Day 143 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 83:13–18

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. ¹⁴As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze, ¹⁵so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm. ¹⁶Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. ¹⁷May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace. ¹⁸May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.

New Testament·John 5:35–47

³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light. ³⁶But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me. ³⁷And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, ³⁸nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent. ³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. ⁴¹I do not accept glory from men, ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. ⁴⁶If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

Old Testament·1 Samuel 18–19

¹After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself. ²And from that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house. ³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. ⁴And Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt. ⁵So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well. ⁶As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments. ⁷And as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” ⁸And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David. ¹⁰The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear, ¹¹and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. ¹²So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. ¹³Therefore Saul sent David away and gave him command of a thousand men. David led the troops out to battle and back, ¹⁴and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him. ¹⁵When Saul saw that David was very successful, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back. ¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?” ¹⁹So when it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah. ²⁰Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him. ²¹“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.” ²²Then Saul ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’” ²³But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.” ²⁴And the servants told Saul what David had said. ²⁵Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines. ²⁶When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, ²⁷David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage. ²⁸When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, ²⁹he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy. ³⁰Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.

19Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan delighted greatly in David, ²so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there. ³I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.” ⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you. ⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?” ⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.” ⁷So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul to serve him as he had before. ⁸When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him. ⁹But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp, ¹⁰Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night. ¹¹Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” ¹²So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped. ¹³Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. ¹⁴When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.” ¹⁵But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.” ¹⁶And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair on its head. ¹⁷And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’” ¹⁸So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. ¹⁹When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰he sent messengers to capture him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy. ²¹When this was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy as well. So Saul tried again and sent messengers a third time, and even they began to prophesy. ²²Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told. ²³So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”