Week 16: Consider Your Calling | Day 4

Tasks for this week:

  1. Watch all three parts of Consider Your Calling
  2. Complete daily Bible reading
  3. Memorize 1 Samuel 17:46-47 and 2 Timothy 4:17a

Week 16: Day 4

Today’s F260 Bible reading: Psalm 22; 1 Samuel 24-25:1

22:1 For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”; a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. 2My God, I cry out during the day, but you do not answer, and during the night my prayers do not let up. 3You are holy; you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel. 4In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted in you and you rescued them. 5To you they cried out, and they were saved; in you they trusted and they were not disappointed. 6But I am a worm, not a man; people insult me and despise me. 7All who see me taunt me; they mock me and shake their heads. 8They say, “Commit yourself to the Lord! Let the Lord rescue him! Let the Lord deliver him, for he delights in him.” 9Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts. 10I have been dependent on you since birth; from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11Do not remain far away from me, for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. 12Many bulls surround me; powerful bulls of Bashan hem me in. 13They open their mouths to devour me like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 14My strength drains away like water; all my bones are dislocated. My heart is like wax; it melts away inside me. 15The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery; my tongue sticks to my gums. You set me in the dust of death. 16Yes, wild dogs surround me— a gang of evil men crowd around me; like a lion they pin my hands and feet. 17I can count all my bones; my enemies are gloating over me in triumph. 18They are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments. 19But you, O Lord, do not remain far away. You are my source of strength. Hurry and help me! 20Deliver me from the sword. Save my life from the claws of the wild dogs. 21Rescue me from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of the wild oxen. You have answered me. 22I will declare your name to my countrymen. In the middle of the assembly I will praise you. 23You loyal followers of the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob, honor him. All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him. 24For he did not despise or detest the suffering of the oppressed. He did not ignore him; when he cried out to him, he responded. 25You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly; I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers. 26Let the oppressed eat and be filled. Let those who seek his help praise the Lord. May you live forever! 27Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him. Let all the nations worship you. 28For the Lord is king and rules over the nations. 29All the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship; all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. 30A whole generation will serve him; they will tell the next generation about the Lord. 31They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished. (NET Bible)
24:1 (24:2) When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “Look, David is in the desert of En Gedi.” 2So Saul took 3,000 select men from all Israel and went to find David and his men in the region of the rocks of the mountain goats. 3He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave. 4David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’” So David got up and quietly cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 5Afterward David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 6He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the Lord’s chosen one, by extending my hand against him. After all, he is the Lord’s chosen one.” 7David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down the road. 8Afterward David got up and went out of the cave. He called out to Saul, “My lord, O king!” When Saul looked behind him, David kneeled down and bowed with his face to the ground. 9David said to Saul, “Why do you pay attention when men say, ‘David is seeking to do you harm’? 10Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you—this very day—into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’ 11Look, my father, and see the edge of your robe in my hand! When I cut off the edge of your robe, I didn’t kill you. So realize and understand that I am not planning evil or rebellion. Even though I have not sinned against you, you are waiting in ambush to take my life. 12May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you. 13It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you. 14Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea? 15May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands.” 16When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Then Saul wept loudly. 17He said to David, “You are more innocent than I, for you have treated me well, even though I have tried to harm you. 18You have explained today how you have treated me well. The Lord delivered me into your hand, but you did not kill me. 19Now if a man finds his enemy, does he send him on his way in good shape? May the Lord repay you with good this day for what you have done to me. 20Now look, I realize that you will in fact be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21So now swear to me in the Lord’s name that you will not kill my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.” 22David promised Saul this on oath. Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold. (NET Bible) 25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the wilderness of Paran. (NET Bible)

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),
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