King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023
Chapters: 1 SAMUEL 31, PSALMS 121, 123-125, 128-130
Study: Jesus, the Justifier
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
I really did not know where God was leading me this morning with the devotional, then the word recompense came across my eyes, [Recompense; To compensate; to make return of an equivalent for any thing given, done or suffered; To require; to repay; to return an equivalent; To make restitution or an equivalent return for.] I do not think that even we as faithful saved and born again Christians fully comprehend the fact that it was Jesus who made restitution for our soul. I mean He suffered and died the most painful death that there ever was in order to redeem our soul from the pits of hell. And do you know why? Because the wages of sin is death, and even at our best we fail at paying that huge debt from sin that we owe.
[Romans 6:22-23 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]
Being made free from sin does not mean that we are free to willingly live a life of sin, it means that we have been given the gift of eternal life that enables us to start living the life of one who as been redeemed, [Romans 3:22-26 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.]
Wow! We all come short, meaning our own righteousness cannot even compare to the righteousness of Christ to save ourselves. Through His great sacrifice, through His pure undefiled blood that He shed for us, Christ has recompensed us, [Numbers 5:7-8 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. 8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.]
The reason I used this passage is to show that God has not changed, the wages of sin has always been death, and atonement has always been through confession and sacrifice. As we come to the end of the reading of 1 Samuel, we learn of the day of recompense that has now come to Saul. He must give an account for the blood of the Amalekites which he had sinfully spared, and that of the priests which he had more sinfully shed, and that of David too, which he would have shed had he not escaped. We learn of the tragic death of Saul and three of his sons that were in one of the most heated battles between Israel and the Philistines.
[1 Samuel 31:1-5 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. 4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. 5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.]
[Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.] Since David was not there to lead them, sadly, many lost their lives. Saul was struck by an arrow, and did not die right away, he actually wanted his armor bearer to finish the job, but he was afraid to do that and therefore killed himself. If we could learn anything from Saul’s great rise to be the very first king of Israel to his great fall in not only being stripped of the throne, but his faith in God as well. This reminds me of something that Jesus said, [John 15:4-6 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.]
We can pretend all we want that we are a saved, born again Christian, but the truth will come out when we stand before Christ and are cast into hell because we never received Him as our Saviour while we were alive in the flesh. Those whim have fully accepted Christ as their Saviour have nothing to worry about, they are planted in the vine and nothing can break our branch off from Him.
[Psalms 125:1-5 A Song of degrees. They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. 2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. 3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. 4 Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. 5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.]
[lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.] This is not someone who backslides and has no relationship with God at all, this is someone who actually lives in sin, using their salvation to justify for their sin. While we can never lose our salvation, that does not mean that there is no judgment for those who continue to live in sin, especially without one morsel of remorse for living that way, [Romans 6:15-18 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.]
I do not care what infirmities we are born with, we are all given the opportunity to know Christ as our Saviour. A saved soul does not have to wander around on this earth, trying to find some purpose in life as Christ becomes their life and gives them purpose, [Psalms 128:1-4 A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. 2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. 4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.]
[that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.] Since those who are saved do not face the great white throne judgment, our judgment comes well before we see Jesus face to face. In fact, well before we leave this earth, I have seen way too many Christians die suffering in their sin to believe otherwise. God, gives us a choice in the way that we live and many of His children have gotten caught up in their sin, they are not denying God, but they have refused to be even one bit repentant about their sin. Sadly, they will die suffering in their sin, [James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
Saul, was so worried about the Philistines abusing his body while he was wounded that he killed himself, but that did not stop them. They did not even know that Saul or his sons were among the ones they killed until the next day when they started stripping the dead bodies of what was on them.
[1 Samuel 31:8-13 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. 10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. 11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; 12 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. 13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.]
[All the valiant men arose, and went all night,] Although they had to burn their bodies because they were quite decomposed they did take up their bones and bury them. I have to tell you that I always feel this amazing amount of grief over Saul, he did not deserve his body to be treated that way, but thankfully there were some righteous men who had respect for their bodies. Remember, believing in God and accepting Him are two different things, and while those who chose to walk with God before Christ came here in the flesh were subject to the Law of Moses, salvation has always been by grace, only through their faith in the LORD. In fact, the majority of the Psalms David wrote something about the LORD preserving his soul.
[Psalms 121:4-8 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.]
[The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in] [Preserved; To keep or save from injury or destruction; to defend from evil. To uphold; to sustain.] Those whom have accepted Christ as their Saviour can be exceedingly grateful, and thankful that our souls are preserved from all evil. While Satan can certainly afflict, and humiliate us for our faith, he cannot take our soul because it belongs to Jesus. We are not sinless, and by far perfect, and yet, His mercy endures.
[Psalms 123:1-4 A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.]
[exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease,] We often wonder when something tragic does happen why God allowed it, but think about what this means. God, never promised that once we are saved that we will never have to be exposed to any evil, but He did promise to uphold and sustain us when we do. Life is not always the pretty picture we paint in our heads that it should be, but every saved soul does have the LORD on their side.
[Psalms 124:1-8 A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 2 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: 5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 6 Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.]
[If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,] There are fifteen Psalms addressed as Songs of degrees, meaning, our relationship with God is not one that should can be rushed, it is one that grows with each step that we take. And there is absolutely no way that we can have a relationship with Him without much communication through prayers, songs, and in the reading of His Word.
[Psalms 129:2-4,8 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. 4 The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. 8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.]
[he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.] Jesus, has cut and separated the cords that Satan held us by and we need to keep it that way, [Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.]
How amazing is it that all we have to do is call on Jesus and He will help us in our time in need? Whether we grieve, cry, suffer, mourn, or remorse, we can call on Jesus, and He will help us. Praise God! The more steps we take with Jesus, the more we become like Him, and discover that, it is only by His mercy that we can even get through this life.
[Psalms 130:3-8 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. 7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.]
[and with him is plenteous redemption.] Now, there will come a time when the day of recompense will come to all if us as we will all stand before Christ and give an account for the life we lived. Those who are saved, we will give an account for what they did through Him, those who are not saved will give an account for everything they did, [Romans 14:11-12 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for giving Your life that I might live through You. You suffered through all the pain, humiliation, mocking, and the scourging. You hung there on the cross while You had every ability come down, but You remained there so that I would not have to be there. You gave me life the second I believed in You, but You also gave me so much more than a way to heaven, You gave me eternal life, and that means You will always be with me. Lord, Lead me and guide me, keep me in Your Word that I may keep learning and growing, and conforming into someone resembling You. I get it now, I understand how important it is to tell everyone about You, so, let me be a faithful witness, full of compassion and have a continual passion for seeing all saved as You do. I ask You for Your mercies and grace, and forgiveness where I have failed You, Lord. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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