King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024
Chapters: I Samuel Chapters 17-18
Message: The Feeding of Christ’s Sheep
Hello My Friend,
As I read the chapters for today I thought about what Jesus said to Peter about feeding His sheep. In fact, three times Jesus asked him to do this, [John 21:15-17 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep]
Since Jesus who is the Good Shepherd and gives eternal life to those who believe in and receive Him as their Saviour is not physically here, He calls God fearing men to become undershepherd’s to His lambs and sheep. He does this for two reasons; One; to feed the spiritually, and Two; to prepare them for spiritual warfare, [Ephesians 6:11-13 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.]
By now the news that Saul no longer had the protections of God had spread across the nation, it did not take long for their enemies to take advantage of that in particular the Philistines. As we continue in the reading of 1 Samuel, the Philistines challenge Israel to a fight, so both armies are camped out in Judah territory.
[1 Samuel 17:2-4,8-10 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.]
[Why are ye come out to set your battle in array?] In a sense, Goliath is telling them that they are wasting their time even standing there because all they have is Saul to defend them. Goliath, was so confident in his own strength that if anyone could kill him then the Philistines would become servants to Israel. The problem was that no one, not even Saul, was brave enough to make the first move. So, every morning for forty days, Goliath, would give them the same challenge, and they all just stood there waiting for someone to make a move. Since Saul was out there with army David went home to his father’s house to care for the sheep. His father sends David with some food for the soldiers and to find out what was going on.
[1 Samuel 17:17-18,20,22-24 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; 18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.]
[left the sheep with a keeper…left his carriage in the hand of the keeper] It is interesting to learn that David made sure to leave anything in his care with someone to look after it when he was not there. I believe that the reason why our churches are in such a disarray today is because they neglected to leave them in the care of God fearing men who were willing to fight for Christ’s sheep, [Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.]
David, may not have looked like a fighter or even someone capable of being a shepherd to some sheep, but he had a lot of gumption, and he was not afraid to step up to a challenge because he knew one very important thing, God was on his side. When David heard Goliath’s challenge he encourages them to go for it because God was on their side, but none of them had the courage to do so and upbraided him for even being there, even his own brother.
[1 Samuel 17:26,28-29,31 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.]
[I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart;] Eliab, may have thought he knew his brother, but had no idea what he was capable of. So, in his mind David was not satisfied with being a lowly shepherd boy, he wanted to take part in the war and rise above them all. This sounds a lot like what was in his own heart and I imagine that he became a little envious of David when he was called to be the king’s armor bearer. [they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.] Since no other man was brave enough to step up to the challenge David said that he would do it. Well, when word got to Saul that David was willing to take on the challenge he immediately called for David.
[1 Samuel 17:33-38 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 38 And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.]
[Thou art not able to go against this Philistine] The worst thing anyone can say to us is, “You are not able!” because that is actually when the pride kicks in and we start telling ourselves, “I will show you that I can do this!” Perhaps this was David’s first response as he goes on to tell Saul how he killed a bear and a lion defending his father’s sheep, but he was sure to point out that God was with him. When you think about it, since all saved, born again Christians are in the hands of Jesus, He defends them at all cost, even the price of His own blood, [1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:]
[And Saul armed David with his armour,] At this point, Saul is actually being condescending, if David wanted to take on this giant, then so be it, to prove that he was not capable he put his own armor on him. Remember, Saul was seven foot tall so next to David he was a dwarf. Nevertheless, David took of the armor and headed out.
[1 Samuel 17:40-43,45 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.]
[chose him five smooth stones…and his sling] David, stood before Goliath, not equipped with weapons of war, but merely with his shepherd’s implements. With his shepherd’s staff, which he used for keeping his father’s sheep, his shepherd’s bag, which he used to feed his father’s sheep as well as keep stones in, and his sling, which his used to defend his father’s sheep by flinging stones to ward off predators he was ready to defend Israel. David, actually knew the odds against him, but did not flinch because he also knew that he was not the one standing there, God was.
[1 Samuel 17:46-49 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands. 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.]
[And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth…for the battle is the LORD’S,] David, was not going to lie and say that he had great strength to fight Goliath, he knew that if he stood before him in his own strength that he would die. He was trusting the strength of God to not only endure the battle, but win it, and he too. Not only did Goliath drop to the ground, he literally ran up to him and cut his head off with his own sword.
[1 Samuel 17:50-51,55-57 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 56 And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. 57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.]
[Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.] Saul, seriously needed to ask this question when David was his armor bearer as well as the soother of his troubled spirit, not to mention that he just spoke with him about the entire situation. People can speculate all they want about what this was all about, but I think that Saul was referring to where he came from. While he actually came to love David like a son for a while yet he did not really know anything about him as he was only told that his father’s name was Jesse, [1 Samuel 16:17-18 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.]
[brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.] Saul, could not believe it, this kid took on Goliath, and not only defeated him, he cut his head off too. I can only imagine what a sight that was, the excitement in David’s eyes as he brought this mans head before Saul not to mention the fear in Saul’s. However, that was about to change as Israel became a great army led by David, and his own son bonded with David.
[1 Samuel 18:1-4 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.]
[and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.] Right there, Jonathan, knew that David would be the next king, he never even thought that David was taking the throne from him as he would have been the next king if Saul had not messed things up.
News got around quickly of their victory and David, the whole town gathered to celebrate their victory, but not everyone was happy about it, when the women started shouting that David killed ten thousands and Saul only killed thousands he got extremely jealous.
[1 Samuel 18:6-8 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?]
[and what can he have more but the kingdom?] Saul, knew that God was with David and that scared him to death because He was no longer with him. God, does not put fear in people, the devil does that, in fact, we learn that whenever that evil spirit came upon Saul it was feeding that fear.
[1 Samuel 18:10-13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. 12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.]
[and he prophesied in the midst of the house:] Can you imagine how the devil was telling Saul that David is the one who will be king? It was probably something like, “He’s the one taking the throne from you!”, “They love David more than you!”, Those are the very thoughts that the devil uses to oppress the saved and keep the lost from coming to Christ. Once we are saved, the devil cannot touch us because we belong to Jesus and that means the Holy Spirit indwells us. However, he can still mess with our heads, in fact, he can mess with some heads to the point that they reveal their true faith, and that they never sincerely received Him as their Saviour, [Luke 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.]
If Saul would have just repented, God would have forgiven him, but he was too proud to do that. Instead he comes up with a plot to have him killed in a headed battle with the Philistines. Then when he found out that Michal actually loved David, he just knew that she would turn his heart, and therefore, came up with another plan.
[1 Samuel 18:17-21 And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD’S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? 19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. 20 And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.]
[but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.] Saul, had hoped that David would at some time fall in battle, and that the desired end would thus be obtained. On top of that, he broke the deal that he made in regards to the person who killed Goliath marrying his daughter on the account that it would hopefully bring David retaliate. However, when Saul found out that his younger daughter was in love with David, he used it in his favor.
[1 Samuel 18:25-29 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son in law: and the days were not expired. 27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. 28 And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him. 29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s enemy continually.]
[and Saul became David’s enemy continually.] David, must have had some feelings for Michal for Saul to think that she may mess up his head, and then in the heated battle. However, Saul really underestimated the power of God in the hands of the one that trusts Him and that was what feared him the most. Fear, it will stop is dead in our tracks, keep us from God’s will, and it may even cause us to forfeit somethings that we really wanted. There is only one thing or I should say person that we need to fear and that is God.
[Matthew 10:28-33 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [1 Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You, for saving a sinner like me when I put my faith and trust in Your Son as my Saviour. While I will never understand why You chose me to work in Your ministry and for the work You have given me, I do understand that it can only be done in Your strength. I can do nothing in my own strength, but I can do all things in Yours, especially the tasks that You have chosen for me. It seems like Your faithful are being persecuted more than ever from those who are jealous at Your blessing our lives. Lord, watch over and protect us, give us Your power to keep living by faith and not run in fear of those who are jealous of us. Give us Your strength to stand up for our faith. Give us the wisdom, guidance, and love that only You can give us to endure these battles, fully trusting that we will never be defeated. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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