Devotional Thoughts

1 Samuel 16:1-3     "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.  (2)  And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.  (3)  And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee." Though Saul is still king of Israel, we know that God rejected him. "And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent." (1 Samuel 15:28-29) Saul was the king after the people's hearts; now God wa...

Matthew 15:10-11    " And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:   Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."   In the previous verses of this chapter, we saw the scribes and Pharisees coming to Jesus and challenging Him concerning the behavior of His disciples. The scribes and Pharisees had observed Jesus’s disciples eating without first washing their hands. All the scribes and Pharisees wanted to do was to find something to embarrass Jesus over in front of the people. They demanded to know why His disciples transgressed this tradition of the elders (members of their Sanhedrin council). Jesus ignored the remark about the transgression of eating with unwashed hands because it was a manmade tradition. Instead, He rebuked the scribes and Pharisees over their transgression of God’s commandments. This was by far the weightier matter. He then pointed out the vanity of th...

1 Samuel 9:26-27     "And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad.  (27)  And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God." 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?" Yesterday, we were introduced to Saul. If you remember, the Lord described him as "... Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people." (1 Samuel 9:2) If we only went by the physic...

Matthew 15:1-3     "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"   Matthew 15:7-9     " Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,   This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.   But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."   Men develop ideas and customs that can sometimes take on the guise of requirement. They may gain religious significance if practiced by a certain group of people over an extended period. Customs and traditions can grow to the point that they become more important to us than the word of God. Such was the case in today’s scriptures. ...

1 Samuel 9:15-17     "Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,  (16)  To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.  (17)  And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people." Yesterday we saw Eli instructing the young boy Samuel to reply when he heard the voice of God. This was the beginning of a lifetime for Samuel, the Prophet. God used Samuel in many ways, but today we look at him as the one who would anoint the first king of Israel. The people of Israel decided they wanted to be like all the other nations in wanting a man to rule over them. Samuel warned them many times that this was not the best route to take; yet, the...