become children of God. As His enemies, we deserved Hi...

Key Verse: Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

The word “circumcision” is used in one form or another 10 times in today’s reading. I think Paul wants us to pay attention! The practice of circumcision was the...