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: Friday, April 16, 2021
Chapters: I Samuel 24, Psalms 7, 27, 56,120
Message: Be Merciful
Hello My Friend,
Something came to my mind as I was reading the chapters for today, [Luke 6:35-36 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.]
The mercies of God are just astounding, not only upon His people, but on those are not as well. In fact, God seems to be a little more merciful on the lost than with His people. Well, we who know Christ as our Saviour are saved, we may face some chastening from our Father, but we are not condemned to hell. The lost on the other hand, are condemned to hell if they do not accept Christ, and ignorance to that fact will not save them. Of course, God would send His mercies on them so that they might get saved, because after all, Jesus died for every soul, and He does not want to see any soul in hell, [Luke 15:4-7 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.]
Once we are saved and start walking with Christ, we start to change our ways, we start to resemble our Saviour as we remove the things from our lives that hinder our walk and replace them with the things that bless our walk. When this happens other people notice, those who are dear to us, those who do not know or are not walking with Christ as we are tend to get a little jealous. When that happens, we not only lose that bond we had with them, they become our enemies. The only way we can overcome them is to seek God’s help, [Psalms 27:7-14 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.]
When David was anointed to be the next king, he thought that everything was going in the right direction for him, he became the armorbearer to King Saul, defeated Goliath, and even became the king son-in-law. The closed David got to God the more Saul saw this, and it feared him greatly, especially when it was made known to him that David would be the next king. So, here is David, on the run from Saul, while he got discouraged at times, he never lost his faith in God delivering him from him.
[Psalms 56:3-9,13 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. 5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. 7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God. 8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? 9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. 13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?]
[wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling,] I said this before and I will say it until the day God brings me home, when we truly belong to Christ, while we can get to the edge, and dangle there if we got caught up in sin, but we could never fall from Him completely. Let me tell you, we all have some wicked in us, given the right circumstance and state of mind, if we are not grounded in Christ, we are capable of doing the most unthinkable things. Saul had been chasing David around for months, he was about to learn what God’s mercy is all about when David had the opportunity to kill him.
[1 Samuel 24:1-4 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.]
[and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.] David did not feel the need to prove himself and show off in front of them, he just put a tear into his robe with his sword. He must have thought on this right after he tore it, he had every reason to kill him right there, but something held him back.
[1 Samuel 24:6-11 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. 7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. 8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. 9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.]
[I will not put forth mine hand against my lord;] This man was the first king, anointed by God Himself, he was his king, not to mention, his father-in-law. And until He removed him from the throne, David knew he could not take this mans life to get it for himself. No matter what people have done to us, we have no right to take the law into our own hands, God will never allow us to take a life in order to receive something He promised us. And if they have wronged us, God will tell us how to handle it.
[Psalms 7:1-6,8 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. 8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.]
[if there be iniquity in my hands;] When we are walking with Christ and end up in these battles, it is natural to ask God if there is something that we have done for all this to happen. I ask God the same thing, I do not want to do one thing to take my integrity from me, and if I have then, it is God that I must account to. Let me tell you, as painful as it might be for us to forgive those who hurt us, it really is the best way to handle them. It is always wise to call upon God to deliver us, [Psalms 120:1-4 A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.]
[judge me, O LORD,] God is our judge, and while we may never lose our salvation we can be sure that God will deal with us before He takes us home if there is any evil in us. And yet, He is still merciful. Saul saw firsthand how merciful God is when David spared his life. As David continues speaking with him, he makes it a point to tell him that.
[1 Samuel 24:11,15-20 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. 16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.]
[there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand,] Let me tell you, when we show them mercy or tell them about the mercies of God, it shames them because they actually see Christ in us. Nevertheless, it may lead them to repent themselves, [2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.]
[The LORD therefore be judge,] In all reality our enemies do not come at us because of any wrongdoing, they do so because of their hatred of God’s blessings upon our lives, [John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.]
[Thou art more righteous than I:] Saul finally realizes that it is only by the mercy of God that he was not dead by now, and admits that David was the better man. If the people who are against us would just let go of their pride, and turn to Christ then, God would turn things around for them, [Romans 11:29-31 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Psalms 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy and grace to save a sinner like me. Yes, I was condemned, headed straight for hell, but You showed me the way out, through my faith in Your Son. You have given is a great reminder that because we belong to you that we are going to have enemies, even among our own family and friends, even to the point that they may try to hurt us. It is in our human nature to want to get vengeance on those who wrong us, to treat them the way they treat us, but that neither does anything for us or them. You teach us that in order to get even with our enemy that all we need to show them the mercy that You have shown us. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your power, mercies, and grace to love our enemy, and do good to those who despite fully use us. Let us trust that You will handle it, and get the vengeance for us. Kill them with kindness, that is the saying, and only You are able to do that through us, so teach us to overcome all evil with the good that You are in us. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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